# SheepGirl's 2014 Lambing Thread



## SheepGirl

Check out lambing journals from past years:     2012 2013

COMPLETE RE-CAP OF THE LAMBING SEASON: http://www.backyardherds.com/threads/sheepgirls-2014-lambing-thread.27030/page-13#post-359693

*FLOCK SIRE*

Introducing my ram for his second year in a row, *SFF HANK*. Born February 2011.






*MATURE EWES*

*#44* - Ciqala, born May 2006
1/2 Montadale x 1/2 Babydoll Southdown
Lambing Record: 1-2-2-2-3 ~ Lambs Expected: 1-2
DATE BRED: 9/22/13     DATE DUE: 2/13/14
*TRIPLETS - 2/15/14 - Ram (7.0 lbs), Ewe (8.2 lbs), Ram (7.6 lbs)*





*#73* - Ali, born March 2009
1/4 Montadale x 3/4 Babydoll Southdown
Lambing Record: 1-2-1 ~ Lambs Expected: 2
DATE BRED: 10/19/13    DATE DUE: 3/12/14
*TWINS - 3/13/14 - Ram (8.8 lbs), Ewe (8.8 lbs)*





*YEARLING EWES*

*#9* - Lady Gaga, born May 2012
1/4 Montadale x 3/4 Babydoll Southdown
Lambing Record: x ~ Lambs Expected: 1
DATE BRED: 10/15/13    DATE DUE: 3/8/14
*SINGLE - 3/9/14 - Ram (10.2 lbs)*





*#10* - Katy Perry, born May 2012
1/4 Montadale x 3/4 Babydoll Southdown
Lambing Record: 1 ~ Lambs Expected: 1-2
DATE BRED: 10/23/13     DATE DUE: 3/16/14
*TWINS - 3/15/14 - Ram (7.6 lbs), Ewe (5.0 lbs)*





*EWE LAMBS*

*#13* - Rosie, born March 2013
1/2 Texel x 1/8 Montadale x 3/8 Babydoll Southdown
Lambing Record: x ~ Lambs Expected: 1
DATE BRED: 10/8/13     DATE DUE: 3/1/14
*SINGLE - 3/4/14 - Ram (10.0 lbs)*





*#15* - Bella, born March 2013
1/2 Texel x 1/4 Montadale x 1/4 Babydoll Southdown
Lambing Record: x ~ Lambs Expected: 1
DATE BRED: 10/16/13     DATE DUE: 3/9/14
*SINGLE - 3/9/14 - Ram (8.4 lbs)*


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## SheepGirl

Sept 21 - Ewes were started on 1/4 lb of grain per head.
Sept 22 - Hank went under his fence, was chasing around #44 (Ciqala). Problem fixed, he's been in his pen since then. #17 (Emmett) was moved back in the ram pen.
Sept 23 - Grain for the ewe flock was increased to 1/2 lb of grain per head.
Sept 30 - All ewes were given a health check (by me) to determine their weight and BCS. Eyes, teeth, and hooves were looked at.

Oct 5 - Hank was turned out with the ewes and fitted with a marking harness with a blue crayon.
Oct 8 - Rosie was bred.
Oct 15 - Lady Gaga was bred.
Oct 16 - Bella was bred.
Oct 19 - Ali was bred.
Oct 23 - Katy Perry was bred. Marking crayon color changed to red. Ram lambs moved out into the field.

Nov 15 - All sheep were weighed and body condition scored.

*DUE DATES*
Feb 13 - Ciqala (bred 9/22 - presumably) - Lamb(s) will be 1/2 Texel x 1/4 Babydoll Southdown x 1/4 Montadale
Mar 1 - Rosie - Lamb(s) will be 3/4 Texel x 3/16 Babydoll Southdown x 1/16 Montadale
Mar 8 - Lady Gaga - Lamb(s) will be 1/2 Texel x 3/8 Babydoll Southdown x 1/8 Montadale
Mar 9 - Bella - Lamb(s) will be 3/4 Texel x 1/8 Babydoll Southdown x 1/8 Montadale
Mar 12 - Ali - Lamb(s) will be 1/2 Texel x 3/8 Babydoll Southdown x 1/8 Montadale
Mar 16 - Katy Perry - Lamb(s) will be 1/2 Texel x 3/8 Babydoll Southdown x 1/8 Montadale


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## EllieMay

I wish you an awesome breeding season!

Can't wait to see the lambs next year!!!


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## SheepGirl

Thanks EllieMay  When are you breeding your ewes?


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## EllieMay

I just put my ram in with the older girls on Saturday.
There were four girls immediately lined up in front of his face!  LOL
I am not breeding any of my ewe lambs this year since I'm thinking of saving them for Spring breeding/Fall lambing.

I enjoy looking at all the pics you post!!!


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## SheepGirl

Thank you 

-----

At 221 days old, Rosie was bred (Tuesday). That means we have our first due date of March 1 (144 days)! We will see if she gets remarked in about 2 weeks.


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## SheepGirl

Hank has been in with the ewes for 10 days and has only marked one ewe. Needless to say I am a little frustrated, lol. Ciqala was being chased by Hank on Sept 22 when he escaped from his pen so she should have been marked by now so we may have Feb babies by now IF she was in heat then. I never saw him breed her but he was following her around a lot. Then again when I introduced him to the flock 10 days ago he was chasing after everybody just because he was excited. I hope no one was bred in August when he was escaping before I fixed his pen with the cattle panel...that would mean Jan babies and my feeding schedule would be wayyy off.


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## BrownSheep

Welcome to my world! No marking harnesses here!

Our breeder this year has been in and out since august ....Don't ask me why but he'll go from the ewes pasture, back to the ram pasture, just to jump the two fences to get back into the ewe pasture. 

We have ram lambs in there who I know are breeding since I've seen it, too! 

If they start cycling like they usually do we'll have  two or three go the end of Jan. The rest will start going the end of February till April. ....All the while we really didn't want lambs till May!.


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## SheepGirl

Oh my goodness BrownSheep! 

I think I spoke too soon though. Got home Tuesday night and Lady Gaga was bred (508 days old) and Wednesday morning Bella was bred (223 days old).

