We Bought a Farm: Castratin' the Rams

 "The most memorable days usually end with the dirtiest clothes."

Here I am after moving the ducks this morning. It has rained soooo much around here that there was no way I could stop myself from just getting filthy: 

I always struggle with when to take a shower here on the farm. By the time I get clean, it's time to go out again and then I'm muddy again. A lot of times I will just jump in, quickly get clean, but not bother washing my hair or anything until the end of the day.

Yesterday, Jacob and I decided to try our hand at castrating the five little baby rams we have here on the farm. We castrate them so that they can stay their mothers longer. If we don't castrate them, they would have to be removed from their mothers at about four months old. 

JB was working, and we wanted to see if we could get it done without his help. We use a very simple system where we just put a rubber band around the scrotum which then causes it to eventually just "fall off."

We got three of them done with no problem at all. Here's a picture of one of the lucky little guys:

We actually brought a bunch of the kiddos out with us to help as the older the little rams get, the more difficult they are to catch. 

My niece, Kari, absolutely cracked me up as she was holding this little ram below while he was waiting his turn and she turned his back so he didn't have to "witness" what was about to happen. I got this picture of her that I really loved:

Today Jacob and I went out with JB to catch the two little guys that we had trouble with the day before. It was a beautiful seventy-degree February day. Here I am holding one of the waiting victims:

And here Jacob is getting ready to hold one down while JB tries to castrate:

JB actually had a very difficult time trying to castrate those same two guys. Their anatomy was a little more challenging and the testicles were just staying too close to their "body." We couldn't get them to "drop down" enough to rubber band them off.

(Aren't you glad I am sharing all these details?)

I find that many people tell me how they just couldn't do this type of thing. The good thing about this process is that the little rams have no pain and just a little discomfort from this procedure. I have also learned that sometimes you just have to just "do the next thing" when it comes to farming.

I have seen first-hand what happens when we have to pull baby rams off their moms. It's sad. They miss their moms. Castrating them allows them to stay longer in a place that they are happy. We also have to run a separate paddock for rams that we have to pull off. Keeping them together makes everyone happier and makes our works easier as well. 

If you know why you are doing it and you can see the benefit of this decision, it isn't too hard at all. 

And baby lambs are just sooooo cute too! I am never sorry for an opportunity to hold one.