A New Ram (and crutching too)
This afternoon we had the sheep crutched. Plus we also changed the covers on Ebony and Fluffy (or Pinky - I can't tell which is which now). Of course the usual happened: We ran around the paddock for ages trying to get them to go through the gate and in the end they followed me in with a bucket of food. I got them to follow me into the corral and then the shed when I first went out there but they immediately went back into the paddock before I could run around and close the gate and put up the wooden railings. My mistake was that I didn't give them some sheep pellets. I didn't think it would work since the paddock is knee high in grass. Never under estimate the power of 'special' food. After all the fuss in the end it took about 15 minutes and they were penned up ready for the shearer.
We also have a new addition to the flock - a ram. I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew. He seemed quite agitated when we first put him in the paddock and actually charged at the fence trying to escape cutting himself, but he should soon calm down (I hope). He is a good quality ram, however he had recently been unwell and so wasn't as saleable as he could have been. Because I want to keep his progeny from my three merinos I will only keep him for two seasons and will have to sell him when his first daughters are of breeding age (or keep them separate - I'll work that out when the time comes). We haven't named him yet and I don't know if we will since he is temporary. But Blackie only lasted three weeks, so you never know. As you can see in the top photo we put a cover on him, which seems a touch too big, but his wool will bulk it out after a while. In the bottom photo he is the sheep in the distance. My girls don't mind me standing among them if I'm still, but understandably he reacted like a normal sheep.