So far the only ewes marked are first timers! I hope Ciqala was bred earlier so I can steal some of her colostrum in case I need it. I never got any this past year even though I meant to.

~~~~~

So the average age of first heat for my 2012 ewe lambs is: 359.5 days
* Katy Perry ~ 211 days (6 months, 27 days)
* Lady Gaga ~ 508 days (1 year, 4 months, 20 days)

So the average age of first heat for my 2013 ewe lambs is: 222 days
* Rosalie ~ 221 days (7 months, 7 days)
* Bella ~ 223 days (7 months, 9 days)

Collectively the average age of first heat is 290.75 days
The average age of first heat for those bred under 1 year is 218.33 days


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## SheepGirl

Woke up this morning to a mark on Ali's butt.


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## SheepGirl

Katy Perry has been marked.

Hank's crayon has been changed to the color red.


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## Southdown

I'm admiring the shearing job on your ram.  I wish my shearing skills were that flawless.

I'll look forward to baby pictures in March.

I'm going to breed starting November 2nd.  I'm excited and hard to believe it's that time of year again.


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## SheepGirl

Southdown said:
			
		

> I'm admiring the shearing job on your ram.  I wish my shearing skills were that flawless.
> 
> I'll look forward to baby pictures in March.
> 
> I'm going to breed starting November 2nd.  I'm excited and hard to believe it's that time of year again.


I wish I could shear that well also! Haha. Emily Chamelin shears my flock.

Nov 2...you will be about a month behind me  im glad I can provide your baby fix until you get your lambs on the ground!


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## SheepGirl

Within the next couple of days we should be seeing if any ewes get remarked. On November 8, Hank will be removed from the ewe flock. And Ciqala has yet to be marked so my guess is she was bred on Sept 22 when Hank escaped from the pen. So she will be having mid Feb babies.


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## SheepGirl

So no ewes have been remarked as of yet, so I have four ewes now that are 'officially' bred.

I just cant believe Ciqala is going to have mid-Feb babies. I hope its not too cold for them. One baby passed away last year because she froze in the snow while her two other siblings were being born. Then again all the other babies survived pretty well in the cold and snow so her mid Feb babies should be okay.

I also need to order more tags. Both scrapie and farm tags. I also need to contact the lady interested in Hank and let her know he will be ready soon. And thenI need to figure out where the ewes' winter pen will be and I need to start setting that up. But my parents are talking about building a barn and having a local company construct the roof for us so we need to decide where thats gonna go first before I put up the winter pen.

Unfortunately I never have a chance to talk to my parents about it becaise when I leave for work they arent home and when I come home at night they are sleeping. Hopefully I can talk to them about it soon.


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## bonbean01

Lambies!!!!  I can't wait!!! 

Every year I say I'm going to get a marking harness...and again I didn't.  Only saw the young ewe being bred...hoping the others are all bred too...and my late comer baby Dixie baby probably won't cycle for another month or two????  Yeah...I need to get a marking harness for next year for sure!!!


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## BrownSheep

Our end of January lambs ( 0-10 degree) lambs have actually fared better in the past than our spring lambs. We lost 4 newborns to massive ( for us) rainstorms in April last year. 

Looking forward to your babies.


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## autumnprairie

YAY for babies  it is going to be a long wait so pass the


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## SheepGirl

bonbean01 said:
			
		

> Lambies!!!!  I can't wait!!!
> 
> Every year I say I'm going to get a marking harness...and again I didn't.  Only saw the young ewe being bred...hoping the others are all bred too...and my late comer baby Dixie baby probably won't cycle for another month or two????  Yeah...I need to get a marking harness for next year for sure!!!


Haha, you should go out and buy one right now so you won't forget for next year 



			
				BrownSheep said:
			
		

> Our end of January lambs ( 0-10 degree) lambs have actually fared better in the past than our spring lambs. We lost 4 newborns to massive ( for us) rainstorms in April last year.
> 
> Looking forward to your babies.


That makes sense. Our lambs born in the beginning of March always grew better and were healthier than the lambs born in April or May. I'm looking forward to my babies, too  You though have just another 2 to 3 months! 



			
				autumnprairie said:
			
		

> YAY for babies  it is going to be a long wait so pass the


hehehe. Are you breeding your goats this year?


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## bonbean01

Ours are born January to February...but we are much further south than you...but still...it is often freezing when they arrive and the new lamb is steaming.  I give the Mama lots of cleaning up time and nursing time...but before heading back in the house, have a towel to help dry the little one with Mama licking at the same time.  

This year we will probably have another March or April lamb since Dixie arrived later than the rest...her Mama Chickapee was the only ewe that needed a second breeding.

Hope our new ram did the job...only saw him with one ewe...hopefully he is a night time breeder or just shy?  Previous ram didn't care who was there, or when...so, knew they were all bred.  Will feel better when I'm sure they are.

Yes...we're in November already...best to get on that winter shelter.  A new barn???  Lucky you!!!!


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## SheepGirl

Took some photos of Hank yesterday to send to his potential new owner; she said she was still interested and would like recent photos. Just waiting on a reply. 

Still need to get tags...I will probably do that my next paycheck.

No one has yet to be remarked, so now five out of six ewes are 'officially' bred. Just waiting on Katy Perry, of course she was bred on the very last day of the first 17 day cycle. So I will probably keep Hank in for one extra day just to be sure she doesn't get remarked and then I will remove him.


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## autumnprairie

SheepGirl said:
			
		

> autumnprairie said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> YAY for babies  it is going to be a long wait so pass the
> 
> 
> 
> hehehe. Are you breeding your goats this year?
Click to expand...

Yeah, but I don't have any dates for delivery


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## SheepGirl

Well nobody was remarked, so once again Hank settled all of the ewes on their first heat 

I can't wait until babies! Three more months for Ciqala, and 3.5-4 months for everybody else


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## SheepGirl

Had time before work yesterday so I weighed and body condition scored everyone. Katy perry and Rosie both came in at exactly 104.2 lbs.


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## SheepGirl

Sheep are doing good, everyone is getting really fluffy & ready for winter. I may set up their winter pen this weekend with help from my family visiting for Thanksgiving 

Never did post my flock's weights...

These ewes were on pasture since April, no additional feed except for when they were lactating but nothing until late September when they were being flushed.
Ciqala, 3.0 BCS, 187.2 lbs
Ali, 3.0 BCS, 142.4 lbs
Lady Gaga, 3.5-4.0 BCS, 113.8 lbs
Katy Perry, 3.0 BCS, 104.2 lbs
Rosie, 3.0-3.5 BCS, 104.2 lbs (259 days old, 0.359 lb ADG)
Bella, 3.0 BCS, 87.4 lbs (253 days old, 0.319 lb ADG)

These guys on the other hand, were given 3% of their body weight in 1st cutting native grass hay. They ended up getting really thin and are now back out on pasture. They've been on what's left of the pasture for about a month now and they've already gained 1 condition point!
Edward, 1.5-2.0 BCS, 70.0 lbs (253 days old, 0.246 lb ADG)
Emmett, 1.0 BCS, 57.8 lbs (184 days old, 0.261 lb ADG)
Hank, 1.5 BCS, 142.0 lbs


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## SheepGirl

I'm 2.5 months until ciqalas due, 3 more months for everyone else


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## bloonskiller911

love the names of your ewes.  we have a lady baabaa!! haha my girls are funny when they name animals.  all of my ewes are due in the space of 2/14/14-03/1/14  hope all goes well as this is all of their first breeding.  we have Suffolk mixes.  can't wait to see your little lambs.


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## SheepGirl

Well today was the first snow of the season. Ewes were outside during the entire storm. When I got home from work I put some straw in their shelter and I put hay on the outside of the gate. I like it like that because they can't step, pee, or poop on it. Also it saves me from having to walk to their feeder!  yes I'm lazy haha


