It is with a heavy heart that I am writing this blogpost. We had to say good-bye to a very special sheep. His name was Junior and I will always remember the day we picked him up. In May 2004, I saw an ad on the jacob-list and led my husband on a little adventure to Deadwood, Oregon. We came home with 3 new rams – Magic Moon Captain Hook, his son Magic Moon Junior, and Magic Moon Bazil. Hook was 7, Bazil was 5,
and Junior was a yearling.
I didn’t know it then, but those three boys made quite an impact on our flock. They did an incredible job on improving our fleeces and Hook showed me that rams can be sweet and respectful.
Junior inherited his dad’s respectful demeanor and has always been a gentleman.
He never started a fight, but would defend his title of top ram if anybody challenged him.
He loved his girls…
and had a good sense of humor 😉
We keep all of our adult rams together because I believe this is the healthiest living arrangement for them, unfortunately it can also cause problems.
Wrangler and Junior were good buddies and spent most of their time together. Their primitive nature and survival of the fittest urge was stonger than this friendship in the end. Junior suffered a spinal cord injury and the miracle that I prayed for, wasn’t to be. Being a good shepherd, means making hard choices at times and this was definitely one of those times. I am going to miss him!
He sired many beautiful babies and his memory will live on through them here and across the country.
Stories from the Farm 
What a beautiful boy and a lovely tribute to him. I am so sorry. I know your heart is breaking {{{HUGS}}}
For all their meek and timid reputations, sheep can be brutal, can’t they? I’m very sorry; he was a handsome ram. I appreciated all the different photos because I got a much better sense of how his horns grew and which why they pointed!
I’m so sorry Shannon……no matter the species…it is always hard to say “so long” to one the touched our lives in so many special ways! It will be fun to see his fingerprints on the generations to come….may you find another one as special as him!
It is their primitive nature and one of the reasons we love them so much. It is a difficult responsibility of the shepherd to make such painful decisions. My heart goes out to you for having to make the decision. He was a great ram who left behind a wonderful legacy for all Jacob breeders.
Oh, I’m so sorry to hear you lost your gorgeous boy. Rams like that are hard to find. they have such a huge impact on your flock. It’s good that you have some of his lambs. I love, LOVE my rams.
Sorry to hear that Shannon–I know you were hoping things would turn out better.
Blessings on you in your grieving.
I’m so sorry for the loss of Junior. What a wonderful tribute too and I’m so happy he was able to make such a big impact on your flock and many other’s including mine! He was a lovely ram and his progeny will live on to show just how lovely genetically he was too!
Oh, I am so sorry.
I’m so very sorry to hear about Junior. He was one of the best and will be sadly missed. Junior produced some lovely lambs both for you and others. I’m glad you have hs genetics in your flock.
Thank you all so much for the kind words.