These are the two Shetland rams that are part of the flock.
This fellow’s name is Willow Garden Seasonal. (Willow Garden being is flock of origin). He is the sire of all the lambs in my Shetland flock. I think he looks quite majestic. So far he’s been semi-friendly towards me. He’ll come up to with in a few feet and ‘almost’ sniff my outstretched hand, but not quite.
And this guy is Willow Garden DaVinci. He has a Holstein cow kind of look about him. He will be bred to Seasonal’s daughters in the (late) fall.
I’m still chuckling about the size of Shetland sheep. These guys weigh about 1/3 of the bigger Columbia rams I’ve had over the years. (100+ lbs vs 300 – 350 lbs).
If you notice DaVinci’s tail – it is short. That’s a trait of the breed. So the tails don’t need docking. I always hated tail docking. I did it at birth while the lambs still had hormones in action that allow them to manage the pain of being born. I used a special elastic ring that you place between two vertebrae of the tail. It basically cuts off circulation and the tail withers and sloughs off in a few weeks.
It’s not hard to do, and long tails can be problematic with manure matting and fly strike. But I just don’t like removing parts!
Oh, gosh, a docking tale (tail?) for you; the ones we use just happen to be green, and my husband keeps them in the freezer. One day our son (around 2-3 at the time) came into the bedroom chewing something. When I asked him what it was, he replied “green Cheerios”. Ack! Thank heavens it was just one, whew!
I totally agree about not removing parts, so I am glad my husband and our sons (almost 19 and 17 now) are the ones who do it now.
I think the first ones I used were green and I could never find one if I dropped it in the lambing paddocks. Orange was a big improvement. But best of of all is not needing them!