Every fall the odor of sexual desire assaults the nose, rubs off on clothes, and cloys to the skin. The barnyard blushes with lusty pursuit.

The ladies get sheared to fully expose their “naughty bits.” Rams get sheared and their hooves trimmed. Everyone has gotten extra grain and good pasture two weeks prior.

Then, the rams get taken to their harem of ladies. The well-seasoned farmer knows to have a short lead on the halter. Otherwise, they will be dragged to the mating space by an overenthusiastic ram.

The group stays together for five or six weeks. The ladies cycle twice and the farmer hopes nature took its course.

There are pregnancy tests for sheep. Blood can be drawn and then sent to a lab. The vet can do ultrasounds. Blood tests have proved to be incorrect/inconclusive and the vet is expensive. Instead, waiting the five-month gestation period is the game plan.

The ram uncooperatively is removed. He needs to be lured to the farmer with a bucket of feed and the promise of staying with his ladies. The halter is hidden in the back pocket, to increase the element of surprise. Head in the feed bucket, the farmer grabs the ram’s collar, slips on the halter, and drags the ram back to his “bros.”

The ewes are unbothered by the ram’s removal and go on munching hay.