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## SheepGirl

I made my gate into a fenceline feeder. There was too much waste putting it in their regular feeder so I put it outside the gate and they eat everything because nothing touches poop pee or mud; it is clean ground. Went out today and there was next to nothing left over from yesterdays feeding. All 9 sheep fit at a 10 ft gate.


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## SheepGirl

I really enjoy having a job. I'm looking online at prices for sheep equipment (stand-alone creep feeder, livestock panels, etc) and I am shocked at the prices. Before having a job, I would've just asked my parents to purchase these things for me without really understanding how much they are. Now, I think to myself I could build something for 1/4 of the cost or less! Making $7.40/hour makes you think of ways to save money, haha. It would be different if I had a larger flock and could justify the cost of having a $500 creep feeder, but I don't, so I will stick with one I can make for $50 or less. Maybe if I had a larger flock and a really nice barn I would buy all aluminum panels and feeders and everything will look so pristine, but until then... weathered wood for me!


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## SheepGirl

Wow - third post on my lambing journal for today. Haha.

Anyway, Ciqala is 3 months bred and the other ewes are all 2-2.5 months bred  I can't wait for babies!! Ciqala has a really big belly already. I'm so excited, I want to know how many babies each ewe is carrying lol.

I also noticed that Miss Ali, last year weaned two lambs with a combined weight of 49.5 lbs and she weaned a single this year at 49.8 lbs. Very similar. I wonder if it was the genetics of the twins (twin sibling breeding) that caused them to be slow growers or if Ali is only capable of producing enough milk to produce lambs up to ~50 lbs total. I guess we will find out in a couple months!  I also noticed with Ali that she is the kindest sheep I have. At the fenceline feeder, every sheep will but every other sheep out of the way to get to a new spot, except for Ali. She will back out of the spot that she got bored of, sniff another sheep's butt (probably to see who it is), and then she will paw at them as if she is saying "excuse me, I would like to eat here." If they don't move, she goes and finds another sheep to ask to move. I have never seen her butt a sheep out of the way to get where she would like to eat. She seems so polite! haha.


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## SheepGirl

Looking at buying some hay for winter. I need about 1 ton of hay. I found an ad on craigslist for horse quality hay, bales 45-55 lbs for $5 each plus $20 for delivery (which I would need since we got rid of our truck). I would need 50 bales. (Or 5 roundbales.) It will be $100 more expensive to feed square bales, but I'm willing to do it. It will only be about $1 a day extra to pay for the convenience of square bales. And since I am at work 5 out of 7 days and I stay out til 3 or 4 in the morning almost every night with my friends  it's a convenience I'm willing to pay for to make my life easier. Often I don't wake up until 20-30 minutes before I have to leave to go to work. I won't have time to feed from a round bale. But if I could just throw half a square bale out to the sheep, it will take 5 minutes (if that) and I can be on my way. Actually I think it would take me longer to get dressed in my Carharrt coveralls and my boots than it would for me to feed the sheep!


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## bonbean01

Love the gate feeding system!!!  Makes it good to see far less wasted hay!!!  Excited for your lambies arriving...your breed just look so CUTE like teddy bears, but those baby lambs are extra CUTE!!!


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## BrownSheep

Are you certain you'll be feeding 1/2 a bale? We feed high protein alfalfa hay and one square bale is at least 90lbs. When we feed we count the whole flock as late gestation ewes so with 42 we end up feeding 1.5-2 bales for 42 sheep.


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## SheepGirl

Yep, the bales weigh 45-55 lbs. I'm figuring on feeding about 22-25 lbs of hay a day to my flock of 6. I only calculated feed out for the ewes. I figured the rams could be out on pasture all winter, like I did with Hank, so they won't need hay. I will probably give them some grain since there will be more sheep on the pasture than last year. Maybe 1/4 lb for each. Just need to move these ewes off the field before they eat the rest of the grass!


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## BrownSheep

Ok lighter bales....I was thinking either I'm starving my sheep or yours must be Godzilla sheep


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## SheepGirl

Last Thursday I spent $170 on 30 bales of horse quality grass hay. Had them all delivered and I stacked them in the feed shack. To cover myself for a couple days I bought a $20 50 lb bale of timothy grass hay at TSC. Can't believe I spent that much money on hay. But I needed it. It was really green, too. The sheep actually didn't like it at first and were eating the grass hay I was picking up off the floor of the feed shack.

Seven more weeks until Ciqala is due!! <3 And then nine more weeks until Rosie, ten weeks until the next one and eleven weeks until the last one  I'm soooo excited for lambs!! Time will fly by. November & December went by soo fast. Can't believe it's been three weeks already since I saw Panic! At The Disco (my fave band) in Baltimore. I'm so happy. Time goes by so fast for me so the next 7 weeks will be nothing. But the two weeks waiting between Ciqala and Rosie will kill me 

I also need to figure out vaccination dates and also when I need to start feeding grain again.


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## Roving Jacobs

That soon already? Time flies! Mine aren't due until April so its nice to get so everyone else have all their lambies to tide me over.


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## SheepGirl

38 more days until the Ciqala is due! 

Gotta say, I'm pretty excited for lambs.


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## SheepGirl

I think I know which direction I want to go in with my sheep.

I will focus on growth & carcass characteristics to create a heavy muscled meat animal. I'm choosing the easy way out because terminal traits are _very_ heritable as opposed to maternal traits  Even though my local auction doesn't sell lambs by carcass quality (but rather weight), I still think it would be nice to have excellent carcasses.

I may scan my lambs this year and get REA/LEA data on them. I don't know yet, I will have to try to find a scanner and then inquire about prices. I already figured out the lab that reads the ultrasounds, it's the CUP Lab. Their interpretation fees seem very reasonable, $4.25/head but there is a $0.25/hd discount if you pay in cash and a $0.20/hd discount if your paperwork is completely and accurately filled out. However if I do this, I will also probably want to get a pair of shears so I can shear the lambs, take photos of them at market weight, and get them scanned, too. I'm not sure yet...just kind of thinking out loud here 

I think my main issue would be is to find rams that have scan data on them. I will probably end up linebreeding/inbreeding my flock to some extent. But maybe not if I can find stock with scan data.


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## SheepGirl

Took photos of the flock. I'm starting to see baby bumps on some of the ewes.

I started Ciqala on 1/4 lb of grain on Jan 7, and today it was upped to 1/2 lb of grain. I may give her 1 lb of grain every day pre lambing just to keep her condition up since she is an older ewe, and she has been successfully breeding and lambing every 8 months since Jan 2012.

First up, the ewe flock.

Ciqala



 

Ali


 

Lady Gaga


 

Katy Perry


 

Rosie


 

Bella


 

And the ram lambs...no photos of Hank because I only got one of him doing the Flehmen response and he looked pretty goofy 

Edward


 

Emmett


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## SheepGirl

I will go ahead and post Hank's picture. He can't be embarrassed about it because he won't know about it!  Rosie is behind him, Edward is on the right and next to Edward I'm pretty sure is Ali (it looks like her butt! Either hers or Bella's. But definitely not Ciqala, Katy Perry, or Lady Gaga. Their butts don't look like that )

Silly Hank....


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## bonbean01

Poor Hank got caught by the camera!!!  Your sheep are looking good!  Can't wait for the lambies


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## SheepGirl

27 more days!

Ciqala was vaccinated on Jan 15 for CD/T.


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## SheepGirl

I'm so excited for lambs!!

Time has gone by so fast and the ewes are starting to show. Ciqala has begun to look really round, I will see if I can get some photos of her later this week. We got snow today and I'm not sure if I will go to work tomorrow. I worked today, but we closed at 5:30. And I left my car there and my boss drove me home since I'm on his way home and he drives a truck with four wheel drive and I have a car with rear wheel drive haha. Snow drifts in our driveway are as high as 3 feet so we had to drive around them 

