# Who's the Father?and the One Eyed Ram



## Sheepshape (Jan 26, 2016)

Life with sheep is always eventful. I don't seem to have a week go by without there being something happening, and the last few weeks are no exception.

My ladies (50 or so of them) went to the tup in October roughly making them due from mid-March. The fathers are one huge Blue Faced Leicester named Goliath and a very good and equally massive Beulah Speckled Face Ram who was up until recently nameless and was borrowed from our neighbour (Neighbour did not want to sell him as he wished to use him again next year)

He-who-had-no-name was deemed to have finished his work and was due to go back to neighbour mid-December. Neighbour asked us to keep him a couple of weeks, so we carefully got him used to our other 5 rams by penning them next to each other etc. After a few days we introduced them. No issues from the huge fellow who just strolled over, sniffed and walked away, nor from 3 others. A small and adolescent ram started to behave in the usual fashion, tongue lolling and pawing the big Beulah. "You will regret that", thought I. After a short while there seemed to be a truce, so I went away.15 minutes later I saw the big man staggering around, dazed and concussed with a swelling over his right eye.The swelling increased and the eye wouldn't close, so I called the vet. To cut a long story short, the eye had to be removed and he still has a bi facial abscess discharging pus, but is doing well....so I have Popeye the one-eyed ram, who I then bought off the neighbour.

So, to the little mystery.

I have my ewes scanned and did so on 4th January. The 'scan man' made a weird black mark on one of the ewes and said..."She's due very soon, January". " What?" "How?" "Who?" She must have been mated in August....but by whom? The rams are kept well away from the ewes until we want them in, and the only other exposure to 'rams' had been the ram lambs of the other ewes (she didn't have any lambs last year) for about 2-3 weeks. These ram lambs would only have been about four and a half months old at most, so they should really have been too young to mate ewes at their age.

So , I don't know who the father is.....and she's saying nothing. Her udder is big and hot, she's grumpy and  persistently going back to one spot in the barn (she is tending to stay indoors as we are having high winds and torrential rain) and she looks due very soon.

And Popeye is keeping his beady eye on at her through the fence.


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## Latestarter (Jan 26, 2016)

Ah the saga of the "cougar" ewe... and some lucky little adolescent ram... Hope the delivery goes well and that you'll be able to figure out what happened and by whom.


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## norseofcourse (Jan 26, 2016)

I know someone who had a 4-month old ram lamb breed about 40 or so of her ewes, before she realized she'd missed castrating him.  He should not have been old enough to breed that many, but he didn't know it!  These were hair sheep, and I don't know anything about your breed, but I'd say one youngster got lucky...


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## promiseacres (Jan 26, 2016)

X2 one of the lambs


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## Ferguson K (Jan 26, 2016)

Poor Popeye! At least he has a name now...

I'd go rooting for the little guys. Some lucky ram lamb covered himself a lady or two.


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## Sheepshape (Jan 27, 2016)

I knew she was close....so,yesterday,after lunch,checked the feeders. She was lying down in her usual spot and seemed fine. She ate some silage and butted away two of the others.Two hours later and....wow, there's a lamb standing suckling. I moved her into a lambing pen, dipped the cord of the little fellah and set about clearing up the birth fluid. 'Plop', out came number two backwards. I pulled the membranes off his face and rubbed him with a bit of straw as mum was setting about licking his tail end.

So mum has two healthy- looking ram lambs. They are Beulahs.......I think that you guys are right......looks like was a lucky lamb ram and a co-operative ewe.

I'll take pics of the happy little family as soon as it gets light.


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## Latestarter (Jan 27, 2016)

Grats on 2 happy health boys  I'm sure they'll make fine eating


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## Sheepshape (Jan 27, 2016)

Not the best pic of the two lambs, but here they are






And here's Popeye....clearly the ladies still find him a handsome hunk and 'flock' to be by his side.





That's him in the middle of the three ladies on the ground.

All but one of the sheep visible are Beulah Speckled Face.....a hardy hill sheep developed locally in a little town called Beulah. The big girl with the 'Roman' nose is a Blue Faced Leicester....a very large and not very tough sheep with thin silky curls for a fleece which is used for making fine woollen garments.The thick and rather matted fleece of the tough medium sized Beulah is very good for the cold and damp and is used for making carpets.

Latestarter....I've been vegetarian for 30 years, but get your drift!


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## Latestarter (Jan 27, 2016)

Oops... so sorry.


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## Sheepshape (Jan 27, 2016)

Just found myself chuckling, Latestarter....I don't have a clue what lamb tastes like (or any other meat for that matter).

 In spite of being veggie, I am absolutely not squeamish, and I held the 'head end' during the eye removal much to the surprise of the vet, have been 'milking' gallons of smelly pus from the face of Popeye for the last few weeks etc.

I also made myself go to the abattoir where those rams that I cannot keep unfortunately have to go. It was a well-run organisation and animal welfare was high, so eased my conscience a little (but only a little).


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## Blue Sky (Jan 29, 2016)

Hair sheep don't follow the rules.


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## Sheepshape (Feb 2, 2016)

Seems most of my sheep don't follow the rules....

