# 2022 Waiting on Lambs Journal



## secuono

2021 Autumn Breeding Groups for the 2022 Lambing Season have been decided!

Breeding season starts October 10th!
Possible due dates starting from March 1st, 2022 onward.

¤There will be 5 breeding groups.
¤Many ewelings will be kept back.
¤Fewer lambs will be available, both solid & spotted.
¤Spotted lambs are available only as first deposit, first served, after posting on my website & FB Page.
¤Expecting roughly 34~ purebred lambs.
¤There will be no clean-up ram used this time.

The following 15 sheep will not participate in breeding this year;
Tatiana, Kibito, Seadra, Eevee, Holly, Juniper, Balsa, Katsura, Sassafras, Kauri, Papaya, Sequoia, Mimosa, Hickory & Kibito's eweling.

Rams Billy & Michaelis will be available for sale in Spring 2022.

Breeding Groups-

Lambs from these pairings will be dual registered.

Apostle- Codon QQ. Spotted.
Latte- Offspring codon test. Expecting twins. Black, carrier, potentially spotted lambs.
Hirola- Offspring codon test. Expecting singles. Carriers.
Fossa- Offspring will be codon QR. Expecting twins. Carriers.
Articuno- Offspring will be codon QR. Expecting singles. Carriers.

Oreo- Codon QR. Spotted.
Yamcha- Offspring codon test. Black. Expecting singles. Carriers.
Lucia- Offspring codon test. Expecting singles. Carriers.
Lucy- Offspring codon test. Expecting singles. Carrier or spotted.
Kakuna- Codon test. Expecting singles. Possibly spotted, carriers.
Bayley- Offspring will be codon QR. Carriers. Expecting twins.

Magnemite- spotted, codon QR.
Shelly- Offspring codon test. Carriers, spotted. Expecting singles.
Patchie- Offspring codon test. Expecting twins. Carriers, spotted.
Icarus- Offspring codon test. Expecting singles. Black. Carriers.
Lapras- Offspring codon test. Expecting singles. Spotted, carriers.

Lambs from these pairings will be triple registered.

Michaelis- Black, codon RR.
Willow- Offspring codon RR. Expecting twins. White or black.
Juliana- Offspring codon RR. Expecting twins. Black.
Piccolo- Offspring codon RR. White. Expecting singles.
Saola- Offspring codon RR. Expecting twins. Black.
Raichu- Offspring codon test. Expecting singles. Black.

Billy- Black, codon RR.
Eloise- Offspring codon RR. Expecting twins. Black.
Evangeline- Codon RR. Expecting twins. Black or white.
Ewenique- Offspring codon RR. White or black. Expecting twins.
Sugar- Offspring codon QR. White or black. Expecting twins.
Clefairy- Offspring codon RR. Expecting singles. Black.


_The name theme will be Silly Words.

Cattywampus
Lollygag
Flibbertigibbet
Nincompoop
Hullaballoo
Whippersnapper
Fuddy-duddy
Gobbledygook
Hodgepodge
Lickety-split
Namby-pamby
Scalawag
Skedaddle
Hullabaloo
Bupkis
Doohickey
Wackadoodle
Bamboozled
Kookie
Okie Dokie Artichokie (will split this one between twins)
Artsy-fartsy
Shmorgishborg
Balderdash
FlimFlam
WallaWalla-BingBang (going to split this one between twin lambs.)
Schnikes
Persnickety
Frick-Frack
Tiddlywink
Whatchamacallit
Hoosiewhatser
Doohickey
Kerfuffle
Scuttlebutt
Snafu
Flim-Flam
_

Color coded the sheep cards.
Blue for black or white ram, no spotting.
Green for spotted ram.
Pink for black or white ewe, no spotting.
Yellow for spot carrier ewe.
Purple for spotted ewe.
_
_


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## secuono

Pricing update-
All ewes, each, 600.
All rams, each, 400.

Not Registered Wether $200
Not Registered Ewe $450
Not Registered Ram $350
Spotted priced individually. 

Waiting list for ewes, closed.


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## secuono

Apostle got beat up & cast, twice. He's separated in the barn now, still recovering. He may not be up to par to put out with the ladies. If not, here's the updated chart below.

Shelly has passed. Beware the fly!! 
If anyone has the picture of her in my previous Ford Mustang car, please post it. I can't find it. 

My bovine is living with the lambs, they can slip under the horse track fence, he cannot. So, I'll put them in the lower arena paddock and one breeding group will be out on the winter field. 
Other breeding groups will each get several paddocks. The lower 4 will be one with the female LGD. The side 3 will be one. And the newer 3 side ones will be another. This will give them maximum grazing. 
Apostle will be moved over to the other side of the barn to have the barnyard to himself.


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## Alaskan

Wow...  so much drama. 

And people kept telling me sheep were easier than goats.


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## secuono

Alaskan said:


> Wow...  so much drama.
> 
> And people kept telling me sheep were easier than goats.



Easier than goats, for me at least. 
Those danged things never stayed where I wanted and destroyed hay I literally hand tedded, raked & piled up. No horns to burn off of kids, no rancid smelling bucks. And as far as I can tell, there is no breed of goat that is relatively safe as an intact male.


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## secuono

Apostle is eating and drinking again! He badly damaged his right eye during the 2nd casting & has developed stress laminitis. 😩  But he's up & chowing down.


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## Alaskan

secuono said:


> Those danged things never stayed where I wanted and destroyed hay I literally hand tedded, raked & piled up.


Yes...  most definitely


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## secuono

Apostle doesn't get to breed this year. Might sell him as a pet later.

A few days behind, but breeding season has finally officially begun!


Billy group-



Magnemite group-



Oreo group-



Michaelis group-


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## secuono

Since Michaelis decided to cause me problems, he left for his new home today. I'll be testing several lambs this spring to confirm sires. 😑🙄 I'll also be putting Apostle in with Mich's ewes in 2wks time to catch any of his ewes he may of missed while out partying & causing havoc. 🤬 

In good news, Billy was relisted and might have a home for when breeding season ends. And I may have a new triple registered ramling for next year, when his papers arrive. He's black, no spotting, should grow a bit shorter and have straight, wide front legs. He'll be replacing all of my NABs rams for a few years.


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## secuono

Apostle's eye has healed a lot more than I expected. Rest may not fully heal, but at least decent vision has returned.


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## secuono

Tossed all of the ewes out onto the winter field with Apostle. Will remove him next week or so when the other rams settle down.


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## secuono

Bought wood to make more lambing jugs.
They'll be 5 horizontal & 3 vertical, 30" tall. Five foot doors & four foot side walls, like the old ones.
Some of the old ones will be left as is & used during round bale feeding. Rest of the old ones will have top board moved down & 1 board added to make them 30". 
Got some hooks as well, to make latching them together easier.

Cut all of the boards, but too cold n dark to predrill holes & screw them together tonight. 
Looks like I need 3 more to finish what I have now. But I'll need another door. So, I'll actually need 6 more boards in all. Plus however many more for the old panels.
Lambs won't be escaping & ewes won't be stealing food from their neighbors with these!

The old ones that need adjustments-


What the new ones will look like-


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## frustratedearthmother

Nice!


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## secuono

Ordered two of these from a different store. Lowes was always unavailable. Husband doesn't trust Walmart, so opted for this place.
They will go along the barn's east opening to add 10×30ft of more space. 
It'll be partly enclosed with wood and clear panels the rest of the way. 
For more lambing space, bale feeding and stuffing everyone into the barn for shearing. Lol


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## secuono

3 done.


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## secuono

Bought a ram, he's my half-grandbaby! 
His father's side, my original Babydolls, his dad is Nori, a ramling born on my farm.
Got him to see if I can salvage any hidden spot genetics, but also because of his straight front legs and long back.
He's a great addition to the flock. 

Say hello to Ross!
Currently only OEBSR, but I'll get him into the other two registries soon enough. He's replacing 3 rams; Billy, Sebastian & Michaelis.




In other news...
Apostle's eye has continued to heal. It seems to have a good chance of totally clearing up!


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## secuono

secuono said:


> Ordered two of these from a different store. Lowes was always unavailable. Husband doesn't trust Walmart, so opted for this place.
> They will go along the barn's east opening to add 10×30ft of more space.
> It'll be partly enclosed with wood and clear panels the rest of the way.
> For more lambing space, bale feeding and stuffing everyone into the barn for shearing. Lol
> View attachment 88456



They have shipped and will arrive by the end of the week!!


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## secuono

secuono said:


> 3 done.
> View attachment 88457View attachment 88458



Have a total of 3 front gates/panels and 5 side panels done.

A picture showing the old vs new. Old are longer gate panels.
lambs cannot climb mom to escape, moms can't steal food & I can step over easy peasy!


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## Margali

Nice @secuono ! How tall are the panels? I'm planning on redoing my shed and debating fence heights.


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## secuono

Margali said:


> Nice @secuono ! How tall are the panels? I'm planning on redoing my shed and debating fence heights.


30"


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## secuono

Bachelor flock is all back together now. 
Opened the aisle to let them graze the green that hasn't been eaten since September. A little weedy up top, but tons of green underneath. 
Need to put a new line of fencing & posts in the last 3 paddocks before I can let them in there.


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## Cotton*wood

Love seeing pictures with the LGD.  What breed is that?


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## secuono

Cotton*wood said:


> Love seeing pictures with the LGD.  What breed is that?


Anatolian Shepherd with a dash of Great Pyrenees.


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## Cotton*wood

secuono said:


> Anatolian Shepherd with a dash of Great Pyrenees.


Interesting.  Ours is called an Anatolian Pyrenees, but he has a lot more of the Pyrenees look.  He's supposed to be a LGD, but he mostly just guards the front gate.  I guess I shouldn't complain, in that we've actually witnessed him thwart fox attacks on the chickens, and he does seem to keep the coyotes and neighborhood dogs away.  (He came with the farm.). Plus, he's sweet.


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## secuono

The carports arrived!
Will be puttthem together over the next 2wks.
I'll later be enclosing them.


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## ohiogoatgirl

Have you considered keeping a ram intact and turning him into a teaser ram? You run a teaser ram before putting in the actual breeding rams, it brings the ewes into cycle and get them ready. So when you put the actual breeding groups together the ewes should be ready to breed and not drag out the breeding (and therefore lambing) dates.
It seems pretty reliable. I'm hoping to do that this year.


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## secuono

ohiogoatgirl said:


> Have you considered keeping a ram intact and turning him into a teaser ram? You run a teaser ram before putting in the actual breeding rams, it brings the ewes into cycle and get them ready. So when you put the actual breeding groups together the ewes should be ready to breed and not drag out the breeding (and therefore lambing) dates.
> It seems pretty reliable. I'm hoping to do that this year.


No, I haven't. 
They lambed for like 2 weeks straight last year at one point and I ran out of space in my barn. It's too hectic, I need a break from being up all night. Lol.


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## secuono

Got one frame up, second going up tomorrow. The anchors are causing huge problems.  
Eevee & Billy should be moving to PA soon. 
Moos are "helping" build the barn expansion. 
And 2nd LGD is learning about moos under supervision.


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## secuono

Woo boy! Both anchor types are nuts, gave up and put in tposts for now.
And got a microscope! Will be able to do fecal testing & such to see what's happening!


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## Alaskan

secuono said:


> Woo boy! Both anchor types are nuts, gave up and put in tposts for now.
> And got a microscope! Will be able to do fecal testing & such to see what's happening!
> View attachment 88684View attachment 88685


Cool!

The microscope will be great fun!


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## secuono

Got roof done on one!
Next one tomorrow!

Used the end roof panels for one side, as I'm going to use flashing to have water run off into barn's gutter. So, one side is 2 panels down and bottom will be heavy, outdoor plywood that is removable, to keep sheep from f-ing it up. 
The back wall will be fully closed, to the barn. 
Area between carport and barn will be leveled with carports and used as interior space!
I also cabled the top of the carport to the barn, to futher anchor it and keep from squiggling.


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## frustratedearthmother

Good job, can't wait to see the end result!


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## secuono

Waiting for gravel to become available...