So if my parents aren't going to work tomorrow, then I'll just call out. It shouldn't be too busy tomorrow anyway so they shouldn't have much trouble without me 

Lots of snow this year, I ran out of bedding. I need to go buy more straw because the sheep shack is a goopy saturated mess. I might go buy pine shavings though. Won't be as warm, but it will soak up the wetness.


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## Support

SheepGirl said:


> I will go ahead and post Hank's picture. He can't be embarrassed about it because he won't know about it!  Rosie is behind him, Edward is on the right and next to Edward I'm pretty sure is Ali (it looks like her butt! Either hers or Bella's. But definitely not Ciqala, Katy Perry, or Lady Gaga. Their butts don't look like that )
> 
> Silly Hank....
> View attachment 834


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## bonbean01

Looking good!  Your lambs always look like cute little teddy bears


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## SheepGirl

Three weeks to go 

The whitefaced ewes all have swollen pink vulvas. The brownfaced ewes have regular purple vulvas. Kind of funny 

Annddd Ciqala is look just as big if not bigger at 3 wks away as she did last year 3 wks away. Large set of twins? Or maybe triplets again?  Here's a picture of her from last year...I'm going to get new photos taken tomorrow of them.





ETA this photo... She looks extra thin because I hadn't fed them yet that day, so she has an empty rumen. She's on 1 lb of grain per day plus horse quality grass hay. Her BCS is a 2.5. She doesn't look as wide in the front view, but the top view, I think she does.


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## SheepGirl

Did manage to take some photos a couple days ago, but I will upload them later today.

Two more weeks! I'm so excited  And 30 more days for Rosie, so she starts getting grain and she will be vaccinated, too.


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## SheepGirl

I had a dream last night that Ciqala had a single ram lamb. Felt so bad because he had no other lambs to play with for two weeks


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## SheepGirl

11 more days!! 

Time has gone by so quickly. Still have to upload the photos I took a week ago. 

ETA: I vaccinated Rosie on Saturday and she was started on grain this past Tuesday.


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## norseofcourse




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## SheepGirl

Just made a Facebook page for my flock -- "Twin Willow Acres."

And the ewes braved an ice storm last night. Some of them stayed outside in it...
You can tell because of the ice layer on their backs and the mini icicles on their ears and ear tags hahaha


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## bonbean01

Can't wait!!!


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## SheepGirl

5 more days!! 

Also, 2/9 -- rams were moved into their pen, and the ewes are all on grain now. Put out 2.5 lbs of grain, increasing it to 3.5 lbs in two days, and then the flock will be getting that daily until lambing. This Tuesday I will be vaccinating the ewes who are due for it and then probably on Saturday I will vaccinate everybody else.


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## bonbean01

Hope all goes well!!!!!  Lambies are the best!!!


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## bonbean01

Hope all goes well!!!!!  Lambies are the best!!!


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## SheepGirl

Two more days! Thursday will be day 142. She lambed on day 142 in 2012 and 2013 so I hope she keeps up the streak  Fortunately I have off work, but I do have to go to school in the early afternoon. But Ciqala has lambed in the early morning 3x and only 2x in the late afternoon. So you can bet I will be checking her late at night on Wednesday and I will have my alarm clock set for 5 or 6 am Thursday


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## BrownSheep

Yay ! If she does have them of Friday you'll have Valentine babies.


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## SheepGirl

Day 142 is tomorrow. Right now it is snowing. We are supposed to get up to 18" of snow with blizzard like winds. Our county doesn't have a state emergency but neighboring counties do.  So i will be shining the flashlight onto the sheep area from my deck throughout the night watching her. Her udder doesnt look ready to go yet (it isnt the largest udder shes ever built) but tonight she was holding her tail up. Despite that I wasn't able to look at her vulva to see how it looked... she didnt want me standing behind her haha

here is a pic of her from tonight.


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## Pioneer Chicken

SheepGirl said:


> Day 142 is tomorrow. Right now it is snowing. We are supposed to get up to 18" of snow with blizzard like winds. Our county doesn't have a state emergency but neighboring counties do.  So i will be shining the flashlight onto the sheep area from my deck throughout the night watching her. Her udder doesnt look ready to go yet (it isnt the largest udder shes ever built) but tonight she was holding her tail up. Despite that I wasn't able to look at her vulva to see how it looked... she didnt want me standing behind her haha
> 
> here is a pic of her from tonight.
> View attachment 1587



Do sheep lose their ligaments like goats? If so, is it just me or does she look dimpled in the ligaments area?  So excited for you!  New babies are so much fun and adorable!!!


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## SheepGirl

Honestly I'm sure they do, but I've never bothered to check them or learn how to do it  But now that you point it out, maybe!


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## bonbean01

I was thinking the same thing when I saw the photo.  Wishing you a healthy lamb or lambs!!!!!


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## SheepGirl

I have a top view photo of her from a week or so ago I guess it was and she definitely looks more sunken in tonight than she did then. Her rear end looked more rounded from the top but tonight it is more pointy. Maybe she did lose her ligaments?


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## SheepGirl

Anyone want to start taking guesses? When? How many? Sexes?

Here is her past lambing info:
Lambed March 28, 2008 (never wrote down a date bred) - one ewe
March 29, 2009 (first marked 10/11; lambed at 135 or 152 days) - one ewe, one ram
March 18, 2010 (no marking harness used) - two rams
May 25, 2012 (lambed at 142 days) - two ewes
March 7, 2013 (lambed at 142 days) - two ewes, one ram
Feb ??, 2014 - ??

And Hank has sired 60% ewes and 40% rams.


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## Pioneer Chicken

I'm only gonna guess on the when part and that is since she looks so sunk in, thus very likely her ligs are gone, within 24 hours.  Or maybe within 12 hours. : ) 

I like surprises as far as the rest goes (okay, okay, let's just say I'm not very accurate when it comes to numbers   LOL )


----------



## SheepGirl

I think we may have lambs on the way! Though I have yet to see her rear end to be able to tell for sure but I also don't think her udder looks like she's about to lamb. BUT when I just checked on her, she was the only one in the sheep shack  I don't know if I've made posts on here before saying this, but normally the sheep in really bad weather (like heavy snow or rain) all go in there and crowd Ciqala out so she's outside a little bit getting the worst of the weather. But all the other ewes were outside near the gate and Ciqala was in the sheep shack by herself which is very unlike her. Even when I walked over to the gate making it look like I was feeding, it took her a little while to decide to come out and walk over to check things out.

And her belly looks pretty W   I   D   E and low now so who knows? Maybe we'll have lambs here in the next day or so.


----------



## SheepGirl

No lambs as of yet, BUT we have 12 inches of snow so far. It's only been snowing for like 12 hours.


----------



## Roving Jacobs

With that much snow she's definitely going to lamb soon! They always wait for the worst weather. Now all you have to do is tell her you're leaving for a while and not to have them until you get back. That should have her popping them out pronto


----------



## SheepGirl

Still no lambs and I got a look at her vulva earlier today when I fed. Haven't checked on them since. Don't think we will have any lambs today or tomorrow based on the looks of her vulva. This darn ewe  I want lambs NOW! hehehe just kidding. I can wait. But not for long.


----------



## SheepGirl

Well this am my mom woke me up to tell me to go out to check on Ciqala because she was in the sheep shack by herself while everyone else was eating. No babies--BUT she did have her tail up when she ran by me and I got to look at her vulva and it is pink and swollen (yesterday it wasn't swollen/as noticeable) and her udder looks pinker (it was looking kind of purpley yesterday) and her teats more filled out so I think we have a good chance of having babies today


