Growing Old Disgracefully

Dear sweet  César, sometimes you meet an animal with a character that just connects. César is one of those characters. The passage of time has not been kind to him. His horns, brittle and weathered have not withstood the vagaries of the other rams and at the head there is little other than the main core to hold them on.He no longer holds the position of top ram and spends most of his time avoiding getting into "discussion" with the younger rams. Perhaps more difficult to deal with is the nagging problem of arthritis in a front leg. This limits his mobility at a time when he has the potential to be even more of a target from the other rams. His dentition isn't what it was and whilst he can maintain his weight in the summer he finds the winter harder to cope with. This winter has been hard on him. However he deserves a retirement as long as it is possible to keep the arthritis manageably under control, I think its safe to say he is comfortable.  Once the summer has faded he will be going to pastures new, he will no longer be part of the bachelor group and he will have the rare priviledge of an exclusive set of his own girls. No longer will he have to compete with the other rams he will be back to a position of top dog a position he will be allowed to maintain as long as the spirit is willing. And yes I expect there will be some "hows your father".......... there is life in the old dog yet;-)

Insolite

Colour variation can be the result of many factors. Pigment changes have been attributed to mineral imbalance, certain deficiences will result in changes visible  in fleece or hair. It is well documented that sheep can show seasonal colour changes related to daylight length and hormonal influence. Other colour variants are as a direct result of mutations in the genetic coding. 

It is easy  to view these colour variations as mere surface changes, benign changes that can provide the fancier with a pleasing effect. The reasons behind the colour change can  however sometimes be  due to real and potentially harmful biological change. A mineral imbalance induced colour change is an indicator that the imbalance is having a deleterious effect on the body's systems. Genetic mutations are a fact of life and renewal of life but those changes so sort after by the collector of the rare and unusual may come with a heavy price.

The merle gene in dogs is known to have seriously debilitating and potentially lethal characteristics in homozygous animals. The lethal white gene known in horses produces foals that rarely live beyond a few hours. There are colour genetics changes in all species that come with lifelong or life limiting effects. The view that colour change is only on the outside is an incorrect one. The genetic changes that result in colour change may come through a number of different pathways affecting a number of different body systems but for the affected individual there is no cure. In the sheep one gene identified is the lethal roan LINK This paper discusses both the external and internal changes in a graphically illustrated discussion ( there are pictures of dissection).

This ewe was born a black lamb with no apparent colour change, is the colour change a vitiligo type of disorder or something else?  Should I breed from her? I would need a good reason and one that is not related to her colour change.

The Wedding Party

It isn't hard to see how the tradition of confetti at weddings may have come about. The apple tree has excelled itself this year. The stag party is gathered underneath for a bit of male bonding - no changes there then either.

It has been one of those weeks I'd rather forget , I've seen loads of photos I wanted to take and topics to cover but not enough time to think, let alone stop to ruminate on, next week.

Picture This

Pasture Management 2013

The practice of shredding oaks is a familiar one in these parts. A time honored tradition of managing the oaks on a seven year rotation to provide firewood. I admit I still find it shocking to treat an oak tree in this way. Like it or not, in some fashion or another  we all manage the landscape. Finding a balance is always a trade-off  and sometimes the choices we make and their effects may not always seem obvious.

Year two of raising the crown on this oak tree, it doesn't seem too shocking and the hazel and twisted willow are filling in the shade around it quite nicely. I think everyone is happy with the result. Unfortunately the mirabel planted in the foreground never took off and this years autumn planting will include a replacement fruit tree.

All of the trees seen  here have grown since the property was bought, the intention has been to consider not just the sheep but the eco-system as a whole. This isn't easy nor would I consider my efforts a success but a learning curve. I have learnt providing shade, additional forage and a wind break for the sheep can go hand in hand with increasing diversity and offering a variety of habitats of interest to wildlife.

This little fella was found trucking through one of the paddocks the other day. I was alerted by the sheeps expression ( which was a picture!). The hedgehogs diet is varied but includes insects and slugs amongst other  delicacies. It requires areas of undisturbed vegetation  for hibernation as well as a plentiful supply of tasty morsels to eat. Barren monoculture and windswept pastures do not offer it any protection or succour.

From the macro-management of the pasture by ensuring there is enough variety in habitat to offer not just sheep but wildlife a welcome spot to micro-management and such things as worming, your choices will affect how hospitable your pastures are.

Sheep droppings freshly munched by a small army of dung beetles. Practically unseen unless you catch them on a damp and still morning they will quickly and silently devour a field full of droppings but it is worth considering that your choice of wormer may damage this part of the ecosystem. The chain from the smallest invertebrate up to the mightly oak becomes disrupted. I do use wormers such as ivomectin which are considered to be a threat to insects such as dung beettles but I use them only when the alternatives available are not an option. I also  regularly check for activity of dungbeetles and the like to ensure that there is some balance even on the smallest scale.

