'Hello' from a novice shepherdess in TX

[Childwanderer]

Greetings, BackYardHerds community!
I have two ewes and an 11 month-old ram, accompanied by a dog-despising guard donkey and a couple of farm cats. I've had my herd since September, but have been working with wool for several years. I look forward to picking the brains of the more experienced farmers and herdsmen here and getting to know everyone.

 

[TAH]

Welcome!

Just to let you know we all love pictures!

@luvmypets and @secuono work with wool!

 

[Childwanderer]

Thanks! Here they are right after their arrival at our place. They've gained wool since then and the pretty ewe with her head up lost the curly bit off the end of her larger scur, not to mention that they are now sopping wet from the miserable rain we're getting, but this is what they look like on a good day.

 

[Childwanderer]

To explain the horn loss, we were trying to build a temporary sun-shade out of scrap wood and a corner support apparently blew over in the wind and cuffed her. The horn stub was bloody and ugly, but she seemed otherwise unfazed and she recovered quickly. (We are now using a much safer pvc structure that's a bit finicky but portable and functioning.)

 

[RoahT]

Welcome to BYH!! I have about the same size of herd as you and I also love working with wool! And I've always thought it would be so neat to have a guard donkey! What breed of sheep do you have? From what I can see in the picture, your farm looks beautiful!

 

[Childwanderer]

They are Gulf Coast Natives.

 

[RoahT]

Cool!!

 

[Childwanderer]

With wintering grass and rainy, foggy, mud, the farm doesn't seem so beautiful right now! XD Be careful with guard donkeys. Ringo is delightfully friendly with us humans (my little brother rubs his ears and sits on him for fun), and suitably aggressive towards dogs (we have no working dogs and quite a number of free-running dogs in the neighberhood), but he has been known to chase our ram when he gets bored, is a chronic tent destroyer, and is suspect number 1 wanted for questioning in the matter of Cherry's missing eartag and the bloody herbivore-shaped toothmarks in the ram's ear.

 

[secuono]

Welcome!

 

[Childwanderer]

Thanks!