“Ram lookin’ over a four-leaf clover…”
Yesterday was a stunningly beautiful early autumn day in the foothills of the Siskiyou Mountains, a perfect day to photograph the rams leaving our farm for eight (so far) new homes in the next few weeks. Now I’m back inside with a couple of hundred photos and struck by how many of them show an otherwise stately British Soay ram shamelessly gorging on clover. We’ve read that sheep vasty prefer clover to ordinary pasture grass, but we have never tried to figure out whether this bit of sheep lore is true.
I’m not sure about scientific bases for much of anything; I rely on my resident geneticist for data. But having watched and photographed our rams in what for them was a new stretch of pasture, I can attest to their preference for clover, however many leaves it has.
All of which leads me to conclude that a gallery of silly pictures of rams chomping on clover is probably just as effective as using dignified pictures to illustrate the array of horn types, fleece colors, and body conformations about to be shared with fellow heritage sheep lovers from Massachusetts to South Carolina to Wisconsin to Kentucky and points in between. I hope you are outside enjoying the sunshine, but if you are stuck inside, have a look. As always, click on any picture to enlarge it.
Lewes bred for us and now heads to North Carolina to sire more very dark-fleeced British Soay lambs
Light phase Emsworth bred for us last year and now moves on to northern Wisconsin near my alma mater, Lawrence University
Yearling Glanton will trade our clover for the bluegrass of Kentucky in a couple of weeks
Our senior, tenured AI ram Emmett isn’t going anywhere, but he too loves his clover
Wethers like clover just as much as breeding rams do. Would you like to own this mellow lawnmower? Give me a call!
Yearling Ridsdale would love to move to a farm that needs a breeding ram or, better yet, our last starter flock still for sale at half price
Buckley has a short trip to his new home in Oregon after doing yeoman duty for us as one of our foundation AI rams
Yearling Birling can’t wait to breed in northern Oregon starting this fall
Sneak preview: if we have enough orders for 2016 lambs, light phase Sidley will get to breed. Tan lambs, anyone?
More sneak preview: virtually black Hastings may also get to breed this fall. Until then, he’s in clover
White-faced Upton is hoping he can pass on his white spotting genes this fall. Meanwhile, he just keeps on munching
I leave you with this fun photo of two rams vying for the Best Clover Eater award:
Holmsted (yellow tape) will arrive in Kentucky shortly after Ron Keener drops Sheldon (red tape) off in northern Wisconsin
For now …