Bye, bye Leo and hello, Nemo

Diary

Posted: Friday 25 May, 2012

by Rosemary at 9:24pm in Sheep 2 comments Comments closed

It's been all change on the tup front this last couple of weeks.

Leo (Fetternear Lionheart) has been our fabulous tup for two years, but as his daughters are coming into the breeding flock this year, we had to find a new home for him. He's only three this year and a healthy, happy boy who throws great lambs, so we hoped we could find him a good home privately.

Leo's farewell tea Leo having his farewell tea

As it turned out, our vet and his wife bought a smallholding last autumn and lambed 12 Mule ewe lambs this spring. Since they had bought the ewes in lamb, they didn't have a tup and they took a shine to the polar bear look-alike that is Leo.

So yesterday, Leo went off to his new home, with his little bag of Clover tup mix. I got a text from Alistair today to say he'd settled fine and was now out grazing in a little field next to the ewes and lambs. Best bit is that Alistair doesn't retain any ewe lambs for breeding, so Leo (if he plays his cards right) should have a long and settled life.

Leo's replacement is Lingah Nemo. Nemo's a 2010 born tup, coloured. I bought him from a local couple who are concentrating on their pedigree Highland cattle. They bought Nemo at the Carlisle show and sale, where he was champion. He's a very handsome chap, good natured and halter trained.

Lingah Nemo

We kept him in for a week, while he was wormed, fluked and then worm tested but now he's out with the ponies and Dickie, who seems quite happy with his new buddy. I'm planning to take him to a couple of local shows, if I can get organised. He's being shorn tomorrow, so we're asking for an exceptionally good style for him.