What happens when most of your ewes get bred in one week?
Pandemonium. This year I tracked every time Mr. Seven marked the ewes on my Excel spreadsheet. The idea is to put paint on his chest, and it leaves a mark on the ewe’s rump when they get busy. The shepherd notes the date and waits for the lamb to arrive 150 days later. I was told that once a ram has bred all the ewes, he sits around acting bored because the ewes won’t let him near them. So I was very disappointed when I saw him mark them once, twice, three times. I resolved to accept whatever I got because it was too late to change rams. Then I noticed ewes bagging up much too early to have late-March or April due dates. I started backing up delivery dates to previous markings. Then last week, the babies started coming. And […]