[OhLaLa]

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?

  

Thanks again for info.

[Fleecewife]

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.

[supplies for smallholders]

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 

[OhLaLa]

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!

  

[Hellybee]

We got webbing harnesses on ours with Nettex crayn clipped in the front of it,  we will change the colour every 2 weeks

[robate55]

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.

[ellisr]

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)

[OhLaLa]

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.

[humphreymctush]

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.