Friday, April 18, 2008

Good Thing I'm Getting a Livestock Guardian Dog

After a night of unbridled gluttony, grazing on the lawn, the rams take a break to relax and digest this morning.

Nicholai:
Taj:
Preston & Freyr:

As you can see, it's hard to relax. The rams lead a life of constant peril, and always have to be on the lookout for dangerous predators like mountain lions:

And wolves:

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow: Nicholai's horns are spectacular! Do they every "stop" growing? hmmm....good thing you caught those mountain lions & wolves on camera! And great photos of Char's little one - he is gorgeous! Wonderfully original names for the little lambs too!

Nancy Chase said...

No, the horns keep on growing through the sheep's whole life, although they do seem to grow faster when they are young. Nicholai is 5 years old now, so with luck, he could have another 5 years still to go!

You don't see huge horns so much because with so many new, promising ram lambs being born every year, it takes a really special ram for the shepherd to keep him as a breeder for his whole natural life span.

With Nicholai's excellent heat and parasite resistance and fantastic temperament, I think he's earned his right to be safe from ever having to worry about becoming stew meat or sausage.

Rhea said...

Amazing horns on those rams. You have some scary mountain lions and wild wolves out there. hehe

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful peaceable kingdom you have!

Amy said...

Wow! Look at that set of horns on Nicholai! How far will they spiral? Do sheep horns grow constantly or do they reach a certain length, then quit? Your rams all look very healthy and content, except for having to watch out for all those vicious predators! That wolf is especially terrifying!

Amy said...

OOPS! Please forgive the repeated question. I see that you already answered the question about sheep horns above. Boy, do I feel "sheepish". Har.