The Rural Voice, 1993-12, Page 37The llama guards against dogs.
go up and rub her head. "They can
have calves until about 17 years of
age," he says. "And they usually
have a very easy, straightforward
time of it. It's another nice feature
of the breed."
The cattle have a teddy bear look
to them, alert eyes peeking out from
the long hair. They look as cuddly
as a cow could ever get. The silver
dun are particularly attractive, with
thick coats of soft blond and grey.
The bull and the bull calf are black,
and others have golden or reddish
coats. It's easy to see why they are
so eyecatching along the side of the
road.
Randy's herd is all registered. He
started with grade cattle, but bought
more pedigreed cattle and sold off
the grade ones, so that today his
A young Scottish Highland cow rests under a shady tree on the Bakers' farm.
entire herd is registered.
Standing out with the cattle is
their donkey, Buelah, who keeps
them company along with her
appointed job of keeping dogs or
coyotes away from the property.
Today, she is more interested in
making sure that she gets included in
any pictures that are taken, and
Randy takes hold of her halter to
keep her from being too pushy.
We walk past the
chicken coop and
behind the old
section of the
barn, past several
Emden and Buff geese. "The geese
are self-sufficient three seasons of
the year; they get grain in the winter,
though. They are the only stock on
the farm that I really don't like my
Randy Baker with his first Highland, a 12 -year-old cow.
children to go too close to. They are
good watch -geese."
The two breeds of sheep that are
raised here are the Jacobs sheep, of
which the Bakers have 16, and the
Barbados Black Belly, of which they
have five. The Barbados sheep are
almost deer -like, with delicate heads
and dainty legs, and the light tan
colour of a whitetail deer. Their
markings are black, however, hence
the name, and they are altogether a
very striking animal. These sheep
don't need to be shorn, as they shcd
their fleece in the spring, much like
a horse sheds its winter coat. A coat
of smooth hair remains underneath
after the fleece is shed.
The Jacobs sheep are members of
a very old breed and are native to
Scotland, although they are similar
to the Navajo sheep of the
Southwestern United States in
colouring. Their name originated in
the Middle East, coming from
Biblical times. These sheep have a
beautiful spotted fleece, white with
dark brown or black spots. Randy
tries to breed them for even colours,
and has evidently had some success
along that line. One ram died last
winter, and Randy had the hide
tanned. The wool is very thick and
soft, with a creamy white
background and many large spots of
black or brown.
Besides their remarkable
colouring, the Jacobs sheep also
have horns, sometimes multiple
horns, that can grow up to two feet
long. The young ram that Randy
keeps in the barn has two horns that
DECEMBER 1993 33