The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: OhLaLa on September 24, 2010, 12:46:14 pm
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I've read that instead of raddling a ram using a harness, the colourant can be mixed to form a paste which is spread under the ram, my questions are:
Has anyone done this?
What form of colourant (only the 'crayons' in my local stockist, can these be mixed down?)
Mixed with what?
Best position underneath on ram to apply?
:sheep: :-\
Thanks again for info.
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We have never bothered. Finding a suitable raddle colour for black sheep is a problem but also we judge when they will lamb at the other end ie in April. We haven't had any which haven't lambed and I don't want my fleeces covered with crayon. If you have a lot and will be bringing them in in batches to lamb there would be more need.
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Hi,
we use harnesses and crayons, then its easy to change the colour so you know who is "done" early and who is "Done" later - currently 1/2 our flock are running round the field with green back ends from the green crayon.
I can only presume they are the pretty ones and the remaining 1/2 are the ugly ones the ram will get round to later ;D ;D ;D
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Found the info I needed, here it is:
'Raddle is a colouring agent smeared on the ram’s lower chest between his front legs. It’s usually sold as a powder, which can be mixed with a little vegetable oil'.
I've seen the tubs for sale online, so, I may take this route. I think getting the goo on him will be just as easy/difficult (I'm thinking easier) as trying to get a harness on him, but without the worry of him getting rubbed or caught up on something in it.
Hope I remember to put the latex gloves on first, otherwise I'll be stained up to my elbow and I won't half get some funny looks doing the school run!
:sheep: ;D
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We got webbing harnesses on ours with Nettex crayn clipped in the front of it, we will change the colour every 2 weeks :)
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We put a harness on ours last year very inexpertly & he managed to rub it & make himself sore so we left it off later. It was also difficult to see on the black wool as mentioned.
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My ram riggled out of his harness doesn't matter how tight we put it so I just got the crayon and rubbed it thickly on his breast and it worked well just had to top it up every few days and changed the colour after 2 weeks (start with a lighter colour then dark)
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Ah-ha! Thanks Ellisr, I'm going to try your method. I can get the crayons easily down at the local supplier in multipacks of colours (so no p+p to pay).
Start with a light colour, doh :-[ - so obvious, but I never thought of that, so thanks for that tip too.
Will let you know how he gets on.
Best wishes.
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I have always used a harness and frequently change the colour. The reason is that it minimises the time that each ewe is in the lambing shed because I know the order in which they will lamb. To help me remember I do the colours in rainbow order starting with yellow because its lightest and ending in red because its the strongest. I change the crayon by putting a bucket of food down which the ram eats while I do it. If your ram is not tame enough you will have to gather the whole flock each time. I used to change it each week but now I tend to change it each time 6 or so ewes have been marked irrespective of the time period. The harness will need a bit of tightening and adjusting and you need to check its not making him sore.