----------



## Pioneer Chicken

SheepGirl said:


> Still no lambs and I got a look at her vulva earlier today when I fed. Haven't checked on them since. Don't think we will have any lambs today or tomorrow based on the looks of her vulva. This darn ewe  I want lambs NOW! hehehe just kidding. I can wait. But not for long.



I know exactly what you mean.  She's just following the [ewe's ] code of honor.  Just don't say I can't take it anymore; she's gonna wait three days more if you do!


----------



## bonbean01




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## SheepGirl

she had triplets I will update when I get inside


----------



## Roving Jacobs

Congrats! What a good ewe she is


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## bonbean01

Congratulations!!!!  Great start to your lambing season!!!


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## Pioneer Chicken

Congrats!!! How exciting!!!


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## SheepGirl

Okay, well I don't know where my mom put my laptop so I will just update over my phone.

I got home at 4ish last night, got off at 2 and then went to ihop, and as soon as I got home I checked on her. No lambs, but her udder was swollen (the "udder boom") so I figured she would be having lambs by the time I woke up.

Fast forward to 8:20ish. My mom woke me up...I'm not sure exactly what she said but I heard lambs lol so I jumped right up and went outside.

I heard a baby baa as I was walking and I yelled to my mom on the deck that she did lamb. So I'm in there and they throw me some towels. It was windy and snowy so I start rubbing the ram lambs body with it.

Ciqala lays down and she delivers her ewe lamb (the one with the spot on her back in the photo). I only expected her to have that many so I was working on those two to get them to nurse.

They started shivering so I set them on my lap and covered them with towels. Then around 10 Ciqala lays right in front of me and starts delivering what I thought was the afterbirth. It looked like she was having too much trouble because it was taking so long and she was grinding her teeth so I looked behind her to see there was one back leg sticking out! So I went in and pulled the other back leg out and then she pushed him out.

I'm so surprised she had 3! From Jan 2012 to Feb 2014 (25 months) she's been pregnant 3 times and had 8 babies! What a great momma sheep.


----------



## ThreeBoysChicks

Very happy for you.  We sure have had our fair share of snow this year and really cold temps.


----------



## Pioneer Chicken

Wow, that's great!! So glad it all went well for you!


----------



## SheepGirl

@ThreeBoysChicks omg yes!! Way too much snow.

And also i will be getting new pics tomorrow when they're all fluffed and dried out.

my parents bought them a heat lamp because they felt bad for the lambs being born in feb. So my mom and i just set that up.


----------



## SheepGirl

Wow I just realized Ciqala had only been on grain for one day (1/4 lb) when I started flushing when she got bred, so it didn't really have an effect except maybe embryo survival rate. I should rename Ciqala to fertile myrtle lol


----------



## bonbean01

Fertile Myrtle...LOL!  Can't wait for more pics!


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## SheepGirl

I took photos this am and I will upload them after I get off work.


----------



## SheepGirl

BIRTH PHOTOS - May be a little graphic. I didn't see the first one born, but he had just been born as I got out there. The second one, obviously I saw, I have a photo of it  And the third was assisted so I didn't get any photos.

Baby #1 (Ram - 7.0 lbs)




Here comes Baby #2 (Ewe - 8.2 lbs)




Of course she decided to lay right up against the wall to have the lamb. 


 

Momma with her first two babies.




No newborn photos of Baby #3 (Ram - 7.6 lbs)

And here are photos from this morning.

This is Baby #3



All three babies in front of Momma.




Baby #1




Baby #2's patch! How cool! I've never seen a lamb with that in my flock (or my neighbor's) so either it's been buried deep in my flock's genes or it came from Hank. Bella, this lamb's full sister is bred to Hank, their sire, so maybe I will get a spotted lamb from her, too?




Her face




I'm not going to name any of them until everybody is on the ground so I can pick a theme and then names for each one. A coworker spent like a half hour figuring out different themes and then names for each theme. I have that list in my purse so I will have to pull it out and look at it. But now that I'm thinking about it I might do candy bars... We'll see what I'm in the mood for a month from now


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## bonbean01

awwwwwwwwwww....they are so adorable!!!!  Thank you for the pics!!!!!  What terribly sweet faces!!!


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## SheepGirl

Wanted to add - the little ewe lamb is thick and stocky like Rosie was as a newborn. I hope she ends up having the body type/muscling Rosie does!  That would just be perfect... great muscling, out of a prolific dam, and spots!


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## SheepGirl

Lambs are doing good. I tagged & docked them today. Except I think I messed up on the little guy's ear tags. The ends of his ears are all wrinkled. It's pretty cute, but I can't figure out why or how that happened. I hope he grows out of it. I'll take a picture of it.

But I also started giving him a bottle last night. The two larger lambs are nursing off just one side on Ciqala and not the other, so the one side is always dry and the other side is engorged. And the smallest lil fella is being beat out by the other two and the other side has an engorged teat that his mouth is too small for. (But if the other lambs would drink from that side we'd be okay.) So I'm supplementing him with a bottle until I can get the lambs to nurse off the other side so that way her udder evens out and the lil guy has a chance at getting some of his own milk. At least I know Ciqala can feed two lambs off one half of her udder! They already look much larger than the lil guy (the first born).


----------



## Four Winds Ranch

Love your lambs!!! Hope the little guy can figure out how to get his momma's milk before his brothers beat him to it!!!


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## SheepGirl

Well I finally had help (my parents don't like going outside to do "sheep stuff" when it's dark), my show sheep friend came over last night and helped me milk out Ciqala's engorged side. So the babies were able to latch right onto it last night. I haven't checked/fed them yet this am because it's raining and I don't want to put hay outside while it's raining because then they won't eat it after about an hour. 

She fell in love with my babies  She's so used to her blackface lambs, it was like the first time she's seen a whiteface lamb haha. But she just kept commenting like "oh wow you're actually a real sheep farmer" (she's seen my sheep, but she hasn't been here before when I feed/take care of them) and I was like lol because she just kept saying how her sheep are so pampered, they lamb in their own pens and stay there until they run out of room or the lambs are 1-2 wks old, they have their pens cleaned out every day (they go through 2 bales of straw a day), the lactating ewes and lambs are separated from the bred ewes (she was like "your other ewes are ok with the lambs?"), etc. She was just so in shock of how little I do for my sheep in comparison to high maintenance hers are.


----------



## SheepGirl

Fed them, lambs are doing good. They will be one week old tomorrow, so I get to bring them in the basement and weigh them  I don't think Baby #1 (#18) gained much if any weight. Baby #3 (#20) has definitely gotten much bigger & he's stocky looking already. I can't wait to see how he matures!

Also, next ewe due is March 1, that would be Rosie. Felt her udder, there isn't much there, especially in comparison to the other ewes. Rosie's udder is about the size of a golfball for each half. I believe March 1 is day 144, so maybe it will be later than that (maybe even up to March 7). But on March 1, I will bring Rosie in to be weighed for her 1 year weight. But a week after Rosie we have another ewe due and then over that last week the last 4 ewes are due. I can't wait for more babies!! I already had 1/3 of my expected lamb crop born from just one ewe so who knows how many we will actually end up with


----------



## SheepGirl

Oh yeah, I posted Hank for sale and I got a lady interested in trading my purebred unregistered Texel ram for her purebred registered Texel ram  She's okay with Hank being unregistered. So I may trade with her in the spring sometime. She's in Ohio, but my show sheep friend is going up to Ohio for a sheep sale in May, so I think it works out pretty well 

Here's a picture of the ram I could be trading him with:


----------



## Roving Jacobs

Is she going to the Great Lakes Fiber Show in Wooster? Maybe I'll get to meet mister handsome Hank 

I love watching your lambing every year because I still have another 5-6 weeks before mine even starts! It keeps me from going totally crazy.


----------



