# SheepGirl's 2013 Lambing Thread - Update - July 2013



## SheepGirl

I am starting a new lambing thread--this one is for my intentional breeding! (My ewe lambs from 2012 were accidental.)

Okay. So let me introduce you to my breeding stock.

*My Flock Sire*

*SFF Hank*, Purebred American Texel ram
Born Feb 2011






*My Mature Ewes*

*Ciqala* #44, 1/2 Montadale x 1/2 Babydoll Southdown
Born May 2006
Bred: 10/13/12     Due: 3/9/13     *LAMBED 3/7 - TRIPLETS - 7.8 lb ram, 6.8 lb ewe, 5.8 lb ewe (froze in snow)*




*
Valentine* ("Ali") #73, 1/4 Montadale x 3/4 Babydoll Southdown
Born March 2009
Bred: 10/7/12     Due: 3/3/13     *LAMBED 3/1 - SINGLE - 11.2 lb ewe*





*My Ewe Lambs*

*Lady Gaga* #0016, 3/8 Montadale x 5/8 Babydoll Southdown
Born May 2012
Bred: _______     Due: _______





*Katy Perry* #0017, 3/8 Montadale x 5/8 Babydoll Southdown
Born May 2012
Bred: 12/22/12    Due: 5/18/13     *LAMBED 5/15 - SINGLE - 9.8 lb ram*


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## SheepGirl

Well I don't think Ali ever came back into heat. Her red marks never changed and she wasn't remarked with green. So I think it's safe to say she may be bred


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## Bridgemoof




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## Southdown

I like the looks of Ali, she is a cutie.  

We're turning the ram in with two ewes this Saturday.  I am soooo excited!


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## SheepGirl

Ali is cute. I liked her looks better last year, though lol--every year she gets more and more brown on her face 

And Ciqala never got remarked so I think it's safe to say she's bred now


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## SheepGirl

Can't believe my sheep are already 1 month bred! If the next four months are anything like the last one, I will have lambs here before I know it!


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## bonbean01

I believe ours are now all bred too...still have the ram in with them just in case...one one was rebred so far that we know.

Now if any are rebred of yours...the red and then the green...were you thinking Christmas colours?


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## CocoNUT

I love their faces...they're so sweet! I also like all your names...going for Pop Stars huh? Do they dance around the pastures...or wear really crazy outifts?


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## bluebirdsnfur

They are real cuties!   Good Luck!


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## SheepGirl

bon - hehehe well actually aggieterpkatie recommended green after red. But maybe she was thinking Christmas colors? 

CocoNUT - hahaha I WISH!  I think next year's naming theme will be super heroes...Batman, Catwoman, Superman, Superwoman, etc.

bluebirdsnfur - thanks


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## autumnprairie

I can't believe how big the girls are now.


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## SheepGirl

Two months bred already


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## RustyDHart

SheepGirl said:
			
		

> Two months bred already


Nice photos....    I know that the time goes by so fast....my first lambs are due the middle of February....just around the corner:/.   I only had 21 ewes bred this last Fall...cutting back but wish I'd kept twice as many.....now everyone wants some.     Happy Holidays!!!    Rusty


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## SheepGirl

RustyDHart said:
			
		

> SheepGirl said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Two months bred already
> 
> 
> 
> Nice photos....    I know that the time goes by so fast....my first lambs are due the middle of February....just around the corner:/.   I only had 21 ewes bred this last Fall...cutting back but wish I'd kept twice as many.....now everyone wants some.     Happy Holidays!!!    Rusty
Click to expand...

Thanks! February? You've only got two more months to go!  Twenty-one is still a nice number. I miss have a large flock of ewes to lamb. But it's just 2 so far...hopefully 3-4 ewes lambing if my ewe lambs get bred. But good luck with your lambing season & happy holidays to you, too!


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## bonbean01

Sheepgirl....I know you will get awfully cute lambs...that breed just looks so cuddly and huggable and rather like teddy bears


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## BrownSheep

I can't wait....what's your theme this year?


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## WhiteMountainsRanch

*Any updated pics?*


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## SheepGirl

bonbean01 said:
			
		

> Sheepgirl....I know you will get awfully cute lambs...that breed just looks so cuddly and huggable and rather like teddy bears


Hahahah  I can't wait to see what they look like, especially since Hank doesn't have any wool on his face.



			
				BrownSheep said:
			
		

> I can't wait....what's your theme this year?


I'm thinking Superheroes  Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Hulk, Catwoman, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Hawkgirl, etc. or maybe Twilight now that the last movie finally came out lol.... Bella, Edward, Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, Jasper, Carlisle, Esme, etc.



			
				WhiteMountainsRanch said:
			
		

> *Any updated pics?*


 I will see about getting some pictures tomorrow. I haven't taken any new pictures in about 1.5 wks. So I will see what I can get!


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## SheepGirl

Pictures 

Ciqala, 2 mo bred






Ali, 2 mo bred





Katy Perry, hopefully will breed this month or early next month





Lady Gaga, hopefully will breed this month or early next month (her back looks funny because of her wool being flattened on one part)





Okay...now some random pictures lol

Hanky Panky half asleep





har har har





Babies have gotten big! They're almost 7 months old now 





Remember when they used to be this tiny?  Also - who can name this lamb? Bragging rights go to winner


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## Alice Acres

The gang looks good 
Nice looking ram too. He should really make some nice lambs.


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## SheepGirl

OMG I should stop calling my Hank Hanky Panky. Just googled it and realized it was a line of lingerie  hahahaha whenever I call him that I think of the song "my baby does the hanky panky" -- though of course that can't be much better 

Thanks Alice


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## Southern by choice

I think it's gaga.  

Your sweet, I appreciate your innocence of NOT knowing about that nasty meaning of Hanky Panky!


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## Straw Hat Kikos

Ciqala is big. Not sure if it's because she's pregnant or just a big sheep. lol


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## Bridgemoof

SheepGirl, when your lambs are born I would like to come and see them!  Although my lambs should be due around the same time, so I will have my own cuties!


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## SheepGirl

SBC - 

SHK - She's short (about 26") but she's 200 lbs. Haven't weighed her in a month or two, so I'm not sure how much she's gained. I don't expect her to start showing her pregnancy until at least next month. She's my biggest sheep though 

Bridgemoof - You are MORE than welcome to come see my babies! And I would love to see yours!


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## Bridgemoof

Isn't it something to put in a breeding date and due date for your little girls? I know when I put Lottie's possible due date in I just thought, omg she's just a baby! But she'll be 14 months by the time she lambs, if she does.


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## SheepGirl

Aww, Bridget! I can't wait to see her cute little Jacob lambs!! <3

-----

Katy Perry started to come into heat today, at 211 days old. She looked like she was trying to nurse off of Hank but she was really licking his you know what  Hank was chasing her and trying to breed her. Hopefully as the day goes on she'll be more willing to stand for him. So if she took she'd be due 5/18/2013, a couple days before she turns 12 months old.


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## Southern by choice

Sheepgirl...how old should a ewe be before breeding. What is the general rule of thumb?
Are you keeping any of the lambs from 2013 lambing?

I really love our jacobs.    They are so sweet. They are becoming treat-a-holics! 
This is going to be a long quarantine... I wish I could put them out with the goats. 
Straw's bad goat (NG-Coco) is going to be a problem. She is a little prima-donna! That is from STRAW! He ruined her, it's kinda scary how he is with his girls...spoils them rotten. Makes me wonder what kind of daddy he will be one day!  His girls can do nooooo wrong..ever!  
I think Gwen, the ewe, will be able to put her in her place. I am a bit worried Gwen isn't peeing enough. How can I tell? Do you think I should ask on the general sheep forum?


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## SheepGirl

SBC - The rule of thumb most people follow is 2/3 to 3/4 of the adult weight. But what my neighbor's always done (and he's been breeding ewe lambs since the 1950s) is breed them their first heat...so that's what I'm going by. And the genetics my ewes come from are 'used' to it, so I'm not worried about issues of breeding too early (we've only ever had to assist one ewe, she was 3 or 4 yrs old, and she had a 21 POUND single ewe lamb stuck). The only thing I'm worried about is the Texel head going through...Texels are known for having blocky heads, but TBH, Hank's head is a lot narrower and smaller than my old 3/4 Babydoll ram's head. But since I know the breeding dates I know exactly when to watch out for them in case there's any trouble 

But I don't know, Southern...I think you're as bad with those sheep as Straw is with his goats!  You've gotten them to be treataholics! hahaha

But as for the peeing frequency, I don't really know haha. I've never really watch my sheep pee. I see them occasionally do it but it's not something I think about. You can post a thread, but what's making you worry? Do you see your ram (wether?) pee but not her? If that's the case...I see Hank pee 2-3x while I'm out there. My ewes, not so much. I think it's normal for the boys to pee more than the girls lol.


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## SheepGirl

Okay, I was too excited to wait a couple more days  But we are three months bred!  Which means....two more months to go!! My ewes are already starting to look wider and deeper. Not much, but still noticeable. And Ciqala still has her udder and it fits in the palm of my hand, whereas Ali's is back to being flat. So we will see when they start bagging up


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## SheepGirl

Today would've been 17 days since Katy Perry was bred. I replaced Hank's green crayon yesterday with a blue one and when I went out to feed today, Hank wasn't interested in her nor did she have any blue on her. So I think she might be bred!


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## SheepGirl

Here's Miss Ali - she's due 3/3






Ciqala - she's due 3/9, but I think she'll have her lambs on 3/8. But she is very photogenic. She will stand in front of me for a half hour posing for pictures. I don't even have to have any feed. She just sees me with my red camera, she comes up to me, I sit down on the ground, and she just stays there, looking off into every direction looking dramatic. She's so great!





Babies aren't babies any more  I go out to feed them and I'm just in awe of how tall they've gotten over the past couple of days. It is visually noticeable. They are finally building frame! lol





Hanky 





Okay...I like big butts and I cannot lie. Hank's leg muscles are huge. I'm in love with Texels! <3 They are so muscular. And Hank is pretty well behaved for the most part. He's only attempted to ram into me 2 or 3 times. Once was when I had the santa antlers on him and he was getting annoyed with them being on his head. Another time is when he was learned that he does not get any of the lamb's feed. I can also control him by holding onto his harness. And before he had his harness on, you could scratch his brisket and he would stay completely still and he would start falling asleep. I saw that in a sheep show once so I figured I would try it out with Hank. Apparently it causes hypnotic symptoms with sheep! How cool is that?!


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## greenbean

Everyone looks great!   I can't wait to see babies!


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## SheepGirl

Thanks! I can't wait to see how the lambs turn out, too.

-----

The pasture is getting run down fast. I've been feeding 2-3 lbs of hay to the flock each day, but they still don't finish it and instead they go out and graze what little grass is left. I'm tempted to put a fence around their shelter & water, keep the ewes in there, and just keep Hank out on pasture. That way the pasture won't be ruined and turned into a muddy mess and also so I can feed my sheep carefully in late gestation through early lactation. If I pen them up now, I probably won't let them back out until mid to late March.

But before I do that I have to build a shelter for Hank. All I would need is 2 pieces of plywood and six 2x4s. Plus nails and screws. I figure it would cost no more than $40 or $50. Maybe my mom & I can build it this weekend and I can hurry up and put T-posts in the ground while it's still saturated and not frozen. Then I need to either get some more wire or zip ties to attach fencing onto it. Or maybe I will just use those step in posts and get a small roll of 3' tall fencing from the feed store so I won't use up the good left over fencing from when we put up the fence in August.

Sorry just kind of thinking out loud here!


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## Royd Wood

greenbean said:
			
		

> Everyone looks great!   I can't wait to see babies!


Yes they do look great and whats this about pasture - lucky you sheepgirl getting thus far - mine went 6 weeks ago


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## Straw Hat Kikos

We still have green pasture here. Well not me here but several cattle pastures are still green.


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## Southern by choice

I always love pictures of your sheep! You really have it together sheepgirl! Funny how your one ewe poses for the camera.
Your sheep sure do love you!


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## SheepGirl

Royd Wood said:
			
		

> greenbean said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Everyone looks great!   I can't wait to see babies!
> 
> 
> 
> Yes they do look great and whats this about pasture - lucky you sheepgirl getting thus far - mine went 6 weeks ago
Click to expand...

Last year there were 9 sheep on 18 acres. This year I have 5 sheep on 2 acres. This is what the grass looked like back in I think February. It didn't start getting low until early March, but it was only like that for a week or two before thing started growing again.





While there probably isn't much nutrition in it (it's brown not green), the sheep came out of winter fat as hogs. I was hoping to try to do that as much as possible this year, but I guess my stocking rate is too high for winter pasturing.

And thanks SBC  I like to think they love me too. But really it's probably just they love me feeding them!


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## bonbean01

Always love photos of your cuddly sheepies 

And yes...they do grow so quickly!!!!  Even our first lamb that will be 2 weeks old tomorrow looks like he's doubled in size already...and first ewe lamb born 6 days ago is already bigger!


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## SheepGirl

I love lambing season. Back at my neighbor's farm it was always so nice putting the ewes in the pen with their newborn lambs one afternoon or evening, and then going down the next morning checking on them. It would be chilly, probably in the 50s or 60s, the sun rising and shining into the barn, the musty smell of straw & hay, the birds flying in and chirping in the rafters, the lambs looking for their mother's teat, the soft bleating of the ewes, and touching their wool which was cold to the touch. I'm going to miss that! It was always so pretty & I could spend hours there. One of my favorite times of year. Other than shearing day. This year I won't have birds chirping when I tend to my lambs--there are no rafters in my 4' tall 'barn' ! lol


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## Bridgemoof

Oh Sheepgirl, I just can't wait to see your little lambs this year! Are you going to let your ewes pasture lamb and then bring them into your shed? Are you going to have any dividers? How long will you keep them in there?

Sorry for all the questions, I just am trying to develop a plan for my ewes


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## SheepGirl

Lol, it's fine 

But yep, the ewes will lamb in the field...unless I put up a fence around their shelter (which I think I will, to save the grass), then they will be lambing in that pen instead lol. But Ali I will probably pen up for a day or two in a jug. I'm hoping though she has improved and isn't so scatter-brained lol. Ciqala I won't more than likely because she is such a good mother. In fact, she's never needed to be jugged (even with her first lamb) because she's always been real protective & watchful over her babies. I would always just pen her up so I could play with her lambs for a few days before they went back in the pasture where it would be really hard for me to catch them  But when Katy Perry lambs (which I'm sure she will since she wasn't remarked) I will probably put her and her lamb in a jug for a day or two.

Right now, I'm not sure how I'm going to make a pen in there. I was thinking of getting some 2x4s and nailing them together to make panels, but I think I'm going to use our XL dog kennel (the one I transport sheep in) and use one of the side panels and then the door to section off a corner in the sheep shack, since they are 4' and 2' long, respectively. Or because the entire shelter is completely solid (with only little air holes where the pieces of plywood didn't completely match up ) I may take off the half wall in the front and give Ali and her lambs half the sheep shack plus a little pen outside.


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## SheepGirl

Okay, well I put in the step-in posts. I'm going to wait to put on the fence until I can get some help to make it tight so the sheep won't try to challenge it. Not that it matters, because they will still be contained in their field, but I'd rather not to have to chase them back into their pen 

But overall the ewe pen will be 64x24. I did it that big that way I won't have to move the water bucket and the gate to the pen will be right by the gate to the pasture, and also so they have 8' in front of their shelter and 8' behind it.

I have 8 step-in posts left over (the only reason why I'm using the step-in posts instead of the T-posts is because they are easier to put in our frozen ground), so I may put a fence around the deck stairs. I figure it's 3x cheaper to feed Hank hay than to build a shelter for him and leave him on what little pasture is left. But I still thought it would've been cute to have a 4'x4' shelter that's 4' tall with him in it eating hay out of a hay net lol. Ohh well. I could've even used that as a covered creep feeder when lambs arrive. But I'd rather use $10 worth of hay to feed him then spend $50 on a shelter.

But I have to ask my mom first. She took down my pens underneath the deck because she thought they were ugly and she didn't want anymore sheep under the deck. And Hank is a wuss so it's not like I can just build a redneck sheep shack again  He would not be happy in it like my ewes were!! lol






43 days until my first ewe is due to lamb!


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## SheepGirl

Well I talked to my mom tonight and she seemed somewhat okay with me putting Hank under the deck steps. So I think that's where he's gonna go. But she was also thinking about just building the 4x4 shelter herself so that way he doesn't have to go under the deck  So I dunno.


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## SheepGirl

Well my mom told me she didn't want Hank under the steps. So we built another little shelter for him. So Thursday (if it's not too cold like it was last week--never above freezing) I will put the wire on the posts and everybody will be where they need to be.

AND I noticed Ciqala had an udder! So I looked back at my photos to see what it looked like before and she's getting big! The pic on the right is most recent, taken 1/10--you think I would've noticed it earlier  So she started building an udder about 7.5 weeks before she's due to lamb. Woo-hoo! That's better than last year lol, where her udder was still small a couple weeks before she lambed. Crazy girl udders up at different times every year she lambs.


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## Bridgemoof

It's getting close!!!


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## Southern by choice

Sheep shapes are just too darn cute!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Southern by choice

You really have some stocky girls! I love your sheep!


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## bonbean01

Can't wait for your teddy bear lambies!!!!


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## SheepGirl

Lol, thanks! I can't wait either 

30 more days!! But she could probably go as early as Feb 27.

Ali was given a CD/T shot this evening and I started her on a half lb of grain. She will get that until she lambs. Then she will get 3/4 to 1 lb per lamb she is nursing. She may get less (or more)--I have to look at her and her lambs to see how much I think they need. I'm pretty good at gauging grain needs, if I do say so myself


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## Remuda1

* I'm pretty good at gauging grain needs, if I do say so myself*

And it shows in the condition of your sheep.  Good luck with your lambing season, can't wait to see your pictures


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## Southern by choice

sheepgirl- I need your help.... trying to figure out what the best way to feed my sheep.  look at post #4 please.

http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=24263


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## SheepGirl

Took some pictures today. I might take more tomorrow.

When I woke up this morning the whole bottom of the right hand side of their field was iced over. Then it started to snow, we got maybe 1/4 to 1/2 an inch. It's supposed to snow more I think.

Miss Ali






Ali's Baby Bump





Ciqala's Baby Bump





One month to go!!





What's left of the grass





Hank with lambs fighting in the background





Run!





And some more...





