We usually take out our tup lambs from the ewe group in mid- August, when they are between 4 1/2 and 5 months old. Our oldest tup lamb this year is now 4 months and very well grown. This morning I came out to see him chasing round and mounting (with intent) my oldest ewe, Jezebel, who is 16 years old and was not bred this year (she had twins last year so this year she is resting). He had clearly been chasing her for a while as she was in a state, foaming at the mouth and sides heaving.
We quickly rounded up the whole lot, extracted all the tup lambs and put them across the road next to, but not in with, the older males - a bit young still to be pestered by randy tups, but Ace, the culprit, deserves everything he gets
. It's good to know he's 'ready to work' and 'keen to work', but I am upset about my poor Jez, who is a very special old lady.
I gave her rehydration mixture with extra glucose, until she spat it back at me, then we put her somewhere cool to rest (yes, the sun is shining here, unusually). She refused a Digestive, which is unheard of. Half an hour later she looked brighter-eyed and a friend had come to sit with her, so
for Jez. And
we don't have a couple of little Hogmanay surprises.
The point of this is that my sheep are Hebrideans, ie Primitives which have the reputation of being positive seasonal breeders - not today