The Dangler

There are no immaculate conceptions on farms, however, our friend Linda, who raises sheep, miraculously has six pregnant ewes. How did it happen? While shearing her sheep this spring, she learned one of her males had a “dangler” she missed when castrating him last year – Whoops! It’s quite a story.

 This is Linda’s story and it is a funny one. I’ve provided some backstory for a bit more context.

 First, the background.

 Our friend Linda has raised sheep for the past ten years at Golden Oak Farm, her and her husband Jim’s farm in Loudoun County. Her first lambs were born in 2018. Due to the size of the farm, she usually keeps a permanent flock of only around 10 or 11 sheep. While she has made cheese in the past, she generally keeps the flock just for their wool.

 Part of herd maintenance is taking care of young rams. Typically, Linda “bands” the young males a few days after they are born. Guys, try not to get too uncomfortable here, but banding is exactly what it sounds like. The circulation is cut off to the ram’s testicles, which eventually wither and die.

 Neutered males are called wethers. In Linda’s case, unless the wether has exceptional wool, most are moved on to another home, or to “freezer camp” when they reach a certain age.* Having bought a couple of lambs from Linda that graduated to freezer camp, I can tell you they are quite tasty.

 Now, back to this year.

 Linda normally raises new lambs every year, but this year was an exception. Due to a recent knee replacement, she decided not to breed any of the ewes. It turns out nature had other plans.

 In Linda’s own words: 

“So. I was kinda sad I wouldn’t have any lambs this year. Silly me. Apparently when I banded two ram lambs last year, I missed an important part on one of them. When we started shearing the sheep on Monday, I discovered my mistake. One the of wethers, Jump, had a big ol’ dangler. Uh-oh. We had the vet out the next day and did ultrasounds on the 10 girls, and what do you know, 6 (maybe 7) of the 10 are pregnant, and at least 4 have twins. The vet thinks they will all lamb in 3-6 weeks. Yahoo!”

Jump, the ram in question, is not quite a year old. He was born last year on April 17th. When I banded him last year a few days after his birth, I apparently missed one of his testicles. It happens and unbeknownst to me, he remained a half-ram. Jump is just a little guy, and I never once saw him acting “rammy”, or amorous. Of course they are out of sight many hours of the day.”

I love this story of Jump, and his big ol’ dangler. The innocent face around the barn, but when out of sight, he was doing what rams do. 

For some reason, the great Charlie Rich song, “Behind Closed Doors” keeps popping in my head. The refrain goes like this:

And when we get behind closed doors 

Then she lets her hair hang down

And she makes me glad that I’m a man

Oh, no one knows what goes on behind closed doors. 

With apologies to Charlie, I picture little Jump singing to himself in the field:

And when we walk beyond the barn

Then she lets her wool hang down

And she makes me glad that I’m a ram

Oh, no one know what goes on beyond the barn.

 I hope this story made you laugh a little. Trust me, there is always something interesting going on at a farm. You just may not know about it.

Addendum:

• Major thanks to Linda Schnaible for letting me tell her story of Jump and the ewes. It’s a great farm story.
• * It is worth noting that if Linda’s herd becomes too big, ewes are also moved to other homes, or sent to freezer camp.
• “Behind Closed Doors” is a classic country western song. It was a number 1 hit on the Country chart in 1973 and reached number 15 on Billboard’s music chart. You can see Charlie Rich singing it here: https://share.google/rxqSJD8fGNOqACfhI