Playfully pushing their heads together





The ewes





Sheep hoof print thru the dusting of snow on a layer of ice


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## Southern by choice

> Playfully pushing their heads together


BEST PICTURE!!!!    

I love this one! That is a great pic for a calender.


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## Bridgemoof

Yeah! "Pushing their heads" and "the ewes". I just love your sheeps, they are so cute! Ali is getting pretty big!


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## bonbean01

I agree...cutest photo of them all, although I love all the photos   Soon Sheepgirl...not too much longer to wait, although it feels like forever I know!!!!

You should submit that photo to POW...although they just picked a sheep photo.


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## SheepGirl

Lol, thanks 

---

I didn't get any pictures today, but I did get Hank's shelter completely set up. It's 4x4 and it's a nice comfy lil space for him. Except I wasn't thinking when we were building it so the back wall is also 4' long (as opposed to 41" like it's supposed to be) so the piece of plywood for the roof didn't fit, because the shelter is now 4'x4'7"   But that's okay because we have an extra piece of plywood. It got dark/cold so my mom & I called it quits and will be doing it sometime this week...one of my great uncle passed away 3 hrs ago so the day of his funeral we will probably finish it then :/

Instead of penning Hank up, I probably will just let him roam around the field. I will still probably give him 1-2 lbs of hay a day, rather than 3, like he would've gotten if he was penned up. I keep procrastinating with putting up the fence because it's just so darn cold out but I just need to suck it up and go put up the wire lol. My Hanky is getting rough with the ewes, especially when they're all munching on hay, and I don't want him to hurt the lambs when they're born.

---

And IDK if I posted this already, but I'm thinking Lady Gaga and Katy Perry's mom is actually Ali, not Ciqala. Ciqala must've only had the twins that died and my neighbor must've confused my ewes lol. BUT I think it's pretty cool they were bred on the same date AND they lambed on the same date! Anyway, I went to a date duration calculator and apparently from Jan 3 to May 25 is 143 days, SO if they lamb 143 days from when they were bred we could have lambs as early as Feb 27 & Mar 5 rather than Mar 3 & Mar 9!! How cool is that?!


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## Bridgemoof

I think you mentioned before there was some confusion on the part of your neighbor with Ali and Ciqala and who's lambs were who. But now I'm even more confused!  So Ciqala's twins died, right? So you need to keep an extra eye on here I suppose. 

So lambing is just a few short weeks away for you!


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## SheepGirl

Okay, I will recap the whole story for you 

My neighbor went out one morning and saw my ewe lambing. He called my mom and told her that my old ewe lambed. My mom came to pick me up from school and when I got home, I went to the barn. There were two white ewe lambs running around <3 Because my mom had told me that my neighbor had told her it was my old ewe, I proceeded to pen up the lambs and Ciqala. Ciqala's a great mother, but I still wanted them penned up so I could easily catch them and love on them lol. I stayed there for about an hour or so, and then my family (visiting from NC) and I went to Harper's Ferry, WV to go walk around and go on the bridge. Later that day (probably around 5 or 6 or so) in the pen with Ciqala were an additional two lambs, both ewes, one black one white. The white lamb was stillborn and the black one was having muscle tremors. The black one lasted about a day or two and then we took her to the vet to be put down. So I'm not sure if it's genetic (Ciqala's other daughter, Lily, was bred by Billy--her maternal half brother--and gave birth to a stillborn lamb...Ciqala was bred by her son and she had two boys--one turned out normal and the other had those weird muscle tremors.) or if there was a nutritional deficiency.

The other two times Ciqala was bred by an outcross ram there were no issues so I'm hoping everything turns out alright 

And I know!! It's like less than four weeks away now!!


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## bonbean01

Woo hoo...my fav pic of your last batch won POW!!!!  Congrats!!!!


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## Southern by choice

bonbean01 said:
			
		

> Woo hoo...my fav pic of your last batch won POW!!!!  Congrats!!!!


x2  


You pow hog you!


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## SheepGirl

Pshhhhh I've only had POW seven times 































---

On the udder development front, Ali has started to build an udder. Each half is about the size of a golfball.


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## Straw Hat Kikos

What? That's crazy! But some nice pictures for sure.


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## Royd Wood

favoritism


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## Southern by choice

...all well qualified for pow...except piggy  

Sheep...    barbed wire... 

you take great pictures, well centered and very nice composition.


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## SheepGirl

Thanks guys 

----

Picture Update!! Ali has 18-22 days left & Ciqala has 24-28 days left. Katy Perry has a little over 3 months left.

Let's start off with Hank...





And the ladies enjoying their supper...





Helloooo....? Got anymore food......?





Lady Gaga gets excited by the cats.





And here she is about 2-3 ft in the air.  For a 9.5 month old lamb, this girl still has a lot of 'little lamb' energy!!





Hello There (in the background you can see Hank's new 4x4 sheep 'apartment')





I forget the percentage, but most of the fetal growth occurs in the last 4-6 wks of pregnancy. And you can definitely tell--look at how BIG these ladies got in ONE week!

Ali (day 143 is Feb 27, day 147 is March 3). Pic on left was from seven days ago, pic on right was today.








Ciqala (day 143 is March 5, day 147 is March 9)





And here are the ladies again....I hate how their wool blends so well with the grass! It makes seeing how big their bellies really are really hard! lol


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## Straw Hat Kikos

She sure does have alot of lamb energy in her!! And using it too. haha


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## Southern by choice

I love the leaping pics! Our gwenn still does the leaps too we just can't get the pics!

Boy are they starting to get BIG! So much fun watching them!


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## Bridgemoof

Lady Gaga is a hoot!  She's a jumper for sure. It's a wonder she doesn't try and jump the fence!

The girls are getting so big! I am anxious of them to lamb.  More cute lambies from Sheepgirl's sheep!


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## SheepGirl

I don't know where Lady Gaga gets all of her energy from! lol She gets excited by seeing a cat and off hopping and leaping and running she goes! I just wish the pictures turned out clearer, though :/

And I know! I can't wait to see how big they get right before they lamb!


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## SheepGirl

Ciqala felt a little thin to me yesterday so I upped her grain to 3/4 lb. So we'll see how she feels in a week.

Only 2.5 more weeks!  I love baby sheep. They are the most fun creatures ever. I love sitting on an overturned bucket with a lamb sleeping in my lap while I pet their silky soft leg & face wool 

I have so many pleasant memories, sounds, smells associated with lambing season  musty straw, sweet hay, crisp cold air, birds chirping, sun rising, cold dense wool, soft murmuring bleating, the milky smell of lambs, etc. I love it so much!!


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## SheepGirl

Ewes are doing good, two more weeks to go for Ali, three more for Ciqala. Hank doesn't understand he doesn't get fed in the mornings. I only give him a pound of hay in the evenings--he has the field 24/7. Poor guy tries his darndest to get into the ewe pen. Monday morning he managed to slip under the fence and join the ewes. So I put another step-in post where he slipped under. Fixed the problem 

It was raining/snowing when I fed tonight so I moved the hay feeder back into the sheep shack. I had it on one side of the pen so that way the ewes have to walk to the hay feeder to the waterer to the sheep shack so they get forced exercise. So once it stops precipitating (I'm not sure if it's rain or snow right now) then the hay feeder will be back outside.

The ewes mob me for their grain. So I have to run from one side of the pen to the other with the sheep chasing me. The lambs are right on my feet so they get their rations first and then because the mature ewes are pregnant and slow it gives me time to set their feed pans on the ground  That way everyone gets their own ration and nobody has the chance to steal grain out of somebody else's feed pan.


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## SheepGirl

Here is my ewe two weeks from giving birth to Billy and Ali (#51 in front was my old ewe Lily who died in September 2010  She was my favorite sheep ever)






Here is my ewe three weeks from giving birth to Lord knows how many lambs this year LOL -- I took this photo today on my phone. I edited on my phone to rotate it so I guess that's why it's so little? Other photos I've taken on my phone (without me rotating them) turned out much larger on the computer.





How many do you think are in there?!


----------



## Southern by choice

oh my... either two really big or 3 average...that's my guess! 

How old was Lily?  I know...some animals just stay in your heart forever.


----------



## SheepGirl

Lily was 2.5 yrs old, my first lamb I had born and Ciqala's first lamb. My guess is she died either from parasites or a bacterial infection. I'm leaning more towards bacterial infection though because a couple days later Ali wasn't 'right,' checked her temp it was 105.9. I feel bad I didn't pay more attention to her symptoms because I could've saved her  She was great though, she knew her name, she baaed when she heard it. I could also say "Lily come" and she would come to me where ever she was in the 18 acre pasture. She only had one lamb but it was stillborn (she was bred by Billy, her maternal half brother).

The only thing I liked about her death was that she died on Sept. 2, 2010--9/02/10 (Beverly Hills zip code). Makes it easy to remember


----------



## BrownSheep

I'm leaning towards two. I've noticed ewes tend to get larger the older they are even if its the same number of lambs....I guess popping out babies makes it a bit roomier in there.  Hoping for triplets for you though. Is this Ciqala? Also how in the world do you pronounce Ciqala?...


----------



## SheepGirl

We've never had very many old ewes, most ewes were in the 3-5 yr old range. Unfortunately when the Montadales were still around, the last couple of them were old (7-8 yrs) and I never did pay much attention to how big their bellies got.

I'm hoping for triplets, too, though we've only ever had two ewes produce triplets. Everybody else has had twins. One ewe was a purebred Montadale and the other was Ciqala's paternal half sister. But she could've been more related to both ewes than that because her dam was a Montadale, and I'm not sure how the Montadale flock was all related to each other (half/75/full sisters, aunts, nieces, cousins, etc). eta: She may just have another set of twins in there though too. She's had one single and three sets of twins so far.

And yep, that is Ciqala. To be honest, I have no clue how to pronounce it, and I am probably pronouncing it wrong, too lol. But I say "key-call-a." I named her when I was 12, when I was into naming things something weird that had a cool meaning. lol. Her name is Native American for "little one" and I named her that because I got her when she was a baby and she was a "little one" compared to all the big adult sheep I had been used to lol.


----------



## BrownSheep

Yay! Now I have a sound to go with the word! Better namer than me! I just stare at them till it comes to me. I have a Squash and Squint from last year....They had better names in the beginning but they just sorta morphed in to those names. Jus lake Mable becoming Mable-tini and Mabeline.....Poor sheep had 1002 names.


----------



## SheepGirl

hahaha squash is actually a cute name. Squish & Squash would be cute names for a set of twins, don'tcha think? 

lol don't you just love how you come up with nicknames for nicknames for names? Like my old dog's name was Dr Pepper, we'd call him Pepper, then we shortened it to Pep, and then we started calling him Pepsi Cola. lol


----------



## Straw Hat Kikos

I guess two also.


----------



## Bridgemoof

Yep she's got at least one on her side and one in her rump!


----------



## purplequeenvt

SheepGirl said:
			
		

> hahaha squash is actually a cute name. Squish & Squash would be cute names for a set of twins, don'tcha think?
> 
> lol don't you just love how you come up with nicknames for nicknames for names? Like my old dog's name was Dr Pepper, we'd call him Pepper, then we shortened it to Pep, and then we started calling him Pepsi Cola. lol


We had a bottle lamb named Squishy - you know, Finding Nemo....."I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine"??? And then we had a lamb born a couple years later that looked very similar to Squishy (we had sold Squishy at this point) and Lyd named her Squash. Squash had a baby last year that is named "Squoze".


----------



## Shelly May

I also guess two nice size lambs, they all look great hope you have a good healthy lambing season.


----------



## SheepGirl

Bridgemoof said:
			
		

> Yep she's got at least one on her side and one in her rump!


Lol I know right!! She has a huge butt. I guess that's why Hank loved her so much   Poor girl was always being bothered by him.



			
				purplequeenvt said:
			
		

> SheepGirl said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> hahaha squash is actually a cute name. Squish & Squash would be cute names for a set of twins, don'tcha think?
> 
> lol don't you just love how you come up with nicknames for nicknames for names? Like my old dog's name was Dr Pepper, we'd call him Pepper, then we shortened it to Pep, and then we started calling him Pepsi Cola. lol
> 
> 
> 
> We had a bottle lamb named Squishy - you know, Finding Nemo....."I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine"??? And then we had a lamb born a couple years later that looked very similar to Squishy (we had sold Squishy at this point) and Lyd named her Squash. Squash had a baby last year that is named "Squoze".
Click to expand...

Squish, Squash, Squoze--the next one should be named Squeeze, Smushed, or Smashed 



			
				Shelly May said:
			
		

> I also guess two nice size lambs, they all look great hope you have a good healthy lambing season.


Thanks  Same to you!


----------



## SheepGirl

First ewe is due next week. Took some pictures on Saturday, Sunday, and this morning. Some were really cute so I just had to share 

The best big belly picture of Ali I could get. For some reason she did NOT want me standing directly behind her or directly in front of her.






Ciqala & Ali normally stand next to each other. So when I went to go get front/back pics of Ciqala, Ali would freak out and walk away and then Ciqala would follow suit. So this is the best one I got of her.





Kiss Me I'm Irish <3





She's so pretty 





Wanna share? I have lots of hay to go around!





Nom Nom Nom. Little piggy!





Hay. Has a lot of stems, some foxtail, and some fescue. There's a bunch of other plants/weeds in there I couldn't identify lol. You think I would be able to since I competed in Agronomy for FFA!





Lady Gaga has the softest ears. I like her fuzzy ears better than Katy Perry's slick elf ears.





Katy Perry





Yum!





HAAAAYYYYYYYY gurlfrennnnddd





Now she's looking lady like lol





Are you talkin' to me?





<3


----------



## Baymule

They are all beautiful!! And you took some really great pictures!


----------



## BrownSheep

I did agronomy as well! 

That contest helped me get my first job.


----------



## Straw Hat Kikos

Alana should be kidding close to the same time as them. She's due on March 5th but could kid on the 1st or as late at the 10th.


----------



## greenbean

They're so cute!  I can't wait to see babies


----------



## bonbean01

Love the photos!!!!  And lambies will be arriving soon!!!


----------



## SheepGirl

BrownSheep -- that's great! Our team was not very good at agronomy (we got 4th or 5th out of 6 or 7 teams). I did score the highest out of every team who competed for Bug ID, though!!! hahahahaha

And thanks everyone lol. My favorite one is the one with Ali with her mouth wide open 

Hopefully she will be lambing one week from now!! She's a lot thinner than Ciqala, so either Ciqala's got triplets and Ali's got twins, or Ciqala's got twins and Ali has a single  Or she could be carrying them lower and they both have twins.


----------



## Straw Hat Kikos

Sis was freaking WIDE and Arianna wasn't so wide at all nor was she low but she still had twins. They both had twins so I bet they both have twins. Hopefully at least. Singles suck. ha

What you your sheep "kid" most of the time. Singles or twins?


----------



## Royd Wood

What is the 4th pic - looks very nice and a little like some here
Yes lol at the one eating with mouth open


----------



## SheepGirl

Straw Hat Kikos said:
			
		

> Sis was freaking WIDE and Arianna wasn't so wide at all nor was she low but she still had twins. They both had twins so I bet they both have twins. Hopefully at least. Singles suck. ha
> 
> What you your sheep "kid" most of the time. Singles or twins?


Well Ciqala had a single her first time, and then she had 3 sets of twins. Ali had a single her first time and then a set of twins. Ali is Ciqala's daughter, so I'm HOPING she will have the same lambing record as her dam. I flushed them this year, too, so Ali better have more than a single baby in there!!

Most of my neighbor's ewes have had singles their first time as ewe lambs or yearlings and then they go on to have twins every time thereafter. Usually after a couple years of having a set of twins they will throw in a single, and in the case of the two ewes with triplets, they both had a single the next time (the one had a lambing record of 2-3-1 and the other one had a lambing record of 1-five sets of twins-3-1).



			
				Royd Wood said:
			
		

> What is the 4th pic - looks very nice and a little like some here
> Yes lol at the one eating with mouth open


That is Ciqala, she's due March 5 (143 days--which is when she lambed last yr) or March 9 (147 days---"average"). She's 1/2 Babydoll Southdown x 1/2 Montadale. I always think she looks like a long wool breed, especially when she is in full wool. Like a Romney or a Coopworth or something. Depending on the day, she looks like a Cheviot, too


----------



## SheepGirl

According to the weather forecast, Wednesday is looking 'partly sunny with a high of 48' -- not bad for lambing weather! Thursday & Friday though have a 30% chance of precipitation, so I hope it either doesn't rain/snow OR my ewe lambs on Wednesday


----------



## goodolboy

Good luck with that weather thing.  I think ours hold out for the worst weather.


----------



## SheepGirl

lol, all the days I remember the ewes lambing it was always either a sunny or cloudy day and they would all lamb out in the field. The only ewe I remember lambing on a rainy day was smart enough to have her babies inside the barn lol


----------



## SheepGirl

3 days until babies!! 

I'm hoping though that my ewe lambs on Thursday now (so 4 days). My mom has off because we are getting our carpet on the main floor ripped out & replaced with hardwood floors. The carpets are stained & smelly from old dogs peeing on it, and our young & stupid cat (Sophie) peeing on it (she peed on it this morning with us watching her ). And no matter how many times we rent a Rug Dr, the smell & stains don't come out. Kind of funny how they don't pee upstairs or in the basement, but only on the main floor... But I also have off so I hope she lambs during the day so I can take pictures and then my mom can take a video of newborn lamb processing.

I'm so excited


----------



## bonbean01

Wishing you a great lambing season!!!!


----------



## Bridgemoof

Sheepgirl, do you think your ewes will be on time? You have to make sure to take pics of their girls parts right up until the moment so we can take note of the rosy glow, and if they give you any indication of imminent lambing! Let us know about the mucous plugs, too! Details, want details!!!

I sure hope you are off work when they lamb. When you are home are you going to get up in the middle of the night to check on them, too? 

I am quite possibly more excited about your lambs coming than my own, if that is even possible!  You've been building up to this moment for a whole year!


----------



## SheepGirl

Thanks bon! I hope your last ewe to lamb gives you a nice set of TWINS! 

Bridget -- I hope so! Last year they lambed on day 143 (or could be day 142 since the ram escaped overnight). And lol, I was already planning on taking photos of my ewes girly parts so people can see the difference between a ewe a couple weeks from lambing and a ewe two days or less from lambing. To be honest, I have never seen a ewe with a mucous plug hanging out! My ewes must skip that step, lol. And don't worry!! I will give you guys all the details you can handle  haha!

