Saturday 27 April 2013

Jakey-Boy



Jakey when he first arrived in October 2009.
He is on the left, and he is a Jacob ram.
Everyone said he was too small to make lambs. 
But he wasn't.
During the 2011 / 2012 winter these arrived:


  

Twenty two lambs, that's what he gave us.
Fourteen this year, or thereabouts.
We lost count.
It has been a bit of a year so far.

Went out to the Sheep Paddock yesterday,
and there he was,
a stiffo on the ground.
We are upset.

RIP Jakey-Boy, 
you did us a grand service.


12 comments:

Diane said...

How very sad. I wonder what caused such a sudden death. Snake bite perhaps? Have a great weekend. Diane

Niall & Antoinette said...

Oh poor Jake, it's never nice to find an animal like that [comiserations]; but he had a grand life with you. He will live on in his lambs.

Any idea why he gave up the ghost?

Vera said...

Diane, We don't know why he died. I don't think it was snake bite though as he is grazing on short grass. My intuition says 'heart failure', not sure why it would be that as he was only two years old. Hope you have a great weekend as well.

Niall and Antoinette, you are right, we are going to keep two of his daughters from last year now. They were due to go to the pot because of not being suitable to breed with their father, but now we shall keep them. We also might keep one of the male lambs of this year. They have not been neutered so could carry on in their father's footsteps! Or else we might buy in a fresh ram is we can find one local. It was a shock, seeing him lying on the ground like that. But at least his end was fast.

John Going Gently said...

At least it was quick.... SOS Vera....

rusty duck said...

Oh that is sad Vera. But he certainly did a good job for you. Jacob lambs are so beautiful.

Rachel said...

I am sorry, Vera. It is always sad to lose an animal. :(

DUTA said...

Perhaps he died of exhaution as he was too small to have so many lambs.

May his little soul rest in peace!

Tommo said...

Poor lad. Great shame. Still, his genes carry on.

Vera said...

John, I agree. For all his service to us I am glad that he went quick.

Jessica, those dark lambs are very pretty,especially the spotty ones.

Duta, I think that it was perhaps a combination of things. He did put on quite a lot of height and weight, and almost matched the size of his girls, but, as I say, it was probably a combination of things.

Tommo, yes, at least his genes do carry on, which is a blessing. It is not so easy to lose a much respected animal member of the family and have no youngster coming along behind them.

Kev Alviti said...

We found that when we kept sheep the tups were more likely to die for no reason. I guess they only live for one thing. At least he had a good life.

Vera said...

Kev, thank you for that. Helps make us feel that we did the best we could for him. It has been a wet and long winter for them all, and we expected deaths, but not him.

Jean said...

So sorry to hear this Vera, it's a shock and a shame.
I'm sure he had a great life and enjoyed every minute, if that's any consolation.