## norseofcourse

Roving Jacobs said:


> Is she going to the Great Lakes Fiber Show in Wooster? Maybe I'll get to meet mister handsome Hank
> 
> I love watching your lambing every year because I still have another 5-6 weeks before mine even starts! It keeps me from going totally crazy.



Ditto what Roving Jacobs said!  I went to the Great Lakes Fiber Show last year, and I'm going again this year.

And my sheep aren't due till at least April 1 - so I get to enjoy seeing everyone else's lambs while I wait too, but I still wish April would get here faster!


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## bonbean01

Nice looking ram!


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## SheepGirl

Well she talked to her husband and they decided it wasn't a good time for them. :/ I just want people to be serious about their interest when buying critters. Oh well.

Ciqala's one half of her udder is no longer engorged. I went out when I got home from work and the Lil guy #18 had a full belly. So Idk if he's nursing on his own or my parents went out with a bottle.


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## SheepGirl

#18 is eating on his own. He got his last bottle from me yesterday and they are all nursing off Ciqala now. #20 is a little tank, he's tall, thick, and growing well. #19 is very quiet and more reserved. But she's the cutest 

Next lambs due Saturday from Rosie but I don't think she will have them then. She's lacking a little in the udder department. Bella, who is due about a week after Rosie, has a bigger udder than her. Both ewe lambs have their vulva swollen.

I can't wait for more babies!


----------



## bonbean01




----------



## SheepGirl

Today is day 145 for Rosie, no babies yet.

Poor Ali still has another 1.5 weeks left. She is so rotund, she has at least twins in there. I wouldn't be surprised if she had triplets. I will see about getting photos of all the ewes sometime this week.

Katy Perry looks wide too, she has another 2 weeks. Poor girl waddles around a bit. I'm thinking a big single or twins.

Lady Gaga is looking pretty pregnant too, she has about a week. But she's looking like she's just gonna have a single. It's her first time, so that'll be good for her as she gets the hang of motherhood.

Bella and Rosie aren't looking wide, but they have udders growing. Bella's udder is a lot larger than Rosie's, but Bella is due a week later than Rosie. By the way, Rosie turned one year old yesterday  She weighs 115.4 lbs. I weighed her back in November, about 1 month bred, and she weighed 104.2 lbs. So at least that tells me she won't have a baby bigger than 10 lbs. Which would be good; she'll be able to handle it. Katy Perry was about 20 lbs lighter than Rosie when she lambed and she pushed out a big 10 lb baby before she was one year old.

Oh, and my parents put an addition onto the sheep shack. Woke up and bam there it was lol. It is now 8x16 instead of 8x8. I will have to get photos of it. It looks pretty ghetto but it works. Enough room for my six ewes and their expected nine lambs (12 sq ft for each ewe, 6 sq ft for each lamb).


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## SheepGirl

What a huge baby! I went outside this am and Rosie was standing up with two feet and a head coming out of her. She laid down when I got out there and I pulled the head out for her. This is a 3/4 texel baby and he definitely has a texel head! He's thick and stocky. I haven't seen him drink, he doesn't even seem interested. I will head out before I leave for school and make sure he's all situated. It was 3 degrees out when he was born. 

Rosie has a little bit of a prolapse, probably from the strain of pushing the head out. It is probably out a half inch, if that. I will check on her again to see if it went in on its own before I leave. If she prolapse next year I will cull her, as much as I love her body haha.


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## SheepGirl

Prolapse went in on its own for the most part. Baby is doing good, I never saw him drink before I left to go to school yesterday so I was happy to come home to a baby with a full belly. He's very stubborn, didn't want help with getting Rosie teat. So i was like ok fine do it on your own haha. Still didn't weigh him but I will when I get home tonight.

he's a cute fluffy Lil thing, reminds me of Emmett when he was a baby.


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## SheepGirl

New baby weighed 10.4 lbs this am. 

Lost a triplet this afternoon, #18. I found him about a foot away from the heat lamp laying flat on his side, limp, and cold. I brought him in, used a blow dryer on him, put him in warm water, and blow dried him some more. I brought my dog in and she started licking him and things were looking hopeful because he was starting to open his eyes but then he started to flail around and he passed away. I was trying to save him for an hour before he died. He wasn't dehydrated so I think a ewe (more than likely Rosie or Katy Perry) knocked into him and maybe he got stepped on...but he wasn't able to get up and move to the heat lamp so he got cold. He could've also had some internal injuries but I'm not sure. My parents liked him the most because he was the friendliest because he was the one I supplemented with a bottle.


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## SheepGirl

Idon't know why my phone always uploads photos in the wrong direction. They werent taken that way lol. But 18 is the lamb behind 19.


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## SheepGirl

Emergency vet call at 5 in the morning. I will update soon.


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## SheepGirl

I got off at 2 this morning...but it ended up being 3 due to day light savings. Well i had to drive two coworkers home so i didn't get home til around 4. Sat in my car until 430ish on Facebook and went inside and put my coat on to check on the sheep. I'm so glad i did, i was actually thinking about not going out. Well  I saw all the sheep outside and they all stood up and walked over to me except for Bella. So i went in the field to check her out. She had a head hanging out of her rear end. So i got some grain and I led her into the sheep shack. Of course all the other pigs followed me in, too. She wouldn't lay down so I called my mom and woke her up and asked her to come out and hold Bella whole I try to figure things out. His head was so swollen, but he was sucking on my finger so I knew he was still alive. i tried to go in and pull the legs out but all I felt was shoulder. His legs were so far down I didn't think I would be able to pull them out. So i called the vet and she came out. Apparently she hit a deer on her way here. No damage was done. But she killed the deer.

anyway lol its about 40 min after I call her that she arrives. Bella had been pushing and her breathing got real shallow.  Vet lubed up, went in, and tried for 10 minutes to unstuck the baby. She didn't think he was still alive. She really had to reach down and pull the legs up and out because they went straight down. She was able to get him out and amazingly he was alive.

His head is huge. At least 3x the size it should be. We got some colostrum from Bella and we gave him 2 oz through a tube. Bella got some banamine, oxytocin, and calcium. Baby is fine and under a heat lamp. Poor thing can't stand because his head Is so swollen and heavy and it makes him off balance lol.

Bella is chewing cud right now but seems uninterested in her baby. We will see how the day goes on. I don't want a bottle baby lol.

I don't know why all my ewes are having dystocia issues. I have had to help everyone so far.


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## norseofcourse

Wow, glad the lamb made it!


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## SheepGirl

Here is Bella and her baby in the new 8x8 addition to the sheep shack. Yes that is a baby gate lol. I don't have anything else handy.


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## purplequeenvt

Honestly, I think it is the year. So many other people (myself included) are having lots of strange problems. 

One bottle baby isn't so bad....it's better than 9! (3 of those are goats though)


----------



## ThreeBoysChicks

If he needs to go on the bottle, I may be willing to purchase him from you.... Let me know.


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## bonbean01

So happy the little guy survived all that...and you too!!!!


----------



## SheepGirl

Well make that two bottle babies. Lady Gaga lambed tonight, her vulva opening is really small. Like I can't fit two fingers in when two legs are coming out. I kept pulling on the legsuntil the head came out and then finally he came out nice and easy. Lady Gaga didnt want him, she was head butting him whenever he tried to walk over to her . But boy he was trying to stand up almost as soon as he got out of his momma.

I will get weights tomorrow morning. But over the past 36 hrs I've only gotten 4 hours of sleep and over the past 24 hours I hadn't eaten until now. So needless to say I didn't have the patience or energy to try to get these ewes to accept their lambs. I did milk both of them out though for colostrum. i got like 1.5 cups out of one half of Bellas udder. But i got enough and i am sleeping with them in the living room. I'm on the couch and they're in a play pen haha.


