# Boykin2010's sheep - UPDATE : Twin Ewe 1 Lambed 3/12 PICS



## boykin2010 (Oct 19, 2011)

I thought it would be best for me to have one thread this year with my sheep. Last year, i asked so many questions on different threads that it got confusing. If i start a thread then i can post pictures of all my sheep, keep everyone updated on lambing schedules and ask questions. Might as well kill 3 birds with one stone 

To start off, i have a little over 4 acres with my 10 sheep on it. I have 9 ewes and 1 ram right now. I started out my first year with 5 pregnant ewes which gave birth last year and i kept 4 of their ewe lambs. 

Here is my breeding ram named Buddy. He is a purebred Katahdin sheep that was born on January 25 of last year. He was my bottle baby! 






This ewes name is Wilma. I dont know her date of birth because i bought her last year. I do know she is 2 years old 





This ewes is name is Mama. I dont know her DOB but she is 3 years old. 





This ewes name is Spot. She is the daughter of Mama but I dont know her DOB because i bought her with Mama and the other ewes. She is probably just now 2 years old. 





This ewes name is no-name because i could never think of a name that fit her. Dont know DOB but she is a little over 2. 





This ewes name is Split ear because the previous owner has an ear tag in her and she ripped it out so now her ear is split. Dont know DOB but she is a little over 2. 





This is Pebbles. She was born on my property on Feb 9 of this year. Her mother is Wilma. 





This is Java. She was born on my property on March 19. Her mother is Spot which means her grandmother is Mama. 





This is two twin girls born to No-Name on March 16 on my property. Their names are Mocha, and Latte. 





Wilma, Momma,Split Ear, No-Name, and Spot were all bred to a purebred Barbados ram before i bought them.  Pebbles, Java, Mocha and Latte are all at least 50 % barbado because i dont know the breeds of their mothers besides they are hair sheep. 

All the ewes that are pictured are bred to Buddy.


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## boykin2010 (Oct 19, 2011)

Lambing Schedule:
If the accidental breeding took Mama will have her baby between December 20 - 26 

Breeding by Buddy :
Split ear - Due Jan 25
Spot -       Due Feb 2 
Wilma -     Due Feb 4
No name - due Feb 10 
Pebbles -   Due Feb 24
Java  -      Due March 2 

I havent seen Buddy interested in the twins yet. So either i missed seeing it, or they arent in heat yet. 
They may not have lambs this year because they were a little on the small side because their mom was a yearling and they were born really tiny. 

Hope everyone enjoyed the pictures. I will keep this thread updated with Pictures of expecting moms and lambs once they arrive. I also may post questions so i can have them all in one place


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## Ms. Research (Oct 20, 2011)

Thanks for starting this thread.   Really like the looks of your sheep.  Buddy is very impressive.  Congratulations on how well your bottle baby grew up.  

Wishing you luck and look forward to following your progress.


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## theawesomefowl (Oct 20, 2011)

Pretty sheep you have there! Nice ram too. I really like the red sheep! Mama looks sort  of like my Dorper cross lamb, what with the shorter legs and blocky frame.
Lambing dates seem so early to me though--you are lucky to be in a warm climate where you can lamb earlier! I plan on breeding my two ewes to lamb next April or May.

Good luck!


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## aggieterpkatie (Oct 20, 2011)

Here's to a successful lambing season!


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## boykin2010 (Oct 20, 2011)

Ms. Research - Buddy is my baby. He is as much as the family as our dog. He comes when i call him and when he was little i took him on walks outside on a leash. ( he stayed inside for the first 3 weeks of his life.) He would jump up in my lap and take rides around the farm. The first night with him, i slept in a sleeping bag with him because he was crying.

theawesomefowl - I am really hoping Java will produce some spotted offspring. She is the highest percentage barbados. I dont know her grandmothers breed but she was bred to a barbado and had spot. Spot was then bred back to another barbado ram and had Java. I am going to try and find a picture of Java from when she was a baby! It was the prettiest color. I have read where high percentage barbados crossed with spotted or white rams produce and offspring that look like painted dessert sheep. They are very unique looking. I would also be happy if she would have another baby her color.

aggieterpkatie - Thank you for that. I need all the luck i can get. Its my first time breeding any sheep so i am very nervous. Last year, i was surprised about how good all the mothers were and how easy of a time they had lambing. I didnt have to help at all!


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## boykin2010 (Oct 20, 2011)

This is a picture of Java when she was a couple of days old. Wish i had another sheep her color....


