Bellwether

Sam The Ram was a purchase I'll never forget. I had just finished running the Cowtown 50K race in Fort Worth, back on a bee-ewe-tiful day in February 2018. Not long ago, actually.  It was literally the day after we flew back from Honduras from a riveting and exhausting mission trip. David dropped me off at the race, and drove on past Fort Worth to Mineral Wells to make our first boy lamb purchase. We had pre-arranged it all. Our ram was ready for pickup. He was a bottle baby, 3 months old at the time, and ready for his new home at the Graves Farm. David and I had decided....well David decided.....he would like some baby lambs. But for that, we would need a ram. Our go-to lamb purchases have been mostly from a sheep farm just west of Fort Worth. It is a couple who raise and sell Dorper sheep. They are a lot like you and me, except they quit their jobs (retired?) and raise sheep now. It's a very physical job, from observing their work. I prefer the keeping of (tame) sheep who are my pets. But the idea of having our sheep have lambs was enticing. So a ram we would get.
As I passed each mile at my race that day, I knew David would come back to pick me up with a baby lamb ram in the back of our SUV in a crate we configured to hold him. Sam was $100.00. He was pre-picked out for us. Stephanie and Gary are the sheep raisers in Mineral Wells that we have come to know and love. We buy their sheep that would ordinarily go to "the mill" or "the house" or better yet, straight to the freezer in sausage form. We don't buy their lambs for looks or any of the right reasons you buy a lamb. We got Sam for a deal. I still don't really know what's wrong with him, but Stephanie and Gary probably do.
When David picked him up that day, our baby ram was calm, sweet and Baaaa-ing as if he was lost, confused or both. He still had a hankering for a bottle, but had been weaned from it for about a week, according to Stephanie, The Shepherdess. David paid them, put him in the back of the car, and made his way back to Fort Worth that day, to meet me at a designated Whataburger I would walk to after I was done running the race. We would meet there, and sync back up for the drive back to Gunter - and finally be back home after 10 days in Honduras, running a race, and a lamb purchase. All before we made it back home.
It was on our drive back home that fateful last day of February that we named him. Sam. Sam The Ram. There was no going back. It was likely we would have lambs - one day. Sam would need to get older, bigger and more mature to handle being a lamb dad.
Fast forward 4 months, and Sam is a hefty guy. He has horns that curl on this thick head. He's strong, so strong that he will put the hurt on you if your not paying attention. You must put your hand out to hold him back from butting you, but I usually only have to do it once or twice. He leaves me alone most of the time and just wants me to pet him. He wags his tail just as a dog does, when he's petted. He's extremely tame and loving. Yet, his protective instincts to protect his ewes can't be helped. You have to watch him when your in the pasture. He's large, yet quick. He's gentle, yet rough. I always keep my eye on him. He's curious, and wants to taste everything. The fresh cut grass on the mower, or anything I have in my hands, as he plays with anything and everything. He's a boy through and through. He wants to head butt the box in my hand, or knock anything I put down on the ground around. Nothing is safe from his curiosity and boyish ways.
Thus far, we noticed the ewes have not gone into heat. I understand it may be more around Sept when this may happen. He'll be a good age to handle that situation by then, I imagine. Time will tell.
My thoughts on his future have been myriad. We had planned on only one set of lambs, therefore his destiny is uncertain. There's only so many choices. 1) Leave him as is and keep him - with his protective ways of the ewes (and new lambs-to-be), 2) Sell him, 3) Give him to the Feed Store, as they raise dorper sheep there, too, 4) make sausage, or 5) my favorite, have him become a bellwether. I just like that word Bellwether. It's defined as a ram who has been castrated that becomes the leader of the ewes. And wears a bell around his neck so that the shepherd can find the flock at any given time. Because the flock of ewes would be with the Bellwether.
So here's my question. If I pick option number 5, I'll get him "fixed" and keep him, but will he still have all the ram tendencies? Or does that leave him when his man-parts leave him? This is a question I'm uncertain of the answer. I really won't know until we do it. (Well, I'm not going to do it, the vet will.) I really like the idea of having a wether. I doubt I'll put a bell around his neck, as I can obviously see the sheep in the pasture. But the idea of him being the informal leader of the ewes is what I like. I've always been fond of the non-aggresive leader. Strong, yet subtle. It would be a new Sam The Ram. And I can see what having a wether is all about.
As I think of his future, I can't help but think of my sweet ewes who may be lambing in the upcoming months. I reviewed my Raising Sheep book and can't help but be overwhelmed at the list of things I'm going to need to be ready for lamb birthing. The chapter on lambing is long. It has sentences like wash your hands and arms in preparation of assisting your ewe in child birth. Likely because your arm will be in a place you've never imagined it to be.  What to do if the hind legs come out first, if twins come out together, or all four legs are presenting at once. It sounds very complicated. The "when to call the vet" part is a little scary.
I can't focus on that just yet, as I don't even have a pregnant ewe at this point. I think I'm more preparing myself for transforming Sam The Ram into Sam The Wether. No bell.