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## secuono

A bad picture of how I plan to do the removable wood bottom walls. I'm waiting for gravel before bothering with these walls, so no pics for awhile. 
I will cut off the excess, to reduce injuries caused by ewes rubbing on them. Red line.
Wood sheet will go against square tubing and have holes drilled in to fit the.....I don't know what these things are called, sorry. Lol. Brown line.
Square tubing is the carport frame that'll go inside the metal bracket thingies. Green.


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## Margali

That is a square U-bolt. They are very useful.


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## secuono

Margali said:


> That is a square U-bolt. They are very useful.


Lol, I wanted to say "squared U bolt thingie", glad I was close!
Thanks.


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## secuono

Kauri w/snow on face.






Bayley & Kakuna


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## secuono

Do they make hay bale chock blocks?





Kakuna's girl, Kauri, looking good.


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## CaliFarmsAR

Those sheep are super cute!!!!


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## farmerjan

Never seen a hay bale chock block.  Might be handy but most places where we feed round bales we use feeders or roll it out. .  One suggestion I have is to take the plastic wrap  off the bale before you put it in the feeder... If they get their heads caught in it you could lose a sheep.  Had a calf get his head caught in some of the plastic wrap and he almost died before we got him out.  Also, they can eat it, although cows would be more likely to eat it than sheep I am sure... but it can get caught up in their stomachs/rumens and cause an impaction.  And if nothing happens, next year when you go to bush hog where a round bale was,,,, there is NOTHING WORSE that getting that plastic all wound up around the shaft for the blade(s) on the bush hog..... I have spent my share of time underneath cutting it off with a knife....


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## farmerjan

Nice hay feeders for the sheep.


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## secuono

farmerjan said:


> Never seen a hay bale chock block.  Might be handy but most places where we feed round bales we use feeders or roll it out. .  One suggestion I have is to take the plastic wrap  off the bale before you put it in the feeder... If they get their heads caught in it you could lose a sheep.  Had a calf get his head caught in some of the plastic wrap and he almost died before we got him out.  Also, they can eat it, although cows would be more likely to eat it than sheep I am sure... but it can get caught up in their stomachs/rumens and cause an impaction.  And if nothing happens, next year when you go to bush hog where a round bale was,,,, there is NOTHING WORSE that getting that plastic all wound up around the shaft for the blade(s) on the bush hog..... I have spent my share of time underneath cutting it off with a knife....


Yeah, I cut the net off once I was done getting the "roof" on it & took a few cute sheepy pics. 

I used some rocks, but it'd be nice to have something that won't break my toes if I accidentally drop it...😅


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## wolf

secuono said:


> Do they make hay bale chock blocks?
> View attachment 88866
> 
> 
> Kakuna's girl, Kauri, looking good.
> View attachment 88867View attachment 88868View attachment 88870View attachment 88872


Made mine outta cattle panels. Got tired of sheep hopping on top a bale that’s unrestrained and mashing it with manure and urine all over. I have metal lings squashed to join one short and one long side, and clips to fasten the opposing corners. That way I can “shrink” the cage as the bale gets eaten away.


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## wolf

secuono said:


> Yeah, I cut the net off once I was done getting the "roof" on it & took a few cute sheepy pics.
> 
> I used some rocks, but it'd be nice to have something that won't break my toes if I accidentally drop it...😅


I wear hard-toe shoes out there - just cause a ram who doesn’t wanna follow, likes to step on my feet when I pull him along. 😂 Comes in handy when I drop something heavy while working out there, too.


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## secuono

wolf said:


> Made mine outta cattle panels. Got tired of sheep hopping on top a bale that’s unrestrained and mashing it with manure and urine all over. I have metal lings squashed to join one short and one long side, and clips to fasten the opposing corners. That way I can “shrink” the cage as the bale gets eaten away.


I tried that. They pull the hay out and end up with a ton on the ground.


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## secuono

Ross' codon results came in, QR.






They ate what they "could", so I rolled it over. They then claimed they didn't want any, so I tossed them back out as soon as enough snow melted.
But now its for the minis to eat. Certainly cannot move it back to the barn w/o it wrapped...
Yes, it wants to roll *up* the hill to the left. So, there's that magical weirdness happening. 😅 
Its on the rock/concrete spot, so no mud around it. Didn't realize how much I love that. Will need to buy huge rubber mats for the future!


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## secuono

Apostle is dead.
The vet keeps not showing up when scheduled. The adults are too heavy for me to lift alone. It looks like building a small holding pen plus loading ramp with side walls to block all exits, is next on my list of things to build. Then I can back van to it and chase them up into it and call it a day. Have a ramp I can use for this, panels and posts to make the pen, too. Would need to measure things for the side walls and areas to block the van exits. Of course, all this snow and wet means I couldn't use it right now anyway...
The ewes have demolished the hay feeder. 
I hate winter.


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## Alaskan

secuono said:


> Apostle is dead.
> The vet keeps not showing up when scheduled. The adults are too heavy for me to lift alone. It looks like building a small holding pen plus loading ramp with side walls to block all exits, is next on my list of things to build. Then I can back van to it and chase them up into it and call it a day. Have a ramp I can use for this, panels and posts to make the pen, too. Would need to measure things for the side walls and areas to block the van exits. Of course, all this snow and wet means I couldn't use it right now anyway...
> The ewes have demolished the hay feeder.
> I hate winter.


Sorry for your loss.  I missed whatever went wrong with Apostle.


Hay feeders tend to need a bunch of work until you get the one that works well for your animals and setup.  Try a different kind each time they bust one....  hopefully you will figure out what works at your place sooner rather than later. 

And yes on the sorting pens!  A set of sorting pens that end in a squeeze chute, and have an option to go up a ramp to get loaded ...  are golden!

You can even train them to walk happily through the pens and chute if you reward them with feed at the end.


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## secuono

Alaskan said:


> Sorry for your loss.  I missed whatever went wrong with Apostle.
> 
> 
> Hay feeders tend to need a bunch of work until you get the one that works well for your animals and setup.  Try a different kind each time they bust one....  hopefully you will figure out what works at your place sooner rather than later.
> 
> And yes on the sorting pens!  A set of sorting pens that end in a squeeze chute, and have an option to go up a ramp to get loaded ...  are golden!
> 
> You can even train them to walk happily through the pens and chute if you reward them with feed at the end.



He was an inbred disaster. Stiffer than a board and apparently prone to getting cast/stuck on the ground and unable to get up.


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## secuono

Billy & Eevee have left to Pennsylvania!



I let the ladies out and as soon as I got back into the house, they were begging to come back in...
They also don't wanna eat the hay, but don't want to hunt for grass...




Let us back in!!


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## secuono

Ross' OEBSR CoR arrived! 
Scanned a copy and put the BSSBA application in the mail.
Waiting until he's a year old to do open registration with NABSSAR. 
Then he'll be triple registered!


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## secuono

Working on getting all new pics of the ewes.
So far, just one mature ewe-






Then, all of the soon-to-be-yearling ewes-


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## secuono

Started the daily alfalfa + VitE today.









And more flipping of the hay. Planning a new feeder system, but, I think I've previously come to the same drawings. Lol


Center is where a bale is kept & I unroll it. Then toss the big flakes into a bunk. The feeder is like a fenceline feeder with bottom blocked & slats so they can't easily fling hay. Then boards splitting each area, so just one sheep can fit and poke its head through one of 2 slat spots.
Hopefully, the drawings will make sense. 



I should add, the rams are happy with their corner feeder in the barn. They gobble up w/e I give them. Lol


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## Alaskan

Yes, I see... your current feeder dies have big holes. 

With my goats I put a pallet leaned away from the barn wall...  the slats on the pallet were pretty close together,  but not close enough...  I then secured a deep sea fishing net over the pallet...  that setup worked pretty well.


Great sheep photos.


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## ohiogoatgirl

Would a key hole front be easier? Certainly less wood I'd think. You could put the keyhole whatever height you need.

I'd like to build a modified version of the premier1 hay bunks. Using a bit more wood could easily make a shorter opening for them to access the hay and harder for them to throw it on each other. 

I also made round bale feeders from cattle panels. They get very little hay on each other now, mainly the neck which is just about unavoidable.
Not the greatest video but here it is.








						katie lunemann on Instagram: "Cattle panel to round bale feeder  #sheep365 #sheepfarmer #charactercrossbreed #farmher #hay #diy"
					

katie lunemann shared a post on Instagram: "Cattle panel to round bale feeder  #sheep365 #sheepfarmer #charactercrossbreed #farmher #hay #diy". Follow their account to see 1737 posts.




					www.instagram.com


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## secuono

ohiogoatgirl said:


> Would a key hole front be easier? Certainly less wood I'd think. You could put the keyhole whatever height you need.
> 
> I'd like to build a modified version of the premier1 hay bunks. Using a bit more wood could easily make a shorter opening for them to access the hay and harder for them to throw it on each other.
> 
> I also made round bale feeders from cattle panels. They get very little hay on each other now, mainly the neck which is just about unavoidable.
> Not the greatest video but here it is.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> katie lunemann on Instagram: "Cattle panel to round bale feeder  #sheep365 #sheepfarmer #charactercrossbreed #farmher #hay #diy"
> 
> 
> katie lunemann shared a post on Instagram: "Cattle panel to round bale feeder  #sheep365 #sheepfarmer #charactercrossbreed #farmher #hay #diy". Follow their account to see 1737 posts.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.instagram.com



Keyhole was an idea, but several people mentioned sheep/goats suffocating when another rams it off its feet. But, maybe if it's really large, to fit double the # of sheep, that problem would go away. 🤔


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## secuono

Forgot about Sassafras. 😅


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## secuono

Need to get a pic of Evangeline standing...lol


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## secuono

That was fast! Ross is now dual registered, OEBSR & BSSBA! 🥳
NABSSAR is left to go!


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## secuono

Just 4 weeks left until lambs start to arrive!

3 more jug panels were built.
2 more feeders were also built.


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## secuono

Trying bars before a whole new style. 
Also need to use 2 pallets underneath next time, so I won't have to dig out the bottom for them to eat. I have to pull hay down daily, so, hoping with the bale higher, I'll be better able to just shrink the panels instead.


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## secuono

Realized that the hay mess isn't really my issue, it's that I have to constantly adjust the darned thing for them to be able to get at it...
I think Monday will be new bale day.


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## secuono

Cattle don't want any fancy hays, so, it went to the sheep!
Unrolled the junk hay the cattle were digging in and there was a bunch that was good. So, they're eating that as ground hay. Core of junk hay was also clean and I tossed it to the sheep. 

Good hay in the junk bale.


Fancy hay now for sheep.


Core for sheep. Tried to unroll it, but it just barely split.


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## secuono

Ordered two creep gates. Need to put together a gravity feeder next.


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## secuono

Gates arrived. To use upside down or right side up...🤔 Previous DIY gates, a step over bar bothered the lambs.



Moved Kibito & all 10 of the 2021 ewelings to the backyard. Setup a free feeding station for them.

I now have so many sheep that I have to setup two sacrifice areas that are split into a mature ewes & lamb ewes paddock for winter. So, I will have to figure out how & where to do that. I still need fenced off areas that allows me to feed without being mobbed & trampled! But also lets the tractor in easily to bring in the hay.


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## secuono

More feed, 16 of em, plus wood to finish changing the old jug panels. Got the square U bolts for the barn addon, plywood this weekend!
Still no gravel, though...


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## secuono

Pulled out all the "icky" stuff blocking the holes and shoved the good stuff down into reach. And tarp up because of rain in forecast.



The almost-yearlings have food in the DIY truck topper. Kibito is too massive, blocks entrance completely. So, had to put her bucket up high. Then, saw that rain is forecasted, had to add a cover of sorts. Luckily, managed to put it up in a way that let her still eat out of it.



Switched to not soaking the pellets, but corn is soaked, then put on top of pellets. So far, no choking. 🤞
Comparison-
1st is soaked pellets & corn. Pellets grow 3× the volume! 2nd & 3rd pics, that's how much dry pellets has always been used, once water added, grows to 1st pic size. 


And got more of the bolts. Excess will be cut off. Store didn't have ones that were shorter, so, ah well.


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## secuono

Tried topping with dry corn & no chokes!


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## ohiogoatgirl

I'm glad they're your sheep 🤣 Mine do not get all that pampering... 
Good luck with your lambing, mine just started!