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## boykin2010 (Jan 9, 2012)

Ok, i am giving an update on my sheep. Split ear is about 2 weeks from having her babies and is definately showing. She is grunting when she walks and seems to keep getting bigger and bigger. 
Mama did not lamb in December which means the accidental breeding didnt take. YEAH! This means she is pregnant but the daddy is Buddy ( my Registered Katahdin Ram) and she could be due anytime from Jan 25 to mid March. I am thinking sometime around early February but not sure. 
I am going to post some updated photos of Mama and Split ear because i think those are the two that are due first. 
I am pretty sure Split ear is carrying twins. Hope for girls from all my ewes


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## boykin2010 (Jan 9, 2012)

All of these pictures where taken between a week and 2 weeks ago. 
Split ear is starting to bag up 





Here is Mama.  She looks small to be so pregnant but this is big for her. She hides her pregnancy very well. Last year we didnt even know she was pregnant and she had a GIGANTIC baby. She looked the same after the birth as she did before. 





And just because..... Here is Buddy 





I also just started working on a website. It is still under construction.  
www.ewecrazyfarms.com 

Hopefully in 2 weeks i will be posting pictures of lambs!


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## bonbean01 (Jan 10, 2012)

Good looking sheep!!  Best wishes on a great lambing season!!!  We had our first lamb last night!!!


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## boykin2010 (Jan 27, 2012)

Ram lamb - born jan 27 at 4:00 pm.   Weighs 13 pounds 

Mom: split ear 
Dad: Buddy 
Type: single


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## bonbean01 (Jan 27, 2012)

Congratulations!!!!  Beautiful healthy little lamb!


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## boykin2010 (Jan 27, 2012)

Yep! I was really hoping for girls. It hurts me to know i will eventually have to sell him (most likely for meat). :/
I think that is the largest lamb we have ever had. Although one lamb was pretty big last year but we didnt weigh him.


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## bonbean01 (Jan 27, 2012)

Yes, after I posted I was thinking...beautiful BIG lamb!!!  He's a good size


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## bigshawn (Jan 28, 2012)

Congrats..................


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## that's*satyrical (Jan 28, 2012)

He is cute!! I am hoping for girls this time too. I don't want to have to neuter any little guys!!


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## boykin2010 (Feb 4, 2012)

Mama and Spot both lambed last night. I was there for both birthings. Sadly, Spot had twin boys and Mama had a single boy. What is it with all these boys!!!  I really cared most about getting ewe lambs from spot and mama. Now i have 4 males, and 0 females. Hopefully the other ewes will have a majority of ewe lambs. 

Spot lambed about 10:45 last night and Mama went around 3:00.  

Unfortunately, this morning spot decided to reject her first lamb that was born. One lamb is white with brown patches and the other is solid brown. She wont let the white one nurse or get anywhere near her. I decided to pull the baby and am now bottle feeding it.  

Mama's boy weighs 13 lbs. Spots first born weighs 8 and the second weighs 10. 

This is Mama's boy 











Here is spots twins 





Here is the one we are bottle feeding 






Anybody need a new bottle lamb???  He is very sweet!


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## jodief100 (Feb 4, 2012)

They are adorable!  Congratulations on healthy lambing s.  Sorry about all the danglies.


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## BrownSheep (Feb 4, 2012)

I have the opposite issue. All we have is girls and I want to keep ALL of them. With boys I at least resolve my self that their goners. So far we do have one ram lamb that is so oddly marked that he may be kept any way.


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## boykin2010 (Feb 4, 2012)

They are very healthy and I should be thankful for that.  I just needed girls because my plan was to sell all the mamas and keep the ewe lambs for next year.  Now it's looking like I won't have enough females.  So I guess another choice is to sell all or most of the ewes and buy some replacement stock.  I have really been wanting some registered Katahdin ewes.  Right now all of mine are commercial...


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## BeccaJoVon (Feb 4, 2012)

Congratulations!


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## boykin2010 (Feb 7, 2012)

Wilma had a single RAM lamb.  I am about to scream!


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## boykin2010 (Feb 7, 2012)




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## aggieterpkatie (Feb 7, 2012)

Sorry for all the rams, but he's a looker!


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## bonbean01 (Feb 7, 2012)

Beautiful ram lamb!!!

Some years it just goes like that...last year all ram lambs except for one very small runty ewe that is not a keeper for breeding (although we still have her..she is so sweet)...and this year all ewes except for one ram lamb.  

Anymore ewes left to lamb?  Keeping fingers crossed for twin ewe lambs!!!!


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## SheepGirl (Feb 7, 2012)

Nice looking ram lamb. I know it's not what you want, but at least it's a lamb and not an open ewe!


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## purplequeenvt (Feb 7, 2012)

Sorry about all the rams! I love the spots and patches though! Last year was a ewe year for us (12 out of 15) but the 2 years before that were ram years.