I hope they lamb when I'm home, too! Probably will check them around midnight every day from when they're due to when they lamb, but that's only so I know exactly which day the lambs were born on  lol

lol, I know! But I'm excited for all your lambs coming, too!! I love how some of yours have a bunch of breeds in them, so you have no idea what colors/fleece types you're gonna get!! And I'm soo excited for those finns of yours to be lambing!! I can't wait to see how many pop out of them lol

eta: Found some info I wrote on my old ewe back in 2008, apparently Ciqala was bred Oct. 11 and lambed Mar. 27. My guess is she didn't take the first time, so she was probably rebred Oct. 28. So had her twins 150 days after she was bred. Ughhh that means an extra week I am gonna have to wait!! lol oh well


----------



## SheepGirl

More pics  I took them yesterday.

You know, if she were to lamb right now I would think she has twins in there. But since she still has 2 weeks to go, maybe she has more (maybe 3)? 






Hank grazing by himself





Then I tied a piece of baling twine into a loop and I put Hank's head through the loop and walked him around the pasture. We stopped at the willow tree and I tied him up and started taking a bunch of photos of him lol










So then I let him go and the cats were bugging me so I went to go feed them and take a couple photos (though this is the only one that turned out clear). This is Momma Kitty aka Oliver. She looked like a boy as a kitten, so we didn't have her spayed/neutered when we got all the adults done in Summer 2011. Well she ended up pregnant and had babies in I think it was May of 2012. She had five, one died, and then we fostered two onto her, the one lives with us (Claire) and the other lives with my cousin (Fluffy kitty, now named Wendy). She was a good mama. But now she's spayed so she won't be a mama no more!





And then I went back down to see my sheep. This is Ali, with my neighbor's dairy barn in the background. His milk truck usually arrives every time I leave to go to work. The truck driver has now started waving at me when we pass each other on the road lol





And Ciqala  (Doesn't she have the prettiest smile?)


----------



## BrownSheep

I think Shelly May might have a wide load sign you can borrow for Ciqala.....I CAN NOT wait for your babies!


----------



## SheepGirl

BrownSheep said:
			
		

> I think Shelly May might have a wide load sign you can borrow for Ciqala.....I CAN NOT wait for your babies!




I can't wait either!!

How many ewes do you have left to lamb?


----------



## BrownSheep

Goooood question....Let me count and I'll let you know


ETA: 8 that are for certain. The ewe lambs from last year could be due closer towards summer since they have been running with them. they were all born in May, I think, so I am kind of hoping they aren't.... And then there is always useless Emma....We actually thought she was aborting again today, but apparently not....She could always surprise us.


----------



## Pearce Pastures

Oh, pwetty wittle kiki, wanna snuggle?


----------



## bonbean01

Loved the photos!!!!  And my last girl to go is a first timer, so I don't expect twins....but from the looks of yours, you may even get a set of triplets


----------



## greenbean

I have to say I love Hank   He's so cute!  They all are, but there's something about him!  They all look so soft and fluffy   I can't wait to see Ciqala's babies, she looks huge!  The cat is cute too.


----------



## SheepGirl

Pearce Pastures said:
			
		

> Oh, pwetty wittle kiki, wanna snuggle?


Haha I'm sure if you had feed she wouldn't mind a little hugging!  After all, she lets me give her big bear hugs and bunches of kisses before I give her her food lol



			
				bonbean01 said:
			
		

> Loved the photos!!!!  And my last girl to go is a first timer, so I don't expect twins....but from the looks of yours, you may even get a set of triplets


Aww. Well you can still hope, can't you!  lol well I hope you get a healthy baby of the gender you want! 



			
				greenbean said:
			
		

> I have to say I love Hank   He's so cute!  They all are, but there's something about him!  They all look so soft and fluffy   I can't wait to see Ciqala's babies, she looks huge!  The cat is cute too.


Haha I love Hank, too <3 He always looks so regal. I think it's his open, clean white face. The sheep all feel like a carpet, so not totally soft haha. The lamb's noses though, omigosh, they're like velvet. I love petting them, they are so soft. And I can't wait either!  Her lambs will be 1/4 Babydoll Southdown x 1/4 Montadale x 1/2 Texel, so they should be an okay size. I expect her lambs to be about 20-30 lbs heavier than Ali's at weaning, though.


----------



## Meat Goats

I like the cat. She looks funny. And that smile is too funny.


----------



## EllieMay

Yep, you might get triplets!  
And I love Ciqala's smile.


----------



## goodolboy

Yea, that smile is something else.

Our "Wide Load" sign is now avalible if you need it.


----------



## SheepGirl

BrownSheep said:
			
		

> Goooood question....Let me count and I'll let you know
> 
> 
> ETA: 8 that are for certain. The ewe lambs from last year could be due closer towards summer since they have been running with them. they were all born in May, I think, so I am kind of hoping they aren't.... And then there is always useless Emma....We actually thought she was aborting again today, but apparently not....She could always surprise us.


Awesome! So that means at least 10-12 more lambs for you (maybe 16)! 



			
				Meat Goats said:
			
		

> I like the cat. She looks funny. And that smile is too funny.


She does look funny. Ever since she was a kitten she's been a scrawny little thing. That's why she didn't get fixed in Summer 2011--she was too tiny (they had to be like 4 or 5 lbs and she weighed 2 or 3 lbs). And whenever it's reallyyy cold out she always wants to come in the house. We let her in for a few minutes but she usually wants to go back outside after that.



			
				EllieMay said:
			
		

> Yep, you might get triplets!
> And I love Ciqala's smile.


I hope 



			
				goodolboy said:
			
		

> Yea, that smile is something else.
> 
> Our "Wide Load" sign is now avalible if you need it.


 Maybe I will steal it


----------



## bonbean01

So soon now Sheepgirl!!!!!  Seems like such a long wait, and finally it gets close to lambing time


----------



## SheepGirl

I know! lol. Well today is day 142 for Ali. She's not going to lamb today, and I don't think she will lamb tomorrow (even though I work 5 hrs in the morning and have the rest of the day off!). Her vulva has gotten pinker (yesterday it was more purple), but it's not pink enough for me to say "YES she's gonna have a baby." So maybe she will lamb Thursday or Friday or Saturday. Sometime over the weekend.


----------



## Shelly May

SheepGirl, I will be waiting for those pictures too when they arrive, no excuses from you , I hope from one sheep farmer to another that you have no less than healthy twins out of each ewe, triplets are nice but healthy twins are GREAT.


----------



## SheepGirl

lol I will have a whole bunch of pictures! 

And with your 190 left to lamb, I hope they go without a hitch, all having & accepting twins


----------



## Bridgemoof

Tick tock tick tock...the final countdown begins!!!!


----------



## SheepGirl

I know! lol we are on day 143, the day she (and Ciqala) both produced twin ewe lambs last year. Checked her vulva this morning (it's hidden by her wool so I have to catch her and put her in a corner and restrain her with my leg up against the fence while bending behind her checking out her who-ha lol), looks the same as it did yesterday :/ So my guess is no babies today and no babies tomorrow. Stinks because having babies today or tomorrow would've been perfect! :/


----------



## purplequeenvt

Rule #1 in pregnant sheep - they never lamb when it is convenient for the humans!


----------



## Bridgemoof

Rule #2: Sometimes you can, sometimes you can't tell by looking at their who-ha!


----------



## purplequeenvt

Bridgemoof said:
			
		

> Rule #2: Sometimes you can, sometimes you can't tell by looking at their who-ha!


 but true! I have had so many sheep sneak off and lamb and you'd never know they were close by looking at their butts.


----------



## SheepGirl

lol, we can always tell who's gonna lamb soon by seeing how rosy & puffy they are back there lol.


----------



## purplequeenvt

That may be true with your sheep, but sure isn't with mine!  We have pink butts, freckled butts, and black butts. Some get really puffy a couple weeks before lambing and some hours before. Some hardly get puffy at all.


----------



## SheepGirl

purplequeenvt said:
			
		

> That may be true with your sheep, but sure isn't with mine!  We have pink butts, freckled butts, and black butts. Some get really puffy a couple weeks before lambing and some hours before. Some hardly get puffy at all.


Haha, all of our sheep had purple booties. They would completely turn a rosy pink 2-3 days before lambing. I think a freckled butt would be cool, though


----------



## BrownSheep

SheepGirl said:
			
		

> lol, we can always tell who's gonna lamb soon by seeing how rosy & puffy they are back there lol.


Me too!....Or at least I'll start saying it and sometime in the next 2-3 weeks they lamb.


----------



## SheepGirl

Well little Miss Ali when I just checked on her was grunting/moaning a little bit and she was holding her tail up a little, too. No discharge, still has some purple on her who-ha.



Whoever can guess when Ali lambs, how many she has, and (if you want) what gender(s), wins bragging rights. Sorry for the lame 'prize' but I couldn't think of anything lol


----------



## bonbean01

This Sunday...twin girls   Thinking positive thoughts for all your sheepies!


----------



## Four Winds Ranch

I am going to go with next Mon. and she will have twins, boy and girl!!!


----------



## BrownSheep

Friday, Girl, girl


----------



## Bridgemoof

Well then I am guessing tomorrow! One of each.


----------



## SheepGirl

Ali's udder is tight, and a bit bigger than a softball. I hope we have babies sooooon! I'm so excited to see Hank's babies!!

It's funny, now that I'm using a ram I picked out, I'm more excited for lambing lol. When my neighbor picked out rams, I would be like okay, wait until they were bred, get a rough idea of the earliest they were due, forget when they were due (lol) and be surprised & ecstatic when babies arrived on time. haha My neighbor had a whiteboard in the barn with the earliest lambing date wrote on it so we wouldn't forget vaccinations...and then all of the other due dates were written down in the record book. I wish I had it! Then I could see the average gestation of the flock, which would be good since my ewes are genetically similar to all the ewes my neighbor had.


----------



## Straw Hat Kikos

Two ewes tomorrow. Book it


----------



## Bridgemoof

Straw and I guessed the same day 

OK Sheepgirl, now you get to see a lot of this til lambing time:


----------



## SuburbanFarmChic




----------



## SheepGirl

Nothing yet, but went out a half hour ago, all the sheep were chewing cud except for her. I was out there for 10 minutes watching her and not once did she bring her cud up. So she might be working on those babies. I will check on her in an hour or two.


----------



## Bridgemoof




----------



## goodolboy

Did she eat today? Alot of our will quit eating the day before or the day of.


----------



## purplequeenvt

Our sheep never stop eating. We've had ewes in full blown labor jump up and run to the feeders if they thought they were missing out on something.


----------



## SheepGirl

purplequeenvt said:
			
		

> Our sheep never stop eating. We've had ewes in full blown labor jump up and run to the feeders if they thought they were missing out on something.


lol, I rarely see my sheep lamb, I've only seen maybe no more than three or four, and almost all were at a distance. Except one. I was putting feed out in the feeder, she came up, shoved everyone out of the way and ate pretty much all of it. When she made sure there was none left, she went in the corner of the barn, laid down, and within 5-10 minutes plopped out a lamb. Less than 2-3 minutes later she plopped out a second one.  She had the white boy first and then had a black girl.

Mostly I catch them right after they lamb when the babies are still wet or sometimes I will catch them a couple hours old, already all dried off.

-----

As for Ali, no babies yet....    It is so frustrating knowing the due dates of your ewes!! lol I wish I was more carefree about everything like I was when they lived at my neighbor's farm.


----------



## Bridgemoof

I'm still hoping for tonight so Straw and I can win your exulted prize of gloating! Which means you have to stay up til midnight to watch her in case she does.


----------



## SheepGirl

I will stay up and post at midnight just for you and straw lol

bonbean won PQVT's lambing contest...so it may be Sunday when Ali decides to finally have her twin girls. LOL


----------



## Straw Hat Kikos

Well Shelly May won really. Sorry bon 

Shelly May got litter size, sexes, AND weights right. How crazy is that?

And yes, I agree. Go out there and give her a HUGE squeeze and make her plop 'em out so Bridge and I win.


----------



## bonbean01

This is true Straw...but I'm still taking some bragging rights


----------



## Straw Hat Kikos

bonbean01 said:
			
		

> This is true Straw...but I'm still taking some bragging rights


As you should!


----------



## purplequeenvt

Bon may not have said the weight, but I'm sure she was thinking it. Right bon?


----------



## goodolboy

Y'all know Shelly May has got 92 wrong at our place. She was bound to get lucky sometime.


----------



## SheepGirl

hahahaha lol sorry I never posted. But Ali's vulva is FINALLY pink & puffy! So I'm 90% sure we'll have babies today or tomorrow. Stinks because I work an 8 hr shift today...that is going to be annoying! lol

And the floor guys couldn't come yesterday so they're here today. Yeahhhh lol


----------



## Bridgemoof

Take a picture before you go to work!


----------



## BrownSheep

It will totally be tomorrow since I guessed today.


----------



## Shelly May

My guess is tomorrow, Saturday, and she will have Triplets, 2 girls, 1 boy she has got bigger .......


----------



## Straw Hat Kikos

Can I change? lol


----------



## marlowmanor

I say late tonight with twins, 1 boy (because you need a wether companion for Hank  ) 1 girl.


----------



## Bridgemoof

If Straw gets to change, I'm with him---> lol


----------



## Straw Hat Kikos

I say tomorrow and two ewe lambs 7.5 pounds and 9 pounds.


----------



## Bridgemoof




----------



## SheepGirl

Well BrownSheep was mostly right!!

We have a BIG single ewe lamb (11.2 lbs!!), born today around 4 pm 

She is soooo cute! Looks like a little Romney with a really light charcoal smudge on her nose  I think her right front leg is all brown (or it could just be the mud). She is sooo healthy. I don't know if it's genetics (new ram/breed) or the way I fed my ewes during late gestation BUT she is so big and filled out and stocky and she looks & acts like she's a couple days old already, but she's only 4 hours old!

As for being a single, I am a little disappointed in Ali. Then again she did lamb 9 months ago with twins. But then again she is in her prime (she'll be 4 at the end of the month) so no excuses. And her mom's lambing record is 1-2-2-2. Sooo Ali better redeem herself next year!


----------



## Bridgemoof

Can't wait to see her! I knew you were being quiet for a reason, i suspected something was up!


----------



## SheepGirl

Bridgemoof said:
			
		

> Can't wait to see her! I knew you were being quiet for a reason, i suspected something was up!


Lol I was at work from 11-7, but I had a 20-30 minute commute to my job, so I was gone for like 9 hrs 

I told my mom though right before I left that Ali was going to lamb today, so keep an eye on her. I got my lunch break around 2ish today so I was like texting my mom asking for updates and she said Ali was laying on her side with her feet stretched out having contractions and would get up and walk around some.

Then just as the flooring crew were packing up, the one girl who saw the sheep from the front yard got my mom's attention and said she had her baby. So they went out and took pictures. I'm uploading the ones my mom took now.


----------



## SheepGirl

Newly born ewe lamb






Looks like it was a meconium birth?





And I took these photos tonight when I got home from work. I was going 15-20 mph above the speed limit because I was so psyched.  My mom even came to work to show me pictures and of course I showed them to all my co-workers and all the girls were ooing and aahhhing at her lol 






And then I brought her in to weigh her and dip her navel in iodine. The dogs loved her lol





And then I brought her back outside and put her in the sheep shack out of the wind. Ali does tend to walk away without making sure her baby is in tow, but she's well fed and wasn't shivering much, so I don't think I will pen them up. The only thing I'm concerned about is Katy Perry & Lady Gaga's curiosity! They keep sniffing her and the baby gets confused and tries to nurse off them and they butt her away lol But again, I found her with a nice full belly so I know she's successfully nursing off Ali. So I won't worry about it.


----------



## Bridgemoof

Awww She's such a cute little munchkin! Look at those cute little cheeks.  I'm sure there will be many POW pics in this one's future! Congratulations Sheepgirl, for your accomplishments with your new ram and your ewes. You must be very proud for making it all happen. 

So when is Ciqala due? 

Oh, and I can't believe she still has red on her from the marking harness. wow!


----------



## bonbean01

Awwwwwwwwwww...that close up photo is just too darling!!!!  What a sweet face 

Congratulations!!!!!


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## BrownSheep

Look at how think her tail is !.... along with the rest of her


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## Southern by choice

:bun :bun :bun :bun :bun  oh 5 cows worthy!!!!!!!!!!  

The pic of her in the house looks so much like the first sheep picture I ever gave my DD, she was like 6 years old! Yep..I do believe I started her sheep obsession... I can't wait for her to see this pic!


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## Elm Tree acres

Great news (I know its a single but hey) and we had a pure Rom with a brown leg - didn't last though gone in 3 months


----------



## SheepGirl

Bridgemoof said:
			
		

> Awww She's such a cute little munchkin! Look at those cute little cheeks.  I'm sure there will be many POW pics in this one's future! Congratulations Sheepgirl, for your accomplishments with your new ram and your ewes. You must be very proud for making it all happen.
> 
> So when is Ciqala due?
> 
> Oh, and I can't believe she still has red on her from the marking harness. wow!


Thank you!  And Ciqala is due March 5 at the earliest. And I know!! I can't believe the red is still on her. Same with Ciqala! I've never seen the colors last this long before.



			
				bonbean01 said:
			
		

> Awwwwwwwwwww...that close up photo is just too darling!!!!  What a sweet face
> 
> Congratulations!!!!!


Thank you! She is soo cute <3



			
				BrownSheep said:
			
		

> Look at how think her tail is !.... along with the rest of her


Lol, I know! I thought her tail was really thick, too.



			
				Southern by choice said:
			
		

> :bun :bun :bun :bun :bun  oh 5 cows worthy!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> The pic of her in the house looks so much like the first sheep picture I ever gave my DD, she was like 6 years old! Yep..I do believe I started her sheep obsession... I can't wait for her to see this pic!


 lol I hope she likes it!



			
				Elm Tree acres said:
			
		

> Great news (I know its a single but hey) and we had a pure Rom with a brown leg - didn't last though gone in 3 months


I saw it when I was outside with them, but when I uploaded the photos on my computer it doesn't really look like it. I don't know, I think it's cute, though


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## purplequeenvt

So cute and fuzzy! Sorry she was a single, but yay about it being a girl!


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## Straw Hat Kikos

Sorry for the single but congrats on her! Glad she's healthy and doing good!


