[Blacksheep]

A week 

Zwartbles are an early maturing breed...

[Blinkers]

And have you got a date in mind for putting the rams in in the autumn?

First/second week September

[Blinkers]

Glad that the girls are doing well, and to hear that you now have some purebreds too! 

Bought two ewes and a lamb last year.   Had one absolutely stunning tup lamb this year - HUGE and all the right markings in all the right places.  Going to have a go at showing him this year ....... any tips on presentation for a Zwart would be much appreciated.  Also one passable gimmer and another gimmer which sadly has droopy ears  .

[VSS]

  Going to have a go at showing him this year ....... any tips on presentation for a Zwart would be much appreciated.

You have to keep clipping back the fleece on black sheep otherwise the ends get faded in the sun and go brown.

First/second week September

So you would need to get him done at the end of June latest? That might be pushing it a bit. If he had been an earlier born lamb you would have had more time to play with. I reckon your best bet is to ask your vet about it - they will be best placed to advise when he will be old enough to vasectomise.

[Blinkers]

  Going to have a go at showing him this year ....... any tips on presentation for a Zwart would be much appreciated.

You have to keep clipping back the fleece on black sheep otherwise the ends get faded in the sun and go brown.

First/second week September

So you would need to get him done at the end of June latest? That might be pushing it a bit. If he had been an earlier born lamb you would have had more time to play with. I reckon your best bet is to ask your vet about it - they will be best placed to advise when he will be old enough to vasectomise.

Very many thanks Dot - on both snippets of info  .

[Blacksheep]

Glad that the girls are doing well, and to hear that you now have some purebreds too! 

Bought two ewes and a lamb last year.   Had one absolutely stunning tup lamb this year - HUGE and all the right markings in all the right places.  Going to have a go at showing him this year ....... any tips on presentation for a Zwart would be much appreciated.  Also one passable gimmer and another gimmer which sadly has droopy ears  .

The tup sounds a smart lamb, will be fun to try showing .  As Dot says you need to trim out the bleached tips to give a smart blacker appearance, lots of carding too.  Obviously white bits get washed before the show. You can always practice trimming one of the ewe lambs first if you haven't trimmed sheep before.   Occasionally there are untrimmed classes then you don't need to worry about all the faffing with trimming!  Good to get them accustomed and happy with being haltered and led well beforehand so that they show themselves a bit better and hopefully standstill a bit better too.

[Blinkers]

Glad that the girls are doing well, and to hear that you now have some purebreds too! 

Bought two ewes and a lamb last year.   Had one absolutely stunning tup lamb this year - HUGE and all the right markings in all the right places.  Going to have a go at showing him this year ....... any tips on presentation for a Zwart would be much appreciated.  Also one passable gimmer and another gimmer which sadly has droopy ears  .

The tup sounds a smart lamb, will be fun to try showing .  As Dot says you need to trim out the bleached tips to give a smart blacker appearance, lots of carding too.  Obviously white bits get washed before the show. You can always practice trimming one of the ewe lambs first if you haven't trimmed sheep before.   Occasionally there are untrimmed classes then you don't need to worry about all the faffing with trimming!  Good to get them accustomed and happy with being haltered and led well beforehand so that they show themselves a bit better and hopefully standstill a bit better too.

Brilliant - thanks for that.   I do show my lovely Greyface Darts, but fortunately there is none of the titivating to have to do to them, just tidy 'em up a bit and wash any grubby bits, so this will be a tad more time consuming but I'll sure give him a go.  Never ever done any of that carding lark, so will have to practice and try and find a book or a Youtube demo  .   Probably best not to try and squeeze him throught the Drum Carder  .

[Pomme homme]

Vis a vis keeping the ram away from the ewes until you want him to go about his business, but keeping him close enough to ensure that all parties remain interested, would a river suffice? The field into which I will turn out my ewes is on the opposite side of the river to that in which Roger the Ram resides. The river is about 7 metres wide and the fields on either side are fenced with 0.8 metre stock proof fencing, a strand of barbed wire and an electric top wire (at 1 metre high). Is this likely to be effective in keeping them apart?