----------



## SheepGirl

These are my bottle babies.

Bellas baby is the one with the black spots on the back (nutridrench stains) and Lady Gaga baby is the other one. Bellas baby weighed 8.4 lbs and Lady Gaga baby weighed 10.2 lbs


----------



## taylorm17

They are so cute! Congratulations. I am glad they made it!


----------



## OneFineAcre

Sheep Girl,
I wasn't following the forum for a while due to some family health issues.
I've had the chance to look through your thread.
Just want to say you have some beautiful animals.  I think you do a fantastic job.  You are a wonderful steward for your herd.
Really loved the feeder you built too.  That is definitely a project in my future.


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## SheepGirl

Ali at 142 days bred yesterday morning.


----------



## Goat Whisperer

I think she has 10 in her


----------



## SheepGirl

Ali lambed out in the wind. So we have two, one boy one girl. The boy is very hypothermic, his mouth is ice cold and clenched shut. Completely cleaned off and a full belly (or maybe just fluid in his belly?) But he's in my house in the bathroom with a space heater. Moving a lot more than he was a half hour ago. Well see how things go, we aren't out of the woods yet.


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## norseofcourse

Best thoughts that the little guy makes it


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## SheepGirl

Well he has warmed up a lot. In about a half hour I'm going to take him back out to his mom to get him to nurse. I may leave him outovernight but iI'm not completely sure yet.


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## SheepGirl

Didn't leave him out overnight. Last night Ali tolerated him nursing off of her. Brought him back out this am because it was too cold to leave him out and she didn't want anything to do with him. So looks like I have another bottle baby  That's okay I guess--my parents like raising them. They're doing all my feedings 

The ewe lamb though has the cutest brown tips on her ears  All my ewe lambs (well just two haha) have brown markings in unusual spots. The ram lambs have all been white, except for one of Ciqala's with his little black spot on his nose.


----------



## Riva

One tip for getting reluctant mothers to accept their lambs is put momma on her backside, let the lamb feed, then put lamb in a small pen next to momma,make the pens small, and she will accept her lamb in a couple of days. 

Bottle fed lambs do not grow as well as normally fed lambs.


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## taylorm17

Good pointer!


----------



## SheepGirl

Had lambs born this morning to Katy Perry, she had twins. All cleaned and dried off and fed by the time I found them  Such a great end to a rough lambing season. She had a boy and a girl. The girl is so itty bitty at just 5 lbs! She feels like nothing. The ram is 7.6 lbs.


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## SheepGirl

*RECAP OF THE LAMBING SEASON*

*2/15 - Ciqala, triplets*

#18 - 7.0 lb ram - passed away 3/6
#19 - 8.2 lb ewe
#20 - 7.6 lb ram (assisted - coming out backwards with one leg back)
*3/4 - Rosie, single*

#21 - 10.0 lb ram (assisted - large baby, head started swelling)
*3/9 - Bella, single*

#22 - 8.4 lb ram (assisted - baby coming out head first, swollen head, vet assisted) - bottle lamb
*3/9 - Lady Gaga, single*

#23 - 10.2 lb ram (assisted - no progress, so lamb was pulled) - bottle lamb
*3/13 - Ali, twins*

#24 - 8.8 lb ram (severe hypothermia when found, revived, then rejected by dam) - bottle lamb
#25 - 8.8 lb ewe
*3/15 - Katy Perry, twins*

#26 - 7.6 lb ram
#27 - 5.0 lb ewe
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

*Overall, that makes 10 lambs out of 6 ewes.*
Mature ewes (2006 and 2009 ewes) - 250% lambing rate
Yearling ewes (2012 ewes) - 150% lambing rate
Ewe lambs (2013 ewes) - 100% lambing rate
_Overall - 167% lambing rate_

*Average birth weights:*
Mature ewes: 8.1 lbs
Yearling ewes: 7.6 lbs
Ewe lambs: 9.2 lbs
_Overall - 8.2 lbs_

*Total lambs:*
7 rams (9 since last year)
3 ewes (6 since last year)

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

I was expecting 9 babies, but I got 10. Though I only have nine because the "extra" baby (one of Ciqala's triplets) passed away


----------



## autumnprairie

I am sorry for you hard kidding season 
I am still waiting for kids I have 6 due and have no dates 
2 are bagging up


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## taylorm17

I am very sorry about your  hard season. It must have been so frustrating . At least you got 9. Thats good.


----------



## SheepGirl

Well we have 10 babies now. I'm now the owner of a 1 day old Cheviot ewe lamb. I was found through Facebook through a mutual friend. The guy works at a farm where they train border collies on Cheviot sheep and the ewe lambed yesterday with her, cleaned her off, fed her, and tried to have another baby but died before the farmer could do anything. But she made it through the night outside covered in straw even with a relatively empty belly. So she's inside in a dog kennel a room away from my other bottle babies.


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## Ruus

So cute!  I bet she grows into a good ewe!


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## taylorm17

Congrats! She is so cute!


----------



## autumnprairie

Awesome her face reminds me of Bella


----------



## SheepGirl

Well I think I named my lambs. All Greek Mythology this year. I went to "Behind the Name" and sorted out all the names used in Greek Mythology alone (got out any names that could be traced to Spanish, English, etc) and then I sorted through the names I could pronounce. 

So, here's the list.

#18 - PROTEUS, means 'first.' Even though he died, he was my first lamb of the year and he was around long enough to deserve a name.

#19 - PHOIBE, means 'bright, pure.' She has such a bright white face and is such a sweetheart of a lamb. Not afraid of humans, very gentle.

#20 - ODYSSEUS, means 'to hate.' Though there's nothing to hate about him  He's actually a stud ram prospect. Named after a Greek hero known for his versatility; this little guy would be good for a maternal or terminal sire.

#21 - LEANDROS, means 'lion of a man.' Kind of looks scruffy himself, but his name points more to his dam who looks like a lion with a big mane of wool all around her head.

#22 - PERSEUS, means 'to destroy.' He is a bottle baby that will destroy your heart.  Named after a Greek hero who killed Medusa. Will be a permanent resident here.

#23 - CHRYSES, means 'golden.' Named after his current appearance, he is still golden colored from the amniotic fluid since his dam never cleaned him off. Also he is the largest and fastest growing of my bottle babies.

#24 - ADRASTROS, means 'not inclined to run away.' He is a bottle baby and was very friendly from day one, since he recovered from his severe hypothermia.

#25 - ELEKTRA, means 'amber.' The orange/brown (as opposed to mousey brown) tips of her ears kind of make her look like she got electrocuted so Elektra she is named.

#26 - ARES, means 'male.' Obviously a boy. Obviously I was running out of names that fit the animal in question that I could pronounce.

#27 - MNEME, means 'memory.' First off, the way I pronounce it, it sounds like "Mini Me" -- she is five pounds, my smallest baby, so the name fits her. As far as the meaning... Well, it really has no bearing on why I chose the name, lol.

And we can't forget the newest addition, the 9.0 lb Cheviot ewe lamb... wait for it... wait for it... originally named "CHEVY." My family won't like the name; they're all Ford fanatics


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## Womwotai

Cute names - will you really remember them all?  Thanks for the tip on "Behind the Name".  I just went and checked it out and love the possibilities.  I am so hopeless at naming things that almost every named animal on our place either came with a name or was named by friends and family.  Most do not have names.  (The only one I named I am actually really proud of.  She is my dog, Sammie.  Sounds like kind of a cop out name, right?  Well, the way it came about is that she is a black dog, so I tried to think of things that are black.  Ebony is out - too obvious.  What do I like that is black?  Licorice.  Tried calling the dog Licorice - nope - didn't work.  But there is a liqueur that is licorice flavored called "Black Sambuca".  So her official name is Black Sambuca, or Sammie for short.)


----------



## SheepGirl

I finally got around to getting 30 day weights on Ciqala's two remaining babies. (But I weighed them today, at 33 days old.)

#19 weighs 13.2 lbs and #20 weighs 20.4 lbs. I'm shocked at the weights to say the least, lol.

#19 ADG is 0.152. (Adj: 0.202) Pretty terrible :/ Don't know why she doesn't weigh that much. She is as tall as her brother and she's not thin but she doesn't have the mass that he does. Kind of weird.

#20 ADG is 0.388. (Adj: 0.469) Not bad, but not good either. He is thick and stocky. I want him to be a ram, but I will wether him if he doesn't grow very well.