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## secuono

Plywood went up to 100 a sheet, so, skipping it this year and just using the metal panels wrapped in tarp.


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## secuono

Weather is nice today with rain in the forecast the rest of the week. Ugh. Decided to split everyone up further while dry out.

Kicked the adult horses out of the easement. They don't use the shelter & have the pond to drink from.
Split the baby minis from the mature ewes into their own paddock. It connects to the easement, so, put a hay bale under the shelter. Then split the area in half for the minis to share the bale & a bit of the shelter with the yearling sheep.


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## secuono

Redid the feeding area.
Using one of the creep panels for the almost yearling ewes. The end gaps are 1/2" larger than the center ones. =/ Kinda annoying, since they all can't use the middle gaps.


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## secuono

1.5 weeks, roughly? Of 800# bale for 33 mini ewes. 
Wonder if that's good or not.

Today was new bale day.




Then the big un!


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## secuono

Well, looks like I'll always be separating the lambs from adults!
They're doing lamb races at almost a year old!
Warning, tons of binky sheep pics ahead!


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## animalmom

Made me smile.  Thank you!!!!  We all should get out there and kick up our heels and do a wee jig.


----------



## secuono

Dug up a 3rd goat trough to hang up. They didn't believe that there were more than 2 available to them. Lol
Still waiting on gravel, unbelievable how hard it is to get...


----------



## Margali

Your sheep are so cute!

Can I ask where you send sample for Codon testing?


----------



## secuono

Margali said:


> Your sheep are so cute!
> 
> Can I ask where you send sample for Codon testing?


GeneCheck or NeoGen. 
I'm sure other labs also offer it.


----------



## farmerjan

Gravel is going to continue to be a problem because so much is being hauled to the Amazon dist center being built there in Fishersville.  Our friend has trucks and he said at the cattle meeting the other night that the price has NEARLY doubled and that they are having trouble getting it from any of the quarries around that they have been dealing with for years.  DS said that he waited nearly 3 weeks for gravel from a guy and could not get the size he wanted... but took the load anyway since it was available... Be that way through the summer until they get the ACRES of concrete floor poured.


----------



## farmerjan

Just looked it up for curiosity.... 1 MILLION SQ FT facility... just about 23 acres  under roof & concrete... some of the best flattish farmland in that part of the county.  Expected to be up and running summer 2023....


----------



## secuono

W


farmerjan said:


> Just looked it up for curiosity.... 1 MILLION SQ FT facility... just about 23 acres  under roof & concrete... some of the best flattish farmland in that part of the county.  Expected to be up and running summer 2023....


Wait, what??
23 acres under roof? What's the building??


----------



## farmerjan

It is the new Amazon warehouse/distribution facility.  You can look it up... Channel 29 news had a segment on it... I pulled it up on the internet.


----------



## TheCluckyClucker

farmerjan said:


> Gravel is going to continue to be a problem because so much is being hauled to the Amazon dist center being built there in Fishersville.  Our friend has trucks and he said at the cattle meeting the other night that the price has NEARLY doubled and that they are having trouble getting it from any of the quarries around that they have been dealing with for years.  DS said that he waited nearly 3 weeks for gravel from a guy and could not get the size he wanted... but took the load anyway since it was available... Be that way through the summer until they get the ACRES of concrete floor poured.


Yuck. I dont know how anyone is supposed to do anything with lumber and apparently gravel prices.


----------



## secuono

farmerjan said:


> It is the new Amazon warehouse/distribution facility.  You can look it up... Channel 29 news had a segment on it... I pulled it up on the internet.


How'd I miss that? It was in your first sentence! 🤦🏽‍♀️


----------



## secuono

It's that time of year again! Stalking back ends. 🤭






A few have been practicing the last few weeks & some have started an udder. 

7 jugs are ready to go. Last two are wider and could be redone to make 3 jugs, since there's about 3ft left over. 
Need to move my pan cam out there.


----------



## secuono

Finally got Evangeline's pic, plus redid a few others that looked wonky. Need to update website with their pics next.


----------



## secuono

Gravel is finally here!


Now to slowly move it all into the carports...ugh.


----------



## secuono

Found a very helpful website for importing livestock across state lines!

animalregs, CLICK HERE


110 bales of mixed grass hay arriving soon.


----------



## farmerjan

Pretty decent looking hay.  You might want to consider buying more if they have it., and you can store it.  Hay prices are going to be higher this year and there may very well be less available.  Every farmer around here is talking about cutting the amount of fertilizer due to the costs doubling and more.  Less fertilizer will be less quantity.  On top of that, the fuel costs are going out of sight and it will cost a small fortune to make hay.   If the "administration" decides to stop buying Russian oil, thus paying for them to invade Ukraine,  then prices are going to go up again... this country cannot ramp up production at the drop of a hat.  It will cause prices to go higher, and it will take awhile for things to get leveled out or for us to start realizing more output.


----------



## secuono

farmerjan said:


> Pretty decent looking hay.  You might want to consider buying more if they have it., and you can store it.  Hay prices are going to be higher this year and there may very well be less available.  Every farmer around here is talking about cutting the amount of fertilizer due to the costs doubling and more.  Less fertilizer will be less quantity.  On top of that, the fuel costs are going out of sight and it will cost a small fortune to make hay.   If the "administration" decides to stop buying Russian oil, thus paying for them to invade Ukraine,  then prices are going to go up again... this country cannot ramp up production at the drop of a hat.  It will cause prices to go higher, and it will take awhile for things to get leveled out or for us to start realizing more output.



They only have 110 bales available. And it's the sheep that tell me if the hay is any good. Might look like gold to us, but if they won't eat it, it might as well be moldy mush. 😑


----------



## secuono

Well, day one, yearlings ate all the hay. Day two, on strike. 🙄 They won't get their pellets until late in the day, maybe that'll help. Or they'll just continue to be stubborn. 
Moos took 24hrs to eat their flake, with pellets held back until they ate the hay. They need to be eating a lot more hay & far less pellets, they don't like that though. Lol. Haven't checked yet to see if they've eaten their 2nd flake of hay yet. 
Both on pasture, not much growing yet, but they don't believe it. 

No lambs yet, but we're getting close! 

First serving comparisons.
Moos-


Yearlings-



Looks like tomorrow will be new bale day! Tonight, I'll smoosh it down to 3 panels for them to get the rest.


----------



## secuono

Lambing Season finally started!
28F and snowing, but Fossa decided it was the best time.

Fossa × Apostle 
A ram at 12:50 & ewe at 1:40. Ram has white on head, ewe looks solid black. Will recheck tomorrow when fully dry.
Ram was a bit stuck, right leg at neck, left wasn't found until I pulled some, then found it by chest. Pulled it forward and out he came.
Ewe slipped out & got up asap! Lol


----------



## farmerjan

Thank goodness you were able to get to them right away.  Of course they always pick the crappiest weather to want to have babies.   Congrats on the new additions and the start of the lambing season.  It is colder than all get out over here and the wind is blowing with hard gusts this afternoon.  Hope that it warms up quick again.  They can function quite well in 30 nights and 50-60 days... but it is so hard on all babies in this cold wind; added to the wet ground from the rain and snow.


----------



## secuono

Sugar had a ram outside in the storm, half frozen, might have frostbite. 
Sire is Billy.



Willow had twin rams, brought her in before she had them. Sire is Michaelis. 




Some others look like they might go tonight, so I'm staying up & checking. 


Power is out because of a broken pole. Ugh. Always our house without power. Neighbor is fine. In my field working on another pole, too. Hate this house.


----------



## Mini Horses

Glad you found the lamb and hope it is ok.

Boo on power outage!


----------



## secuono

It seems that Juliana had triplets and lost them all. Frozen to death because of this shyt weather. 🤬😭🤬

Going to push back future seasons by another week. Such avoidable loss really 🤬 me off.


All of yesterday's lambs are alive, fed & healthy.


----------



## secuono

Moved Patchie & Ewenique in with the yearlings. Can check on them easier, they seem to be close.
Also moved in Raichu, but she might be practicing instead, not sunken like the other two.


----------



## secuono

Kakuna × Oreo
Twin rams.
She's acting a bit odd, might reject one or both.


----------



## secuono

🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
I knew it, she hates them. Trampling & ramming them.
She was hardly talking to them, would react if they talked, but not much. 
In the house for now. Will try to get her to take them tomorrow.


----------



## secuono

Brought Kakuna's lambs back out. She seems to accept the small one, first born, but is running away from the 2nd, occasionally licking and talking to him.   Fed them before putting them out, should have energy for awhile to argue with her.    Hoping she gets over herself.


----------



## Mini Horses

I'm with you on this kind of watch.  A FF doe delivered twins late day yesterday and walked!!  Slightly preemie.  Thankful for frozen milk & colostrum. 👍😲☹️


----------



## secuono

Had her tied short most of the day. Lengthened it for the night.
She still doesn't like that 2nd lamb. She'll stay tied until someone comes to get him or she accepts him. 



Everyone got their tails banded today & coats removed. Tomorrow, I'll do tags. 

No new lambs.

Let the Moos out & yearlings w/3 maybe due soon ewes out to a paddock. Brought Moos back in for the night, since they don't handle the cold well & need the barn.


----------



## secuono

Wide loads, Ewenique & Patchie.


----------



## secuono

Kakuna's rejected lamb went home to the same lady that got last year's bottle baby. I hear she's 80# now, no longer a teensie weensie baby!

Kakuna's other baby is a pig, he even nurses when she sleeps!



Just a cute pic of a confused Moo.


Everyone is tagged and ready for the community section of the barn in another day or so.


----------



## secuono

Icarus × Magnemite
Having to warm them up. Hope they snap out of it soon.
Ram and ewe, spotted.


----------



## secuono

So. Many. Rams!   


Icarus' lambs are doing well.

Then Articuno decided to lamb. Ram by Apostle.

And last, Ewenique had ram/ewe twins. By Billy.



Got the first 3 moms together-


----------



## farmerjan

That's alot of lambs all at once!  Alot of black ones too! Sorry there are so many rams unless they sell better...?  So glad that the weather has improved here in Va... even with the forecast rain coming, it is sure better than the snow and 13 degree temps and cold wind.


----------



## secuono

Rams/wethers are harder to sell, no one wants them. 

10:40am, gave Ewenique CalMPK, because she wouldn't eat and has been acting strange. 
12, she started lambing! She yells like a loonatic instead of the cute chatter other ewes do...lol, heard her while still dealing with Articuno & lamb. 
As soon as the 1st came out, she stopped the screaming & resumed normal chatter.

Lots of legs in the wrong place this year. 🤔


----------



## secuono

Articuno was spotted with a red end, but otherwise, wasn't acting like she would lamb. So, I dealt with Icarus' lambs first. 
Eventually, noticed her lambing and ran over.


----------



## secuono

🤔🧐🤔
I can't decide. She either had one of those "triplets" that froze or she's due soon. Udder is firm, I can't tell if she's leaner or not, indifferent about newborns. 
Time will tell...


----------



## secuono

farmerjan said:


> That's alot of lambs all at once!  Alot of black ones too! Sorry there are so many rams unless they sell better...?  So glad that the weather has improved here in Va... even with the forecast rain coming, it is sure better than the snow and 13 degree temps and cold wind.



It didn't quote you last time, trying again...



Rams/wethers are harder to sell, no one wants them.

Tally so far-
2 dead rams, 1 dead ewe.
9 live rams, 2 live ewes. 

And I'm keeping both ewelings.


----------



## secuono

secuono said:


> It didn't quote you last time, trying again...
> 
> 
> 
> Rams/wethers are harder to sell, no one wants them.
> 
> Tally so far-
> 2 dead rams, 1 dead ewe.
> 9 live rams, 2 live ewes.
> 
> And I'm keeping both ewelings.



Wait...that can't be right...

Ewenique × Billy, white ram & black ewe.
Articuno × Apostle, black ram.
Icarus × Magnemite, spotted ram & spotted ewe.
Kakuna × Oreo, two black ram.
Willow × Michaelis, two black rams.
Sugar × Billy, black ram, fast greying.
Fossa × Apostle, spotted ram & black ewe.
Juliana(& raichu?) & 2M, 1F dead.

That's 10 rams, 4 ewes.

I may keep the Ewenique eweling. Keeping the Fossa eweling & Icarus spotted eweling.


