Farm Fresh Blog

I may whine and complain about having to hold down a full-time job as well as handle a farm, but in reality, having a full-time paycheck affords me the luxury of being sentimental. For instance, let's examine this:

What an adorable little motley crew!

Over the years I've learned that some critters are just livestock and some critters are something special.

 Yeah, okay, this one is special, but I was thinking about this one:

 Roanie is getting a little long in the tooth. In reality, her teeth are falling out now. I'm not sure how old she is, because she was older when I bought her. In that time she has survived a savage attack from a police dog which left her permanently lame, and a chickenshit bite from a Trolldog (Trace) which took off half her ear. And yet, Roanie maintains a sweet attitude toward life.

By now, most ranchers would have cut Roanie from the team. She was never the phenotype I wanted to breed. After her dog attack, I really didn't want to use her for training the dogs because she has a decided limp.  So why did I keep Roanie?

 Roanie does produce nice babies that share her interesting temperament. This is her ewe lamb, Chuck.  I hadn't planned on keeping Chuck but when I noticed Roanie's teeth falling out, I decided that I needed to keep Chuck in case I lost Roanie. Why?

Who the hell knows?

Over the years I've just become attached to this little ewe with the will to live with a smile despite what life throws at her.

So while I might bitch about having to juggle everything because of that job. The paycheck allows me the luxury of keeping a critter that most ranchers would have sent to the sale barn years ago.

Their loss . . .

 "Take a bow, Roanie!"

And who could forget Roanie's first meeting with Baby Briar after her dog attack:  Blood Will Tell