DORSET SHEEP: THE RAM, READY TO PLAY THE FIELD…

Sheep supposedly have peaceful, grazey lives. Counting them is allegedly soporific. But in reality they lead busy and productive lives. No sooner do they lamb than it’s time for the circle of life to begin again for them. In the evening sunshine the field gate swings open. A truck’s catch is slipped. Enter the ram, harnessed for action to mark his conquests and raring to go… 

Some photos were taken after the ram had been investigating the 7 ewes in the field rather closely. Two had lambed, 5 were pregnant. The ram is demonstrating a FLEHMEN RESPONSE – see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flehmen_response which explains it better than I can, and with a particular reference to sheep.

THE FLEHMEN RESPONSE

‘SHEEP MAY SAFELY GRAZE…’: PASTORAL DORSET

For six years we had our neighbour’s 3 alpacas in our paddock. Advantages: they mowed the grass and were decorative. Drawbacks: they caused a lot of damage by digging and from their peculiarly toxic waste; and were annoyingly passive / aggressive. So we moved them off, spent last winter filling in all the holes with a ton of topsoil and re-seeding, followed by a programme of regular harrowing, mowing and rolling to make the field ready for our son’s wedding on midsummer’s day (where we had our own reception a few years decades ago).

Now what? The answer is: sheep. Peaceful, munching grazers with no obvious drawbacks. A young farmer in the village has put 7 pregnant Poll Dorset sheep in the paddock. Result: pastoral scenes, evenly cropped grass, and a damage-free field – with pre-Christmas lambs in prospect. 

The Dorset breed of sheep comes in both poll and horn varieties. Here are specimens of each kind photographed at a recent show in Dorset. The breed is hardy (as befits Hardy country), and unusually they can lamb 3 times over the course of 2 years, making them a productive option for a young farmer building up his flock.