A rutting ram means he is in the mood to breed his ewes. The rams can be quite determined and even dangerous. They do not want anyone to come between them and the females. This ram, Walter, a pure bred Cotswold ram, is very tame and quiet normally and in rut, he is approachable and pettable, though I would not turn my back to him unwittingly, just in case. A ram is a ram, after all.
Walter has been with the girls for almost two months now. Eric, the Icelandic ram broke the fence down and he and the two Icelandic ewes joined Walter's flock 4 weeks after Walter was introduced. This could have resulted in absolute disaster with rams fighting to the death, but these two are gentle and calm and did not fight at all, thank goodness. I did not repair the fence quickly enough to separate the rams, so there might be some cross breeding that is unwanted. Eric is a small Icelandic and although he has a beautiful coat, Icelandic lambs are small and slower growing than the big meat lambs. Cotswolds were bred for meat and a large sheep, but they also have sought after wool. It is a luster wool without kemp, and falls in ringlet curls. Crafters love Cotswold wool for projects such as Santa beards and doll's hair. The Cotswold cross lambs from last year are much larger than the Icelandics and since we are in meat country, they would bring a premium dollar when sold. The Icelandics will take 2 years to mature and even then, they will never be as large as a meat sheep, however; their hardiness, parasite resistance and lovely wool give them an edge for a specialized market.
We won't know until May and June which ram bred the ewes. Hopefully Walter will have done his job before Eric broke down the fence. Wait and see.
Walter has been with the girls for almost two months now. Eric, the Icelandic ram broke the fence down and he and the two Icelandic ewes joined Walter's flock 4 weeks after Walter was introduced. This could have resulted in absolute disaster with rams fighting to the death, but these two are gentle and calm and did not fight at all, thank goodness. I did not repair the fence quickly enough to separate the rams, so there might be some cross breeding that is unwanted. Eric is a small Icelandic and although he has a beautiful coat, Icelandic lambs are small and slower growing than the big meat lambs. Cotswolds were bred for meat and a large sheep, but they also have sought after wool. It is a luster wool without kemp, and falls in ringlet curls. Crafters love Cotswold wool for projects such as Santa beards and doll's hair. The Cotswold cross lambs from last year are much larger than the Icelandics and since we are in meat country, they would bring a premium dollar when sold. The Icelandics will take 2 years to mature and even then, they will never be as large as a meat sheep, however; their hardiness, parasite resistance and lovely wool give them an edge for a specialized market.
We won't know until May and June which ram bred the ewes. Hopefully Walter will have done his job before Eric broke down the fence. Wait and see.
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