----------



## secuono

Patchie might be lambing today.

Icarus' spotted eweling. No, those aren't bits of shavings!
Definitely won't be visible once adult, lol.
I think I'll call her Persnickety.


Icarus' ram, just head markings.


----------



## secuono

Fossa's twins, male has head marks, but no other white. Ewe is solid black. I'll call her Kerfuffle.



Kakuna's lone twin, little, but cute.



Willow's twins.


Sugar's single.



Ewenique's twins.


Articuno's ram.


----------



## secuono

Shouldn't rain until Wednesday, so the first 4 went out today.
The others got tails banded & will be tagged later on. Then moved to communal living.











Eventually got the moos out.


----------



## secuono

Lapras × Magnemite 
Spotted ram.
Ugh, I really do not like rams!! Husband said we'll be eating a ton of sheep this time next year...

As soon as I figured out which sheep it was, I knew that most likely, she would need help. 2yr olds have issues, while yearlings tend not to. Funny, because most of the pet/hobby people are against yearling births, but they tend to do better than 2yr olds. How, why? Idk.

After watching for a bit and not seeing progress of the hoof coming out further, I corralled her and pulled. Big guy, one leg bent, locking him in. Pulled the forward leg out, pulled the head some and then was able to grab the locked leg and get it forward as well.


----------



## secuono

Well, he has a hernia into the scrotum. Cannot find anything that has info on newborns with it, genetic or hard birth being the cause. Guess I'll be banding him today to prevent blockages and death. Intestines can be pushed back in and testicles separated back down with ease, so, should go okay.


----------



## SA Farm

secuono said:


> 2yr olds have issues, while yearlings tend not to. Funny, because most of the pet/hobby people are against yearling births, but they tend to do better than 2yr olds. How, why? Idk.


My theory is that yearlings are more flexible and even being a little smaller may be beneficial as it could prevent the lamb(s) from too many acrobatics.
I think pet/hobby people tend to put too many human emotions/hang ups on their animals.
In nature, they breed when they’re ready. Many animals can and will choose if they want to conceive or not and will absorb/abort/etc if something is wrong. Too much human interference with nature tends to make things harder on animals, not easier (IMO). Just look at all the ones that can’t reproduce (like BB turkeys) or give birth without a c-section (like Pugs) because they were made that way by humans 🤷‍♀️

I’m not saying that interfering is wrong or that waiting until ewes are older to breed isn’t just fine if that’s what you want to do. Just that I, personally, prefer things as natural as possible as much as possible.


----------



## secuono

Had to do electrical work first. By the time I could go back out to band, it was no longer safe/easy to separate testicles from intestines, so I double banded for a short scrotum ram & he'll be food next winter. 
Such a shame.


----------



## secuono




----------



## secuono

Long day, had field fires because of power poles.


The ram is pooping & should find a home that's willing to get him surgery to make him a healthy pet.




Patchie still holding out.


----------



## secuono

Bit late, but they are tagged now. They'll go out with the others tomorrow!


----------



## secuono




----------



## secuono




----------



## secuono

2nd group went out this morning.







I am awful at guessing lambing times this year...been wrong each time. Lol. Still waiting on Patchie.


Fossa eweling has a short tail & looks to have the elusive wide spaced, straight front legs! 🤞 Pretty much impossible to tell conformation on lambs, so, will have to just wait n see.


----------



## secuono

Looks like Patchie will be 9 this year. She's noticeably slowing this pregnancy, so, I'm thinking next year will be her last.
Thin this time, too. Opened the last 2 paddocks with a little grass. Everyone except her are going down there to graze most of the time, so she's getting feed all to herself. Has hay, but not mush room in there for bulky hay. Lol



Icarus' ramling.
Lots of head white, but none elsewhere. Spotted tongue, though. Dad is heavily spotted. Mom is out of a spot carrier ewe. Mom also has a head mark & obviously the gene.
 Is he spotted though?


----------



## secuono




----------



## secuono




----------



## secuono




----------



## Mini Horses

Sure a lot of black ones this year!  😊


----------



## secuono

Gave Kauri a tail trim. Wanted to know if her leg hair-like wool on her lower tail would stay hair-like or turn into wool, so I didn't band her tail. 
Shearing is at the end of April, will have to tell him not to do her tail!


Finally sewn up Kibito's coat. She needs a bigger one, again!





And I tossed Raichu out. Her udder shrank, so one of those 3 frozen lambs must of been hers. 🤦🏽‍♀️ Two year olds are awful first time lambers...


----------



## secuono

Hirola × Apostle
Twin ewes!


----------



## farmerjan

Congrats on some ewe lambs.


----------



## secuono

Probably not all n probably some repeats.


----------



## secuono




----------



## secuono




----------



## TheCluckyClucker

Is Patchie the only one left to lamb?


----------



## secuono

TheCluckyClucker said:


> Is Patchie the only one left to lamb?


No. There's about 10 more mature ewes to go, then possibly a few first timers.


----------



## secuono

Hirola's girls





Latte had M/F twins
Ram has white on the tail.




Patchie might have pregnancy toxemia, not sure, but treating for it any way. Got her in the barn last night to be out of the rain. Free feeding pellets, vit e & b, oral calcium mix, need to pick up propylene glycol, though. She ate and pooped a bunch, so that's good. Guess this may be her last lambing instead of next year.


----------



## secuono

Well, that explains why she was big n uncomfortable!

   

Patchie × Magnemite 

She looked at me like, why are there three of them!?! Lol


Two girls, 1 boy. Keeping that white head/white tail ewe!
Boy was first, little girl w/white 2nd and black girl last. Both have a teeny bit of white on head, will see just how much once dry.


----------



## secuono

Gave them a bottle, tossed on coats and tucked them in with mom. 😴




Oh, 2nd girl has white on chest, so she's definitely spotted.


----------



## secuono

Patchie isn't letting them nurse long enough, doesn't seem to have much either, so another 2 bottles for them tonight.




Latte's twins


----------



## secuono

I think I'll call her Tiddlywink.




And I'm thinking of keeping the Fossa ramling, since mom is from Cali & dad died. So, he'd be his replacement, much better conformation than him & genetics from clear across the country. 🤔
Idk, I'll keep him unlisted while I decide.


----------



## secuono

Looks like Tiddlywink will be a full bottle lamb. Her sister might also become one, but is more serious about nursing from mom. The ram seems to gobble up all of the milk as it becomes available, so he doesn't need the bottle.

They were hardly getting down 3oz each 2x a day for the 3 of them, but they've managed more today and about 4oz for the 2 girls tonight. 

Nursing while mom sleeps, sits in stands!


----------



## secuono

Piccolo had a ram, but seems wide, like another might come.
He has a long tail.


Doesn't look empty in the loin, like they usually are once done.


----------



## secuono

Yamcha had a huge 10.2 pound ram. Dead. Looks like it was stuck.


----------



## farmerjan

Will Yamcha take the lamb the ewe doesn't want?  I know you are well versed in fostering lambs, and since tiddlywinks is a couple days old and has a little strength, she ought to be able to go on a ewe now ?


----------



## secuono

Triplets



Latte kept loosing a lamb, so they got locked back up the next day.


Bayley decided to have her ram in 23F temps. Luckily, he wasn't too big for her & he didn't freeze.


14 rams unspoken for, that's a lot of dog food and burgers!


----------



## secuono

All of Apostle & Magnemite ewes have now lambed.
Apostle was put out with everyone later on, so might have lambs from mutts and yearlings. 


For Oreo, he has the following ewes to lamb-
Lucia & Lucy.

For Michaelis, he has the following ewes to lamb-
Saola.

For Billy, he has the following ewes to lamb-
Eloise, Evangeline & Clefairy.


----------



## secuono

WELL!!

There's more mystery afoot! 🧐

Clefairy had a lamb! But...I found a 2nd. Dehydrated, but lively. She was too small to fit both!?
Could be out of Bayley instead?? She always twins. 🤔
None of the other sheep cared and Clefairy came up to the lamb, but early after birth, they may "accept" another until the hormones settle.

Then, need to DNA to find out sire!
Will also send samples for the 2 moms, just to be sure.

And last mystery??

"English Blue" gene is possible on the 2nd lamb! What???

This has been seen elsewhere and people freak, it shouldn't be possible at all in the breed, but...wtf??

Tons of mysteries to solve!

Best news is that both are ewelings! And either way, I'm keeping this odd colored lamb! For science!

Okay, picture time-


What???



Dad and Clefairy have similar, but showed as older lambs. Hmm...


----------



## farmerjan

It will be an interesting puzzle to figure out. Best thing is alive and healthy acting... and ewe lambs after all those ram lambs.


----------



## secuono

Tried to get lamb pics, but black is too difficult...


----------



## secuono

The oddball, Clefairy is feeding her.
Found a small grey patch on tail.









Moved Evangeline to the backyard. Seems close, but idk.
Might move the others as well, since there's only a few mature ones left.


----------



## secuono

FINALLY right on an impending lambing!
I'm usually good at it, this year, only one correct. Lol...

Evangeline had a ram, nose first, legs all the way back, stuck. No room for arm and neck, so had to push him back in. Then go elbow deep to find those legs!
Need to test for sire if anyone wants him as a ram. 
He was up, chatting & trying to nurse almost instantly. 
Big guy, had to lay him under to nurse, lol.



The 4 mature Babydoll ewes left to lamb. Separated from the rest, so they don't lamb golly knows where again...



Then, storm is coming. Decided to find what I could to somewhat enclose the carports. Can't wait until plywood comes down in price...
Also set up the creep area and had the first nibbler!


----------



## secuono

Morning surprise!
Lucia × Oreo, twin ewes!


Lucy, Saola & Eloise. Eloise doesn't really have an udder, hard to tell on the others.


----------



## secuono

Patchie's triplets have managed to get milk overnight while I'm not around.


But they're still piglets!




And Tiddlywink learned a trick!
Pawing to get scritches!
Also other cute lamb happenings.






And a full barn!


----------



## secuono

The tally so far.

▪︎Billy, 2R & 1E
Ewenique × Billy, white ram & black ewe.
Sugar × Billy, black ram, fast greying.

▪︎▪︎Mich escaped to Billy late, so 2 may of been bred by him instead. Will DNA test ewelings, can test rams if not wethered.
▪︎Michaelis, 3R
Piccolo × Michaelis, black ram.
Willow × Michaelis, two black rams.
▪︎Billy or Mich, 1R & 2E
Clefairy × Billy/Michaelis, black ewe, black English Blue ewe.
Evangeline × Billy/Michaelis, black ram.

▪︎Apostle, 3R & 4E
Articuno × Apostle, black ram.
Fossa × Apostle, spotted ram & black ewe.
Hirola × Apostle, black ewe, black w/tiny white ewe.
Latte × Apostle, black ram w/white tail tip, black ewe.

▪︎Magnemite, 3R & 3E
Icarus × Magnemite, spotted ram & spotted ewe.
Lapras × Magnemite, Spotted ram/shortscrotum.
Patchie × Magnemite, spotted ewe, headwhite ewe, head white ram.

▪︎Oreo, 3R & 2E
Bayley × Oreo, black ram.
Kakuna × Oreo, two black rams.
Lucia × Oreo, black ewe, black head mark ewe.


That's 15 rams, 12 ewes. Live.


Keeping for sure-
Apostle×Fossa ewe & ram.
Mag×Icarus spotted ewe.
Mag×Patchie spotted ewe.
Apostle×Hirola smaller ewe.
Oreo×Lucia smaller ewe.
Mich×Clefairy Blue ewe.

To keep or not?
Billy×Ewenique ewe.
Apostle×Latte ewe.

Available ewes-
Patchie×Mag
Hirola×Apostle
Lucia×Oreo
Clefairy×Billy/Mich


The ones that passed.
Juliana×mich, m/f black, froze.
Raichu×mich, ram black, too big/froze.
Yamcha × Oreo, black ram, too big.


----------



## secuono

Rams, will tag today, banded yesterday.



Need to get a pic of Fossa ram.

Keeper ewes-


----------



## secuono

Ewes. Inside ones banded yesterday, tagging today.


----------



## secuono

Someone lost their testicles before leaving the barn.
Parrot mouth, sucks. Poor ugly little guy.

