George was born on March 1, 2002, and was
named after President George W. Bush. He "celebrated" his 13th birthday in 2015. George was humanely euthanized on September 15, 2015, as his quality of life had reached an unacceptable level. RIP George.
George was a crossbred
sheep. His mother (dam) was a purebred Katahdin and his father
(sire) was a 3/4 White Dorper named Tarheel. When George was
born, no ewe would claim him or allow him to nurse, so he was
fed on a bottle for six weeks before being weaned.
George was a wether. He was castrated (neutered)
so he could be sold as a pet or grazer. He hurt his leg at the
time he was to be sold. When he recovered, Susan (the webmaster)
couldn't bear to part with him so he became a permanent resident
of The Baalands.
George spent most of his time with the ewe flock. He was always a little (actually a lot!)
on the chubby side since all he did was eat. His favorite food
(besides grain) was leaves. George generally spoke when he was
spoken to and responded to his name or anything that sounded like
it. He could be led with a halter or collar, but prefered just
to trot along behind Susan or whoever might be carrying the bucket
of feed. You'd have to watch him, though. If you didn't hold the
bucket up high enough, he would get his head in it and cause
you to spill feed.
George was a hair sheep, so he naturally shed
his coat (a mixture of hair and wool) each year. Because hair
sheep are more resistant to internal parasites (worms) than
conventional wooled sheep, George was seldom dewormed, once as a young lamb and once about a month before he died. Like the ewes and rams in the flock, George
received an annual booster for enterotoxemia and tetanus (CD-T).
His hooves were trimmed once or twice per year, a procedure he did not
like having done. One time when George was having his hooves trimmed, he fell asleep in the tilt table.