The annual show and sale of Whiteface Dartmoor sheep was held recently at Exeter Market so Jess and I duly went along to see what was on offer. Our flock of Whitefaces are in need of a ram and the show had a good selection however choosing the right one is not straight forward as they are a rare breed so by definition there is not a huge gene pool, care has to be taken to ensure that the ram is not related to any of the flock. You also have to make sure he is manageable – they are called rams for a reason!
We once had a ram called Percy who we bought as a 2 year old. At that time I employed Darren a 6′ 4″ Man Mountain, who could build a Devon stone wall by hand without the use of a JCB. Darren would admit he wasn’t a sheep man and preferred his cows -I think Percy sensed this and at any opportunity liked to remind Darren of the superiority of sheep. I’m not sure how many of you have been attacked by a ram but the warning signs are very obvious. As you walk into his field, first he will give you the eye, then trot purposefully toward you, stop a yard or so away, put his head down and back up and then charge, quite often he will do this if you turn your back on him, but frankly with Percy you were fair game whichever way you were facing. To see a 6′ something chap hurdling a gate with a ram close behind is a sight to behold. The trick is to not let the ram back away from you and never turn away. Percy was exceptional and we eventually sold him, we did warn the buyer he was a bit feisty, but the buyer was an old sheep man and dismissed our concerns. He turned up to collect Percy in a wooden sided trailer -we later heard that Percy demolished the trailer, the gate to the field they put him in and then took umbrage at a telegraph pole in the field, we are not sure who came off worse.
After taking a good look around the rams on offer we picked out 4 likely candidates and headed for the sale ring. We missed out on the first 3, which meant that we had to wait to the end of the sale and were beginning to think that we would go home empty handed. Luckily we bought our ram and at a reasonable price and called him Alfred.
Once home Alfred was placed in quarantine for 2 weeks and just the other day introduced to Toto our Suffolk ram. Introducing rams requires care, although Toto is much bigger than Alfred, he doesn’t have horns, so Jess taped insulation tubing around Alfreds horns and they were kept together in a very small pen until they got to know one another, the small pen stops them bashing each other too hard as they square off. They are now both out in the field together and the best of friends. Roll on November when they eventually meet the girls!
