Swayze Inn Farm Adopts

       “Stonecroft Rambo”

    From The Philadelphia Zoo

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A fellow Jacob Breeder (Royal Unzicker) emailed me before Christmas and asked if I might be interested in another Jacob ram with some different genetics for our flock.  He mentioned that the Philadelphia Zoo was no longer going to be breeding sheep and there were looking for a good home for Stonecroft Rambo (JSBA Reg. No. A070-13:  Sire: Sweetgrass Cooper-JSBA Reg. No. D046-07; Dam: Painted Rock Faye-JSBA Reg. No. FF-030-05).  After checking out Rambo’s bloodlines and comparing his pedigree to some of our other flock sires, I reached out to Tara Routzahn, Assistant Curator for KidZooU at the Philadelphia Zoo.  Tara was kind enough to send several photographs of Rambo—he’s an amazing animal with probably the strongest set of (top) horns that I’ve ever seen on a Jacob ram.  

 

 I have to say that I was impressed with the very thorough vetting the Zoo conducted on Diane and myself and our farm.  This included an online questionnaire, furnishing of references (both fellow breeders and vets—they checked them all), completing a pile of paperwork and, finally, an on-site farm visit to check on the living quarters that Rambo would be living in, if we were selected to adopt him—in addition to checking on the nutrients we would provide in his diet.  I’ll never know who we were competing with to adopt Rambo, but I received an email from Tara on January 25 (2019) informing us that we were selected to adopt him.  Yes!

 

    On Monday, February 4, a flamboyant van (clearly announcing it belonged to the “Philadelphia Zoo”) arrived at our farm at 11 am.  On board was Rambo accompanied by his caretakers:  Rebecca and Tanya.  Rambo had been at the Zoo for about 6 years and it was interesting to note his curiosity with his new surroundings at Swayze Inn Farm.  It didn’t take him long to make friends with a group of bred ewes (Jacob, Scottish Blackface and Romeldale/ CVMs).  With over 15 acres of fenced pastures, Rambo will have plenty of room to graze.

 

    We will be using Rambo as a sire for a good number of our Jacob ewes in the fall of 2019 and will also offer his stud services.