The cattery garden this morning, more intensively managed perhaps but the apples trees are coming into bloom, the garden is alive with the hum of insects and the sheep will reap the benefit of all those apples in the autumn.

Heartbreaker!

Gotcha!

Getting a decent picture of this lamb is IMPOSSIBLE! However she is as pretty as a picture even if I have only been able to catch her standing  in her own shadow!

Looong Week!

It has been a very long week suffice to say somethings have had to go on the back burner, just enough time for one quick photo of the lambs

Lamb Fix

Petitsax

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lumix

           

"S'ok Its Lodicia!"

The sheep are here for a purpose. Decorative as they can be....sometimes, the sheep do basically all the mowing. The one place where the sheep don't go is the ornamental part of the cattery garden which is planted with lots of shrubs and flowering plants potentially fatal and also planted to please the eye.  OK so its a work in progress......... every now and then there is a raid on the garden especially when  the lawn has grown a little long. At these times a shout goes out  "The sheep are in the cattery!" When this happens and its usually the lambs that get in, it can be a merry dance to get the lambs back in the right place and all hands are needed for this task. The lambs seem to delight in playing  runaround and have no intention of going back behind bars.  Recently whilst distracted moving a ewe and lamb a gate to the cattery was inadvertantly left open. The adult sheep have no real inclination to go it alone and venture into territory unknown, that is except for Lodicia.  Since her first day here she has shown a notable different character and we enjoy her independant nature. The shout went out "theres a sheep in the cattery garden.................its OK its Lodicia!" Heavily pregnant, enjoying the good weather and lush grass who could deny her sometime spent in the garden.

You go girl!

Fotogenix

This years lambs are coming on nicely

Harmonix

Yesterday the first ewe lamb of the year was born. Like all young ladies she is a little more discrete about showing off in front of the camera and so far this is the best shot I have of her.  Still not a bad life snoozing in the sunshine, maybe she'll decide to pose nicely later...

Mouton d'Ouessant or Mouton d'Ouessant?

LINK Recently the press featured the introduction of Ouessant sheep to an area of Paris in an experiment to see if they could be considered useful for grazing grassed areas instead of using lawn mowers. The Ouessant sheeps notoriety as an eco-friendly lawnmower has not gone unnoticed. It was disappointing then that many of the press articles featured not pictures of the Mouton d'Ouessant breed of sheep but sheep from the island of Ouessant - Moutons d'Ouessant. Is there a difference?

The breed name of Mouton d'Ouessant is a recent appellation and  considered to have been first published in a text from Les Races Ovines Francaises in 1950. Even at that point the sheep on the island no longer represented those that gave birth to the breeds name. The name was a reference to the islands past association with large numbers of small black sheep and was coined to differentiate between  the smallest and most primitive sheep of the region and those that were  larger and heavier and particularly those that were known laterly as Les Moutons des Landes de Bretagne.


Even when the breeds name and standard was formalised  it was a breed whose reference was to a period in the regions history  and not to the present day. This historical reference  is one of the main tenants  of the breed, an immutable association with a period of time  upon which the breed name  has been built.

The sheep on the island today of which numbers are dwindling still have a tie to the past for the islanders.  A video from this years "Foire aux moutons" LINK in which islanders reflect on the potential loss of a tradition.

The two Moutons d'Ouessant each have  in their own distinct way  links with tradition and history and each represents a different chapter in the same book. 

Morning Glory

Mornings bring with them......Sleepy heads

Breakfast

and lambs!......................... meet  Minimax:-)

And Then There Were Two

Lambs at last!!

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

I Spy With My Little Eye

This very battered old pair of binoculars  have huge sentimental value for me but that is another story. Suffice to say as this is a sheepy blog there is a sheepy tale to them as well as their ancient history. They are also harbingers of good news!! Yes we have finally started lambing here and when you have very shy ewes it is best to monitor their progress at a distance. Handy then that I have a pair of binoculars just right for the purpose:-)

The Ouessant Goes Worldwide

A delightful report from the New York Times LINK on the municipal project overseen by the Mayor of Paris to introduce Ouessant sheep to some of the green spaces in the city for a spot of "Ecopaturage". it seems the world is fascinated by these tiny black sheep - what took them so long to catch on;-) .

For me its more like the Ouessant sheep is returning full circle to its former role. After all they did used to graze the lawns of Paris in another century and at another time, why not bring them back.

Brief Interlude

Ladies and gentlemen for your delectation and delight whilst we are still waiting......Ti'beau. When I looked at this photo the one thing that struck me was how his horns and cravat framed his face.  A  kind soul and a ram whose maturity only adds to his charm.

Bigoudène - chouette

Hasnie - humongous

Easter Lambs!

I wish!! I will have to content myself with pictures from last year as having spoken to the girls this morning none of them is in any hurry to produce lambs!
Ah Well the lambs are probably better off warm and snuggly inside rather  than experiencing the  cold nights even if the days are sunny and warm..ish.
Pic of primroses taken yesterday morning at least they are on time.