Sounds like you had quite an adventure. I am discovering that catch pens and funneling chutes are extremely helpful :-)
Jann Sent from my iPhone > On Dec 4, 2013, at 3:36 PM, Michael Smith <mwsmotorspo...@gmail.com> wrote: > > So, I have 4 acres with many many separate pastures with gates and > enclosures. I spent the morning first separating out the two ewes, > pasture by pasture (I don't have a chute system yet). I wanted to pair > these girls with Harpo an inexperienced but beautiful ram. They went > into a pasture right next door to the rams, which were already > fighting over them, and the girls were demonstrating the fact they > appeared to be in heat. > > Mind you, I am doing this all by myself this morning. > > I have 5 intact rams, but they are actually not too difficult to > separate out. There was a narrow 8' wide by about 30' long run between > the ewe's pasture and the ram's pasture, and it had some fresh green > grass in it that looked real good to eat. I set up the gate to allow > all the rams into the run, through the gate, one at a time, and simply > not allowing Harpo in. It worked-- since he's timid-- and was the last > one trying to follow in. I then lazily threw a chain around a post, > thinking the gate would stay closed juuuuuust long enough to chase > Harpo in through a small shaded gate under a shed roof, and he'd go in > with the girls. I forgot the famous findings of Temple Grandin and how > herd animals don't like to enter shaded, scary looking places. > > Then things went wrong and I wish I had a camera, since it would have > a good Darwin Award Video, with me starring as the Village Idiot. > > Harpo is being scared of where I am trying to force him to go, so he's > running everywhere through a pasture but not through the dark opening > to the girl's pasture. Meanwhile, the other rams start banging > against the run gate, and two other rams bang the gate loose, they're > no fools, and instantly run in through the shaded opening, in with the > ewes. They start mounting away, as I have to secure the run gate to > keep the rest of the rams from escaping... I am cussing my head off, > realizing my selective breeding program has probably just been > spoiled, if the girls are really fully in heat. It takes about a > minute to really chain the gate well, and these guys are wasting no > time. > > I manage to grab a more tame one, Ziggy, almost instantly, and drag > him back with the rest of the guys, cussing all the while. The other, > Verne, is working the girls over and staying with them as they run all > over the place, mounting them every time they will stay still in > between chases by me. I could only imagine he knew he was on borrowed > time :-) > > I end up having to close everything, let the rams back out of the long > run into their pasture, and re-set the gates to use the long run as a > trap on my side instead, and run Verne and the girls into the long > narrow run so I can separate them. It works fairly easily. > > At this point, I am glad I have experience with a crook. Since he > little place to run, I crook him handily and end up picking him up and > just dumping him over the fence into the ram pasture again. Good thing > he's the smaller of the rams! > > Chase the girls out of the run, start the whole process over. Close > off the gates to favor the ram side again. Rams still easily walk into > the long run one by one, cut off Harpo again, but this time, I use > BrainPower and bother to stop and chain everything up well. > > I guess if they lamb in 150 days to the day, I'll know there's no idea > who the father is, but if they take a week or more than the normal > period, it's a good chance Harpo is the father. The other two are > plenty good sires, but they are not Harpo. > > The learning question here is: besides me being daft and > underestimating Harpo's reluctance to go into a shaded, strange > area--and not chaining things up safely, what sort of chute can one > use for rams with large horn racks? I imagine if you measured Marley, > the largest rack-ed ram, he's have 35-40 inches or so. > > -Michael, Perino Ranch Blackbellies > _______________________________________________ > 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
