Ridgetop
Herd Master
If you are worried about Patrick not covering the does try a marking harness. If he is a standard dairy buck, it will fit since they are adjustable. I have tried a lot of them over the years and after selling up when the youngest 2 went to college, I had given away my old standbys 15 years ago, I had to buy new ones several years ago. I ordered new marking harnesses, from several 3 different suppliers, The first one would not stay on the sheep, the adjustable nylon webbing was narrow and kept working out of the adjustable buckles. The second one was the same, and then broke The third harness I ordered was like the first 2 and was unusable also even though we tied the ends of the straps together to prevent them working loose, By the end of the third day the ram ended up with the harness partially off and his foreleg was caught in it so he was hopping on 3 legs! Al these marking harnesses, different brands fro 3 major suppliers were made the same way. 1" thin nylon webbing with adjustable buckles. None of them stayed in place on the rams, even though they all had a good review. My old marking harnesses that I had given away 
were made of thicker and wider webbing and worked great all the years I used them.
Still in the search for a good marking harness I found the Matingmark harness. It is made n New Zealand or Australia. The selling feature was that instead of pinning in the crayon you just had to slide it in and it clipped in I didn't care about that as much as the basic fact, would it stay in place on the rams? There were several U tube videos
and the harness webbing looked to be wide enough so I bought one with several crayons It was not much more than the others and I had already spent a lot on the 3 other non-working harnesses.
The Matingmark harness was great. It stayed in place. The ram marked all the ewes just fine. Every 2 weeks I replace the crayons for a different color in order to show that the ewes have recycled and remarked. We didn't have to remove the harnesses to do it. Just unclipped the old crayon and snapped in the new one!
Replacing the crayon with a different color every 2-3 weeks helps me keep track of projected lambing dates. I don't field lamb since the coyote threat even with 3 Anatolians is so high. I need to keep track of lambing dates to move ewes into the jugs. (This is a personal preference rising from when we raised dairy goats, whose kids never had a chance to nurse even colostrum. I pasteurized and heat treated everything.)
Matingmark has an XL size for those huge Hamp and Suffolk rams but I have Dorpers and they shed their wool so I didn't need the XL. Most other brands of crayons will work in the harness too if you already have them like I did. A couple had a plastic lip that was too high for the cli on arrangement. I did drill one breast plate to take a crayon with a pin but no longer need that. I now order only the Matingmark crayons since I can get multiple packs on Amazon Prime, and they are the same or less $$ than other brands. They also come in Hot, Mild, and Cold temperature texture so you don't have the crayons melting uselessly down the ram's legs in summer. My Dorpers breed every 8 months so sometimes, like now, they are breeding in 100+ degree temps.
After reading this, I realize that it reads like an ad for Matingmark.
I don't have any stock in the company or work for it, but this is the best harness I have found on the market. I now have 3 of them since I have 3 rams, all in different breeding pens right now. Using breeding harnesses really cuts down on the work load. No need to check each ewe's udders or ligaments (I have18 bred ewes) constantly to figure out which ewes are due to lamb. Just write down the marking date(s) and then figure out the projected lambing/kidding dates and put those on the calendar. I love using marking harnesses. You never miss a breeding either as long s the ram has a usable crayon.
FYI: Another reason to replace the crayon every 2-3 weeks is that even if the crayon is not getting used by mounting ewes, it does wear down and get clogged with dirt and gravel when the ram lays down to cud and sleep. If you have have lush meadow pastures for your sheep it might last longer, I have dirt and scrub.
were made of thicker and wider webbing and worked great all the years I used them. Still in the search for a good marking harness I found the Matingmark harness. It is made n New Zealand or Australia. The selling feature was that instead of pinning in the crayon you just had to slide it in and it clipped in I didn't care about that as much as the basic fact, would it stay in place on the rams? There were several U tube videos
and the harness webbing looked to be wide enough so I bought one with several crayons It was not much more than the others and I had already spent a lot on the 3 other non-working harnesses. The Matingmark harness was great. It stayed in place. The ram marked all the ewes just fine. Every 2 weeks I replace the crayons for a different color in order to show that the ewes have recycled and remarked. We didn't have to remove the harnesses to do it. Just unclipped the old crayon and snapped in the new one!
Replacing the crayon with a different color every 2-3 weeks helps me keep track of projected lambing dates. I don't field lamb since the coyote threat even with 3 Anatolians is so high. I need to keep track of lambing dates to move ewes into the jugs. (This is a personal preference rising from when we raised dairy goats, whose kids never had a chance to nurse even colostrum. I pasteurized and heat treated everything.)Matingmark has an XL size for those huge Hamp and Suffolk rams but I have Dorpers and they shed their wool so I didn't need the XL. Most other brands of crayons will work in the harness too if you already have them like I did. A couple had a plastic lip that was too high for the cli on arrangement. I did drill one breast plate to take a crayon with a pin but no longer need that. I now order only the Matingmark crayons since I can get multiple packs on Amazon Prime, and they are the same or less $$ than other brands. They also come in Hot, Mild, and Cold temperature texture so you don't have the crayons melting uselessly down the ram's legs in summer. My Dorpers breed every 8 months so sometimes, like now, they are breeding in 100+ degree temps.
After reading this, I realize that it reads like an ad for Matingmark.
I don't have any stock in the company or work for it, but this is the best harness I have found on the market. I now have 3 of them since I have 3 rams, all in different breeding pens right now. Using breeding harnesses really cuts down on the work load. No need to check each ewe's udders or ligaments (I have18 bred ewes) constantly to figure out which ewes are due to lamb. Just write down the marking date(s) and then figure out the projected lambing/kidding dates and put those on the calendar. I love using marking harnesses. You never miss a breeding either as long s the ram has a usable crayon.FYI: Another reason to replace the crayon every 2-3 weeks is that even if the crayon is not getting used by mounting ewes, it does wear down and get clogged with dirt and gravel when the ram lays down to cud and sleep. If you have have lush meadow pastures for your sheep it might last longer, I have dirt and scrub.
