Mission Accomplished

Late summer grazing

So, I may have spoken too soon. Bill's gentle disposition has shifted into one a little more similar to his dad's, which I am hoping is simply a reaction to being separated from the ewes. I initially put little Obed the wether into the new suite with his dad, but after seeing how aggressive Bill was toward the wether I ended up pulling him out and leaving Bill alone in his new quarters yesterday afternoon. Sometimes I wonder if I am really cut out for this stuff...usually in those moments when things do not go well or as smoothly as I would have liked. Hearing young sheep cry for their mothers - or ewes whining because they cannot be with their lambs when they can hear and smell them - just breaks my heart; then I crack and do what I can to make them all happy.
I remember that years ago, a beautiful Jacob ram named Zvookie was not welcomed back into his flock in New Vineyard after he'd spent a few months at my farm breeding my ewes. One of the other rams head-butted him and did some internal damage, and poor Zvookie died from his injuries. When I saw Bill butting Obed into the fencing yesterday, I was afraid that the little guy would be hurt and so taking him out of the pen with Bill was a no-brainer for me. But, seeing Bill alone is hard and makes me sad (makes him mad, though). This, too, shall pass and everyone will be back in the same pasture soon enough. Until then, I'll remind myself that sometimes it's necessary to do things we don't want to in order to achieve the results we want. And, I'll hope that I can project that understanding onto my wonderful ram.