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
A number of regular and usually supportive readers, including my brother Jim, have expressed skepticism here and elsewhere about the notion of “jugging” described in an earlier post, and where it fits in the greater scheme of things in our Soay sheep world. One observer questioned the very existence of jugging, suggesting in polite tones that perhaps I made […]
Quite by accident, I found myself a couple of days ago in the Maternity Ward with my camera just as Sandpiper started to lamb. Our first year as shepherds I dutifully photographed every birth, but no more. A person can get worked up about a still shot of an amniotic-sac-covered lamb just so many times […]
![Let the [Soay sheep] Games Begin!](http://priscilla.saltmarshranch.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/LambHaystack040407-012-Copy-1-untitled1000-450x300.jpg "Let the [Soay sheep] Games Begin!")
Having now dithered for a full two weeks trying to figure out a way to introduce our lambs, I have given up on the notion of an orderly, grown-up recitation of the lambs as they arrive, complete with mini-pedigree and a clever phrase about each one. My downfall was watching the little woolies cavorting about […]
Now comes the fun part, working with our lambs instead of endlessly talking about them! I already used up the “every picture tells a story” line, so let’s just say one of our cooperative new lambs and my trusty digital camera will show you how we work our newborns. Remember the Lambing Kit? As soon as our first lamb arrived, the […]
Several readers kindly have inquired after the progress of our pregnant Soay sheep Venus and her broken leg. After we got her home on Friday and into the tiny cubicle pictured in my earlier post, we pretty much left her alone, thinking complete rest would be best, and we did not want to give her a chance […]
Just when we thought we could relax and wait for lambing to begin, Steve came back to the house looking agitated and clearly worried. He discovered one of our pregnant ewes, Venus, in dire straits in the Maternity Ward. Here’s his report: “When I first saw Venus out of the corner of my eye, I thought […]