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## SheepGirl

purplequeenvt said:
			
		

> So cute and fuzzy! Sorry she was a single, but yay about it being a girl!


Isn't she? I love the wool on her face...so soft and fluffy! <3 And I think she's gonna be a keeper! 



			
				Straw Hat Kikos said:
			
		

> Sorry for the single but congrats on her! Glad she's healthy and doing good!


Thanks and me too! She, at 4 hours old, looks & acts a LOT better than the day old lambs we had at my neighbor's farm. So proud of my Texel ram and my feeding lol


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## SheepGirl

Took some pics this morning and this afternoon. None turned out too good from this afternoon, so all the ones I'm uploading are from this am. She's 16 hours old in these photos. And you can't tell me that ANY baby goat is cuter than her...   






















And for those of you who are wondering, she is 1/2 Texel x 3/8 Babydoll Southdown x 1/8 Montadale.


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## Straw Hat Kikos

She's cute and all but can't shake a stick to a baby goat.


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## Bridgemoof

Who you kiddin' Straw!  Not me and Sheepgirl, that's for sure!


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## SheepGirl

Are you kidding me, Straw?  She's adorable lol

Well yesterday evening the little lamb had poop all over her butt  Smelly and Ali didn't want to clean it either! Lol, she would sniff it and quickly move her nose away lol. And it's like you know, if you had been keeping up with her butt, you wouldn't have this issue. It wasn't terrible, but this morning it was worse. So she came inside and my mom and I hosed off her butt with warm water. Now she's all clean and pretty  Hopefully she doesn't get any more poop on her butt, I'm going to dock her tail this afternoon and would rather not have to deal with poop underneath the O ring.

I also tagged Katy Perry & Lady Gaga last night with farm tags. I straddled them in between my legs and they ran all over the place and dragged me with them when I put pressure on the tag applicator. But once the tags finally clicked, then I let them go and they started baaing at me and climbing on me to give them their grain. I gave them a little extra since they got tagged. Lady Gaga is #9 and Katy Perry is #10. The new lamb born Friday will be #13 and I will tag her today with her farm tag and scrapie tag.

Ciqala is due to lamb in 2 days at the earliest!


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## EllieMay

SheepGirl said:
			
		

> . . . Ciqala is due to lamb in 2 days at the earliest!


.


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## alsea1

Sheep can be much stronger than the look.  Its funny how a lil ol fourty pounder can rodeo ya


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## SheepGirl

Lol these lil buggers are like 80-90 lbs a piece. They seemed to have really tapered off in their growth. They are pretty much 'full grown' now, just waiting for them to get their adult bodies lol. They are pretty much as tall as Ali but they aren't as wide or long as her.

Lady Gaga wasn't as bad, she was mainly trying to escape by backing away. When that didn't work, she tried charging. Katy Perry was watching the entire time, so she decided to escape by charging and she was almost successful! haha


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## bonbean01

Lambie is so darling!!!!  And yes, even lambs can knock you over if they go between your legs while another is bumping on one side...and it's muddy...have been knocked on my butt a few times.

Can't wait for more of your lambs to arrive...so cute!!!


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## purplequeenvt

What is the new baby's name going to be?? Are you going with a theme or whatever pops into your head??


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## SheepGirl

Lol, I'm going to name her when the other lambs hit the ground. I'm thinking either superheroes or Twilight 

So far her name could be Bella, Esme, Rosalie, or Alice. Or it could be Starfire, Wonder Woman (btw, my dad knows Lynda Carter, who played WW in a movie...well not really know, but she knows his name lol; she shops at the grocery store that my dad's a NPF manager at), Poisen Ivy, Mystique, or Dazzler.

I think I like the Twilight names for her better  I'm thinking Bella or Esme.


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## SheepGirl

I tagged & docked the little lamb today. And my mom took a video. It should be uploaded in a couple hours....  (At 11% now.)

Poor thing is taking it harder than the average lamb. Shaking her head, running around, laying down, rolling around, getting up, and repeating the process all over again. I haven't checked on her since I did it (about an hour and a half ago), but she should be fine by now.

And I'm almost out of hay so I'm gonna go get some probably tomorrow on my way home from work


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## Straw Hat Kikos

Oh good! It should be up before next week


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## bonbean01

Poor baby   Hope she gets over it quickly.  I'm so glad with hair sheep I don't have to dock tails...hard enough to band the little boys, but we do give them liquid baby ibuprophen a half hour before we do that....but still hate doing it.

Can't wait for more cute newborn lambies for you!!!


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## SheepGirl

Straw Hat Kikos said:
			
		

> Oh good! It should be up before next week


Lol, I know right?!  It's 3.5 minutes long so it will be longer than last time 



			
				bonbean01 said:
			
		

> Poor baby  Hope she gets over it quickly.  I'm so glad with hair sheep I don't have to dock tails...hard enough to band the little boys, but we do give them liquid baby ibuprophen a half hour before we do that....but still hate doing it.
> 
> Can't wait for more cute newborn lambies for you!!!


Just checked on her, and she's laying down with her mom not being dramatic like she was before lol. The average lamb that we've docked will walk around a little funny for 10-15 minutes but will be back to running around and playing with their friends afterwards.

I know, I can't wait! Though she will probably have them on Friday. Three out of the four times she's lambed it's been on a Friday. The other time was a Thursday morning. It would actually be better if she lambed on a Friday because then her lambs and her grandbaby will be exactly one week a part, so that way I only have to drag out the scale once a week to weigh the babies rather than two separate days lol. And we're supposed to have 1-3 inches of snow Tuesday night/all day Wednesday so she'd better hold off! I don't want frozen babies.


----------



## SheepGirl

Went out to feed tonight and realized I had no more hay left   I thought I would have at least enough for tomorrow morning. Called my hay guy and asked him if I could come out tonight. He said sure 

So I got another round bale of grass hay (same quality as before) and I also got two square bales of alfalfa. He said he thinks they're about 40 lbs a piece. (I paid $5 each for them.) He saves them for his regular horse customers but he let me have a couple  I'm planning on feeding this to the lambs in the creep area. I would feed it to my ewes, but there's no way to feed them it without giving it to Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. And I don't feel like figuring out a way to separate them at feeding time lol.

And I gave him a $15 tip for me coming out on such short notice at 8:30 pm on a Sunday


----------



## SheepGirl

We are at 97%


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## SheepGirl

It said there was an error. And unlike last time, it did not appear in my uploads.  Off to uploading it again.


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## bonbean01

Hope it works out for you!!!  I've tried to upload a video of my silly lambies playing...so funny...but no luck and eventually gave up.  We are on limited data and if we go over, gets expensive...so quit trying.  Hope yours works this go around!


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## SheepGirl

bonbean01 said:
			
		

> Hope it works out for you!!!  I've tried to upload a video of my silly lambies playing...so funny...but no luck and eventually gave up.  We are on limited data and if we go over, gets expensive...so quit trying.  Hope yours works this go around!


Thanks, I hope it works too 

Fortunately for us, we bought unlimited 3G data thru verizon a couple years ago for $60/month. We've been grandfathered in...and it was so funny; we talked to them about getting a 4G broadband device and they said with our data usage it would be $700/month  My brother streams a lot of movies thru Netflix and my other brother plays World of Warcraft and Starcraft. Not to mention they both like to play their games 'live' on their xbox with other people. And then I'm on BYH all the time lol


----------



## SheepGirl

I'm going to try to uploading it again tomorrow morning. I don't have to go to work until the late afternoon, so I will have 5-6 hours to wait (read: waste, lol) for it to upload 

And Ciqala's due today (no babies yet). Her vulva was a lot more swollen that it was yesterday, but it wasn't the color of impending delivery lol. And we are supposed to get a foot of snow tomorrow  If all the sheep are taking shelter in the sheep shack, there won't be any room for Ciqala to have her babies in there out of the snow! I don't want frozen dead babies, so if she lambs tomorrow hopefully I can catch her, help her dry her babies super fast, make sure they get a BIG full belly of colostrum, and give them a couple shots of nutri-drench. My family has no sheep knowledge whatsoever, and I have to leave to go to work (if my mom will let me drive in the snow). So I really want to get these babies off to a great start so they can survive their first 9 hours without me there watching them & their mom like a hawk lol. I don't want to lose any babies, especially since I only have two mature ewes lambing and one's already given me just one baby. And I will probably get one baby out of Katy Perry, too, when she lambs in May. Ciqala's experienced (lambed 4 times) and a great attentive mother, so I have no doubt she will take care of her babies, but she's known to stand out in the snow while the other sheep are in the sheep shack


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## SheepGirl

Also, I love how naturally friendly the ewe lamb is! Normally lambs would be smart after 2 days old, running away from you. But nope, not this little lamb! She walks right up to me. I think she thinks that since the other sheep are so comfortable around me, I must be okay. I put the hay feeder in the sheep shack yesterday since it was windy (and the lamb stays right next to mom when she's eating and I don't want her to get cold) and I sat down in the corner (because I'm too tall to stand up in it lol) and this little lamb was sniffing me and climbing into my lap and sniffing my face.  I caught her and held her on my lap just petting her 

I LOVE LAMBS! I would die if I had the flock size Shelly May & FlockinCrazy have. I would want to cuddle with every single lamb  I did that at my neighbor's farm. Sometimes I would ask him if we could keep the lambs in the pen with their mom for juuuuuuuuuust one more day or until the next ewe lambs just so I can play with the lambs more without getting a workout trying to catch them out in the field hahaha. And of course he would say fine  Didn't hurt the ewes or lambs any so why not lol.

I can't wait til Ciqala lambs! She will def. have at least twins. I'm hoping trips, but I'm not sure she would have triplets (even though she's big enough for it) after having a set of twins 9 months ago.


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## bonbean01

Hope your snowstorm doesn't get too bad...nor too cold!!!  Maybe the lambs will wait for better weather to arrive?

Know what you mean about shelter and lambing...we started out too small since we only got one ewe and one ram to start with...we have built on that shelter now two times and enclosed two areas for birthing...wish we'd gone bigger to start with, but oh well...the last built on area for the right pitch of roof means we have to remember to duck a bit to not bash our heads


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## SheepGirl

I know what you mean about the shelter. I had wanted to expand the sheep shack to 8x16 before lambs arrived, but that hasn't happened. Might not happen, since my mom said we're building a barn this spring (was supposed to be back during Thanksgiving). I'm paying for part of it, so I get to choose the size  lol One thing we can't agree on is where to put it--I want it outside the field, my mom wants it inside (I don't want to waste all that grass though!)...and then we can't put it on top of the septic tank (takes up about 1/2 of the spots we could put it)...and we also can't put it where it blocks the view of the mountains (my mom likes to look out the kitchen windows looking at the mountains when she's washing dishes/cooking dinner). And so other places that are left would be too far away from a source of water or too far away for an extension cord (we have no plans to put in electric). So I don't know lol


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## Bridgemoof

I wish you the best luck with Ciqala Sheepgirl! I know this awful snow is coming and it's a worry if a ewe is going to lamb in it. You better get up around 4 or 5 a.m. to check, because the snow and rain is supposed to start around midnight? I sure hope she lambs in the daylight and before you go to work!

I brought all my pregnant ewes up to the sheep shed, but not locked in. So at least if they lamb we will be able to see them in the middle of the night with our flashlights as opposed to walking around in the dark down in the pasture looking for lambs.


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## SheepGirl

Lol, I probably won't wake up that early! I hope she holds off until Friday, though. She has lambed 3 out of 4 times on a Friday (other time was a Thursday).

And I hope your sheep make it thru the storm okay and I hope yours hold off on having babies too!


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## autumnprairie

I just found your kidding thread  
I hope she waits until Friday to kid too


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## Bridgemoof

LOL @AutumnPrairie. A little late to the game.


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## SheepGirl

hahaha well I went out to check on them this morning at 7 am after my mom woke me up to 'go check on my lamb because there's something laying outside.' Ughh! Way to freak a girl out lol. Baby was fine, all cuddled up in the sheep shack. Ciqala and Ali were outside laying in the snow. Katy Perry and Lady Gaga were just standing in the doorway of the sheep shack. And it looks like Ciqala isn't going to lamb today!  Right now we already have 4 inches of snow. Weather people say 10-14 inches by tonight.


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## Bridgemoof

It's a terrible wet snow, too! We have about 7" so far. All my clothes and coats are soaked already. I sure hope Ciqala holds off. Are you going to have to go to work today?


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## SheepGirl

Remember how I said Ciqala looked big enough to have triplets? Well she did!! I am so proud of her, she had trips nine months after she had twins. She is a great prolific ewe!! 2 ewes, 1 ram. My mom woke me up at 6:30 to tell me there were lambs out there, unfortunately there were only two. The third one was in the sheep shack dead. My guess is that the dead one was the first one born and then she went off to deliver the other two and forgot about the first one. She was laying on wet bedding so freezing before mom could lick her off is my guess. So we have 2 live lambs out of 3. She had pretty much just had them when I got outside, they were just learning how to stand. I moved her into the sheep shack and made sure the babies nursed. Unfortunately the ONE time I don't have Thursday off, Ciqala decides to lamb!  Oh well. lol

Pics tonight! <3


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## purplequeenvt

That's a bummer about the one. I glad the other 2 are doing well. And umm.....where are the pictures????? 

ETA - I did see that you said that you would post pics tonight, but that is too long to wait.


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## autumnprairie

Sorry you lost one, glad the other two are doing ok. Congrats


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## Bridgemoof

I totally missed this because I was busy with my own lambies! Aw sorry the one didn't make it. That's a shame, but you got two out of her, that's great! Which one died, a ewe lamb or ram lamb? I can't wait to see pics!  

Lambing time is fun, fun fun. Sorry you have to go to work through all of this excitement.


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## SheepGirl

Here are the pictures I promised  I think these were taken at 9 or 10 this morning. Can't remember. But they would be 3-4 hours old in these pictures.

Ewe lamb






I think this is the ewe lamb in this photo





She's so skinny now that there aren't three babies inside her!





Ram lamb. I really don't like his pink nose lol but I think he would make a nice sire prospect (him being a triplet). I will see how he grows first, though.





Both babies





The ewe lambs





All the babies





And the six day old ewe lamb next to Ali, her mom. She's so big!





I also have a picture of the dead baby. I'm not going to post it but if you want to see it then PM me.


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## Roving Jacobs

Such sweet babies  Congrats!

The boy has a lot of black pigment around his nose, I wouldn't be surprised if it filled in black. I've had a number that start out bright pink at birth but totally black by 2-3 months old.


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## bonbean01

Ahhhhhhhhhh...what very cute babies!!!!!  So sorry about the one you lost 

And Congrats on the two that did make it!!!!!  Aren't lambs just the best???? 

I happen to like the pink nose...cute little fella...those lambie faces are just so stinking cute!!!!


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## Baymule

Oh I love the lambies!!


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## SheepGirl

Weighed the new lambs tonight.

Ewe lamb - 6.8 lbs
Ram lamb - 7.8 lbs
Dead ewe lamb - 5.8 lbs

My mom doesn't want the lamb in the compost bin (she doesn't want to look at a decaying carcass every week when we put old/expired food in there) so she says we're going to bury her on Sunday when it's 60 degrees. So the lamb will be sitting outside until then  Can't have her anywhere else other than in the sheep field because the dogs will mess with her.

And I think I've decided on names! The two babies are going to be Bella & Edward and then Ali's baby will be Rosalie. I chose that name because in the books & movies, Rosalie hates Bella. And Ali's lamb keeps headbutting & pawing at the poor ewe lamb! She doesn't mess with the ram lamb. So I thought it would be perfect. I couldn't really think of any three, good, 'matching' superhero names.

I wuv wambs!! Hopefully I can take more pictures tomorrow or Saturday.



Roving - I hope his nose turns black! I think the pink is really ugly lol and takes away from his cuteness. It wouldn't surprise me though if it did turn black, he is 1/2 Texel and 1/4 Montadale.

bon - Yes, lambs are the best!! 

Bridge - the one that died was a ewe  And I saw that you have a new Jacob baby!! How exciting!!

PQVT -


----------



## Bridgemoof

It's amazing how quickly they grow, isn't it? Ali's baby is so big already compared to the new little ones. I think your new lambs are about the same size as my two triplet ewes that made it. They are so cute when they are that little, and so nice to have more than one so they can play with each other. 

As for the dead lamb, don't need to see that as we've seen plenty of dead lambs and goats this year.  I think we had 4 goats and one lamb die. So, Tim took them in his truck up the street where there is dense woods and threw them in there for the foxes. They are gone pretty quickly, the wild critters eat them up. Ink, our Catahoula got one by accident, and it was gone lickety split. But now he lingers by the gate when he sees baby goats on the other side. Not good! I don't like keeping the dead things around because it does lure things like foxes onto your farm. You should go find some woods and pitch it.

The chickens like the placenta and gobble that up. Yesterday I saw Star eating hers and it almost made me hurl. But I know it's okay for them. 

If you weigh a newborn lamb a day after it's born, how much do you expect it gained in a day?

Have fun with your lambies, and looking forward to a gazillion great pics in the future!


----------



## SheepGirl

Yes it is nice to have more than one! I was disappointed when Ali had a single, because that meant the little baby would have no one to play with for a week, lol. She was so happy yesterday morning, though, because she has TWO new friends to play with now!  lol she doesn't like the ewe lamb though. She always picks on her. In a day or two she should be happy because the little lambs would be able to play back haha

At my neighbor's, when we would lose lambs (or ewes), we'd do the same thing as you--we'd put them in the bed of his truck and he would drive back to the back field where the fence was open to the woods (thankfully no sheep ever escaped through the open fence) and put them there. I wouldn't mind walking over to the woods (we live right next to them) and putting her there, but my mom thinks it's 'disrespectful'  I'm like, it's just a baby lamb. Sooo I don't know. The cats haven't bothered her yet though! 

This year, it was weird. Neither of my ewes wanted to eat their placentas. Normally they do, but I guess they would rather feast on grain! 

As for weighing a newborn lamb the day AFTER it was born, I don't really expect it to gain much. Maybe 1/4 to 1/2 lb if that.

