Dear Curiosity Journal,
On Sunday, after 35 days of exposure to our Icelandic ram, Tuxy, I sorted the flock, putting the bred ewes and the 2024 lambs in one paddock and the wethers and ram in another. The average estrous cycle for ewes is 17 days, so the ram joins them for 2 cycles, just to make sure he hits a heat window. From what I witnessed, Tuxy got the job done. Post-breeding sorting means drama, and while the ewes and lambs did a fair amount of baahing, headbutting and mounting to re-establish their pecking order, the boys chose violence. I decided to take the males up to the front pasture to let them work out their hierarchy in a larger space. As I was moving the boys, Tuxy (an Icelandic ram) rolled Ralphy (an Angora wether) from the rear on his first hit. On his second hit, Ralphy turned to face Tuxy, with a loud head crack. While Ralph is smaller than Tux, he has horns and Tux has nubs, which started bleeding. That hit took the fire out of Tuxy, who delivered a few more half-hearted headbutts to Biff and Peter, and then retreated behind a tree. However Biff (a Merino/Shetland wether) and Peter (a Nigerian Dwarf wether) would not let him be. Ralphy (Angora), who is delicate in frame compared to Tuxy (Icelandic), got put back in with the girls because he showed no signs of backing down, and while he got a solid hit in, I feared over time, he would not fare well in the battle for alpha. I observed them throughout the day. The girls calmed down relatively quickly. Peter lost interest in being the alpha, but Biff did not relent. In fact, he behaved as if Tuxy was a ewe in heat. He saddled up to him and stuck out his tongue, nibbled his ear, smelled his urine and curled his quivering lip, rested his head on his back, and mounted him with a surprising vigor which I had not seen from him before. I’ve never seen him mount the girls. I’ve read that some sheep only show interest in the same sex. From my observations so far, I would say Biff is in this category. I really do learn something new everyday.
~Joy