People need to get to work on more genetic fault sheep tests!!





And then these lambs & their moms went outside.


----------



## secuono

Took samples from 10 lambs for codon testing today.




Patchie ram-


Patchie eweling


Tiddlywink 


Lucia ewelings




Lucia's lambs' head marks


Patchie eweling head spot


----------



## secuono

Left to lamb-
Oreo has Lucy.
Michaelis has Saola.
Billy has Eloise.

After them; Tatiana, Kibito, Seadra & the yearlings would have Apostle lambs.


As for the triplets. They are down to 1 bottle to share a day. Mom is producing enough milk to handle them the rest of the time.

Chose names for the other keepers-
Persnickety, Icarus ewe
Tiddlywink, Patchie ewe
Kerfuffle, Fossa ewe
Scuttlebutt, Fossa ram
Ragamuffin, Hirola ewe
Skedaddle, Lucia ewe
Bamboozled, Clefairy ewe

Waiting on codon results to choose between Lucia & Hirola ewelings, thus the dual pics.


----------



## farmerjan

It amazes me how fast they go from little wrinkly lambs to round and filled out and NICE LOOKING.  Your ewes must milk real good overall.  That is wonderful.  Scuttlebutt has a nice shape and stance already.


----------



## secuono

Icarus & Fossa ewelings are looking great. 
The Lapras wether is looking ideal, perfection....except for the hernia. 😭 Just my luck.
He's pictured with the parrot mouth wether on left. 


I can't wait to see how they grow. Maybe I can finally train my eye to see conformation on tiny lambs. 🤔


----------



## secuono

Patchie & triplets went out today.


----------



## secuono




----------



## secuono

Updated

Sold-
0181, 0182, 0176, 0179. A Hirola & a Lucia lambs, 0194.

Pending deposits-
0189 & hernia wether.


----------



## secuono

Week of the 25th is gonna be busy!

Shearing day, blood draws on 23 of the sheep a few days later, then some other unrelated things mixed in between. 

Hope i can figure out how to pull blood...


----------



## Alaskan

secuono said:


> Week of the 25th is gonna be busy!
> 
> Shearing day, blood draws on 23 of the sheep a few days later, then some other unrelated things mixed in between.
> 
> Hope i can figure out how to pull blood...
> View attachment 90556


First 3 times is really hard.....  after that, easy!

It is all about being able to "see" with your fingers!

Watch a bunch of you tube videos.


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## secuono

Lucia and twins were let out today. 

Last of the group.


Still waiting on the 3 mature sheep. They're taking their sweet time.


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## secuono

Yup, one got stuck already in the sheep panel. Not this one, though.


And Lucia looks like a soggy, sad bear-dog. 🤣


----------



## secuono

Patchie & triplets.


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## secuono

Kicked rams out of a paddock, locked the 1st one and let the moms n lambs into the 2nd paddock the rams were moved out of.

Moved the older LGD in with them and younger in temporarily for practice.


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## secuono

Got two more troughs for hay and water for them, too.
Moos moved to arena & easement. Also got a new trough for hay. Trying to ease them into living out on 20acres & not as big babies...
Thin moms dewormed 2 days ago.
First CDT shots for lambs tomorrow or Sunday.


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## secuono

Alaskan said:


> First 3 times is really hard.....  after that, easy!
> 
> It is all about being able to "see" with your fingers!
> 
> Watch a bunch of you tube videos.



I'm hoping it's easier than I think it is. Certainly looks easy, but doing it alone will be a crapshoot.


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## secuono

Still waiting on the 3 ewes, but Kibito was done baking.
Twin rams. Sire is Apostle.



They're spotted.


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## secuono

The rams-


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## secuono

Did posing last year & it sucked. Did it again this year & won't bother to do it again in the future. Not worth it.


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## secuono

Looks like I didn't post the hay wall.
This is what I roughly want to do for winter.

2 days later, rotating.
Looks like I'll definitely need a board angled to slide hay over, but should work otherwise. 


And Kibito lambs.


----------



## farmerjan

secuono said:


> View attachment 90722View attachment 90723View attachment 90724View attachment 90725View attachment 90726


That's quite a group of lambs....


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## secuono

Seadra, Kibito's daughter, had twin rams. One didn't make it.
Ugh, why are we back to having more danged rams??
Had to milk mom to feed him, then he had enough energy to figure it out himself. Mom moves around too much.


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## secuono

Eloise finally lambed!
Ram/ewe twins, black is ewe. Have to parentage test, should be Billy, but could be Michaelis. 
Lucy & Saola left.


----------



## secuono

Codon results for 9 of the 10 lambs. Ewe 183 needs retesting because they're having issues with her sample.  Hopefully, by Monday they'll have hers in.

Now I can list the 2 other ewes that don't work.

Keepers-
Dang, wish he was RR, but ah well.


Waiting on her results, but keeping her.




Two sold ewes.


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## secuono

Dang...shouldn't of sold Eevee!


----------



## Alaskan

C


secuono said:


> Dang...shouldn't of sold Eevee!
> View attachment 90824View attachment 90825


Cool colors!!!


----------



## secuono

Left Kibito & twins in side yard.
Moved Seadra & her teeny lamb into barn.
Eloise & her twins are also in there.

Put up a new creep feeder in the other side of the barn. Fenced that little yard to allow access to the barn from the 3 road paddocks.

First timer Hickory, lost a huge ewe lamb. 🤬🤬🤬😭


Moved all moms n lambs to the top two road paddocks.
Left the ewes who lost lambs out there to join the moms/lambs.
Then moved out the final expecting ewes to the barnyard. Fenced it so there's no hiding areas or paddock access. Several cameras are on them and its a small, bare yard, so hopefully, I won't miss another...

Tatiana looks very close. Saola, in the other yard with Lucy and Moos, looks almost close.


----------



## secuono

The lambs love their alfalfa!


Eloise lambs-


Seadra & teeny tiny lamb-


----------



## farmerjan

It is teeny compared to her all wooly.  Sorry you lost the big ewe lamb... with having so few ewe lambs.  LOVE the color on the twins....


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## secuono

farmerjan said:


> It is teeny compared to her all wooly.  Sorry you lost the big ewe lamb... with having so few ewe lambs.  LOVE the color on the twins....


Yeah, she probably has 4" of wool, or maybe more.
He can walk under her without touching her. 4# vs 200+ is pretty nuts. Mom is still so klutzy, too. Gave them an end jug in hopes it's enough room not to squish him.


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## secuono

Well, Tatiana decided that if 3 was cool for another mom, then she must have 4!
2 girls, 2 boys. Girls have white on head.


----------



## farmerjan

Talk about an over achiever.... WOW.  And all alive.... Hopefully they will all be able to get a good feeding of colostrum... will you pull one or 2 or just supplement on the ewe for awhile ?
So that leaves one more to go?   
Did you get any snow today out of this rain/wintry mix?  What a cold miserable mess...


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## secuono




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## secuono

Listed 2 as bottle babies, B & G. They're slightly smaller, less serious about milk.
All are deadfast against bottle feed, never had any vehemently refuse as these guys. Good grief...

Anyway, T about 12hrs before lambing. They were high n tight! Hardly looked like 2, let alone 4!


----------



## secuono

farmerjan said:


> Talk about an over achiever.... WOW.  And all alive.... Hopefully they will all be able to get a good feeding of colostrum... will you pull one or 2 or just supplement on the ewe for awhile ?
> So that leaves one more to go?
> Did you get any snow today out of this rain/wintry mix?  What a cold miserable mess...



On extra feed. Listed the 2 slightly smaller ones as bottle babies. 

Two mature Babydoll ewes still left to lamb & 9 potential first timers. 



Hoping to catch the 9 and trim their backsides, since shearing is still a week away and I can't see jack squat!


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## secuono

Balsa will lamb, donno when, though.
Got the 9 butts trimmed & feet also cut.


----------



## secuono

Saola had twin rams.
😑


Waiting on Lucy & the 9 first timers now. 

Tally, in all, so far-

27 rams & 16 ewes.
😑 Rams taking a strong lead again.


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## secuono

Eloise eweling already stressing me out...She escaped her jug the other day and was in with Seadra. Today, she got stuck in the hay feeder. 




And, two others decided to get stuck in the fence at the same time.


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----------



## Mini Horses

So buy Evee back?  Was he bred there by animals you still have?  Try for more in same breedings?  I assume you're keeping both of those colored offspring of Evee. 😊

Hindsight is wonderful!   🤣


----------



## secuono

Mini Horses said:


> So buy Evee back?  Was he bred there by animals you still have?  Try for more in same breedings?  I assume you're keeping both of those colored offspring of Evee. 😊
> 
> Hindsight is wonderful!   🤣


Nah, can "recreate" her. One of the quads looks just like she did as a lamb, white head marked, and seems to have better wool to boot. Hopefully, she'll have a nicer temperament. They're a state or two away, too.


----------



## secuono

Any lamb born now would be by Apostle, including Lucy's. 
I can't remember exactly when I removed him, as late as December 12th, though. Makes lambing season continue until May 13th.


----------



## secuono

Seadra's lamb injured its leg, carrying it. Guess he got stepped on, but don't feel a break.


----------



## Margali

Hopefully he just wrenched it like mine did. 🤞


secuono said:


> Seadra's lamb injured its leg, carrying it. Guess he got stepped on, but don't feel a break.


----------



## secuono

Balsa seems to be getting closer, definitely more friendly now...


----------



## secuono

"Get outta my way!!"





The injured baby.







Moved Eloise out with Saola + lambs & Lucia & Moos. I'll move everyone out there soon.











Plucked T's blanket, since she always has wool break from lambing, then cut the rest.
less sheep I need to argue with on shearing day, the better! Lol







Keeping this ewe.


----------



## secuono

Got headshots of the currently tagged Babydoll lambs.


----------



## secuono

Got a working chute set up for shearing. Hope it works. 


Put the sheep in the driveway & dog yard to mow.


----------



## secuono

Tagged the last 4.


----------



## secuono

Moved again.


----------



## BrahmerQueen

secuono said:


> Got headshots of the currently tagged Babydoll lambs.
> View attachment 90974View attachment 90975View attachment 90976View attachment 90977View attachment 90978View attachment 90979View attachment 90980





secuono said:


> Moved again.
> View attachment 91004View attachment 91005View attachment 91006View attachment 91007View attachment 91008View attachment 91009View attachment 91010View attachment 91011


You breed babydolls!?? And are those zebus!!


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## secuono

BrahmerQueen said:


> You breed babydolls!?? And are those zebus!!


Yes. For awhile now.
Starting breeding registered zebu, too.


----------



## secuono

Going to be trading my white ramling for this white ramling. 
Though, if the 2nd white ramling born ends up better looking, I'll see if she wants him instead. 


The 2nd one.


----------



## animalmom

Your wee sheepies have the cutest faces!


----------



## secuono

Tons of fake interest in bottle babies this year. So, Tatiana's quads will be fully her responsibility.
After shearing day, I'll setup the creep feed area again for her lambs to hopefully use sooner rather than later.




Seadra's ram


Ripped a fence out & letting them eat it clear.


----------



## Alaskan

secuono said:


> Tons of fake interest in bottle babies


As in they say they want them... but then don't actually hand over money?

Gorgeous pictures!


----------



## secuono

T is a very protective mom. Cat is currently okay, but other sheep are not!
Had to put a divider up at the hay wall to limit her Tboning everyone...


----------



## secuono

They cleaned the fences.



Then cut out trees & thorns so fencing can go in.
13 ticks, lots of cuts & cursing later, it's ready for fencing.


----------



## secuono

Have to add posts & panel into the pond. Then posts out in the open section & gates for tractor to pass. 
More fencing will be reused, but first, most everything else needs to be done, so that the sheep don't escape while I'm putting up the fence. Lol


----------



## secuono

Results came back fast for the sample that had to be redone!
And a great result. The more RR, the closer to an all RR flock I'll get!


----------



## BrahmerQueen

secuono said:


> Results came back fast for the sample that had to be redone!
> And a great result. The more RR, the closer to an all RR flock I'll get!
> View attachment 91064


Is rr the natural gene?


----------



## TheCluckyClucker

BrahmerQueen said:


> Is rr the natural gene?


