Horn trim

when and how to trim tight horns and broken horns

When to trim Soay ram horns: a pictorial example

When to trim Soay ram horns: a pictorial example

Of the hundreds of questions we’ve been asked over the last 13 years of raising heritage sheep, none is as vexing as “How will I know whether I need to trim a ram’s horns and do I really need to trim his horns?” It’s a rare issue, but when it arises, it matters. A horn […]

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When to trim Soay ram horns and when to leave them alone: a photo essay

When to trim Soay ram horns and when to leave them alone: a photo essay

It’s been a quiet week at Saltmarsh Ranch, at least compared to the recent weeks of frantic downsizing. Temperatures have fallen to normal autumn levels and the fire danger level was reduced from “extreme” to “high,” still scary but a whole lot better than it was all summer. The sheep are making one more pass […]

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Soay Sheep Horns, Part 2: When to trim or not trim

Soay Sheep Horns, Part 2: When to trim or not trim

In my last post, I talked about how sheep horns grow and what shapes they can take, and I touched on the issue of when horns need to be cut for health reasons.  Here I will walk you through a more detailed horn evaluation of two rams and then provide a pictorial demonstration of how […]

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Soay Sheep Horns, Part 1: How they grow and what they look like

Soay Sheep Horns, Part 1: How they grow and what they look like

Soay sheep horns come in all sizes and shapes. The rams may have tightly spiraled horns; thick horns of varying diameters; horns tilted at an angle before turning back in a corkscrew (or remaining in a flat plane); open, wide-angled spirals in the shape of a Celtic “M”; and everything in between. There’s more: the spiral […]

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