Introducing our breeding flock of Jacob's Sheep. From our first year we've had an amazing time with this breed.  Started out in February, 2014 with just Aang, Charlie, and Sister Mary Elephant.

Aang:

Our mature 2 horned ram.  He's got quite the attitude.  He absolutely loves attention and will run up to the gate or fence just to get a good scratching on his face or a rib rub and his tail will go about a million miles an hour.  You just don't want to go in the pen with him, he may be small, but, he'll do his best to take you out at the knees if you enter his territory or get too close to his ladies.  Aang has since been replaced by Carter.

Charlie:

Named after the infamous Charlie Chaplin for her mustache.  She had her first lamb on the farm on May 17th, 2014.  She's a bit shy, but, she'd cross a field full of coyotes to get to you if you have a grain bucket, which came in downright handy the one and only time she escaped from her pen while we were cleaning it...just because you think the door is closed doesn't mean that it is!

Reno:

Of course we can't talk about Charlie without mentioning Reno.  Reno is Charlie's ram lamb, born on the farm on May 17th, 2014.  His parents are Aang and Charlie.  Didn't take him long to realize that he's a ram and to take full advantage of all that entails.  He makes sure he gets plenty to eat and he's almost always the first one out to the pasture in the morning.  At just a touch over a month old, in this picture, he's already grown like a weed and has had a good 4 inches of horn growth.

Sister Mary Elephant:

Poor Sister, she's the smallest of our mature ewes and she knows that Charlie rules the roost, and acts accordingly.  There are times I wish she'd be more assertive, but, then I have to remember that these are sheep...acting exactly how they're supposed to act.  Sister had her first lamb on Father's Day of 2014, and what a wet, miserable, day it was to give birth out in the pasture.  Chilly (59 degrees that day) and raining heavily.  She pulled through like a champ and took excellent care of her lamb until I could get them separated from the flock and into a nursery/holding pen to get them out of the weather and warmed up a bit.

'Dini

That brings us to 'Dini.  Named after the great Harry Houdini, she is a master of escape.  As I said in Sister's introduction, I moved Sister and her lamb to a holding pen to get them out of the rain and cold.  Apparently little 'Dini wanted to be outside with the other sheep because she promptly escaped out of the holding pen and went out into the pasture.  This of course sent Sister into a panic as she and 'Dini were calling back and forth to each other like they were playing some demented game of Marco Polo until I got her back in the pen and put another board across the bottom of the wall. 

It's always an adventure up here in the Northern Marsh.

Harli:

Harli is short for Harlequin due to her coloring.  She was the 2015 spring lamb from Aang and Charlie.

Sister Rosetta Stone:

Sister Rosetta Stone, or Rose, was the 2015 Spring lamb from Aang and Sister Mary Elephant.  She's pictured on the left with Harli (right)

Widget:

Then there's Widget. She was the Spring 2015 lamb from Aang and 'Dini.  Born premature at a little over a pound in weight, constantly harassed by the rest of the flock, and 'Dini rejected her, it was a recipe for disaster.  Widget ended up coming in the house for 3+ months as a bottle lamb and went everywhere we went.  Including a 7 hour trip to Minnesota to pick up our 2015 turkey poults.  As you can see in the picture below, she was smaller than our house cat!

She was moved back out to the flock in August 2015 where she has taken her rightful place.  She never grew much, staying easily half the size of her fellow lambs, but, she has made up for it with spunk and attitude.

A picture of her out with the flock January, 2016

Carter and Duncan:

Carter was added to the flock in August 2015 to replace Aang as herd sire.  He's registered with the Jacob Sheep Breeders' Association and came to us from our friends at Belle Ridge Farm down in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. 

One word describes Carter: Magnificent! Easily twice the size Aang was and has a much better disposition.  We're hoping for some nice, big, lambs starting in the spring of 2016, and quite possibly twins or better as Carter was a triplet and that seems to follow the ram when breeding.  He's pictured here (left) with his traveling buddy, Duncan.  Duncan is a wether (castrated ram) that we also purchased from Belle Ridge Farm as a companion for Carter when he's separated from the ewes at lambing time.

Valentino ('Tino):

'Tino was born on February 13, 2016.  First lamb of the season and also Carter's first lamb here on the farm. Parents are Carter and Charlie, our best ewe.  Depending on how he matures, he may be available as a breeding quality ram later on in the 2016 summer season.