I was also wondering what RR meant.


----------



## secuono

BrahmerQueen said:


> Is rr the natural gene?





TheCluckyClucker said:


> I was also wondering what RR meant.




Testing for Scrapie resistance, specifically, Codon at 171.
All sheep are susceptible to contracting it, but some moreso than others. Test tells me how resistant to it they are.

QQ is least resistant. 
QR is in the middle. 
RR is most resistant.


----------



## secuono

Pulled the 2 smaller quads and put them in a jug. They still refuse the bottle, but chew it enough to get about 2oz down by accident of sorts. Takes forever, but choosing to starve to death isn't an option.

Kibito's rams, growing well.


The cull wether looking like a show club wether. Lol



Kakuna's ram, big n fat, since his twin left gave him all the good milk.


One of Willow's rams



Sheep seeds sunbathing


----------



## secuono

Shearing is tomorrow!!

T and the 2 on her will be kicked out to the roadside paddocks.
Seadra & the 9 will go into the back of the barn addon.
Then the mature ewes will go into the barn and front of addon.
Rams will be locked in the little yard around the barn. I'll try to halter & move them to the shearer in the morning to be done first and put back out.
The mature ewes will go 2nd and be kicked out to the backyard temporarily. 
The first timers will go last and stay in barnyard.

After shearer leaves, I'll finish the roadside paddock & move mature ewes back out there. Seadra will be moved there as well. Her ram is doing better & should be fine.


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## secuono

Tatiana's bottle eweling has finally decided that the bottle is wonderful. I'll be keeping her, other 3 will be sold eventually. The bottle wether for more, since I have to feed and do all the work. 
Her brother, on the other hand, is still fighting it. Took 30min to get 3oz into him by chewing. He did get up and come looking, but refused once bottle got near him. So, hopeful that it'll just be another day or two of struggling.


----------



## secuono

Ram is somewhat trying to drink, chews it, but doesn't seem to know how to suck on it. Getting milk down more easily, though, he still won't take it himself. 

Shearing 37 sheep took 3hrs and 15 minutes! That's 5min per sheep.

Papaya almost lost her ear today, you don't flail while getting peeled!!


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## secuono




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## secuono

Two that are due any day.





First shearing & she freaked out!! How dare the wind touch her skin?! Lol
She was fine a few minutes later.


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## secuono

Finally got the road paddock addition done!
Well, needs gates, but useable version of done.


----------



## secuono




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## secuono

And the rams-


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## secuono

T ram slowly figured out how to suck from the bottle!
He still won't take it himself & isn't eating enough at a time, but it's no longer taking forever to get a tiny bit in him. 
Video afterwards. Dark blue ram, light blue ewe.


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## secuono

Rough morning. 
Should of listened to the voice in my head that said "maybe this is too much for me to handle" and took her in sooner.
But, I guess with no previous failures at being able to pull lambs, I got overly confident and ignored it.

White ewe went to vet, she got it out for us. Ewe is on pain killers, ocxy and antibiotics. No tears, should recover to be able to try again next year. 

Black one is due next. I sure hope she doesn't have complications...


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## secuono

Balsa had a eweling! All on her own while we were gone.
Normal sized for mom's size. White ewe's lamb was slightly too big.
Balsa is now a confirmed spot carrier! Eweling has white on head, possibly elsewhere, too.


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## secuono

T's bottle babies. Ram is taking the bottle now.


----------



## secuono

Little S.H. guy is leaving soon.


----------



## secuono

T's ram left for his new home today as a wether. 
Scrotum hernia ram left for his home this morning.


----------



## farmerjan

secuono said:


> Balsa had a eweling! All on her own while we were gone.
> Normal sized for mom's size. White ewe's lamb was slightly too big.
> Balsa is now a confirmed spot carrier! Eweling has white on head, possibly elsewhere, too.
> View attachment 91201View attachment 91202View attachment 91204
> View attachment 91205


Glad the vet could get the lamb from the white ewe and a nice surprise to come home to.  At least they think she should be okay for another try.   
Your grass looks good and I am sure the sheep love it and the lambs look so cute scattered out all over.


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## secuono




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## secuono

Tatiana's Fuddy-Duddy wondering why Meowzer is eating her breakfast.


----------



## secuono

farmerjan said:


> Glad the vet could get the lamb from the white ewe and a nice surprise to come home to.  At least they think she should be okay for another try.
> Your grass looks good and I am sure the sheep love it and the lambs look so cute scattered out all over.



Grass is terrible this year. Should of left them on a dry lot on hay for longer.
This is roughly the same time last year vs now-


----------



## secuono

Here's an update on Papaya & her odd two tone black patching.


----------



## secuono

Little limpy, Seadra's lamb that got stepped on, is doing great.



They're too difficult to take pics of out in the big field.


----------



## secuono

Ewe who lost her lamb went out today.


And since it's supposed to rain most of this week, I'll leave the black mom & eweling in the barn. They'll keep T's bottle eweling company.


Last possible lambing day is May 13th, so we will see if any of the 7 or Lucy will lamb or not. 
If not, they're all getting tossed out onto the big acres. 
Moms that have all of their lambs pulled for weaning will also be tossed out there. Ones with lambs still on them will stay on rotation until their lambs are pulled for sale or are big and I don't feel like they'll get eaten.


----------



## secuono

😑
Neighbor sent a message that lambs were getting out.
So, had to move everyone over for the night. Got panels up over gates, but there's still gaps to fill.

8 rams, 1 wether got pulled for weaning today.
Gotta get a paddock ready for them. Had yard work done, so no side yard available this year.


----------



## secuono

They posed better this time. Even the inside of my barn isn't level...lol

My keeper boy-

The wether-

Two of Billy's ram, cut butt off, lol.


----------



## farmerjan

It is amazing how fast they grow and how well they fill out. They look real nice.


----------



## secuono

Fuddy-Duddy doesn't understand how the bottle holder works. Only drinks when I put my hand over it and stops when I walk away...🤦🏽‍♀️


----------



## secuono




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## secuono




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## secuono




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## secuono

Hernia wether at his new home. Banding him seems to of been enough to fix the hernia, but still had to be castrated surgically.



And another update.
Tapir from last year-



Another update, Chiapan from a few years ago. Dad was woollybully & it shows.


----------



## secuono

Fuddy-Duddy is a weirdo.


----------



## TheCluckyClucker

secuono said:


> Fuddy-Duddy is a weirdo.
> View attachment 91387View attachment 91388View attachment 91389View attachment 91390View attachment 91391View attachment 91392View attachment 91393


Not weird. Cute!


----------



## secuono

Fighting with the bottle leads to more on your face than in your tummy...lol



Let the youngest out today.


This one looks to be getting an udder.
different calculators say last possible date is the 20th.


----------



## secuono

Weaners & wether left for his new home. He was fascinated by turkeys.


----------



## secuono

Wether at his new home.


----------



## secuono

Wether made a friend already!


----------



## secuono

I just noticed a discrepancy and I'm not happy.

There were no escapes around the time this lamb was conceived, so, either the test is wrong somewhere or she bred through the fence!!

I'm triple checking everyone & sending out a lot of samples for parentage this week.

Sire is QQ, dam is RR, lambs can only be QR, but one is RR!! WTF, how?!

FML

Update 
Found a second with the same ram.
Collected a lot of samples yesterday & will be testing a lot of lambs. Ugh. Wtf. Guess I have to make sure everyone is a full paddock away from the next from now on.


----------



## secuono

So, Fuddy-Duddy jumps 30in to escape...She climbs everything like a rat, it's nuts. Spazy, too. 
She escapes to unsafe paddocks, so I can't let her roam during the day while I'm not there.
And the screaming, good golly, does she have some monster set of lungs!!


----------



## farmerjan

Had to use the laughing icon... I am sure it is not funny to you but the pictures of her are just too cute...WHO,  ME ??????


----------



## secuono

Thought about it & decided to risk it!
Out she went!
Put up panels over gates after she followed me out to the road...lol

0181 left for his new home today!
Others will trickle out after him soon.


----------



## secuono




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## secuono

Kibito, the goat-sheep. Lol


----------



## secuono

Thinking of breeding groups already. .

Not seeing an udder on Lucy. 🤬😭 And the others, could just be a bit of fat. 

Waiting on parentage results for 0171, Scuttlebutt. I may sell him instead of keeping him. 


Spotted,  2× registered
Magnemite-
Patchie, Lapras, Fossa, Latte, Juniper, Lucia, Icarus, Piccolo, Kakuna, Hirola.

Oreo-
Lucy, Juliana, Holly, Yamcha, Papaya, Katsura, Kauri, Balsa, Bayley, Articuno.


Solid, 3× registered 
Ross, all black pairings-
Mimosa, Clefairy, Raichu, Ewenique, Saola, Eloise.

White ram, all white pairings-
Hickory, Sequoia, Sugar, Willow, Evangeline, Sassafras.


And if I keep Scuttlebutt, these ewes will move over to him.
Patchie, Lucy, Balsa, Hirola, Sugar.


----------



## secuono

3 pulled for weaning.
I kind of want to keep 191 around to see if his legs really are wider set.


----------



## secuono




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## secuono




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## secuono




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## secuono

Lab got the samples today for parentage testing. Will get results in a week or so, hopefully. 

Sheep moved.



4 days left to see if anyone else was bred. But it looks like no. Dang it. 
Lucy is 8 this year and no lamb, will sell her next year either way. Hopefully, she'll have an ewe lamb to replace her.
Patchie, I may breed her one more time this autumn, then she'll be retired.


----------



## secuono

No new lambs, just problem sheep...😅


----------



## secuono

Looking so different looking in the face already.
Has britching wool past the butt, anything darker/more black, is the butt wool. Neither parent had it, so a hidden gene. Not sure if one or both need it for it to display. I wonder if her lambs will have it or not.


----------



## TheCluckyClucker

secuono said:


> Looking so different looking in the face already.
> Has britching wool past the butt, anything darker/more black, is the butt wool. Neither parent had it, so a hidden gene. Not sure if one or both need it for it to display. I wonder if her lambs will have it or not.
> View attachment 91579
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 91580View attachment 91581View attachment 91582View attachment 91583


Is that good or bad?


----------



## secuono

TheCluckyClucker said:


> Is that good or bad?



Bad.
Butt wool is more coarse than the rest, so spinners don't like it mixed all over the good stuff. Sometimes, I kind of like it over the springy stuff. Plus, it doesn't follow breed standards.


----------



## TheCluckyClucker

secuono said:


> Bad.
> Butt wool is more coarse than the rest, so spinners don't like it mixed all over the good stuff. Sometimes, I kind of like it over the springy stuff. Plus, it doesn't follow breed standards.


Oh. So you don't want to breed them.


----------



## secuono

TheCluckyClucker said:


> Oh. So you don't want to breed them.


Gotta breed them to figure out how the genetics work to better avoid them in the future. 
Contacted Colorado wool lab for any info on it that they may have. So, we'll see what they reply with.


----------



## secuono

Hullaballoo went to his new home yesterday! He's on the friendly side, because he got the bottle occasionally. Pulled him day of, since he's a triplet & I like them to stay on mom as long as possible & it's just one stressor vs two, which can slow growth for a week.




Ram Hoosiewhatser & ewe Bupkis are going to the vet this week for their health certificate, then leaving for NC this weekend. Ewe will be pulled for weaning the night before vet visit, as it's in the morning. Then she and ram will stay in houseyard until pickup. Hopefully, the rain won't be too bad this week...


----------



## secuono

Two friendly boys.






Feel like keeping him to see if his legs really do stay wide. I keep watching him and he stands wide, but I'm obviously skeptical. Since 99.99% of them stand narrow! Lol

Back top left in this one. FD wanted her spot in the light. Lol


----------



## secuono

Lambs still available-


----------



## secuono




----------



## secuono

Rain n more rain...Hoosiewhatser & Bupkis, muddy...lol.


----------



## secuono

Doncha just love it when you're on time to the vet's own house, but he isn't?
Never know when to call the office to see what's up or if it's too early to call. Lol.

Had them looser, but they tangled and rolled...ugh.
Got them shorter now.
The biscuits are for stray dogs I find on the road...lol.


----------



## secuono

And, moved over to the office to wait...


