Looking Back. And Ahead.

One of my favorite pictures ever. By Lori Schafer

The Babydolls on the day they arrived

It was about this time of year, almost ten years ago now, that I got my first sheep. Faith, Hope and Charity were Jacobs and scheduled to be slaughtered unless someone took them in. The Amazing Tony Elliott of Snug Harbor Farm knew that I had been thinking about getting sheep and knew I was a softie who would definitely want to help when I heard the story behind these sheep. They taught me so much about raising and caring for sheep - not easy lessons and not easily learned, but all important and very necessary events.  I lost track of how many lambs were born on the Salty Ewe back in those days; there were many after the first tragic year. The Jacob lambs are incredibly cute with those spots, and the horns are fun to watch grow as well.

It was the horns and the sheer size of the breed that made me start thinking about downsizing to miniature sheep. When I found out about three Babydoll Southdowns who were living in someone's backyard in what I consider to be a pretty urban part of Massachusetts, I was very interested. It was a unique transaction, and I discovered quickly that the ram was quite aggressive. When I called the woman from whom I'd bought the sheep to ask if he had shown this dangerous behavior with her, she responded by writing that he had never "butted her in the head"(I'd used the term head butting) and that he was only 'really bad' when it came time to feed them. As a self-taught and relatively novice farmer, I did know that rams who were aggressive were not good to keep around. I gave it time and tried to work with him, but after he broke my knee with a swift butt to the leg, I knew that something needed to change. It was like he had a little sheep complex, and he was far more difficult to handle than any of the Jacob rams had ever been. In the end, he sired some beautiful lambs and one ram, Bill, who has stayed on and kept all of his positive characteristics. Rollie went on to a 4-H family and is quite well-behaved in his new home from what I have heard.

So, it's funny as I look back and think about how I was trying to find easier sheep to handle by sizing down and what I ended up with was a ram who was far more aggressive and two ewes who were far less social than what I had before. I missed the Jacobs for a long time and sadly think they met no happy end when the woman I sold them to changed her life's direction (she has not responded to emails inquiring about them). You try and try to plan and make changes to improve or ease your life, and in the end, it sometimes feels like it's all for naught. What will be, will be. No matter how much we plan or prepare, the outcome will still and always be what it was intended to be. No matter.