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## RemudaOne (Feb 8, 2012)

Beautiful little babies! Sorry you're not getting ewes :/ but the colors really are nice. Maybe you can sell them as breeders? Use the money to increase your ewe numbers.... Just thinking out loud here . There was a good article in SHEEP! magazine about using apple cider vinegar to increase numbers of ewe lambs. I know it sounds farfetched but their results were pretty surprising to me.


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## TTs Chicks (Feb 8, 2012)

What a pretty little fella


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## boykin2010 (Feb 12, 2012)

FINALLY!!!  No-Name lambed last night and gave us a beautiful little ewe lamb.  She is white with very faint tan markings you can barely see. I think those will probably fade away when she gets older. 

Will post pictures later


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## bonbean01 (Feb 12, 2012)

YAY for a ewe lamb  Finally!  How many more do you have yet to lamb?


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## boykin2010 (Feb 17, 2012)

Java had a single ram this morning. She lambed way earlier than i was expecting. Up till now i have been right on with the due dates but Java decided to surprise me. 
The lamb is  healthy 9 lb brown boy with lots of energy. He was already dried off and running around this morning when i went out. 
Hopefully the rest will follow their due dates! 

PRAY FOR GIRLS!


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## boykin2010 (Feb 17, 2012)




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## boykin2010 (Feb 17, 2012)

bonbean01 said:
			
		

> YAY for a ewe lamb  Finally!  How many more do you have yet to lamb?


I've got three ewes to go. Pebbles and the twin girls ( mocha and latte)


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## RemudaOne (Feb 17, 2012)

Congratulations  nice baby.


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## bonbean01 (Feb 18, 2012)

Nice looking baby  Love the names of your girls!  

Speaking of girls...I've read several articles online about upping your chances of ewes by giving apple cider vinegar drenches at breeding time.  We happen to drench our sheep for worm prevention with apple cider vinegar and garlic barrier year round...our results were heavy ram lambs last year and ewe lambs this year...so...guess that theory didn't apply with our sheep.  Same stuff, different results.


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## jodief100 (Feb 18, 2012)

They are nice looking sheep!  

  for ewes!!!


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## boykin2010 (Feb 18, 2012)

Thanks for the compliments. I have read about the apple cider vinegar and mentioned it to a breeder down the road. She basically told me there are tons of old tales out there you can try to make yourself believe but some years are girl years, some years are boy years, and some years you will get 50/50. But, she has 150 ewes so there is more of a chance of getting girls than just having 9 ewes like me. 

If things dont turn around, next year I may try it. I am thinking I may sell all of my sheep except Buddy and switch to an all registered purebred herd.  The reason we got these ewes is to learn from them before we jump off into the "expensive sheep."  I sure have learned a lot and love them all but realize what i really want to do is switch to purebreds. This way too, I can use Buddy for breeding again next year. I did have him for sell because i didnt want to use him again for fears of inbreeding. But if i get all new ewes i keep him for one more round of breeding. 

So, in the meantime....   Does anyone want to buy any ram lambs a few months from now? I should have plenty to choose from


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## boykin2010 (Feb 25, 2012)

EWE LAMB!!! 
9 Lbs.   Born 2/25


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## Remuda1 (Feb 25, 2012)

What a cutie!!! Congrats


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## bonbean01 (Feb 25, 2012)

Beautiful baby!!!!  Congrats on the little ewe


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## aggieterpkatie (Feb 25, 2012)

Congrats!


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## boykin2010 (Feb 25, 2012)

Thanks y'all! That makes 2 ewe lambs and 6 ram lambs. But I am not complaining. It could be worse


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## boykin2010 (Mar 13, 2012)

One of the twin girls had a single ram lamb last night. SIGH....  Another male. 

Make that 2 ewe lambs and 7 ram lambs!


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## SuburbanFarmChic (Mar 13, 2012)

So cute!


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## Remuda1 (Mar 13, 2012)

Congrats on a good lambing  Pics?


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## boykin2010 (Mar 14, 2012)

I will take a good picture later today.  The one I have now isn't that great.


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## boykin2010 (Mar 16, 2012)

Here is a picture of the twin and her ram lamb the day he was born. 10 pounds, brown and white 








Here is another picture. Its not good, but it is from today. Mama's boy is also in the picture but he is SO pretty. 





I really like the baby and wish it was a girl. I would definately keep it if it was a girl. 
I now just have one ewe to lamb. It is this ewes twin sister. She hasnt started bagging up yet so I think it will be a while.


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## boykin2010 (Mar 16, 2012)

Also wanted to add that I sold some sheep this week. I sold Split ear and her ram lamb, Wilma and her ram lamb, Spot and her ram lamb, and Buddy.


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