I think Popeye is 'feeling his old self' again. He is a real gentleman and is staying with any of the ladies who limp and waiting for them all to come down to the feeders in the morning again. He also is clearly feeling better....yesterday he mated one of the few ewes who is not pregnant, and today another. End of June/beginning of July lambs are a real oddity here (if he is fertile at the moment after his illness).

Oh well.


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## Baymule (Feb 2, 2016)

I am just embarking on my sheep journey. We bought 4 bred ewes a few months ago, Dorper/Katahdin crosses and now have 5 lambs. We have 3 ewe lambs and 2 (now) wethered lambs. It is with avid interest that I read of your adventures with your sheep! I love your story of the mystery sheep baby daddy! Haha! He will never have to pay "lamb support" since he can't be identified!  I am getting a good chuckle out of that one!

Your one eyed Popeye ram is a handsome fellow. I love the looks of the Beulah Speckled Face but I think I'll stay with my hair sheep......for now. I am tempted to get some sheep for fiber, there is a spinning group here locally. I have not made contact, because I now if I do....... 

@Latestarter "cougar ewe"


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## Bossroo (Feb 3, 2016)

Baymule said:


> I am just embarking on my sheep journey. We bought 4 bred ewes a few months ago, Dorper/Katahdin crosses and now have 5 lambs. We have 3 ewe lambs and 2 (now) wethered lambs. It is with avid interest that I read of your adventures with your sheep! I love your story of the mystery sheep baby daddy! Haha! He will never have to pay "lamb support" since he can't be identified!  I am getting a good chuckle out of that one!
> 
> Your one eyed Popeye ram is a handsome fellow. I love the looks of the Beulah Speckled Face but I think I'll stay with my hair sheep......for now. I am tempted to get some sheep for fiber, there is a spinning group here locally. I have not made contact, because I now if I do.......
> 
> @Latestarter "cougar ewe"


Yes,  the daddy CAN be identified .  All one has to do is to collect blood samples from all daddy candidates , mom and lamb , send the samples to a DNA testing lab along with the fees and you will soon have your answer unless a wandering ram snuck in on a moonless night undetected.


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## Sheepshape (Feb 3, 2016)

Bossroo......you are, of course, right. BUT.....I suspect that the father has long since gone to market.  To be honest, the parentage doesn't really matter. The ewes are not of the same bloodline as Popeye who came  from several hundred miles away. I don't breed animals 'close' as genetic mutations will start to crop up sooner or later. Any really decent ram lamb is swopped with another from a neighbour with a different blood line. The two baby lambs look pretty fine to me.

Yep, this ewe certainly does seem to be a 'cougar ewe', Latestarter, she's aged 4 and the father was probably just 4 months old......that must be the equivalent of a billionaire centenarian and a schoolboy....! Momma ewe is not likely to get any 'lamb support' from the Mutton Support Agency as she won't tell anyone who the father is......

Popeye is a huge ram and is currently 'mopping up' any ewes which he missed first time round. (He is staying in with the ewes as he is great with the ladies, the ladies love him and he is not going to see his Nemesis, Rastus, the hard-headed little bully, if he comes up from the left)

There's never a dull moment.


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## Latestarter (Feb 3, 2016)

So what is the verdict for Rastus? Does he get sold back to Popeye's previous owner as a replacement, or just stay & live a pampered life in exile? I have to say Popeye is a big, handsome devil... even missing an eye. Maybe the ladies see him as more suave and debonair sans eye? Girls do like a "bad boy".


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## Sheepshape (Feb 4, 2016)

Latestarter......I'm afraid Rastus has caused one too many problems and will be going to market before too long. He has managed to be spared SO many times.....in the withdrawal period from an antibiotic (had a foot abscess), felt sorry for him, kept him to do swops with etc. He is largely friendly and tame, then has a day when he is 'possessed'......he head-butted me once when my back was turned (I chased after him and slapped him on the nose), he has taken the bark off my sapling oaks and killed them, dented a feeder in temper, and then Popeye.

Popeye is huge and very gentle ....the best type of ram. He retains a respect for humans. When he is at the feeder he is a good 4 inches taller than most of the ewes and very wide.....but little fat. He can be my breeder ram for a few years, and  the ladies really like him, always lie in a circle around him, sleep with their heads on him and make him a space at the feeder who he comes along......I've not seen this before with my other rams.I'm hoping that his lambs are good (though my neighbour keep several thousand sheep and is a very experienced sheep farmer).


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## Latestarter (Feb 4, 2016)

He sounds almost too good to be true from what I've come to understand about rams... I can understand why the neighbor really didn't want to sell him. I hope his offspring are all that and a bale of hay to boot!


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## Baymule (Feb 4, 2016)

Popeye sounds like a forever keeper. The ewes certainly know how special he is. 

I have to call a friend of mine to this thread, I was telling her how funny it was about your "cougar ewe" 
@Devonviolet you gotta read this!


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## Devonviolet (Feb 4, 2016)

What an awesome story!  How appropriate to name your big, beautiful ram Popeye. I asked @Baymule if you put a patch over his "pop-eye"?   Poor baby!     He sure is lucky to have you, @Sheepshape, just as you are lucky to have him! 

@Latestarter, LOVE your comment about the "cougar ewe"  
What a stitch!


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