Draco the ram has arrived. He is on loan for a couple of months and seems to have settled in well. We are now contentedly sitting on the couch contemplating the eventful day and our various aches and pains.
This morning Draco was roaming freely across 10 fenceless acres with a following of 10 ewes. We were warned that getting him into the trailer to bring him away would be a challenge and half way through the morning we were close to giving up. The biggest hurdle was the recently excavated, grassless paddock that stood between the loading race and the lush pastures the sheep much preferred. 2 hours and several uphill sprints later, hearts racing, breathing laboured, we finally managed to persuade them all to enter the race. Separating Draco off revealed his placid nature and then, came the fun. Having “captured” the ewes it seemed like a good time to give them some drench medicine. The wrestling match that followed saw Colin thrown to the ground in a double leg snatch which left him on his back in the mud, legs and arms flailing in the air. The sheep responsible then followed up with a move that a WWF wrestler would have been proud of, jumping in the air and planting itself on top of him leaving him winded and wounded while it lay cushioned by him, legs and arms pumping victoriously in the air. The watching crowd including myself had watched on, our only contribution being the helpful suggestion we shouted several time, “let the sheep go.”
Badly bruised and grazed Col is making a good recovery and Draco is making his acquaintances with Hermione, Ginny, Lily and Lavender our ewes. We hope our efforts will result in the arrival of lambs come spring by which time we should have caught our breath.
This morning Draco was roaming freely across 10 fenceless acres with a following of 10 ewes. We were warned that getting him into the trailer to bring him away would be a challenge and half way through the morning we were close to giving up. The biggest hurdle was the recently excavated, grassless paddock that stood between the loading race and the lush pastures the sheep much preferred. 2 hours and several uphill sprints later, hearts racing, breathing laboured, we finally managed to persuade them all to enter the race. Separating Draco off revealed his placid nature and then, came the fun. Having “captured” the ewes it seemed like a good time to give them some drench medicine. The wrestling match that followed saw Colin thrown to the ground in a double leg snatch which left him on his back in the mud, legs and arms flailing in the air. The sheep responsible then followed up with a move that a WWF wrestler would have been proud of, jumping in the air and planting itself on top of him leaving him winded and wounded while it lay cushioned by him, legs and arms pumping victoriously in the air. The watching crowd including myself had watched on, our only contribution being the helpful suggestion we shouted several time, “let the sheep go.”
Badly bruised and grazed Col is making a good recovery and Draco is making his acquaintances with Hermione, Ginny, Lily and Lavender our ewes. We hope our efforts will result in the arrival of lambs come spring by which time we should have caught our breath.