And thank you!! Have fun with all your baby goats and lambs


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## SheepGirl

Ali's ewe lamb is 7 days old today so I weighed her. She's 17.0 lbs!  That is a 0.829 ADG!  I wonder if she will continue to grow that fast to weaning lol


----------



## SheepGirl

Lambs are doing good. The two triplets though, they are like having bottle lambs. Ciqala's teats are big and are long, and the lambs have trouble finding the end of them because they are low to the ground. They always want to look higher up. Once I lift the teat up for the lambs to find it, they suck away with no problem. Her teats do get smaller the more the lambs nurse. I don't think they're nursing when I'm not out there, because when I do go out there 2-3x/day, the lambs have sunken in bellies. So I catch Ciqala (which lately hasn't been hard to do since she is limping badly and has trouble moving fast lol) and let the lambs nurse until their bellies are full, which is usually when I can squish their bellies and they're relatively firm. So essentially they are 'bottle' lambs but instead of giving them access to a bottle, I give them access to their mother's teat 

I'm trying to teach the lambs to kneel down so they can find the end of the teats. But the lambs are dumb so they don't catch on quickly! lol

And the single ewe lamb, who've I decided I'm going to name Rosalie (Rosie for short) is a little meat monster. She is wide and flat topped and has big leg muscles. And her legs all look pretty correct, too! I don't care much for leg structure selection, but 'correct' legs sure do make her look stockier haha Her front legs may change though. And hopefully her tail falls off here in the next couple of days.

Haven't banded or tagged the two triplets yet, though. I think I will at least band them tomorrow. I don't think I will tag them tomorrow. I may wait until they're a week or two old to do that.


----------



## SheepGirl

The two triplets are so hard to photograph. They always walk right into the camera so all I get is blurry photos of their noses 

Ciqala and her two day old lambs.






The new feed shack.





And these are all photos of little Rosie, taken when she was 8-10 days old.

























Dad & daughter





Here's the flock. Don't know where little Rosie was in this photo. I am 90% sure that the ram is in the front. Only way I can tell them a part from a distance is the ewe has rounded ears and the ram has pointy elf ears. So I'm going off that lol





And the little surviving triplet ewe lamb


----------



## elevan

Rosie seems like a curious soul


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## bonbean01

Love the photos...but then your lambies are too precious!!!!

I must have Rosie!!!  She has stolen my heart


----------



## SheepGirl

Thanks  I love Rosie myself, too. She is very impressive, even at 10 days old. Unfortunately she was a single from a three year old ewe who was flushed during breeding season, so I will give her a couple breeding seasons to see how prolific she is.

And remember how about a week ago I was trying to upload the video on how to process lambs? Well apparently it was 513 MB, when the max for PhotoBucket is 500 MB. It didn't tell me what the max was, so I am disappointed that I just wasted 4 hrs trying to upload it again. I only found out it was too big when I went to google to try and figure out why it kept failing on me.

So I compressed the file so it is now 135 MB and has been uploading for 20 minutes and is already at 36%  So it should be up in the next hour I'm hoping.


----------



## SheepGirl

ugghh! This is so frustrating. It got to 100% and sat there for like 5 min so I came back to BYH to try to pass the time and I go back over to the PhotoBucket tab and the dumb thing started uploading all over again! 

I want to go to bed now, so I will try again in the morning. Now that I know it only takes 55 min to upload I am more willing to try to upload it again haha

ETA: JK! Just checked my uploads and it worked!!!


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## SheepGirl

Video's FINALLY up!

But here's the link to my tagging and docking video -- http://twinwillowacres.webs.com/basic-shepherding

Okay, sorry you can't hear me for a second or two in some parts. It was windy and I guess I wasn't talking very loud lol Also I think it is so weird how much she reacts to the scrapie tags compared to the farm tags. I guess she knew what was coming! haha

I'm going to feel so bad when I wean her. She will be by herself for a couple days, unless I put all the weaned lambs in with Hank. I was originally going to build a pen for Hank and a pen for the lambs, but being as the first born is a single, I don't know... I have 50 days to figure everything out so I won't worry about it now.


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## bonbean01

Ahhhh...I remember that about photobucket when I used it on my old computer...took me so many tries before I figured that out about maximum size too!!!

You know...most people cull ewes that don't produce twins...but we don't...sometimes we figure being a small farm and golden oldies...one healthy lamb is better than twins or triplets that are too small or weak...but we're old timers compared to you and have limited space....plus we are such softies...couldn't cull a friend for having singles...so far since we've started in sheep we've only had one set of twins...but the new ram we bought this winter is a twin and so are two of our ewes, so who knows?

Other sheep breeders in our area think it funny how much we coddle and spoil our sheep...ehhhh...we enjoy it...and I am known as ...women who pets and cuddles her sheep too much...

Your breed look like such cuddly teddy bears and those lambs are just too adorable...sometimes they are sooooo CUTE that they look fake...and that is a compliment


----------



## bonbean01

Just watched the video of you giving Hank his shot...good video and helpful!!!  Thanks for posting


----------



## Bridgemoof

Bon and I will be fighting over Rosie, because she has stolen my heart, too!   She is too precious. I guess she looks like Lady Gaga and Kate Perry when they were younger, right? She is going to be as cute as them I think, very expressive face. The others are adorable too, but they just don't have that chunky cuteness that Rosie has. Speaking of Lady Gaga and Kate Perry, they were bred, too, right? When are they due, May? That will be fun to see what they bring on!

I haven't watched the video yet. I hate tagging. I won't tag my lambs until I sell them. We tagged all the baby goats though and believe me, they screamed bloody murder, but only for a second. One baby goat already got his ear tag stuck in the fence, but I don't think he ripped it out fortunately.


----------



## SheepGirl

bonbean01 said:
			
		

> Ahhhh...I remember that about photobucket when I used it on my old computer...took me so many tries before I figured that out about maximum size too!!!
> 
> You know...most people cull ewes that don't produce twins...but we don't...sometimes we figure being a small farm and golden oldies...one healthy lamb is better than twins or triplets that are too small or weak...but we're old timers compared to you and have limited space....plus we are such softies...couldn't cull a friend for having singles...so far since we've started in sheep we've only had one set of twins...but the new ram we bought this winter is a twin and so are two of our ewes, so who knows?
> 
> Other sheep breeders in our area think it funny how much we coddle and spoil our sheep...ehhhh...we enjoy it...and I am known as ...women who pets and cuddles her sheep too much...
> 
> Your breed look like such cuddly teddy bears and those lambs are just too adorable...sometimes they are sooooo CUTE that they look fake...and that is a compliment





			
				bonbean01 said:
			
		

> Just watched the video of you giving Hank his shot...good video and helpful!!!  Thanks for posting


Lol, I don't think I could actually ever get rid of my Ali, much less take her to auction. She's annoying most of the time, but I still love the lil booger. I love singles in that they are bigger & stronger & grow faster, but I like twins & triplets better because while slower to start, they catch up and it's one or two more lambs to play with and later sell  And hopefully you will get more sets of twins and you see what I mean about having more babies to play with!! lol

hahaha yeah I'm known as the girl who loves her sheep too much around here  Everyone always says that haha so  for both of us loving our sheep too much! lol

And thank you   And you're welcome  



			
				Bridgemoof said:
			
		

> Bon and I will be fighting over Rosie, because she has stolen my heart, too!   She is too precious. I guess she looks like Lady Gaga and Kate Perry when they were younger, right? She is going to be as cute as them I think, very expressive face. The others are adorable too, but they just don't have that chunky cuteness that Rosie has. Speaking of Lady Gaga and Kate Perry, they were bred, too, right? When are they due, May? That will be fun to see what they bring on!
> 
> I haven't watched the video yet. I hate tagging. I won't tag my lambs until I sell them. We tagged all the baby goats though and believe me, they screamed bloody murder, but only for a second. One baby goat already got his ear tag stuck in the fence, but I don't think he ripped it out fortunately.


haha I love Rosie. She loves to climb on me when I'm sitting down. You can definitely tell she's got more Southdown in her than the other two. I'm pretty sure that's where she gets her fluffy face from haha. I can't wait to find out if it stays open or if she ends up getting wool growing on her face. And Katy Perry was bred, Lady Gaga was not. Katy Perry is due May 18 (day 147), 1 week from their first birthday. She should have a lamb that looks a lot like Rosie.

Tagging for me isn't all that bad. I would rather tag them when they are younger though because their ears aren't as thick so you don't have to pierce through as much ear as you would when they're older. And goats are just so dramatic. I've heard stories where they yell when they're tagged, give birth, get rained on, etc. Sheep are either very quiet (and smart--they wouldn't want to alert a predator they're in distress lol) or they are so much better than goats. Yep...I think the last one's it. They're better than goats  

---------

Well I docked the two triplets today. They both took it a LOT better than Rosie. They were still active and playing and not laying down or rolling around and everything haha. I didn't tag them, I didn't want their cute little ears to be all droopy quite just yet because I want to take more photos of them. So maybe in the next couple days I will get around to tagging them. And the ewe lamb has finally learned to kneel down to nurse!  The ram lamb isn't as smart, so he needs some help. But I've been going out there 2x each day (when I feed) and getting them to nurse until their bellies are full. They look bigger than when they were born but I'm sure they haven't gained much weight, and I don't expect them to until they really get a hang of nursing completely on their own.

And these two babies are soo sweet. They always climb in my lap or when I'm sitting down and have my legs off to the side, the ewe lamb lays down & curls up right in the little 'nest' my legs make, and rests her head on my knee  Wouldn't it be cool if she still did that when she becomes an adult! How awesome would it be to have a 150+ lb ewe lay down and curl up with you?   lol I'm sure she'll outgrow it though. But gotta enjoy it while it lasts! No more lambs until May, and then a year from now.

I'm already thinking of breeding plans lol. I might buy another ram (I'm thinking a Finn) and breed him to the two ewe lambs and breed Hank to the mature ewes and Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. Or I might buy another ram, breed him to the ewe lambs, breed Hank to the mature ewes, and keep the little ram lamb and breed him to Katy Perry and Lady Gaga (for 1/2 Babydoll Southdown x 1/4 Montadale x 1/4 Texel babies). Orrr I will just keep Hank and breed him to everyone. Or if I decide to keep the ram lamb, just breed him to KP & LG and Hank to the mature ewes and the ewe lambs. Decisions, decisons lol


----------



## BrownSheep

I am also hankering for a Finn. I've already inform my padre that is what I want to make up for Bertha. 

Finns are just so pretty...and plentiful!


----------



## Bridgemoof

Keep me in mind if you want a Finn ram, or any other kind of ram Sheepgirl! You know I have it all.


----------



## SheepGirl

Haha I know right?!  Maybe I will borrow Finneas or buy one of his sons this fall if you will let me 

----

And I weighed the two triplets today. Ram is 10.0 lbs (0.314 lb ADG) and the ewe is 9.6 lbs (0.400 ADG). The ewe's faster growth doesn't surprise me, she got the hang of nursing on her own faster than the ram. Last night I went out to feed and noticed the ram had a full belly, so it must've figured it out sometime yesterday.

Hopefully now that they are nursing throughout the day rather than just filling their tummies 2x/day, they will gain more weight. And also now that they are nursing throughout the day, it's keeping Ciqala's teat size down and her udder has also considerably shrunken up! 

She may have had issues with the big teats before and I just never realized it because her past lambs were probably smarter than these two lol. They couldn't quite understand that the teat was hanging lower than they thought haha

so that's all the updates for now...I may post pics later, I took a bunch yesterday of the lambs when it was nice and sunny out.

OH yeah, I forgot something--we FINALLY have green grass again! Just waiting for it to get taller so my ewes can go back out to pasture...  With all the rain/snow the past 2-3 days hopefully it doesn't take too long!


----------



## aggieterpkatie

Just checking in!  Congrats on your lambs!  Sorry you lost a trip, but that's great she had three!   Rosie sure is a nice ewe lamb!    And hey, if you're looking at expanding your flock, I'm selling my 2 natural colored Romney/Southdown ewes!  


I just updated my journal. Thanks for asking about me!


----------



## SheepGirl

Thanks for checking in! I've missed you these past couple of months, lol. How is your new ram working for you?

And thanks, I love my Rosie! I'm so excited about her. She is so stocky and she has the little butterfly shape (the groove) that muscular hogs have  And her front legs look pretty correct (though they may get crooked as she grows), which is kind of weird because her parents both have legs that are very in at the knee. So it must be a throwback to Hank's side of the family because I know my ewe's genetics have messed up front legs too hahaha.

And when I took my business class, I figured I would need one or two wool breed ewes to use to sell their wool so I don't lose money on shearing  lol So is this Barley and Bean you're talking about? The two little cuties?


----------



## aggieterpkatie

I've missed checking in on your thread!  This is the first thread I checked when I came back!

Yep, Bean and Barley!  I am reallllly going to miss them, but I tell myself I have to keep my goal in mind.  Now that I have purebreds, there's just no reason to keep them.  I love having wool, but honestly it'll be a while before I get around to using it, and by then I'd like to get purebred Romneys.  I just wanted to sell Bean at first (the smaller of the two), because I really loved Barley. Barley is just so big and correct...long level topline and good confirmation.  BUT, I'd really like them to go together so Beanie wont' be lonely.     Silly me.  I'm sure she'd be fine...but I keep asking myself, "Do I NEED Barley?"  And the answer is unfortunately no.  

BUT, Emily Chamelin is coming to shear April 14th, and I'm so excited!  I cant' wait to see her in action!  

And you know what's weird?  Barley's lambs were both natural colored. Bean's were not. One looked just like a purebred Southdown, and the other was white with a touch of speckling on the back (that probably would have faded out).  It's so weird how they had the exact same breeding, and were bred to the same ram, and then had such different lambs.


----------



## SheepGirl

Well I seriously have not had like any time to be on here at all, except for a few posts here and there  I worked 43 hours last week (3 hours overtime ) and I am scheduled for 40 hours this week. I have worked 32 so far. And then last Friday night my manager and two coworkers and I went to IHOP at like 12 am because she had asked us to stay an extra couple of hours. It was so much fun  And the one coworker drove me and the other one back to McDonald's to get our cars in his amazing Audi sports car (don't know what kind it is but it is sooo cool...during the day he paints cars (I asked him how much he charges and he said $1500 but he would paint mine for $1000 ) and at night he works at McDonald's). He wanted to go 130 down the highway but I was like NO! hahahaha And I've been staying up until like midnight every day texting guys (who are sooo confusing and weird lol) so I would naturally wake up to only have enough time to feed the sheep, take a shower, get ready for work, and eat breakfast.

So over the course of the week, I:
- Tagged the two triplets. I did it at like 11 pm one night (I think it was St. Patty's day) and I wasn't thinking so I messed up on both lambs  The ram, I put the tags in right (flat side on the back of the ear), but I put the individual tags in the wrong ears. And the ewe, I put the individual tags in the right ears, but with her scrapie tag I think it was I put the flat side on the inside of her ear. It's more of an aesthetic thing but it annoys me lol
- Weighed the lambs. Don't have the two triplets weights in front of me right now, but I just got Rosie's 3 wk weight tonight and it is 25.4 lbs. She is a chunky, stocky little thing.

And I haven't been thinking much lately (the days seem to be running together, I work too much, and don't get enough sleep lol), so I thought it would be smart to give the ewes a handful of alfalfa through the fence, rather than put it in the feeder (since I really only wanted Ciqala and the lambs to have it). Well Katy Perry the little pig she is wanted some, too, but Ciqala wouldn't have any of it and pushed her out of the way while her head was through the fence. She ripped her brand new ear tag out!  It was a bloody icky mess (has blood on the side of her face), but right now she has more iodine than blood on her. I put it in a spray bottle and really squirted the iodine all around her ear. And I found the tag laying on the ground near the fence and it has a chunk of her ear skin on it  Poor thing didn't even act like it bothered her, despite all the blood. She still shoved everyone out of the way so she could steal their feed.

And I love the lambs. They are so much fun. I lay down on my belly out in the ewe pen and the bounce on and off my back  I love it. They are little climbers though. They must get that from Hank because the lambs we had at my neighbor's farm didn't climb on everything like these lambs do. And I know Hank loves to climb on anything he can. And when I sit down outside, they come up to me and start pawing at me to move my leg out of the way so they can snuggle up right next to me. Who ever said you had to bottle feed little critters to get them to be friendly? I spend no more than a half hour outside of feeding everyday and these little boogers love me lol.

Well that's it for now...I will see about getting updated pics tomorrow since I don't have to work until later. If not tomorrow, then definitely Saturday since I have a day off (my first in 8 days ).


----------



## SheepGirl

I didn't get too many pictures on Saturday (I got like 10) because my batteries died. And we don't have any more batteries, and I keep forgetting to pick them up on my way to/from work. So hopefully I will remember tomorrow so I can take more pictures soon.

But anyway, this first picture is from a week ago:
The day before Rosie's tail fell off. Over to the right you have the ewe lamb and behind her you have the ram lamb.






And these two are from Saturday:
The two ewe lambs. Look at how stocky and Texel-y Rosie looks! Bella (Ciqala's ewe lamb) looks very much like a Montadale.





The ewe lamb (Bella) in front, and the ram lamb (Edward) in back.





-----

Katy Perry's ear is healing good. Ciqala's ewe lamb lost her tail today. Her ram lamb looks like he's gonna lose it soon, but today it was bleeding (don't know why?) so I sprayed some iodine on it. I'm not sure why it was bleeding--of all the lambs we've docked, I've never seen one start to bleed a week or two after the band was put on.

And we got like 3-4 inches of snow today. It's almost April!


----------



## SheepGirl

Also, I need to figure out where my ram/weaned lamb pen is going to be. At my neighbor's farm we had the ram pasture where the rams would be year round except for breeding season, and then the weaned lambs would move in there for a week or two and then be moved back out to the pasture. Likely this will be a permanent pen, so I need to make it large enough for 1-2 rams plus probably 20 or so lambs. So probably at least 220 sq ft? Plus space for the shelter. Maybe I will build another 8x8 shelter. So I guess I can have an 8x40 pen (8x8 being taken up by another sheep shack), and put it right next to the feed shack. But my mom doesn't want it outside the field, she wants it inside. And I'm just kind of like, I don't want to waste that grass! lol.