Update.
Vet was in a rush, so I didn't get a chance to ask about AI in sheep. I see a lot of posts asking about AI, so wanted info for the ram side of it. 


In other news.
There's further madness brewing with the registries. 
Yup, you guessed it. FOUR of them now! FFS!!

All I can say is, do not join BSSBA now. 
Wait until BSR is settled and then decide what you want to do. 
I just want to slap someone and then go scream in a corner. I paid lifetime for BSSBA, which luckily, is being transferred over to BSR, but having to repay to have sheep registered is absurd. 
I'm hoping they sue and win.


----------



## secuono

Wow.

Okay, so, you guys know those big, white & black carpet sheep that everyone is blindly crazy for now, right? Valais sheep.

There are 5-6 registries for them that are usa based!!!!
And, yes, there is relation to them and my registries having more registries cropping up!

😱😱😱


----------



## secuono

Split the weaners from the failed first timers & moved the ewes in with the rest of the flock. Fuddy-Duddy & the last born eweling/mom also rejoined the flock.
Clefairy & her lamb were sleeping so deep, it took 30min for them to realize that everyone had left them. Lol


----------



## secuono

🤔
When the mutt has the best legs of every purebred in your flock....🤦🏽‍♀️ FML!

This is Limpy, Seadra's lamb that got his leg stepped on. He's looking fabulous!


----------



## secuono

The drama of the 3rd/4th registry continues. I'm trying to keep it out of my FB groups until both parties have figured out their 💩!

In other news, Hoosiewhatser decided to sprain his leg. Pickup has been postponed a week & now we wait n hope to see the limp improve.

It's always something. Lol

If weather is decent, blood collecting is happening Monday & samples shipping out Tuesday. Never shipped liquid blood before. Hoping I don't F it up, as it'll be an expensive failure...


----------



## secuono

Forgot that Kookie, a Patchie triplet, was also leaving today. 


And someone wants to see 4 ramlings today, too. Since I have so many rams, I've decided to let them come out n choose. So, I'll have to catch them...Hope they take one home!


----------



## secuono

Repeat buyer took Kookie home this morning! They may come back for the mutt eweling.



Afterwards, a new to the area family came by.
The 4 they were originally interested in, but...



The fiber ram they ended up choosing for their fiber farm.



They also want a zebu baby when mine have one, lol.
And they'll be back next week to pick up a mini horse. She doesn't believe in hot wire, so I've decided to rehome her sooner rather than later. Just need to clear my horse trailer out & train her to load up.


----------



## secuono

Caught the other Kibito ramling for weaning.


----------



## secuono

Hoosiewhatser & Bupkis are leaving this weekend.
A mini horse is leaving the same day.
Swapping white ramlings the following weekend.
Might be driving out to get 2-3 ewes from West Virginia.
Might be hiring transport to pickup 2 adult ewes from Kansas.
On a wait list for 2 ewes from Ohio.

...still have a bunch of ramlings to sell or turn into dogfood.


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## secuono

Parentage results returned.
I was right, the lambs with an RR sibling are Mag babies, not Apostle babies.

The following are Mag sired-
170
171
185
184

Oreo-
187

Rest were correct.

Whoops, forgot the pic-


----------



## secuono

Update on a sold lamb! 

Hernia wether at his new home, celebrating Stevie, the pig's, 1st bday. 
🤣


----------



## secuono

Ramlings


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## secuono

Well...That was a 💩 experience.

Hours later, 2 people covered in ****, many pissed off sheep and a lot of wasted supplies.

For what?

A literal half of a drop of blood!

I need to call the vet and pay him, just to get these tests done...

My prices went up because of covid, but they're staying up because of testing vet bills.

Only real blood letting came off of my leg. 

Even bald necked Tatiana couldn't help us figure out how to draw blood!




Anywho....

Hoosiewhatser & Bupkis left to their new home. 
Still no luck with the rams/wethers left. Will have a lot of dog food at this rate.


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## secuono

Moved again. They spent 2 days in backyard & barnyard to mow a bit first.
Then down to the bottom field. 
Can't even see them.


----------



## secuono

Vet scheduled for next week.

We keep trying the sheep meat I got as a trade. Yesterday, we had leg of lamb/sheep. Idk if it was from the yearling ram or the adult ewe.

Roasted it, with potatoes, for almost 2hrs to get it to show fully cooked with probe. 🤦🏽‍♀️

But, it was the best tasting thus far!
Could hardly tell it was sheep. Had a flavor, but nothing like licking a sheep!

Rest of the ground meat in the freezer will be dogfood, as it's way too gamey. Two leg steaks and 1 leg of lamb are left. 

There were more potatoes, we just ate them while waiting for the lamb to finish cooking. 😅


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## frustratedearthmother

Looks delicious!


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## secuono

Since transportation is currently a crapshoot, I won't be getting the far off sheep.

Getting the two West Virginia ewelings myself.

Several lambs should be leaving within the next two weeks. 🤞🤞🤞
Ram 0198, the only 2nd white.
Ram 0182.
Ewes 0196 & 0184.
Rams 0175 & 0186, as wethers.
Rams 0200 & 0202, as wethers.
And trading white rams.


Everyone got dewormed yesterday and moved yards today.


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## secuono

Final lambs will be pulled sun/mon, vet Tuesday and then all ewes & keeper ewelings will be dewormed & kicked out to the big field. I hope they don't ruin the horse track...
Gotta mow the big field as well. Hoping to get to it this week.


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## secuono

Wether 0177 left to his new home.



At the vet to euthanize my old housecat now. Another ramling will be leaving after I get back.


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## Alaskan

secuono said:


> Wether 0177 left to his new home.
> View attachment 92005
> 
> At the vet to euthanize my old housecat now. Another ramling will be leaving after I get back.


Ah, so sorry about the cat.


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## secuono

Scuttlebutt was listed. Good looking, but not replacing his dad yet. 


Tatiana's lambs, most of them. Lol


Whippersnapper left today.


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## secuono

Some other weaners to move out.


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## secuono

Fuddy-Duddy


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## secuono

The keeper Babydoll ewelings


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## secuono

Ewes Lollygag & Doohickey went to their new home today.


Waiting on breeder that I'll trade rams with.


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## farmerjan

It's great that you are getting the ones all moved on to their new homes.  Some of them are still so cute....even as they have gotten bigger/older.


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## secuono

New ramling!
I got the better deal. 🤭


----------



## secuono

0178, still very friendly. 


0182, still waiting on his buyer to show up.


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## secuono

200 & 202 were pulled & banded.



Then 175 & 186 got banded.


Food!!


Lastly, got my new ewelings!


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## secuono

2hrs and everyone is done!
Zim was upset by strangers & ewes being separated. He complained, directly, at us the whole time. As soon as we let the girls out, he stopped. 😅


Moved the weaners, last night, to a new paddock. 



Ewes in a new paddock. They didn't eat it fast enough to move them out. So, it'll be a few more days.


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## secuono

Friendly 0178 has a deposit on him!
He'll be a spoiled pet wether.


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## secuono

The twin brothers will be picked up tomorrow.

Edited, forgot about 2 rams. -
The last available lambs-


----------



## secuono

Twins went to New Jersey today!
Super hot n humid out, hope it's nicer up north!


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## secuono

Wethers 0175 & 0186 went to their new home today.


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## secuono

Both of this year's friendly boys will be going to their new home together!
Wethers 0192 & 0178.

Final lambs left-
One registered Babydoll Southdown ramling, spot carrier. 
One Babydoll Southdown ramling, can be wethered. 
One BFL/Cheviot×Babydoll ram, can be wethered. 
One BFL/Cheviot×Babydoll ewe. 
One fiber lamb, Corriedale×Babydoll ram, can be wethered.


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## secuono




----------



## farmerjan

secuono said:


> Both of this year's friendly boys will be going to their new home together!
> Wethers 0192 & 0178.
> 
> Final lambs left-
> One registered Babydoll Southdown ramling, spot carrier.
> One Babydoll Southdown ramling, can be wethered.
> One BFL/Cheviot×Babydoll ram, can be wethered.
> One BFL/Cheviot×Babydoll ewe.
> One fiber lamb, Corriedale×Babydoll ram, can be wethered.
> 
> 
> View attachment 92209View attachment 92210View attachment 92211View attachment 92212View attachment 92213View attachment 92214View attachment 92215View attachment 92216View attachment 92217


That's great that you have sold most all the lamb crop, that you were wanting to sell.  
Very nice pictures of the farm.


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## Alaskan

secuono said:


> Both of this year's friendly boys will be going to their new home together!
> Wethers 0192 & 0178.
> 
> Final lambs left-
> One registered Babydoll Southdown ramling, spot carrier.
> One Babydoll Southdown ramling, can be wethered.
> One BFL/Cheviot×Babydoll ram, can be wethered.
> One BFL/Cheviot×Babydoll ewe.
> One fiber lamb, Corriedale×Babydoll ram, can be wethered.
> 
> 
> View attachment 92209View attachment 92210View attachment 92211View attachment 92212View attachment 92213View attachment 92214View attachment 92215View attachment 92216View attachment 92217


A few of those are true stunners...  POW worthy


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## secuono

Pretty good job! Should of gotten a pic before letting them in.



Mutt ewe & a ram may have a home lined up. Will have to deliver them, though.


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## secuono

Easement mowing.




Edit-
Mutt ewe & ram deposit paid. Will be driving them to PA!


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## secuono

Weaners grazing their big paddock. 
4 leaving this week, 1 leaving next week. Leaves 1 mutt & 2 Babydoll rams to sell.


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## secuono

Wethers 0178 & 0192 went to their new home today!


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## secuono

Well...birds ate my bands...
Luckily, there's only 2 rams left that could be banded.


----------



## secuono

Test results came in, so fast!

And....

All negative! 🎉

I had to Google the scientific names to figure out the common names of each test. Lol.


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## secuono

Split off Fuddy-Duddy, Balsa & her lamb from the rest. They went in with the weaners & 3 new white lambs. The others went out to summer grazing. They'll be gathered back up in October.


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## farmerjan

Grass looks real good.  Hope you have been getting enough rain without getting drowned.  Some areas getting too much, downpours and such but we have been getting about perfect rains, when it comes down.  Little too much wind with trees coming down, but not anything too drastic.


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## secuono




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## secuono

Balsa & her eweling, Lickety-Split.


Fuddy-Duddy


Tatiana needed a shirt for her wound to keep flies off.


----------



## secuono

Trip to PA was successful!


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## secuono

Spot carrier ramling, 0182, Balderdash, finally left to his new home this morning!


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## secuono

Tiddlywink thinks watermelon is nasty. So does everyone else...lol


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## secuono

Troublesome Tatiana...
She always has wool break from lambing & puts everything into feeding them. Makes for excellent lambs, but...

This year, she hurt her back somehow. 
Tried fly spray 3× a day.
Then ointments. 
And super glued her own wool on.
Even used straight Elmer's glue on it to coat it...

Everything failed!

6 days ago, I found an oversized tanktop of mine & put it on her.
Later, I realized that it needed leg straps or she'll rub it off. So, added those.

Failed 2 days ago. Only found one half of the shirt. Lol

2 days of fly spray & nail polish, then a real coat was ready.


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## secuono

Update on a wether. Bit spoiled, I'd say.


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## secuono

Wethers-
Corriedale×Babydoll 12wk, available 
Babydoll/Corriedale×Babydoll 11.5wks, pending
Babydoll 14wks, pending 

The two on the right will be picked up in 2-3wks when fencing is done. Deposit paid.


That leaves Scuttlebutt & the Babydoll×Corriedale wether to sell. 

All of the weaners & Balsa are moving to the next paddock today, when there's a break in the rain.


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## secuono

Little guy was passed on, as he'll be too tall.


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## secuono

Corriedale × Babydoll wether looks to have a home!

Other two wethers will go next month. 

The ramling is still searching for a new barn.

Corri/Baby, lanky, ugly duckling phase! 







So jealous of those sticks!



And the ramling.


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## secuono




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## secuono

Corriedale×Babydoll wether finally got a home & left today!






Dodos, don't know how shade works...


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## secuono




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## secuono

Still not shade... 🤦🏽‍♀️


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## secuono

Last wethers left, 1 ramling to go!



