Welcome to The Chronicles. I hope you will enjoy my posts about the joys of raising the oldest breed of sheep in the world -- the always intriguing, easy-to-raise Soay sheep. With few exceptions, posts contain what I hope is useful information interspersed with a bit of whimsy. Feel free to comment on anything you find here. If you want to send me a private message, that's okay, too. Send your note to the address on the "contact us" page of our main website (***saltmarshranch-dot-com). Meanwhile, enjoy The Soay Sheep Chronicles! Priscilla
During an otherwise calm start to lambing, we were hit with a stark reminder that no matter how self-reliant our Soay sheep may be, we still must be prepared to intervene when, rarely, the need arises. This story takes a while to relate. Please bear with me. Setting the stage: virtually every description of Soay […]
With lambing fast upon us, we are reminded of a lively conversation on one of the Soay “chatlists” some time ago about what kind of bedding to put in the jugs, the lambing stalls, or whatever enclosed shelter areas are designated for lambing. Here’s one topic that is really easy to deal with, but worth […]
Not quite, but we know it won’t be long, because our Soay rams are calming down and everyone’s horns — ewes and rams alike — have started growing again. We put our breeding groups together later this year so we are just now thinking about returning the rams to the Bull Pen. I must say it’s […]
Several readers have commented on the notion of “normal” Soay sheep temperature mentioned in the recent post about using temperature to diagnose problems in Soay sheep, specifically, whether there is any difference for Soay sheep because of their small size. As all Soay breeders know, a lot of lore about the bigger varieties of sheep […]
There is no more reliable way to start diagnosing a failing lamb, a sick Soay of any age, or shock from injury, than to take the animal’s temperature. Almost without fail, if the temperature is normal, any listlessness, limping or other indication of a problem will be structural (e.g., rock in foot, temporary diarrhea caused […]
Far be it from me to presume to know, actually, but I do know their shepherds see all sorts of lines and angles and curves in everyday objects that can delight the eye and provide an additional layer of pleasure to what sometimes feels like pretty humdrum stuff — feeding, watering, filling the mineral feeders. […]