Northern california as well, near San Jose. My rams just ate their pasture down and always get a good handful each, of alfalfa in the mornings, and now, the nice hay i grew this last summer. My 5 intact AB rams, who all live separated from the ewes, rub and bang on barn walls and such, pretty much all the time. But in fall, the lead ram's face usually has more scars than usual. They can smell the ewes, who are kept at last 100' away. Not sure if this breeder has ewes? They are sparring a bit more than usual, since my girls are going into heat more prominently right now.
Theres also a strange thing that happens every spring where the lead simply has skin raked off his forehead, in strips, and I attribute it to thorny berry branches coming over the fence. I try to keep them cut back. He's not that smart, and appears to be scratching himself on them. One of the younger ones broke off a tip several months ago. I simply attributed this to him probably getting it caught in some fencing. Never found the tip. The lead, when he was a juvenile, would beat posts until his horn base bled from being partially dislodged. This would alarm me as well, but would also heal just fine. His horn base is so thick and strong now, I don't imagine that happening any more. -MWS Sent from my iPad On Nov 18, 2012, at 2:28 PM, Mary Swindell <mswin...@siu.edu> wrote: > Hello breeder friends, > > As Registrar of the BBSAI, I answer questions from those who write in to the > BBSAI web site at www.blackbellysheep.org. This week someone wrote in > (below) with a question about sheep horn health, which I do not know much > about. Can any of you help with advice to this person? I will keep this > person's name private, but I will tell her that I have sought information > from a group of knowledgeable blackbelly breeders. Thank you for any advice > and suggestions you can offer. Please reply either to this listserve, or to > me privately. I will forward all your responses to this person. Her > question is included below. > > Sincerely, > Mary Swindell > Registrar, BBSAI > >> To: i...@blackbellysheep.org >> Subject: Website Request for Information about BBSAI >> Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2012 09:56:16 -0800 (PST) >> >> Comment: My father has 5 blackbelly sheep. All Rams of various ages. He >> purchased them to keep all weeds and vegetation down for fire prevention. >> They used to have horses and Boer goats for that purpose on his 10 acres. >> Dad is getting older and the responsibility for their care has fallen upon >> me.I have been doing some research regarding blackbellies. I believe they >> have adequate food in the pasture and he has supplied them with a salt block >> that was reccomended as well as whole corn in the winter. My question is >> that recently the sheep have taken to excessively rubbing their horns on >> trees. They have always done this but lately it has been extreme. The base >> of their horns look dry with some cracking. The horns themselves look dry. >> Just yesterday I noticed one ram had broken off aprox 5" off the tip of his >> horn. I am researching as much as possible. I didnt like the breeder as >> these sheep were in poor shape when dad purchased them. >> Is this normal for rams at this time of year? We live in northern >> california aprox 80 from OR border. Good land with lots of natural growth. >> I would appreciate any help. Thank you. > > _______________________________________________ > This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list > Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info _______________________________________________ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
