Baymule’s Journal

[Baymule]

I’ve had a productive morning. Went to hardware store in Groveton and bought 6 hog panels. Get to counting up cow panels, horse panels, hog panels, Red River panels and round pen panels and my goodness! I’m a wealthy woman! Hahaha!

Stopped at sons house and loaded up a 16’ gate. Got 2 boxes of oddball horse stuff. One was a $10 garage sale purchase by a neighbor because I had horses. Got totes of PVC fittings, painting supplies and hot wire supplies.

Came home, unloaded hog panels, drove forwards, unloaded gate, swung around and dropped the flatbed, backed up to the shed with doors.

I took things out of the truck and found places to put it. Started going through the garage sale box and pulled out all kinds of goodies. 3 sets of reins, 5 head stalls, 4 with bits. Assorted bits, hoof picks and junk. Went through my box of assorted horse stuff. 8 old halters that will be for garage sale. I’ll buy new ones as needed. A blue nylon headstall with breast strap, pink nylon headstall, saddle girts I don’t want and other stuff.

I drove nails in a 2x4 and hung up the 5 bridles I’ve cleaned up over the past 2 afternoons. I hung up the nylon bridles. I combined junk into one box for garage sale. I put the 5 bridles and 3 sets of reins on the back porch to be saddle soaped, scrubbed and oiled. They are twisted, hard and dry.

Got lunch heating up, then a run to nephews dumpster.

 

[Ridgetop]

Hard old leather can be reclaimed by soaking for 24 hours in small bucket of neat's-foot oil. Reclaimed 2 newborn calf/ram halters that got lost in the shed for several years and found after they had turned hard and twisty. Soak, let drip dry, then rub off residual oil. The rubbing off of residual oil is the hard part. But saved $50/halter by reclaiming them. They fit my large rams. I had replaced them so now I have 4 good leather ram/newborn calf halters. LOL I really hate cleaning tack!

 

[Margali]

They fit my large rams. I had replaced them so now I have 4 good leather ram/newborn calf halters. LOL I really hate cleaning tack!

Do you leave a halter on your rams all the time? I figuring out plan for next ram.

 

[Ridgetop]

No. They are not bad to handle for DS1 - he just walks in and catches whichever one we want to move. They know the drill. We have a smaller pen adjacent to the ram pen we can drive them into if necessary. DS1 actually doesn't like using the halters, he says they are annoying and tke more time to out on than are useful. I use them since the large rams are hard for me to handle anymore (what with my bad knee and being "in my prime" now)! LOL

The ram/newborn calf halters we use are not the nylon halters we use on the ewes and lambs; they are leather halters with a chain shank attached to a lead. The chain shank goes under the chin and gives you more control on those big rams if they get feisty. The nylon halters we use on the ewes and lambs are either nylon rope halters, or flat nylon webbing halters. Our nylon sheep halters have the leash acting as the shank under the chin for control. The rope halters are adjustable for different size sheep but don't release easily so I am not as fond of them. I use them when tying a ewe in the barn so I can help if she is in labor. All 3 styles of halter slip on and are not designed to be left on all the time since they will fall off if the leash is allowed to be loose. The one time I kept a halter (different style) on a ram, he grew much larger without our noticing and the halter caused big raw areas on his face. We felt very guilty about not noticing before removing the halter. We just used the other kind after that when needed. That was a wool sheep and catching him by grabbing his wool was easy. That was when we only had one ram and let him run with the ewes all the time. Our White Dorper rams carry some wool all year, not much and it can pull out when they are shedding - LOL - but enough to grab them if necessary.

If your ram hard to catch or handle? Or mean? If he is hard to handle, you can build a small catch pen in a corner of his pasture and feed him in the catch pen. That way he will be enthusiastic about going in the catch pen and you will have an easier time catching him.

 

[Margali]

If your ram hard to catch or handle? Or mean? If he is hard to handle, you can build a small catch pen in a corner of his pasture and feed him in the catch pen. That way he will be enthusiastic about going in the catch pen and you will have an easier time catching him.