So I have to decide what I'm going to do. I will probably make it with T-posts, unless since it will probably be permanent my mom wants to use wooden posts. We shall see. But we're also _supposed_ to be building a barn this spring, so maybe I will make a temporary pen and then make a permanent pen attached onto the barn. Sorry, kind of thinking out loud here lol

I just wish the grass would grow! It's annoying going out and giving the ewes hay everyday, two times a day lol. I used to not mind it when my sheep were on a dry lot last summer, but I had nothing else to do all day lol. I have a job now so time just moves a lot faster and I have to make better use of it. When my sheep move out onto the pasture they will only get checked out once a day, which lets me sleep in longer lol


----------



## SheepGirl

Went out to feed this morning and the ram lamb's tail had fallen off


----------



## SheepGirl

Today is Ali's birthday  She turns four. Billy would've turned four today, too, but I have no idea if he is still alive or not lol. And 9 days ago was Paulie's 3 yr birthday, and again, I have no idea if he's still alive or not haha. Both were probably turned into sausage. :/ But I made dinosaur egg oatmeal for Ali. That's seriously one of her favorite things lol. She gobbled it down. I also took a bunch of photos of the lambs this morning so I'm working on uploading them now...


----------



## SheepGirl

Lots of pictures today!

Ciqala, the three lambs, and then Katy Perry & Lady Gaga in the background.






The babies playing with each other





She thinks she's cool





Rosie is 26 days old. Look at how tall she is!





Lady Gaga looks funny with her in full fleece so I figured I would share a picture of her goofiness with you guys 





Rosie





Bella





Edward





Anybody have any idea what this is? It started on the ram lamb and now the other two lambs have it. I just noticed it within the past week. I'm 99% it is NOT soremouth because 1) we've never had it and I've quarantined all the sheep that come home from fair or new sheep; 2) it is not red or painful to the lambs; 3) Susan Schoenian posted a photo of it on (I guess) one of her lambs, and she said it wasn't soremouth. So do you think it's some sort of fungus? The ewes don't have it.





Rosie looking adorable 





She's such a wide sheep! I love wide sheep like this. Her mom is really narrow so I'm glad she's wide lol





And an update on Katy Perry's ear...
A day or two after her little incident





And this morning


----------



## purplequeenvt

It looks like sore mouth to me. It could have come in any number of ways. Sore mouth used to run through our lambs every year, but now we just get a handful each season. We have 3 or 4 with it right now.


----------



## SheepGirl

purplequeenvt said:
			
		

> It looks like sore mouth to me. It could have come in any number of ways. Sore mouth used to run through our lambs every year, but now we just get a handful each season. We have 3 or 4 with it right now.


If it is soremouth, I don't know where it would've come from. 

We've never had soremouth in our lambs nor anything that looks like it, so this is completely new.

The last time my sheep left my property was back in mid September, when they went to the fair. And those were my lambs, who were about four months old. They were put in the sheep barn when the tent they were in flooded, and they did have nose-to-nose contact with market lambs. But they were in quarantine for a week and even still they never developed soremouth (which they probably would have if they were exposed to it).

So the next culprit would be Hank, but he was in quarantine for 30 days and his breeder (a vet BTW) never mentioned anything about soremouth nor did I see any soremouth on the lambs he had when I went to go pick him up. So it might be Hank's fault, but still, when I put him with the ewes, you would think Katy Perry & Lady Gaga would've gotten it then, still being young (4-5 months old).

And my friend has a show flock of Suffolks & Shrops and they have soremouth in their flock, BUT I haven't been to her farm since last summer and she's never been to my place.

Those are the only things I could think of. I really hope it isn't soremouth! I may have the vet come out to look at it and see what she thinks. It's really bothering me. :/ If it were another disease, it probably wouldn't matter to me much, but this is a zoonotic disease and that means I can't kiss my lamb's lips because I might get it too  silly reason, but it's true lol


----------



## purplequeenvt

It could be something else, but it looks suspiciously like sore mouth to me. Honestly, for the most part, sore mouth isn't a big issue. Keep an eye on your ewes though. They can get the sores on their udders and then they might not let the babies nurse. From what I've read, Hank could be a carrier....kind of like Typhoid Mary.


----------



## Bridgemoof

Oh gosh, I hope it isn't sore mouth either. My Tunis bottle lamb has something suspicious on her mouth too, but not as bad as yours. And I HAVE been kissing my lambs. I hope I don't get whatever it is. So whatever it is, can it be treated with something? 

The pics of the lambs are just TOO adorable SheepGirl. They look like the perfect little Easter lambs!  :bun Rosie is such a chunkster.


----------



## aggieterpkatie

Cute pics!!  You know what's missing?  Natural colored sheep in your flock!


----------



## Four Winds Ranch

I am pretty positive it is sore mouth!!!  I am sorry your sheep had to get that nasty thing!   Mine have just picked it up as well, about a year ago! The initial infection is the worse and most of the time the sheep will be clean after that, with small break outs on one or two every once in a while! 
I quarentine super well too, but some sheep are carriers and never have symptoms in their entire lives, but pass it on to all the others! Which was my new ram I bought last year!   If you have deer on your place, they are horrible at spreading sore mouth!!!
Just be sure to wear golves if you have to handle any of the sores or drench one that has sores!! 
Good luck!!!
It isn't as bad as it first feels when you find out your babies actually have the nasty thing!!!


----------



## Bridgemoof

There's only one thing to do Sheepgirl. CULL them.  Just kidding.


----------



## SheepGirl

purplequeenvt said:
			
		

> It could be something else, but it looks suspiciously like sore mouth to me. Honestly, for the most part, sore mouth isn't a big issue. Keep an eye on your ewes though. They can get the sores on their udders and then they might not let the babies nurse. From what I've read, Hank could be a carrier....kind of like Typhoid Mary.


Lol, I know. It's not fatal, it doesn't bother the lambs...it's like chicken pox for humans. But it's one disease I have to deal with now, and it happens to my favorite age group! >1 month old lambs  If it happened to like 7-8 month old lambs I couldn't care less because they're big and not as cute anymore. But now I can't love on my little babies because I don't want to get it  haha. I emailed Hank's breeder/the vet to ask him about it. Right now, he's looking like the source of the problem.  Figures...the first ram I buy for myself and he brings in a disease that now will be here forever  And this place had been barren and clean (no livestock on it) for the past 10+ years!  ugghhhhh



			
				Bridgemoof said:
			
		

> Oh gosh, I hope it isn't sore mouth either. My Tunis bottle lamb has something suspicious on her mouth too, but not as bad as yours. And I HAVE been kissing my lambs. I hope I don't get whatever it is. So whatever it is, can it be treated with something?
> 
> The pics of the lambs are just TOO adorable SheepGirl. They look like the perfect little Easter lambs!  :bun Rosie is such a chunkster.


Actually, the picture I posted is of the ram lamb, he's had it the longest and his is the worst. His littermate only has one little spot. And Rosie has a bunch of spots on the one side of her nose. Bella has only had this one spot for a couple days and it doesn't seem to be spreading on her. But I know what you mean! I kissed my lambs the day before I first found a spot on the ram. So I think I would've gotten it now, too. If it's soremouth, it's not treatable, you just let it run its course. If it's fungal, I guess you could put a fungicide on it? Maybe something labeled to treat ringworm?

And thank you  I've been stalking your journal and oohing and aahing at all your cute little Tunis and Jacob babies!!



			
				aggieterpkatie said:
			
		

> Cute pics!!  You know what's missing?  Natural colored sheep in your flock!


Thanks! And I know, right?  I would sooo come and buy your two ewes but unfortunately our truck is out of commission. The tire is making a grinding noise and there's also a pounding going on underneath. :/ So my mom told me not to drive it until her brother (a mechanic) can come up and check it out lol.



			
				Four Winds Ranch said:
			
		

> I am pretty positive it is sore mouth!!!  I am sorry your sheep had to get that nasty thing!   Mine have just picked it up as well, about a year ago! The initial infection is the worse and most of the time the sheep will be clean after that, with small break outs on one or two every once in a while!
> I quarentine super well too, but some sheep are carriers and never have symptoms in their entire lives, but pass it on to all the others! Which was my new ram I bought last year!   If you have deer on your place, they are horrible at spreading sore mouth!!!
> Just be sure to wear golves if you have to handle any of the sores or drench one that has sores!!
> Good luck!!!
> It isn't as bad as it first feels when you find out your babies actually have the nasty thing!!!


We have deer, but I've never seen them in the pasture, only along the fence line. And the ewes & lambs are penned up close to our house, and I don't think deer would get that close.

I know it sounds bad but I don't even want to touch the babies WITH gloves because I'm so paranoid about it lol. I've heard it is veryyyy painful and lasts for weeks and if I developed orf I wouldn't be able to work until it was gone lol.



			
				Bridgemoof said:
			
		

> There's only one thing to do Sheepgirl. CULL them.  Just kidding.


  ha I wish it was that easy. Now the sheep area is all infected if it is soremouth  Guess that means bleaching my sheep and moving them onto a new/larger tract of land!


----------



## SheepGirl

Oh! And I found someone an hour away who sells 3x4x7 large square bales of alfalfa for $175/ton. And the bales weigh 1120 lbs. Which equates to only 1/500 of one cent more expensive than the grass hay I feed. Only problem is I don't have any way to move the bales. But if they are really just like small square bales, and they have flakes that you can just peel off & feed, it will make my life soo much easier, than standing around for 10 minutes picking hay from a round bale to weigh it out


----------



## Four Winds Ranch

I know what you mean about the pickin hay off the round bales!!!!   :/  I love square bales, soooo much easier!!!!  Makes the chores a breeze!


----------



## SheepGirl

Today Rosie turns 30 days old, so I weighed her. 32.6 lbs! That is a 0.713 lb ADG!  'course she's a single, so that helps her out... but still


----------



## SheepGirl

I have about a week's worth of hay left (if that) so I hope the grass starts growing soon ... Once I'm out of hay they are going out into the field. The grass is no longer shorter than the grass in our yard, so I'm hoping with the snow and rain the past week plus the warmth we are expecting this week, the grass starts growing fast! Also I think putting them on grass now while it is still relatively short & dry (yet somewhat green) will be better for their systems than turning them out onto lush green pasture.

Oh and this morning I went out to feed and the lambs were running around the deck! I have no idea how they got out, I guess they escaped under the fence in the ewe pen (there is a hole that the two triplets go under all the time) and then ran around to the other side and hopped through the gate. Oh well lol. They were easy to catch. They ran right up to me


----------



## SheepGirl

Well grass hasn't started growing and I ran out of hay :/ Ended up giving my ewes a flake of alfalfa and two flakes of straw that they cleaned up. But I got hay tonight.

And the sheep will be sheared April 21st


----------



## SheepGirl

The two triplets turn 30 days old tomorrow (well I guess it's today ), so I will be weighing them and giving them their first CD/T shot. I noticed the ewe lamb grinding her teeth so I took her temp. 103.9--a little high so I have her on Pen G (she's getting 1/4 cc 2x/day). I'll probably keep her on it one full day after her temp returns to normal. However those two lambs are getting really tall. I can't wait to see how much they weigh now. The ram lamb is getting really stocky and heavy. Before when I would pick him up it would be like picking up a stuffed animal. Now it's like picking up a cinder block lol.


----------



## SheepGirl

The two triplets are not as heavy as Rosie! Bella weighed in at 16.6 lbs at 30 days old and Edward weighed in at 19.8 lbs at 30 days old. While these weights aren't impressive now, their ADG seems to be improving every 10 days when I weigh them. So that's good. Still haven't set up the creep feeder yet  So these weights are just from drinking mom's milk. And also grazing a little bit of grass (the two triplets sneak out and start grazing).

Edward (pics taken 4/1)






Edward & Bella...I don't like how long their tails turned out. I wish they were a hair shorter.





As for the whole soremouth thing.... well Bella never got more than one spot on her, and it was barely even noticeable unless you held her face and really looked at it. Edward & Rosie were the worst, but it was nothing too bad. Rosie still has a couple spots on her nose, but it looks like Edward has cleared up. Again, I'm not sure if it is soremouth. I emailed Hank's breeder, and he said that he hasn't had a case of soremouth on his farm in "many, many years" and that Hank was raised away from the rest of the flock and he lived with a ewe lamb on another farm after being weaned and then he moved back in with the breeder for two months before I bought him. Hank himself never had it. But Dr. L (the breeder) said that almost all sheep have the soremouth virus, it's just a matter of time when it becomes 'active' -- but he also said what my lambs had (I sent him a couple photos) was probably bacterial (he said there's a couple bacterial diseases that affect the mouth) or an injury from their hay feeder or the hay itself (there were some thorns in it). So I don't know lol.

I guess I'll found out in a month when Katy Perry has her baby, if her lamb develops anything. Speaking of which, I was comparing KP's udder to Lady Gaga's and her's is showing some signs of development! 

Oh and my manager came over with her hubby, three kids, her brother, and her niece to play with the lambs on Sunday  They all had a ball. Except the sheep!  They were a little bit freaked out to have a bunch of kids in their home. Normally when they see kids it's when they are at the fair or carnival lol. And then yesterday, my brother got a ride home from work with one of his coworkers and he was showing off the sheep and the lambs to her and her son lol. Next Sunday we are having a "play date" with my mom's co-worker's dog (we are going to be babysitting him for a week and my mom's co-worker wanted to see if he would get along with everyone before she just dropped him off with us) and she's bringing her two daughters so we get to be a little petting farm again hahaha.


----------



## SheepGirl

Sheep were moved out to pasture on April 15. Hank got a new pen set up for him right next to the feed shack. Even has a real gate, too!  His pen is roughly 8'x28'. He looks so adorable in his pen. When I'm outside, he loves standing on the gate and he lets me pet his chin & his brisket. Back when I was in NYC, I bought a sign at the Empire State Building that says 'Stud Way' so I plan on putting that on the gate to his pen  hahaha. My dad and I built his pen. We used T-posts and then we (well my dad) dug a hole where we put a wood post to use for the gate. And then we used left over woven wire fencing and we actually tightened it (unlike the pens we previously built) so it was nice and taut. I wasn't really ready to let my ewes out (grass really isn't tall enough for my liking), but my ewes were itching to get out, trying to push through their fence and they kept getting their heads stuck in the woven wire. So they're out. The lambs like the wood pile, it's a nice toy for them haha. I started raking up all the hay/straw all over their pen so I could move it to the wood pile so it can kind of compost, but there's just so much so I'm saving it for my next day off.

Can't wait for this weekend--Saturday afternoon my sheep will all be penned up (probably in my garage) and then Sunday my shearer will be coming out to shear off all that wool! I think I'm going to keep it and either attempt to process it myself or send it out. I'm also excited to see pretty bright white sheep against bright green grass  Always such a pretty sight. And then their wool gets dingy looking after a week or two lol and then they just look like a regular sheep haha.

And Katy Perry has an adorable little udder about the size of 1.5 clementines lol. She's due May 18  But she will probably go early. May 18 is day 147, and my other two ewes lambed at day 145 this year, so she could go on May 16. Can't wait for another baby!  Too bad Lady Gaga never came into heat. Hopefully I will have lambs from her next year.


----------



## BrownSheep

Do you plan on banding Edward or selling him as a ram?


----------



## SheepGirl

Don't know for sure yet. Structurally he is nice looking and not hideous lol. He is starting to develop muscle/stockiness now. He's mainly frame as of right now though (look at how tall he is lol). Performance wise, he comes from a good ewe (200% drop rate over her life, and I'm really impressed with how between Jan 2012 and March 2013 she got pregnant twice and had 5 lambs) and he's gaining okay. His ADG increases every time I weigh him (whereas with Rosie it is starting to decrease), so I'm hopeful he will have a good weaning weight. He will probably have a pretty good adjusted weaning weight (his adjusted 30 day ADG would be 0.484).

I think I may leave him intact and use him on a few of my ewes and then sell him. But he is a really, really nice lamb--super friendly, loves to be scratched, loves the side of his face stroked--so I may wether him and sell him as a pet. But if I can't find anyone to take him as a wether I will take him to auction. Or I may sell him to my uncle who's been wanting to buy one of my lambs to eat lol. Or maybe I will use him for the carcass contest at the fair.

eta: If he would've been born a twin I would've probably castrated him already. But since he was a triplet, it makes me want to keep him intact since this is my first personal set of triplets  lol Only two of my neighbor's ewes have had trips, one was 1/2 Montadale and one was a purebred Montadale. Sooo because it is 'rare' for my sheep's bloodlines to have triplets it makes me want to keep him intact to encourage more sets of triplets! lol


----------



## aggieterpkatie

Emily sheared my sheep on Sunday!  I love her, she is so great!  Good luck with shearing day!  The ram pen looks good too, and better it be too big than too small!  I bet the ewes are glad to be out on pasture!


----------



## SheepGirl

The sheep got sheared today, everyone looks fabulous! Emily did a great job as usual. Hank's fleece weighed 5 lbs, Ali's fleece weighed 4 lbs, and the other three ewes had fleeces that weighed around 3 lbs each.

ETA: Pics later!


----------



## SheepGirl

Warning: Lots of photos! 

-----

The sheep all got sheared today & they all got their hooves trimmed. So tomorrow since I forgot today I will be vaccinating Katy Perry & Lady Gaga and also checking to see if anybody's anemic.

Oh and Emily said that when I sell Hank to let her know because a lot of her customers are looking for a Texel ram and they are fighting to find some for sale. So it's good to know they're in demand!!

-----

The first four photos are ones that were on my phone.

Hank






Katy Perry's adorable baby bump and her first udder!





The flock is happy to be sheared--look at Lady Gaga in the back!





Katy Perry (R) & Lady Gaga (L), twin 11 month old ewe lambs. Katy Perry is due in one month <3 And she doesn't look stunted from breeding as a ewe lamb at all! She's the same size as her open twin sister.





And now photos from my camera...the first three are from the past week and the rest are from today.

Wanna give me a kiss? 





Edward 





His ears are my favorite....they are so big and pendulous and they really make him look adorable.





"Emily's coming today?!"





Katy Perry, Ali, and Lady Gaga in Hank's pen. The ewes were all put into Hank's pen to make catching them easier and Hank was moved into the pen in the field. They're all pretty rough looking, don'tcha think? hahahaha





Little Bella 





Hank was first!





Fleeces come off in one piece. And Hank's fleece was especially soft 





What a pretty lil fella!





I think this is Katy Perry.... I know she was sheared right after Hank, but then after her was Lady Gaga. And those two look pretty identical, so who knows lol.





Two ewes done! Katy Perry in front, Lady Gaga in the back. They are so little now! The 45 & 51 day old lambs are as big as them hahaha.





Look at how BIG Rosie is! She's 51 days old. Her mom, Ali, is the ewe in the back. Lady Gaga is the other ewe in the photo.





