[Jacob-list] Catching Rams Part 2

[ranchrat]

For reasons beyond my understanding, my reply to Linda never made the
Jacob list.so I will resend it in three parts.maybe it was too big a
file?

Tara

Part 2 of 3

		-----Original Message-----
		From: Linda [mailto:patchworkfibers at windstream.net] 
		Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 2009 3:43 PM
		To: ranchrat
		Cc: jacob-list at jacobsheep.com
		Subject: Re: [Jacob-list] Catching Rams


		We get to know our sheep and can usually tell with a
visual when one needs a more hands on check.  

The Alberta Ag Specialists will not agree with you, nor will my vet.
Visual inspections are better than nothing, but by the time you see
outwards signs your Jacobs could well be on their way to being quite
sick, they have already had the potential to lose a lot of condition
before any potential illness slows them down.  I concur that body
language is a good indicator that something is wrong with your stock
(why is that ewe off by herself??), but there is better insurance in
placing your hands on your beasts daily.  Water intake is down (why?),
fat on the back is dwindling (broken tooth, worm load?), tender to touch
(swelling from a flesh injury?), a tick has lodged itself in the skin,
keds or lice are present.rolling up your sleeves daily and getting
sheepy ensures the shepherd is caring for their sheep. 

Uneducated non-sheep people will say things like, "sheep are really
delicate animals, and die just looking at them."  This comes from the
fact that it really does take quite a good kick to make a sheep look
outwardly SICK.   Sure a person who owns livestock and looks at them
everyday is going to see potential problems or illnesses, but there is
no replacement for hands on your livestock.  I won't change my mind
there.

Don't know if I've bored the list here before, but some years back,
quite a few now.I was looking at one of my rams, admiring him and noted
he had a slight "booger."  I HATE boogers (yeh, makes for an interesting
retired accountant that drives school bus to buy bird feed!!) and I
thought, "Sheep don't get boogers like that??"  So I reached down and
grabbed at it.not a booger (yes, you can put the smelling salts away
now!) but a stick!  Where he ever picked one up is beyond me as the ram
pastures are devoid of anything but heaps of grasses and other Jacob
friendly green foliage.  Maybe the wind blew a branch down, anyway, I
began pulling on the stick and it was the size & length of a large
drinking straw.yick!  Course some noxious flowing fluids quickly
followed and I headed to the house for a follow up antibiotic shot, but
can you imagine if this ram was one of those "park sheep" out in the
English country side for a year or so.  Poor beast must have lodged the
stick while grazing and lacking any appendages like fingers to pull it
out, he shoved it deeper and probably would have been found as a pile of
bones and rotted hide after the nice infection hit his grey matter.  The
stick in the nasal cavity would not have given anyone any idea why he
died and the scavenging "wolves" would probably have been blamed for his
demise.  Maybe your luck is better than mine, all I know is that I have
never regretted handling my livestock and find it much more comforting
pondering how many mishaps we've managed to avoid over this practice.  I
expect you also would have seen the booger since you visually inspect
your Jacobs daily.but what about the ones that tour their section in a 4
wheeler.how often do they run fence or check stock?

		While I do halter break my rams, I don't hand feed them.

Oh heavens NEVER EVER feed them from your hand.any livestock for that
matter.that is why I described in my post about using a "small nylon
bag" to hold the treat.  So people, when you decide not to be treating
your livestock and you walk up with your "hands" how do you signal to
your critters not to bombard you, run you over or right off your feet.
In winter, we have individual rubber pans if'n we decide to give out
grain treats and I leave the sheep in the barn until I have all the
rubber pans strategically placed out and about to cut down on fighting
and bullying.  Don't' know about the rest of you guys but getting run
over by a mob of woollies sure ain't my idea of a good time and I ain't
planning on removing my "hands" off my bod any time soon, so no HAND
FEEDING round these dem here parts.

We had a massive flood in 2005 (yeh, the year I decide "what could go
wrong by having June lambs".nothing past having to milk out evacuate
ewes to feed the lambs.oh my!!) and while we had everyone halter
trained, I quickly learnt that I did not have an individual "halter" for
each and ever single ruminant.I do now and hope never to be in the same
predicament again.  We have a trailer large enough with the ability to
segregate the stock for evacuation purposes, but I also have the ability
to run down the highway with everyone in tow, haltered up with a lead in
hand.  Another insurance policy done and paid for.

Jacob Sheep are being raised successfully by breeders who are as
individual as our Jacobs and who use a wide variety of management
techniques. 

You will find more characters raising Jacobs than your run of the mill
keepers of sheep, no fear there.  I am always amused at the vehicles
that swerve and almost crash while the occupants oogle our Jacobs in
their pastures.  One fellow was so intrigued, he came back on a bike but
had to dismount and walk past as he was going too fast to absorb all
that is here.LOL  That alone makes us keepers of Jacobs "individuals."

One thing I will not waver on is the definition of what being a shepherd
means to me.  I am not judge &/or jury on how others keep their sheep,
none of my business, but I may define who I call shepherd and who I do
not.  While both a shepherd and an owner of livestock will both have the
better interest of their sheep in mind (no value in livestock being
deadstock) only a "good" shepherd is the one that places their hands
upon their beast daily.  You detect many problems right away.  The well
being of Jacobs lies in the hands of those of us willing to get smelly
with the lanolin.   Otherwise, a person is just the legal owner of
livestock but that's my opinion.  

The Shepherd Psalm 23:  "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. .
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. . Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life:  and I will dwell in the house of
the Lord for ever." 

Which place would I rather be incarnated as a Jacob.  Send me to the
good shepherd's fold, because they make the extra effort to check my
health. We have livestock because I enjoy messing with them and
providing the best care I consider possible includes a daily hands on
regiment.

		END of Part 2 of 3


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