Compare this to their full siblings last year, the ewe lamb weighed 16.6 lbs and the ram lamb weighed 19.8 lbs at 30 days old. That is a combined weight of 36.4 lbs. This year the ewe weighed 12.8 lbs at 30 days and the ram weighed 19.2 lbs at 30 days old. Combined, that's a weight of 32.0 lbs, which is 4.4 lbs less than last year.

Also remember that they had another baby in the litter that was nursing for 19 days before he passed away. I don't think he gained 4 lbs, but that could have something to do with the lack of weight gain. Also I am not feeding Ciqala as much grain as last year so her milk production is probably poor.

I am excited to see what Rosie's baby weighs at 30 days. At about two weeks younger than the two triplets, he is already their size.


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## SheepGirl

It snowed on Tuesday, we got about 3 inches. Wednesday my sheep were sheared. All but Edward and Emmett. Despite the 35 degree temps plus wind while they were being sheared, they stayed outside and didn't bother going in the sheep shack until nighttime when it got really cold and windy.

my bottle lambs are doing good, they will be moving outside soon. We will be building them a pen for themselves because the ewes brat them up and they don't have a mom out with them 24/7 to protect them.


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## OneFineAcre




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## SheepGirl

I gave my sheep some pine tree branches today and they went to town


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## SheepGirl

Leandros, #21, is 31 days old today and weighs 18.4 lbs. He has an ADG of 0.258.

His adjusted average daily gain would be 0.268 which isn't that good. I really want to keep him a ram because he's 3/4 Texel but his gains aren't good so I think he's gonna be castrated.


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## SheepGirl

Sad update  I lost Hank on Easter. The day before I found him standing with his head lowered to the ground, he wouldn't move even when budged, wasn't alert, had a runny nose, and green stuff (cud?) on his lower lip. No appetite. So I gave him 2 cc Pen G, 15 cc Moxidectin, 15 cc Ivermectin, 10 oz Gatorade, and a baking soda/warm water mixture. 

Perked up a little bit, he was holding his head up and he walked a couple feet away and laid down.

Later that night he didn't get better, he got worse, so we called the vet. She was unable to come out but she said she thinks he just had an upset stomach and suggested to do yogurt, Gatorade, and baking soda. When I got home from work at 2:30 am, I went out on checked on him. Gave him some more stuff. He was trying to stand but couldn't get his front legs up. But he was doing better. I got back inside at 3 and went to bed.

My parents woke me up at 10 because my mom couldn't find Hank in the pen. How could you not find him? Well I went out and found him. Laying flat under a piece of plywood from their shelter. Poor thing probably had the plywood fall on him and he couldn't get up because he couldn't completely stand and the gas had probably built up in his rumen from being flat on his side for so long and his lungs were crushed. What an awful way to go. 

And then today I took Edward and Emmett to auction, got paid $1.50 per pound. Not bad.


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## SheepGirl

Here's a photo of Hank from back in February, third from the left.

We buried him Easter morning. It was pretty sad. The whole dirt pen had only one little patch of bright green grass and that was where his head was when we found him


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## luvmypets

Im so sorry for your loss.


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## norseofcourse

I'm so sorry you lost Hank


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## SheepGirl

Thanks guys.

Another update...

I haven't given the bottle babies a bottle since Saturday, though my dad decided to give them one today... 
Anyway, on the 24th I bought five little chickies from Southern States that were hatched on Easter  They are in the sheep shack in a cage. They are Partridge Rock pullets.
Annnddd after I sold the two ram lambs I moved Bella, Ciqala, and Lady Gaga into that pen. So it's just Rosie, Ali, and Katy Perry plus all ten lambs out in the field right now.
I need to castrate #26. I've already castrated #22 and #23. I might castrate #21, though I will figure that out when he's 60 days old.


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## bonbean01

Catching up on here and so very sorry about Hank.


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## Goat Whisperer

I'm so sorry about Hank


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## SheepGirl

I haven't updated in a while.

But here are some things that have happened...

Ciqala, Lady Gaga, Bella, and Rosie are penned up. Ali and Katy Perry will be moved into the pen any day now, too, as soon as it stops raining. When they go in the pen, I'm moving Ciqala, Lady Gaga, and Bella into the field. I just need to wait until the grass is dry and I can fill them up on hay so they don't have issues with bloat.

I like the way I weaned the lambs this year. Very little issues with animals being loud. Last year I moved the lambs into the pen at weaning. Very loud. Probably a combination of the stress of weaning as well as the stress of being in a new area (despite being right next to where they lived before) -- because they had a new water source, a new shelter, a new diet (hay instead of pasture) and a new roommate. Adult ewes are much more adaptable to change than lambs and don't stress (at least not as much).

#20, #21, and #26 I think will stay rams. I've castrated #22, #23, and I decided to castrate #24. I haven't done it yet though. The thought occurred to me yesterday as I was looking at #26's butt. #26 and #24 are very closely related. I really wanted a ram out of Ali because of Rosie and now, Elektra (#24's twin). Very consistent. However, #24 was bottle raised due to being hypothermic and then his dam didn't want him after I brought him back out to her. So that was strike 1 against 24 being a ram. Strike 2 was him being bottle raised. Strike 3 is he's not growing very well. #23, the same cross, born just 4 days before him, is already so much bigger than him. So he's not growing very well despite the same treatment as #23.

So that got me looking to #26. I was initially going to castrate him. However, I think he's a keeper ram for the cross I like. His dam is Katy Perry who is out of a twin sibling breeding of Ali and Billy. Ali has two ewe lambs out of Hank that are little meat monsters that have been growing really well. I would've kept her ram, but like I said, he's not that great of a specimen in terms of hardiness and growth. And as I was thinking about that, #26 caught my eye with his muscling. His twin sister is short and tiny (can't blame her, Katy Perry is only 105 lbs) but she has nice thick legs on her. But 26 is a nice size when standing next to his dam. So I like his genetics and I like the way he looks.

So I have three rams I have decided to keep intact:
#20 - out of Ciqala, my healthiest, most prolific ewe. He has more muscling than Edward, his full brother, which is what made me feel okay about shipping him.
#21 - out of Rosie, a sire x daughter cross. I lost Hank, so I think this is a good cross to kind of keep his genetics. He has 75% of Hank's genes and 25% of Ali's.
#26 - out of Katy Perry, the better of the two options I had for wanting a meatwagon of a ram that was closely related to Elektra and Rosie.

The rest of the rams will be wethered and taken to auction or sold for pets/meat, except for #22. My mom said he has to stay. 

aannndddd I think that's it.

Other than my chickens. They are growing really fast. I've had them 3 wks already.


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## luvmypets




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## SheepGirl

I let Ciqala, bella, and Lady Gaga out in the field on Tuesday and put Ali and Katy Perry in the pen. Yesterday I noticed Ciqala had bottlejaw. So i gave her 23 cc of privermectin. This ewe is 8 yrs old and this is the first time sshe's ever been dewormed. She's the thinnest of all my sheep so I'm not surprised she was the one affected.




 



 

sorry...im not sure why the pics are upside down.


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## SheepGirl

Haven't really updated in a while. But yesterday morning I lost #27, one of my replacement ewe lambs. Her eyelids were white and she was weak, so I could only assume she was afflicted with barberpole worm. Her temp was 103.8. I gave her 5 mL of Ivermectin and 0.5 cc Pen G. Plus some yogurt and gatorade. Unfortunately she faded just a few hours after I gave her medicine


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## SheepGirl

UPDATING this thread!! 

I also lost #22 to parasites and saved #21 before he got too bad.

Everyone grew fine for the rest of the year and I took #21, #23, #24, and #26 to auction and got $2.10/lb for them in Sept.

New stud ram was bought and penned up. When lambs were taken to auction, ram was moved in with the ewes and #20 was moved into the pen.

I currently have 11 sheep: my new stud ram, my keeper ram lamb (#20), and nine ewes.


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