Thinking of a name theme for next year...Maybe space related. 🤔


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## Alaskan

secuono said:


> Last wethers left, 1 ramling to go!
> View attachment 92935
> 
> 
> Thinking of a name theme for next year...Maybe space related. 🤔


Planets that are no longer planets


----------



## secuono

Balsa's eweling, Lickety-Split, broke her leg! White as a ghost, too.

Wrapped for now, hoping I can find a vet to see her that won't cost a fortune at such short notice tomorrow.


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## SA Farm

I’ve never dealt with it myself, but I watch Sandi Brock on YouTube and she wraps breaks with vet wrap, uses paint rollers cut lengthwise in half to brace, then wraps with vet wrap again. You can look up a video to see if it’s something you could do even temporarily.

Hope she’ll be okay


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## frustratedearthmother

Oh no - hope you can get her fixed up!


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## Alaskan

Oh good grief!

How did she manage to do that?


----------



## secuono

Put a camera & light on her. She's been up eating n drinking over night and this morning. Has an appointment in a few hours.


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## secuono

Alaskan said:


> Oh good grief!
> 
> How did she manage to do that?



I'm assuming a horse kicked or trampled her. I can't see any other way it could of happened. 

I kept her out of the big field earlier, should of continued to keep her out, but thought she might be finally big enough to be fast & stay out of the way. Guess I was wrong.


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## secuono

Waiting on the vet.
Color slightly improved, poop normal again.


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## farmerjan

Best of luck with her, hope the vet can get her set and it will heal.


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## secuono

Cast on, waking up and waiting on shots. 
3wk recheck, probably 5wks before cast removal.


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## secuono

Straight to food.


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## Alaskan

Poor little teddy bear!

I am glad the vet could fix it!


----------



## secuono

Lickety-Split 


Forgot to coat Kibito & Seadra. 😅


----------



## secuono

She's obsessed with the rabbit in QT. 😅
She has no sheep friends, even her mom has ignored her since birth, so, bun it is, I guess.


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## secuono

Had to fence her away from the bun, she kept knocking the water off. 😑


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## secuono

While we wait for her leg to heal, I'll be planning what to do for paddocks.


Husband has lost it & we're having a house built on the big land. Because moving is impossible or something. 

Anywho, my horses live on a track. Excellent for them.
But my sheep do not believe in hotwire. FFS. They routinely ground it out, snap wires & posts and I'm so sick of it. 
I need to carefully measure out all my current paddocks and then map out placement for at least 10 more! 
As a recap, I have 7 on 4 acres and then roughly 3 on the new land. 
A driveway will cut through one, which will force me to redo some fencing by the road. 

I want to do 60 days rest before the ewes & lambs return to the 1st paddock. And I'm thinking 3 days in each is as short as I can do, since I'll need too many paddocks otherwise. 
3 days means that I need 20 paddocks to rotate through. 

I want to still have horses on a track, but that gets tricky.
At this point, I wish I had hair sheep!!

10 paddock strips. About 5k in tposts, gates and fence rolls. 
Rest could be winter grazing. Horse track is turned off then and horses are out in the big field. Though, with this setup, I'd probably end up rotating the horses through the paddocks instead of keeping them in the big field. 


11 paddocks, roughly, to use up the good land. Good means mostly weed free and easy to mow!


I now have cattle, which I will use to rotate immediately after the ewes. They respect hotwire, so I won't worry about them and fences. I'll use them to break the worm cycle. 

The other alternative is to confinement raise the lambs. Once all sale ones are weaned, start rotating ewes & keeper lambs. Sale lambs stay in confinement. Then rotate cattle after the ewes on the 10 paddocks and hope it's enough of a break to stop the parasites. This will save me the labor and upfront costs, but I will be feeding alfalfa pellets and hay for 60 days more than I already do. I don't know if the ewes will bounce back on just hay or if I'll have to pellet feed them as well. If so, it'll be costly!


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## secuono

Ugh, made the mistake of asking FB and they're fixated on hotwire. 🙄 So off topic, like always. 

I think I'll try rotating the cattle after the sheep next year. But I want cows separated from bull/steer. Read I can graze together with the same effect. So, female cattle with the ewes & lambs. And male cattle with the rams one or two paddocks behind them. 
And probably try to partly confinement raise moms' with lambs. Kind of already do, by waiting to have several moms n lambs older than a week-2wks before moving them out. Just need to hold onto them longer. That'll let grass grow in fuller n taller before being grazed, less stress on the land and less grazing to the dirt, which is also bad.


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## secuono

Lickety-Split is being picky, so ground her food up.


----------



## secuono

Neem, 0164 ram from last year.
FB is an easy way to get updates on your stock growing up. Annoyingly, selling after a year or two is highly common. I don't get it, pay so much just to use for such a short bit of time.

He turned out nice.


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## secuono

Another update!

Scrotal hernia ramling this time.
He's big, he's needy & he's adorable. 
Baby pic is 1st to remind people of what he looked like. See how the spotting is muddled once wool grows in?


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## secuono

The big boys getting along with ramlings.







And Lickety-Split. Has a checkup tomorrow.


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## secuono

Dry cast with room, so 3 more weeks before possible removal.


----------



## farmerjan

Is it healing okay except slowly?   Looks like she is getting along pretty good though.  
The change in the color and the white mottling blending in is a big wow.... nice lamb and fantastic growth. Sorry he's got a problem with the hernia.  Can they grow out of it?  Surgical fix ?  Or just castrate and make a wether?


----------



## secuono

farmerjan said:


> Is it healing okay except slowly?   Looks like she is getting along pretty good though.
> The change in the color and the white mottling blending in is a big wow.... nice lamb and fantastic growth. Sorry he's got a problem with the hernia.  Can they grow out of it?  Surgical fix ?  Or just castrate and make a wether?



Yes, vet said it looked great. He likes to do a 3wk check because so many end up wet and gross or other breeds grow so fast that it has to be changed.


I banded the sac to keep everything up inside. As I didn't want to risk it suddnly spilling out a lot and be an emergency. If I had done it a day sooner, I could of separated the testicles from the intestines and make him a wether, but that didn't happen.

The new owner had their vet remove testicles when they surgically fixed the defect.

Hope they send a shearing pic next year, as the contrast will "come back" for awhile. White area gets more n more black speckling over time, making it even more muddled.


----------



## secuono

Resting on the bad leg. That's a good sign?


----------



## secuono

Caught all the ewes for eye trims & health checks. Missing one white lamb that was bought in. 😭 Eventually found the remains. 
Then kicked out the tall sheep, to stop them from breaking my hot wire fence all of the dang time, and all of the lambs + one adult. She's too weak overall to how wet this farm is, so I'll be selling her off. Tatiana & Fuddy-Duddy are also listed, trying to focus on the better woolley sheep. 
About 18 days before breeding season starts.
Graining the sheep that were removed from the brood ewes. Not a ton of grass available, nor anywhere else to really put them than the barn/back yards.


----------



## Alaskan

secuono said:


> Caught all the ewes for eye trims & health checks. Missing one white lamb that was bought in. 😭 Eventually found the remains.
> Then kicked out the tall sheep, to stop them from breaking my hot wire fence all of the dang time, and all of the lambs + one adult. She's too weak overall to how wet this farm is, so I'll be selling her off. Tatiana & Fuddy-Duddy are also listed, trying to focus on the better woolley sheep.
> About 18 days before breeding season starts.
> Graining the sheep that were removed from the brood ewes. Not a ton of grass available, nor anywhere else to really put them than the barn/back yards.
> View attachment 93720View attachment 93721View attachment 93722View attachment 93723View attachment 93724View attachment 93725View attachment 93726View attachment 93727View attachment 93729


Do you know how you lost the white lamb?


----------



## secuono

15 days and the few ewelings who have been refusing grain are *finally* eating it. 🙄


----------



## secuono

Fuddy-Duddy sold. Still trying to sell Tatiana. Trying to keep to just Babydolls & the Corriedale n cross for fiber. 

Ill be removing Lickety-Split's cast this weekend, its been 6.5wks. Vet charged $53 for a piece of duck tape during last time's checkup, don't want to waste more unnecessary money. 😒 She'll stay in her pen in the barn for a few days or longer, depending on how she's using or not using the leg. Then go out with the rest of the lambs. 
She's also gained 10 pounds, so that's great.


----------



## secuono

🥳
Got a Filson tilt table today!
It's mostly for the Zebu, but going to adjust it to also work on the sheep!


----------



## secuono

Tatiana demonstrating. 
Raising the floor inside is needed for shorties. Will also help with head going through further and stop lambs popping out from the bottom. 
Will build up the ground in front, so they won't get stuck on their bellies. Lol
I'm thinking of making a back support. On rope with hooks, as the walls are straight & she would of slid out if it rotated too far over. 

I saw a huge chute that had a sternum bar. It kept them from laying down & choking themselves in the headgate. Seeing her butt sink a bit, thought that might be a good idea. But with the huge height differences, a belly band would be best. 

Opps...


----------



## secuono

6 more weeks of cast. Bone is still moving. FML. Cleaned & shrank her stall.


----------



## secuono

Sanded & painted the worst rust. Then started painting it the final color. More sanding and rust treating in the middle. They didn't have a nice purple, so it'll just be happy blue. 
The wood needs cutting to fit. It's treated 4" beams. Easy to remove when not needed.


----------



## secuono

Got a lot done today on the tilt-a-whorl. Lol
Almost came out clean, but then forgot I had just painted a bar and...opps!


----------



## secuono

Totally freaked out for like 2hrs because I had 10 lambs counted instead of 11 & I couldn't find #11 anywhere!!!
Eventually, DH goes out to count & I run out with grain to count the adults, in case lamb escaped to them...
When I got back, DH tells me, hello, the friendly lamb, where is it?
🤦🏽‍♀️
Fuddy-Duddy.
She's the "missing" lamb!
🤦🏽‍♀️
Sold her.

Anyway, rest are eating grain & hay. 
that brighter white is Hirola, not a lamb.


----------



## secuono

T demonstrating again, now that beams are in, lifting them 5.5 inches higher.


----------



## secuono

Found a purple-blue. Used it on handles, some top bars, leg hold, tilt stops, tilt foot presses, gate hooks & floor.


----------



## secuono

Lickety-Split's other leg is not having a good time supporting her weight. Twisting under from hip, so no way to brace/support it that I can think of. Ugh. 
Hope the broken one heals with this extra time or I'll have to euthanize her, as she clearly can't handle 3 legs. =/ 

I also didn't realize that it was breeding day. 😑 Have to make a trip out of town to pick up rabbit feed tomorrow, so, might not get around to that until Saturday. Should be 70F though, so nicer weather. And gives me time to haul the water troughs to the paddocks were needed & hay panels. 
Haven't made the keyhole type hay feeders yet. Will have to get on that!


----------



## secuono

The two ramlings are getting bored of waiting for ewes & started hounding their LGD. 😅 Heard a growl while checking buns & there they were, chasing, licking & kicking her. Poor dog. Lol


----------



## secuono

Summer was a rough time apparently. 🤔
New pics of the 3 that looked terrible.


----------



## secuono

Eating hay, they just prefer to scream at me for pellets any time they see or hear me. 🙄


----------



## Mini Horses

The last one, white, has a real disgusted look on his face!  

He rolled in something that clung.


----------



## secuono

Lickety-Split in a sling. Good leg is too stressed.


----------



## Mini Horses

Secretariat was put down more because of stress on other limbs than one being treated.


----------



## secuono

So, they had a party last night...
Where's the rest of your coat, seadra!?


----------



## secuono

Looks like BSRA will make/add BSSBA/I sheep into BSRA for free, just send in BSSBA CoRs & they'll make BSRA CoRs.
Sent in all of the ones I have, 30~, to the Registar. We'll see what comes of it.


----------



## secuono

Lickety-Split is being picked up by a fellow breeder, who also rescues farm animals. Leg will most likely be amputated & a wheelchair made for her. 

And with that, this thread is basically done. Onto the next.


----------



## secuono

And now, it seems I've met all of the main breeders in Va! 

Off to the sanctuary!


----------



## secuono

Final L.S. update.
Leg was chopped off, bone completely crushed, piece worked itself out. Wheelchair in use, sheep living in their house. She's making friends still eating like a hog.
All is good.


----------