I just love this picture  Ciqala was the last to be sheared. She's actually a LOT thinner than what this photo shows. She's my thinnest sheep, like she's bony thin. But Emily said she thought she looked really good for getting pregnant twice and having five lambs in 15 months.





Hank has definitely put on a LOT of weight & muscle since I bought him. He's only ever gotten I think it was maybe 30-40 lbs of grain and then the rest of his diet was hay and pasture (winter pasture too). I know I have the exact amount of grain I've fed him written down somewhere...





Ali and her big 51 day old baby! Not even old enough to be weaned yet lol





Ali's pretty little udder. It has definitely increased capacity since last year when she raised twins, even though she's only got one baby this year.





Ciqala has very poor udder attachment. Only thing I don't like about her! However it is primarily a cosmetic concern since having a pendulous udder doesn't really affect her production.





Lady Gaga has a funny shaped head  But I do love how she has gray/black markings while Katy Perry has brown/cinnamon markings. Makes it easy to tell them a part now that they have no wool!





She's so pretty without her wool. I hope her yearling fleece grows in better than her lamb fleece.





My two mature ewes and their three lambs.





Katy Perry (4 months bred) and Lady Gaga (open). KP is such a stocky little thing. I love her. I think she looks great for the fact she's gonna have a baby one week before her first birthday!


----------



## aggieterpkatie

They're all looking great!  Hank looks really nice!  I love Emily..she sheared my sheep this year and she's worth her weight in gold!


----------



## PendergrassRanch

OMG Lady Gagas head literally cracked me up! What a funny shape 

They all look fantastic.  Such picture perfect sheep with such a nice pasture!


----------



## SheepGirl

aggieterpkatie said:
			
		

> They're all looking great!  Hank looks really nice!  I love Emily..she sheared my sheep this year and she's worth her weight in gold!


Thanks! And Emily is truly amazing. She is such a great shearer! And I saw the photos on your journal of all your sheared sheep (can't remember if I commented or not), but they all looked really good, too! I love how Barley and Bean have little black polka dots on them 



			
				PendergrassRanch said:
			
		

> OMG Lady Gagas head literally cracked me up! What a funny shape
> 
> They all look fantastic.  Such picture perfect sheep with such a nice pasture!


I know! She's so funny looking  And thank you!!


----------



## autumnprairie

You were right, the sheep do look awesome kin there stark white against the really green pasture. Makes me want them even more


----------



## SheepGirl

Awww autumnprairie  You should get some sheep. You will love them! I love mine


----------



## SheepGirl

Today was such a pretty day... photos in a few minutes.


----------



## SheepGirl

Okay, well this wasn't today. More like a day or two ago.

Hank's conformation reminds me of a hog with his big 'ham' (leg)! And yes, that is all muscle--he is too lean to have any fat disguising itself as muscle in his hindquarters 






And now all these are from today 

Ali and her baby at 55 days old.





Rosie at 55 days old





Katy Perry, 4 months bred





From the other side





Hank flexing his muscles





Ali's twins from last year - out of a twin sibling breeding. Lady Gaga & Katy Perry





The flock





Katy Perry thinks willow leaves taste good





The flock grazing by the fence line. Look on the other side of the fence, though  Has been mowed twice since last June and there hasn't been any livestock on it for the past 10+ years. I would LOVE to have it to graze my sheep! But I think the new neighbors were talking about fencing it all in for their cattle (which still haven't moved in yet lol)





Another photo of the flock 





Lady Gaga and her mom Ali. In the background is Katy Perry and Ciqala. Also did you notice my dad cut the fence posts? They look so much better now 





Edward and Rosie





I'm in love with Rosie. So growthy & muscular! I can't wait to breed her!





Ali, a 2009 ewe.





Miss Ali is in pretty good condition. She's been getting 3/4 lb of grain per day and most of that grain has been transferred into growth of her ewe lamb, who's been gaining almost 0.7 lbs/day last time I weighed her. Ali's BCS is about a 2.5.





This is a photo of Ali and her 'work' from the past two years--twin 11 month old ewe lambs, one bred, and her 55 day old ewe lamb (who's as big as the 11 month olds!! lol).





Five out of seven





Twin 11 month old ewe lambs. And I don't know--Lady Gaga was never 'officially' bred (but she was mounted by Hank pretty much every day) but she seems to be developing an udder--and it is noticeably bigger than it was on Sunday when they were sheared :/ 





I noticed Katy Perry has a black spot on her neck! I hope it doesn't grow like the brown spot on her nose lol


----------



## Bridgemoof

Looking great Sheepgirl! All the sheep look healthy and happy and your pasture looks fabulous!


----------



## autumnprairie

the pics


----------



## SheepGirl

Thank you guys so much!!

-----

Hank is a 'weather wimp.' The ewes are out grazing with one week's worth of wool (which honestly isn't much) in the wind and the rain. Hank is inside his little sheep shack hunched up and shivering.  It was pretty funny before they got sheared, also--when we had those 80 degree temps earlier this month, Hank was panting and trying to stay in the shade best he could. My ewes were out soaking up the sun, with a respiration rate only slightly higher than normal!! that boy......


----------



## SheepGirl

I weaned little Rosie today  Her 60 day weight is 49.8 lbs and because she is a single ewe born to a 4 year old ewe, the adjustment factor is 1.0 so her adjusted weight would be the same. So that means her ADG is 0.643 lbs. She and Hank are getting along okay. Hank does ram into her a little bit, but she's not injured or hurting and she's big enough that she can take the beatings lol.

She will stay with Hank for a week or two and then be moved back out onto the pasture. Six days from now I will be weaning the two triplets... I'm still not sure what I'm gonna do with Edward yet. I think I will keep him a ram. But then again I do want to wether him and use him in the carcass contest at the fair. Or maybe I will just do the carcass contest next year when I will have 6 ewes lambing for me and I should have 9-10 lambs. So maybe I will keep him a ram. He's growing pretty good.


----------



## autumnprairie

Keep him you know you want to.


----------



## SheepGirl

Enabler


----------



## autumnprairie

SheepGirl said:
			
		

> Enabler


Lol right back at ya, since you keep encouraging me. 
I have 2 finals on Thursday and 2 Tuesday then I am done until August


----------



## SheepGirl

I just weaned the two triplets today. Bella is 34.0 lbs (0.453 ADG) and Edward is 41.4 lbs (0.560 ADG). Adjusted weights (born triplets, raised twins out of a 2006 ewe) would be 45.22 lbs for Bella (0.640 adj. ADG) and 50.094 lbs for Edward (0.705 adj. ADG).

I'm so happy!  

So, actual weights for my lambs:
Rosie - 49.8 lbs
Bella - 34.0 lbs
Edward - 41.4 lbs

And adjusted weights for my lambs:
Rosie - 49.8 lbs
Bella - 45.22 lbs
Edward - 50.094 lbs

All of the lambs are as tall as Katy Perry & Lady Gaga who are 11.5 month old ewe lambs. I did weigh Katy Perry tonight just to see how much she weighs. She weighs 98 point something--I can't remember what the decimal was lol

But I was actually REALLY surprised when I moved the lambs in with Rosie and Hank. Rosie was attacking them and beating them up. She was acting like Hank should have and Hank was acting like Rosie should have (sniffing their bums). Crazy sheep....

Butttt we have less than two weeks until Katy Perry lambs!!


----------



## SheepGirl

I will be sharing some new pictures with you all in the next 15 minutes or so....


----------



## SheepGirl

Some photos! The first seven photos were taken May 1 (Ciqala's lambs @ 55 days old and Ali's lamb @ 61 days old) and the rest were taken today (Ciqala's lambs @ 62 days old and Ali's lamb @ 68 days old).

Such a wide little ewe






What a cute face!





She seems to do this pose a lot.





I loveeee her! She's seriously a walking lamb chop.





Dad & Daughter





Edward's ears <3





Babies, born triplets/raised twins, at 55 days old on a 2006 ewe





Another dad & daughter picture.





Edward is a very nice looking ram lamb. There's a guy I work with though (he's Bolivian) who keeps talking about one of my lambs to eat  I told him he could buy Edward after I bred him to eat him.





Hi mom, we miss you.





Edward's Legs of Lamb





Miss Ali's looking pretty good after 8 days without a lamb on her





Katy Perry - due in 10 days!!





She looks so nice without all that wool on her face!





You can see how thin she is. BTW that is her udder after 1.5 days with no babies on it. Her 62 day old babies are behind her.





All my lambs





Mom, just a little bit closer! I almost got it!





Here she is again with her babies.





Her face is as soft as it looks 





Bella (15) and Edward (16)





Edward has such a regal, elegant look to him. I love him. And he also has little freckles on his nose like his momma did when she was a lamb 





Gotta love those ears!





The two triplets again. Look at how loonngg they are!





Miss Ali looks annoyed.





She didn't like me very much today.





Sire & Son





My ram & his lambs





I thought this was a cute picture 





Lil Bella


----------



## EllieMay

Such CUTE pics!!!

Love the Bella/Edward photo.

Actually, I loved them ALL!!!


----------



## autumnprairie

Love the pics, you need to come to my house and take pics of mine, you do a better job than I do


----------



## SheepGirl

Lol, thank you 

---

Today is day 143 for Katy Perry!! Hopefully she lambs on day 145 like my other ewes did...that would be PERFECT because I have off on Thursday!!! I'm really hoping she doesn't go on Saturday because I have school (last class for the semester!) from 9 to 2:45 and then I work 5 to 12. The only people that will be home all day is the rest of my family and they don't know anything about sheep or what to do if there is a problem with her lambing lol.

But anyway. I have to take a picture of KP's udder. It is so cute and pretty and perfect


----------



## Four Winds Ranch

Those are definatly some very beautiful, healthy, happy lambs!!!!!  Good work!!!!  
Heres to Katy Perry going into labour on Thursday!!!


----------



## Bridgemoof

Can't wait for Kate Perry to have her babies!!!!! All the pics are so cute. Let's see Kate Perry's perfect little udder 

How long are you keeping the lambs away from their mom's while they are being weaned?


----------



## SheepGirl

She had a big 9.8 lb ram lamb this morning! Pics to come once I get inside lol


----------



## Bridgemoof

SOOO exciting!!!!!!


----------



## SheepGirl

I am sooo happy with Katy Perry. I had this strange feeling to look out my window first thing when I woke up this morning. I never do that lol. First thing I see is Katy Perry snuggled up with something small and white near the sheep shack. I run downstairs and I'm out the back door and my dad was like "You're bringing your brand new phone outside with the sheep?" And I'm just kind of like..."uhhh yeah I think Katy Perry had a baby" lol. So then he comes out with me, but he just stands on the deck. So I go out there and see that my 98.4 lb ewe lamb, 10 days shy of her first birthday, had delivered a 9.8 lb ram lamb all by herself and he was already cleaned & fed!!  Best feeling ever lol.

She's a great mommy--she doesn't let this lamb no more than eight feet away from her. And she has a beautiful udder. Ciqala is Katy Perry's granddam on both sides--I'm glad all she got from her is her udder capacity! Sampson is her grandsire on both sides so she must've gotten her udder conformation from that side of the family.

So here are the pictures (sorry they were taken on my phone so they aren't that great) 

Look at that tail go!





He's so adorable





Mom please don't lick me again





Here's her udder!! Please ignore it's slight lop sided-ness....the darn lamb would only nurse from that side haha. I tried to get him to nurse the other side but he was not interested.





Being a good mommy





A happy family 





All snuggled up <3


----------



## SheepGirl

I am so sorry Bridgemoof, lol, I didn't see your question before. I'm keeping my lambs away from the ewes for 10-14 days. Rosie was let out after 10 days, it was too soon as I see her trying to sneak a drink off of Ali every now and then. I will probably keep the two triplets in the pen with Hank for another week or so.


----------



## BrownSheep

I've had lambs that after three months were still trying to nurse! Luckily momma didn't feel like nursing her 8 month old triplets any more!

Nice look ram lamb!


----------



## Bridgemoof

Congratulations Sheepgirl! I'm so proud of Kate Perry. What a great mommy. The lamb is perfect.


----------



## Four Winds Ranch

Congrats on Katy Perry being a good mommy and her big healthy lamb!!!!!


----------



## stitchcounting

I love the lil ram. He was smiling at me! Congrats:bun
What a funny name!


----------



## bonbean01

Congrats!!!!!  Adorable little lambie...just want to snuggle it!


----------



## SheepGirl

Thanks, guys! I'm so excited about him & my ewe 

I will dock him and tag him tomorrow morning. I was going to do it tonight but I decided I would let him wait 

And I think I already have a buyer lined up for him. One of my coworkers wants a whole lamb to barbeque so I think that's gonna be his fate :/


----------



## SheepGirl

I docked and tagged him this morning. He took it like a champ. Didn't even flinch! 

okay and here's a little rant.....

I came home from school this evening (had a final in Stats) to find my grandfather had talked to my dad and my dad proceeded to mow the field   Apparently my grandfather told my father, none the wiser, that the field should be mowed because "sheep can't eat tall grass."  I love how my grandfather always does this when I'm not home. How much sense does that even make? My grandfather does NOT spend any time at all out with the sheep--he doesn't know their grazing habits. I was just out there this morning and I saw all the sheep eat the seed heads off of the grass (don't know what kind of grass it is, but the seed heads are purple?). That and they ripped the grass halfway down the stem and ate the top half of the grass. So I'm mad because 1) they're my sheep so I should be the one to make all the feed management decisions (my dad even asked me this morning if the field should be mowed because it looks 'bad'--I was like, 'no, it looks great and the grass is tall and lush and it will be tall enough for if/when we have a summer drought, the sheep will have something to eat'); 2) It is May--it is warm. It is wet and rainy. The grass is short. My sheep are probably going to be infected with internal parasites. I'm not so worried about Ciqala, Katy Perry, and Lady Gaga, but I'm mainly worried about Ali and all the 2013 lambs. 3) My sheep are eating the grass clippings...which is a cause of grass tetany. I don't need to be dealing with that.

I just wish people would ASK and THINK before they ACT. My dad listens to my grandfather because 'he was a farmer' -- yeah, well look how that turned out. He's not one anymore. Things have changed. The way animals are managed have changed. The way pastures are managed have changed. Okay, well they aren't his sheep. They are mine. I know what's best for them. Heck, I know a LOT more about sheep than my grandfather, who back when 'he was a farmer' would just throw feed out to the critters and he didn't even know what kind of sheep he had. My neighbor always mowed his field in late June--why? Because it was hot and it was summer--when parasites weren't much of an issue. AND he didn't mow it with a lawn tractor and leave the grass 2.5 inches tall!!  -- he mowed it with a pull behind mower attached to his tractor. And the only reason why he mowed it was because we had one sheep per 1/2 to 2 acres (depending on flock size)--which is way more than the sheep could keep up with in the summer, even with a drought. I have (or will have once the lambs are done being weaned) 4 ewes and 4 lambs on a hair under two acres. They will be able to keep up with that very well. ugghhhhh my grandfather just annoys me thinking he knows more than me and even my old neighbor. 

This is the second time my grandfather has had the field mowed WITHOUT ASKING ME FIRST and doing it WHILE I'M NOT HOME to stop it. Tomorrow on my way to work I'm going to stop at the hardware store and buy a lock to put on the gate. I'm done with this.

okay, rant over. 

now pictures of my sheep 

Grass before






Grass after--as you can see it is WAY too short for sheep to be grazing at this time of the year





I love this photo here. All the way in the back is Ali, standing in front of her is 11 week old Rosie, in front of her is 11-2/3 month old Katy Perry, and then her 1 day old ram lamb.





Looks like this lil guy is cow hocked





What a cutie! 





His ears are really strong, don't you think? The ear tags aren't making his ears sag like they made the other lambs' ears sag.





Learning how to graze





Okay, I'm sorry for all the udder photos. But I am seriously in love with this girl's udder. I am SO happy with it and my sheep's genetics (since she is out of a twin sibling breeding). It is just so perfectly shaped and her teats are perfect (well, almost...her teat placement could be a little better) and the fact she isn't even one year old yet!!





Chillaxin





I love this face





Is that my baby up there?





Bella -- She looks more like a Montadale than anything else, even though she's only 1/4 Montadale





Edward -- I think he is a perfect blend of Montadale and Texel. You can't really tell that he is 1/4 Babydoll Southdown.





Tonight's Sunset -- Can you tell which sheep is which? I can


----------



## autumnprairie

He is so cute congrats he is beautiful


----------



## SheepGirl

Bella lost her Scrapie tag today :/ It was a bloody mess...she has her whole side of her face stained with blood. At first I thought she had sliced her ear right where it attaches to her head. Nope...just blood stained wool. She had me freaking out there for a second. I didn't even check it before I ran back into the house to grab some iodine and my screwworm spray. So now her ear & some of her face is stained yellow and blue. And a little bit of green  But she should be okay, she wasn't acting like she was in pain.

And also the sheep were laying in the sheep shack today for their source of shade. But it was so wet & nasty & muddy & goopy in there from last night's thunderstorms, I shooed them out, I opened the gate  and let them go behind the feed shack for shade. They stayed there all afternoon lol. I really need to find a way to keep the water from coming into the sheep shack. Do you think putting gravel at the opening will help? We have plenty of gravel....

This weekend we are having family up for Memorial Day. We have my cousins from North Carolina coming up tonight. So I've been on a cleaning frenzy all day with my mom. Mainly cleaning my room since my cousin will be bunking with me haha. I just have clothes all over the floor. And magazines. And shoes. And other teenage girl stuff. hahahahaha So that's been my day so far. And I close tomorrow & Saturday night at my job. Stinks because we always have so much fun at night with the family  Crazy me forgot to request off again & I lost track of time. These weeks seem to really be running together, it's crazy. I work 35-40 hrs a week and then usually after work I go out with friends and I don't get home til 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 in the morning  Usually we are at someone's house watching a movie or two. Sometimes we will go to IHOP first. One time we went to a club. I asked my mom if I could go and she actually said okay! I think she was only okay with it because we took a coworker there, and she's like 67. But she had a week off at her other job and she had off at our job, so we took her out to the club. She had a lot of fun actually. It was my first (and only) time going, too lol. But it was a lot of fun. It reminded me a lot of homecoming & prom, except people were dressed a lot....differently haha. Not that I have any room to talk, I wore a blue mini dress and 4" heels  lol but I got a great work out wearing heels and dancing! You should see my calves...they are all nice and toned now hahaha. I was asked to dance by three guys, but I said no to all of them because I was there with a guy I'm kind of seeing and he kept scaring them away lol. I guess word got around because after the first hour no one else came up to me  But one of the guys that asked me to dance asked my 67 year old coworker to dance! I thought that was pretty adorable.

