Valentine was a cute lamb – everyone’s favourite. But he has grown into a troublesome adult ram. He doesn’t appreciate the company of our more valuable pedigree ram Percy – and often gives you a quick and sometimes painful punt if you’re not paying attention to him.

Even the coloured ewes we got specifically for him didn’t appear to like him enough to mate with him. The latest chapter in Valentine’s story involves a shed wall and a rather bewildered labrador. Well, labradors always look bewildered don’t they?

The dog’s owner had parked him alongside the shed where Valentine and his posse of young ram lambs were taking shelter from the ‘great wind’ we endured a few weeks ago.

Valentine took exception to the dog and started charging at the wooden shed wall – he was, in fact, a real live battering ram.

Think of the scene in The Shining where Jack Nicolson smashes through a door with an axe and you’ll get the picture.

Shards of splintered wood were flying everywhere as Valentine’s head appeared through a ragged hole he had made in the side of the shed. Shaking it from side-to-side, he looked at me as if he was saying ‘Here’s Rammy!’

I’ve never seen anything quite like it in ten years of sheep-keeping.

I’d hate to think what would have happened to the bewildered dog if I hadn’t intervened and ‘encouraged’ him back into his field.

I managed to patch up the shed with a sheet of old corrugated iron in an effort to stop our rampant ram escaping as the dog and its owner retreated from the scene.

All this as the rain pelted down and the wind blew a gale. Ah, the joys of keeping livestock.

It took two of us an afternoon to repair the damage, using much thicker bits of reclaimed wood floorboards, which should give Valentine a headache if he tries this again. But, as with his previous behaviour, it makes me wonder just what I should do with this aggressive member of the flock.

But his fate probably won’t be decided until after we have finished lambing, an annual event which is fast approaching. I hope things dry out a bit before this year’s lambs start arriving as mud and newborns don’t mix very well.

This week I’ve been making sure we’ve got everything we need in our lambing kit – sprays, disposable gloves and milk supplements – but each season always brings different dramas, some of which I hope to share with you in this column.