Snip became a hazard when he hit rut. He got out of pen and tried to attack us several times so he went to market. Trying to figure out better management beside better isolation paddock when not with ladies.

 

[Ridgetop]

Aren't Katahdins year-round breeders? They don't usually come into rut like seasonal breeders. Our rams never show any sign of being in rut (unlike our goats did) and are happy to breed all year round. Good thing you got rid of him if he was getting aggressive. Even our oldest ram which we bought when he was over 2 never showed any aggression with us. Maybe it was just Snip as he matured. Was he a pet as a lamb? Maybe keep the next one less of a pet since sometimes rams that are raised as pets do become aggressive. You still have a wether to keep a ram company, don't you? Just buy another ram and see what happens before anticipating trouble. Our rams live next door to the ewes' night pen and don't try to knock over the fences. Of course, our pens are pipe corral panels with wire on the bottom, but the ewes do come up and taunt the rams when they cycle. LOL

 

[Baymule]

Most of yesterday and this morning I got my sheep working equipment set up. I bought 6 hog panels and had one left over. I made a long race that included a hog panel spanning across the round bale set. I can easily take it down to set another round bale. It’s bowed outwards to give the ewes room to munch on hay. I set this up across the back of the ewe lot and Ringo’s lot, ending in a sorting gate.

I loaded it up, one piece at a time on my wagon.

It’s a dog’s life.

I got one guillotine gate up. Ewes were enjoying the hay.

I set T-posts to tie the gates and hog panels to. Bright blue hay twine is useful, durable and decorative too.

The sheep found the wagon and soon had blue hay string scattered, bit holes in the plastic bag holding the brass clamps that connect two panels, brass clamps courtesy of @Ridgetop. I reached for the ratchet and socket. Gone. I had just picked up hay string, even going out in the pasture to retrieve some that was tangled on a ewe. Sheba was trailing her, it just didn’t look right and Sheba was alerting me to it. Back to the wagon, found the wrachet!

I had to lay the pieces out to see how I could fit it all out to make it work. When it looked ok, I pounded T-posts and secured everything with lovely blue hay string. I put up 2 guilliotine gates, the stop gate and sorting gate. Those 4 pieces now cost $1,635. BJ and I bought them used for $500, when the new cost was $900. Almost doubled in cost now.

I got everything put up and tied together. There is a long race from first gate to the second gate, to go across the hay bale, and so I can get ALL of them in and closed up. Looks pretty good.

2-way sorting gate. The hog panel on the ground got T-posted and tied in place, plus another hog panel to the fence that makes a holding pen. The second panel is clipped and can be swung over to the fence out of the way when not in use.

The long race across the hay bale. That panel is removable so I can put in a new hay bale.

WE WANT IN!!!!!!!

I did kinda a squat/crawl through the gates, back and forth, showing ewes the way. Some caught on real quick, some didn’t. My new knee did real good with the abuse I heaped on it. It doesn’t even hurt.

I open their pen gate, it’s half a cow panel, and clip it to a hog panel leading to the first gate. They HAVE to walk all the way through to the sorting gate to get out on the pasture. By doing this a few days, it won’t be some strange sheep eating monster. I’ll be able to work them, take fecal samples, worm, give shots and trim feet. I’ll leave it up all the time and soon they will go in and out with no problem.

The sorting gate and holding pen will help me separate the young ewes going to Cooper, across the driveway.

 

[Margali]

Maybe it was just Snip as he matured. Was he a pet as a lamb? Maybe keep the next one less of a pet since sometimes rams that are raised as pets do become aggressive. You still have a wether to keep a ram company, don't you?

I still have his wether brother, Panda. Not treated as a pet since I got him from @Baymule.

 

[Baymule]

Snip wasn’t treated as a pet. He was calm and not wild. Thought he’d be a good ram for her, but balls replaced his brains. He was ok until I guess he was about 18 months, @Margali correct me on his age if I’m wrong. He skidded off the rails and had to go.

Dessa, registered ewe bred to Cooper, is due February 15. If she has a ram lab, I know where he is going.

 

[Margali]

That's about when he started being unpredictable and then it got worse. He specifically went after me the time I forgot to carry a big stick or shovel with me.