So yeah...there's my update


----------



## bonbean01

4 inch heels and clubbing????  Okay Missy...once in awhile is okay...but make a habit of it and I'll have to come up there and give you a talking to    Actually, I'm glad you had a good time!

I had to come back to this just to enjoy those photos!!!  Your little lambies are sooooo stinking CUTE!!!!!


----------



## autumnprairie

bonbean01 said:
			
		

> 4 inch heels and clubbing????  Okay Missy...once in awhile is okay...but make a habit of it and I'll have to come up there and give you a talking to    Actually, I'm glad you had a good time!
> 
> I had to come back to this just to enjoy those photos!!!  Your little lambies are sooooo stinking CUTE!!!!!


 
I am glad that you go out and do other things.


----------



## Ruus

Sorry about your grass. Multigeneration farms stink sometimes, don't they? Two years ago when I was still commuting to college I came home one day and found that my mother and grandfather had GIVEN AWAY my three horses while I was gone because my grandfather kept insisting they were too much work on top of college.  I'd had two of them since I was a kid and raised the third from birth. Now they wonder why I'm paranoid about my sheep!


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## autumnprairie

Ruus said:
			
		

> Sorry about your grass. Multigeneration farms stink sometimes, don't they? Two years ago when I was still commuting to college I came home one day and found that my mother and grandfather had GIVEN AWAY my three horses while I was gone because my grandfather kept insisting they were too much work on top of college.  I'd had two of them since I was a kid and raised the third from birth. Now they wonder why I'm paranoid about my sheep!


Hugs I am so sorry that happened to you


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## SheepGirl

Well Edward is going to be banded. He cannot maintain his condition on pasture; he is pretty thin whereas the other lambs are pretty chunky. Granted it could be parasites but even still if he's not tolerant of them like the other lambs are then he should still be castrated. So today is cool so I might do it today. If not then I will wait for night time one of these days.

Emmett on the other hand is a little meat monster like Rosie (who is the same cross--1/2 Texel x 3/8 Babydoll Southdown x 1/8 Montadale). I will probably keep him a ram. I am actually thinking about not buying a new ram and just breeding everyone back to Hank. I am just so excited to see my lambs next year out of Ali, Katy Perry, and Lady Gaga...they will produce more of those 3/8 Babydoll lambs. Hopefully I get some twins, though, instead of just one baby! It would be interesting to see if the twin born lambs are as meaty and growthy (with adj. weights) as the single born lambs.

Ciqala is gaining back her condition well. You can no longer see her ribs and her hips aren't as prominent. Then again her wool is growing back but even when you touch her you can feel a little fat around her bones now. So that's good. She'll be fat enough by October to breed again. Ali maintained her condition well on 3/4 lb of grain with a lamb gaining almost 0.7 lbs a day. She only lost maybe 1/2 a BCS point her entire lactation. So now that her lamb is weaned she's already fat lol.

Ciqala's lamb, Bella, is my new best friend. She walks up to me in the field or at the fence and I sit down and she puts her face in my face and just looks at me. So I start kissing her cute little nose and petting her face and she just stands there. And then I stroke her neck or her back and she starts falling asleep. She's the most amazing little critter. Edward comes over but then Bella gets mad I'm petting him instead of her so she butts him outta the way so I pay attention to her  Poor Edward never gets any lovin'. But that's okay because I'm gonna sell him (either at auction or to someone) so I don't mind if I pay him any attention or not.

Rosie though is friendly enough that she walks up to me when the other sheep are around, but she doesn't really let me touch her. But that's okay. I know she'll come around  Emmett though is scared of everything. He walks up when I feed his mom, but he won't come close to me. A little disappointing, but it's probably good since he will more than likely end up being a stud ram. I am soo excited about him because I did want Katy Perry to have a ram. And I got what I wanted! And he's a thick little guy. I need to get updated photos. I haven't taken any since he was born.


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## SheepGirl

I weighed three lambs today. Didn't weigh Rosie because I just weighed her last week. I have kind of started the lambs on feed, but I'm only giving them each 1/4 lb every other day. Only because it is such a battle every time I try to feed them; the ewes keep trying to get in the feed and it gets exhausting to try to keep the ewes out of the lambs feed. So I need to build a little mini corral that I can put the lambs in to feed. Or maybe I'll just put them back with Hank. Hank is getting a bit thin; he could use some grain, too.

Bella is 42.4 lbs (93 day ADG = 0.383).
Edward is 53.2 lbs (93 day ADG = 0.488).
Emmett is 25.0 lbs (24 day ADG = 0.633).


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## SheepGirl

I hope I'm not speaking too soon. But Emmett does not have any of those scabs on his lips like the other lambs did two months ago. So I'm thinking if it WAS soremouth, he would've developed it by now since I never did bleach/clean anything. And he would've been exposed to the virus through feed pans, water trough, the sheep shack, the environment in general, etc. So I think Dr. L (the vet I bought Hank from) was right in that what my lambs had was bacterial and not actually soremouth.


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## autumnprairie




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## purplequeenvt

Maybe it wasn't, but, in our flock of 38 lambs, only about 5 lambs got it. He could have some immunity to it.


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## SheepGirl

My friend came over yesterday with her cattle bander so I could castrate Edward. I couldnt really see what I was doing (it doesnt help that we were both giggling about suffocating balls ) and I ended up missing one. Poor little fella was not enjoying it! So I ended up cutting off the band. I figured now he has no chance of being sold as a pet so I will just take him to auction intact. He imo is not good enough to be a ram. Emmett on the other hand...hes 29.2 lbs at 31 days old. Not bad considering his momma's only 84 lbs.


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## SheepGirl

Finally got some new photos. I took these I think on Wednesday...? Can't really remember. Anyway...

Miss Ali






I <3 Edward's ears. I hope Ciqala has more babies with his big ears.





Katy Perry (~12.5 months old) and her 4 week old lamb, Emmett





Emmett





12.5 month old Katy Perry with 3 month old Edward and 1 month old Emmett





Bella, Edward, and Emmett





Rosie





My flock





Grazing with the old barn in the background





3.5 month old Rosie next to her mom





Ciqala





She really towers over her 2009 daughter, Ali, and Ali's 2013 lamb.





Bella my buddy


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## Four Winds Ranch

Love them!!!! They are beautiful well formed sheep!!!!


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## SheepGirl

Thanks, I love them too


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## autumnprairie

They are beautiful and getting so big


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## SheepGirl

Well I got some free hay from my neighbor  Well not really free lol I offered to bake him cookies (and I did) since he didn't want to accept any payment lol. But it's a round bale, first cutting grass hay. He even dropped it off for me and helped me put it in the feed shack. He said for the second cutting he will make them into square bales and will work out a deal with me and will even keep them in the Quonset hut attached to the greenhouses if I don't have enough space for all I need


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## autumnprairie

That sounds like a great deal, how is your summer going so far?


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## SheepGirl

Pretty good, working a lot. Getting lots of overtime  I just got back from a vacation in Florida Saturday night, we were gone for 8 days. My sheep were being watched by my best friend (who has cattle, horses, goats, chickens, turkeys, ducks, dogs, cats, rats, rabbits, peacocks, and a bunch of other critters lol....basically she has everything BUT sheep ). We stayed at a Marriott Resort in Orlando (my mom works at the Marriott headquarters so we get an employee discount on rooms) and we went to Busch Gardens, Clearwater Beach (met family there), we spent a day in Miami, and we spent our last morning in Orlando at the hotel's pool. It was fabulous and so beautiful. AND I got a tan! lol I'm so happy. I have a bikini tan line now hahahahaha

How about you?


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## Four Winds Ranch

It is awesome to get a much deserved holiday every once in a while!  I get to go on a 2 week one next week!!!!   Lol, I can't wait!!!
Glad you had a good time!!!


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## Ruus

SheepGirl said:
			
		

> AND I got a tan! lol I'm so happy. I have a bikini tan line now hahahahaha


Lucky you! I have an epic farmer's tan, lol.


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## SheepGirl

Emmett is 55 days old today; he and Edward will be moved into Hank's pen on the 14th. I'm half tempted to move all the lambs into Hank's pen to get them all on feed, but the shelter isn't big enough for a 130+ lb ram, a 40+ lb ram lamb, and three 60+ lb lambs. Sooo I think I will just have all my boys in Hank's pen.

Anyway, I got some photos today. Of course I decided to go out while it was cloudy out and raining a little and then as soon as I started heading inside it was getting sunny out  Oh well...the photos still turned out pretty good. And what I don't understand? The ewes are out in the pasture and they're all muddy. And Hank's in a pen I've never cleaned out and he's the cleanest sheep I have lol. Crazy how things work out.....

Hank's Sheep Apartment -- it is 4' high x 4' wide x 4' long. He likes it. Please excuse his awkward position, he was standing up to come say hi to me lol.






Hank's got a perty face 





The ewe flock





Oh hai there





Emmett was squeezing his way through the flock





Rosie and Bella





I love this photo of Rosie! New desktop background, lol





Thar she is again





Emmett, what a cutie





Eduardo





This photo is kind of blurry, but I think her face looks so pretty in it. And excuse the fruffiness of her neck, I was cutting burrs out of her wool. Figures she's the only one with burrs


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## autumnprairie

Love the pictures they are getting so big


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## SheepGirl

Yep they are  I'm so happy.

-----

Well I think I will be using Hank just one more year for lambs. I already have someone extremely interested in acquiring him come November/December. It will be good, I won't have to pay for his feed over winter  And it gives me time to try to find a new ram without worrying about finding/building another pen for the new guy.


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## SheepGirl

Today I was out feeding the boys in my ram pen and I noticed that Emmett was looking a little potbellied: he had a big belly even though it looks like he's lost some weight. Kind of funny he started looking like this just now--about 2 weeks after being dry lotted. So I caught him and turned out his eyelids were super pale also. I gave him 6cc of Cydectin. I will be catching him tomorrow to take a photo of his eyelids so you guys can see how pale he is. Also I will be taking a photo of him to show what a potbellied lamb looks like.

Everyone else looked fine.


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## SheepGirl

Well Emmett's eyelids have definitely pinked up. So they aren't as white as they looked yesterday. Same with his gums. His gums yesterday were white, today they had some color.












And here's photos of what a potbellied lamb looks like:











See how thin he is, despite his big belly.











And here's some general photos of my sheep...

Edward has such expressive eyes.





He's such a good looking lil guy





Oh hey there





Can you tell he's 1/4 southdown?





I'm seriously in love with his ears. I wish all my sheep had ears like him.





My ewe flock -- 2 mature ewes, 2 yearling ewes, 2 ewe lambs -- grazing under one of the two willow trees.





Bella attracts a bunch of burrs. Notice her neck -- I cut off probably 30-40 burrs. She was great about it. I didn't even have to hold her. She just calmly stood there while I chopped away at her wool for about 10 minutes.





Mature ewes -- Ciqala (2006 ewe), front; Ali (2009 ewe), back (Ciqala is Ali's dam)





Yearling ewes -- Katy Perry, left; Lady Gaga, right (twins to each other)





Ewe lambs -- Rosie, left; Bella, right (paternal half siblings/aunt-neice; Rosie's out of Ali and Bella's out of Ciqala)





4 out of 6: Lady Gaga, Rosie, Ali, Ciqala. Rosie will be 5 months old on 8/1 and she's already bigger than her mom!





I love Ciqala's eye in this photo. She looks a little freaked out/annoyed haha.





Lady Gaga. Her face still looks the same as it did when she was a lamb.





The ewe flock. Left to right: Lady Gaga (14 months), Ciqala (7 years), Katy Perry (14 months), Ali (4 years), Rosie (5 months), Bella (4.5 months).


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## autumnprairie

I didn't think I would see lady gaga bigger that Kate perry


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## SheepGirl

Sheep are good. Got weights on the March lambs two days ago, I haven't weighed them in forever.

Rosie - grass only
  Weighs 91.6 lbs
  Post-weaning ADG: 0.367
  Lifetime ADG: 0.462

Bella - grass only
  Weighs 72.8 lbs
  Post-weaning ADG: 0.395
  Lifetime ADG: 0.393

Edward - raised on grass only; was moved to a dry lot about one month ago & fed grass hay only. started 1/2 lb of grain per day earlier this week
  Weighs 64.4 lbs
  Post-weaning ADG: 0.213
  Lifetime ADG: 0.337

Honestly I think Edward is about 20 lbs underweight. He is about a 2-2.5 on the BCS scale. He could easily weigh 80-85 lbs now if I didn't get lazy and fed him grain like I should have. I didn't want to deal with Hank pushing him out of the way, but now I'm just feeding both of them grain to make things easier. But I think once he gets started well on this grain he will fill out like he's supposed to and he will turn out to be a big, tall ram. I think he will be as tall as his mother. I can't wait to see what he looks like in a month. I have decided to keep him a ram and I am going to wether Emmett. Or I will probably keep Emmett a ram and just take him to auction.

I also got a bunch of new photos, check them out:

So last winter I fed some pumpkins to my sheep...just a couple, whatever we had leftover from fall decorations. Well I guess my sheep didn't eat the seeds and now I have three pumpkin plants growing in the field  I already got one pumpkin off one plant. It's sitting in the kitchen window sill right now lol.





And here are a couple of pumpkins...





Rosie and Bella - look at all the burrs on their faces. I've cut out most of Bella's, and when Rosie is acting friendly I pick hers out, but she walks away. She has a lot less than what she did before, though.





Bella definitely has her momma's face.





Bella <3





She is so pretty.





All of my sheep. LTR: Ali, Rosie, Bella, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Emmett, Ciqala....in the back is Edward and Hank.





Ciqala





The ewe flock. I've given up on trying to keep Emmett in the ram pen. He can stay in there until October when I move Hank in. Then Emmett and Edward will be together. After that, Hank will be moved back in with Edward and Emmett will go to auction. Then Hank will be sold and Edward will be left by himself. But I want to grow him out to a yearling to see how he fills out.





And this is how they get burrs in their wool. They eat them and then walk through what's left.





Maternal half sisters - Rosie (almost 6 months) vs Katy Perry (15 months)





Ali, dam to the two ewes above, and Lady Gaga (below)





Here she is again





Rosie with Bella in the back





My dog, Maggie. She loves helping me with the sheep. And I can herd them and she won't even try to chase them while they're running. She just walks with me. And she gives the lambs lots of love when they're born, licking them and laying down with them. She loves any size sheep through the fence, but when she's on the same side of the fence, if a big sheep walks up to her she runs behind me because Katy Perry rammed into her a couple months ago when she just had her baby and it has scarred poor Maggie. But anyway, she still loves to help me come out and feed the sheep every morning.





Lady Gaga





The ewes, trying to shove themselves all in this sliver of shade. I don't know why they do this. There are larger areas of shade they can all be laying down in. And Rosie is too big to be cuddling up with her mom like she used to when she was smaller


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## Four Winds Ranch

You have such beautiful sheep!!!!  
Poor Maggie!! She looks almost like a sheep herself!!!


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## autumnprairie

the pics


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## Ruus

LOL at your sheep all crammed together in the shade! My girls have one particular shady spot they all fight over, too. I guess all shade is not created equal, haha.


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## SheepGirl

Four Winds Ranch said:
			
		

> You have such beautiful sheep!!!!
> Poor Maggie!! She looks almost like a sheep herself!!!


Hahahaha yeahh her last haircut was I think Memorial Day weekend? Maybe not. I can't remember.



			
				autumnprairie said:
			
		

> the pics


Thanks!



			
				Ruus said:
			
		

> LOL at your sheep all crammed together in the shade! My girls have one particular shady spot they all fight over, too. I guess all shade is not created equal, haha.


Haha guess not! These crazy sheep are always cramming themselves into the smallest chunks of shade, or inside the sheep shack where it's all muddy. Personally I prefer the shade where it's grassy and covered with trees, down where the willow trees are. But I guess the sheep don't like that spot, for whatever reason. But it's not muddy so I guess they like laying in the mud (can you tell with the dirty spots on the side of their rear legs? lol).


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## BrownSheep

I think the dirt must be cooler because our ewes do the same.


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## Ruus

BrownSheep said:
			
		

> I think the dirt must be cooler because our ewes do the same.


You're right, the spot my girls like is also dirt instead of grass. That's odd, because I would think the grass would be cooler, but apparently not!


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## SheepGirl

Oh yeah, funny story today 

I went out to try to take photos of my sheep for my photography class. So I let the rams out of them pen and let them just wander around the yard. When it was time to put them back, I got some grain and led them back into their pen. My one ewe was yelling at me so I went ahead and went over into the field with a couple handfuls of grain in a bucket and shook it. Everyone BUT the lambs came running up to me. I thought it was sooo funny how you could tell who's been fed grain and who hasn't. The ones that know the sound of grain came running up (even though 3 out of the 4 were snoozing in the sheep shack) and were trying to climb up on me to get the grain. The lambs were all laying up against the back of the sheep shack, unaware that I had grain. So I walked the mature ewes and the yearling ewes around to the back of the sheep shack and when the lambs saw I was giving the old ladies some treats they came running up to me and had discovered their love of grain. They followed me to the gate and were climbing up on the gate trying to see if I had anymore to give them 

Ewes will recommence grain consumption on Sept. 18. Ram will be turned in on Oct. 5. Ewes will cease grain consumption on Oct. 22. Ram will be removed from the flock Nov. 8. Hopefully all ewes will be bred because my ram has someone who wants to buy him!


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## EllieMay

Yeah, so funny how they learn the sound of the grain can! 
I loved all the pics!!!
And Maggie might just be one of those new breed of sheep.  
That's nice about the 'surprise' pumpkins!
I planted some pumpkins this year to feed to my sheep (and chickens and pig).
Maybe next year I'll have some surprise pumpkins!!


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## SheepGirl

Less than a month until Hank goes back out with the girls!


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## Four Winds Ranch

Lol, yep!  I am counting the days too!!!!!!


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## autumnprairie




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## SheepGirl

In preparation of my 2014 lambing journal, on Saturday I'm taking photos of each sheep. This upcoming year, I am going to have it more organized than I did last year and much more descriptive (such as days of feed increases, vaccinations, due dates, etc).

Yeahhh for more Texel X babies


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## autumnprairie

can't wait, it's my favorite time of the year.


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