# Meet #49, our new St Croix ram lamb!



## rockdoveranch (Jul 8, 2011)

We had a nice, scenic 3 hour drive each way into the Texas Hill Country to see what is now our very first St. Croix!  We visited with the Shepherd and his family for 2 hours and had a lovely time.

The plan was to put #49 in one of our 4 pastures in our far east 9 acre track, but the pasture we put him in has a stock panel "gate" and he pushed it open before I had a chance to secure it.  We trotted right over to the ewe and lamb herd and has been with them ever since.  He is a BIG guy, as big as our Barbado mature ewes and he is not quite 4 months old.  He must weight 80 pounds or more.

You cannot see it in this picture, but he has a nice beard coming in.  The 4 year old ram they had was INCREDIBLE!

I wanted to try to get some pictures of him next to our Dorper ewe lamb who is a month younger to show the difference in size, but could not get them to pose together . . . as yet.

Not such a flattering picture, but he and/or the Barbado ewe may have been flattered by each other.  I don't know if he is a perfect specimen or not, but I fell TOTALLY in love with him.  I cannot wait to see how he matures out.


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## carolinagirl (Jul 8, 2011)

oh, he is AMAZING!!!!!


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## aggieterpkatie (Jul 8, 2011)

Congrats!  He looks like he's pretty big and has nice long legs.  Is #49 going to be his name or are you going to name him?    Although Forty-Niner is kinda cool.  LOL


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## boykin2010 (Jul 9, 2011)

Very pretty!  Is the ewe in front of him pregnant? she looks big


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## rockdoveranch (Jul 9, 2011)

Thanks All!

He is HUGE!  I am still trying to get some pictures of him standing next to our current crop of babies.  

We are not so good at names, but like you, Aggie, Forty-Niner IS kind of cool.

Yep, Boykin, both the ewes in front of him are due at any time.  The ewes we have now that are still pregnant were all bred by the right ram, so we are anxiously awaiting to see what colors we get.


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## doxiemoxie (Jul 9, 2011)

Such a handsome lad!  Is he minding his manners with his new herd mates? 

I look forward to more pics!


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## rockdoveranch (Jul 10, 2011)

49er is doing very well with the ewe and lamb herd.  

I had talked with a very nice, informative person with St. Croix Registry the evening before we went to see him and was told what to look for.  I sent the picture that I posted here and was told, "He's very nice in every way," and that he stands up on his pasterns exceptionally well.  

Here is a picture of 49er standing near our White Dorper ewe lamb.  He is almost exactly a month older than she is.


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## Lizzie098 (Jul 10, 2011)

Congrats! He's realy nice looking!


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## aggieterpkatie (Jul 10, 2011)

Hey Rock, are you wanting the lambs bred right away? Because if not you'll want to separate them.


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## rockdoveranch (Jul 10, 2011)

aggieterpkatie said:
			
		

> Hey Rock, are you wanting the lambs bred right away? Because if not you'll want to separate them.


Whitie (we are not so good with names) was born 4-15-2011 so she is not quite 3 months old.  She is a big girl in comparison to the Barbado born less than a week later.  She should be "safe" for another 3 to 4 months, right?  

We will be removing the Barbado ram lambs from the herd within the week and putting them in with the big boys.  We have not decided quite what to do with the ewes that have already lambed.  They would normally go into another pasture, put the drought situation is going to dictate that we keep them in the ewe herd that still has fairly decent grass.  Our original plan was to breed them with the Dorper that died.  They usually lamb 11 to 12 months apart even when left with a ram.


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## carolinagirl (Jul 12, 2011)

She CAN get bred at 3 months, although with this heat she is not likely to.   You are probably safe for maybe another month and then she needs to get out of there or something bad might happen.


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## aggieterpkatie (Jul 12, 2011)

carolinagirl said:
			
		

> She CAN get bred at 3 months, although with this heat she is not likely to.   You are probably safe for maybe another month and then she needs to get out of there or something bad might happen.


My friend managed a farm that had dorper and katahdins and one ewe got bred in July and lambed on Thanksgiving.  MD summers may not be as hot as Texas, but those hair breeds are known for "out of season" breeding so I would think it's definitely possible for them to breed in the summer.


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## carolinagirl (Jul 12, 2011)

crap....I am a month behind.  I was thinking the lamb is just now 2 months old....and she is really 3 months old!  Yep....I'd get her out of there now.  The man I got my katahdins from said he has never had one breed in the hottest part of summer, it CAN happens so don't risk it.


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## rockdoveranch (Jul 12, 2011)

Life was sure a lot easier when we just had the Barbado and kept the rams with the ewes year round. 

Sign me,

The Lazy Rancher, Want To Be


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## Bossroo (Jul 12, 2011)

In my sheep fertility studies at UCD... at least in Cal. ... ewes will start to cycle in mid June/ July when the temperatures are  100* +. This is to take advantage of producing a lamb in Nov., the start of the rainy season and the flush of new grass. Meat breeds such as Sufolk start to first cycle at 6-8 months of age.


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## rockdoveranch (Jul 12, 2011)

Bossroo said:
			
		

> In my sheep fertility studies at UCD... at least in Cal. ... ewes will start to cycle in mid June/ July when the temperatures are  100* +. This is to take advantage of producing a lamb in Nov., the start of the rainy season and the flush of new grass. Meat breeds such as Sufolk start to first cycle at 6-8 months of age.


When we did not remove the rams from the ewe herd our crop of lambs were always born just before and just after New Years.  On occasion we would have a ewe lamb in April.  We were told my an A&M veterinary professor that the lambs are born with something called brown fat to help get them through extreme cold, wind and rain.  

Now that we are in our 3rd drought in 3 years we are not sure yet what we are going to do about breeding.  Our luck if we do not breed the rains will come.  If we do breed the drought will continue.


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## jbourget (Aug 4, 2011)

nice ram but i prefere mine!


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