February 2008

Big Boy - 198L Oil on Belgium Linen mounted on board Bred by Barbara Webb of Jager Farm in Massachusetts, Big Boy was an amazing ram. The product of artificial insemination, his father was one of the top coloured rams kept at the Southram Station in Iceland. We were so proud to have him in our flock. His one flaw, the horn-like scurs on his head. I always thought it gave him character but it was an undesirable trait for a polled ram. His genetics made him too valuable to end up in the freezer so Big Boy was used for several years at Jager Farm before coming to Wisconsin. Big Boy gave us several beautiful polled lambs and one amazing ram lamb, Valur (his last) before his death in November 2006. Despite his fierce looks he was an extremely gentle and docile ram. There is a saying here in North America that when Icelandic sheep pass on they go back to Iceland to roam the hills of their ancestors, I would like to think this is true for Big Boy and all of our Icelandic sheep. We miss him very much but see his spirit in his offspring everyday.