16th October 2014.....the boys meet the girls

[Sheepshape]

Today (as soon as it gets light) is the day for my rams to 'meet and greet' my ewes.

I had planned for it to be a bit later in the year, but, as one of my rams,Dave, has been threatening to jump every fence no matter how high to get to the girls,I thought it better to do things in a planned fashion.

I have 57 ewes and ewe lambs of which 54 Beulah Speckled Face and 3 Blue Faced Leicesters. 2 lambs were born way to late in the season (visiting ram!) and are too small. I have another 6 lambs,and will weigh them to ensure that they weigh 36 kg or more of their expected adult weight of around 50-52kg before sending them to the tup. The remainder are ewes in their prime (yearlings and 2 year olds) apart from a couple of 'elderly ladies'.

I have 5 rams in total....two adults, Goliath, Blue Faced Leicester, so named as he is enormous, and Dave (not so original a name)a Beulah Speckled Face. The adult ewes will be allocated to Goliath if big and to Dave if small. Ewe lambs who are sufficiently chunky to breed will go to Beulah Speckled Face ram lambs Jack and Rastus. Bruce,my remaining Blue Faced Leicester ram lamb will wait until next year.

This all sounds planned and logical,but I'm sure pandemonium will reign as they all converge on the shed to be sorted into their groups. Last year a few ewes decided that they wanted to be with the big guy and not the smaller ram........ Ewes like to choose their man too, and the bigger the better seems to be the rule.

All being well they will be scanned at the turn of the year to start lambing in March (an often miserable, cold and wet month here).

Just now I'll go to check that I still HAVE Dave or whether I need to go and retrieve him from my neighbour's fields! (Thankfully he loves sweet biscuits).......

 

[Baymule]

Please post pictures! Your sheep sound so lovely. 57 ewes will mean a LOT of lambs!!

 

[Sheepshape]

Here's a few pics of the mini flocks

Beulah Speckled Face (tough medium sized local hill sheep)

Ram Goliath (Blue Faced Leicester) with his ladies.....largely Beulahs,but one Blue faced Leicester in the foreground of pic below.

Ram Dave with one of his ladies, Phyllis.

This year,having been warm, the ewes are quite chunky going into winter....however, about half of my silage has been affected by mould due to the high temp and wet conditions, so I will have difficulty with feed in the spring,I think.

 

[norseofcourse]

Your sheep look really nice, and your pastures look so lovely and green, with so much room for your different flocks. You're going to have a lot of lambs!

 

[Sheepshape]

Thank you, norseofcourse. They are friendly and tolerant sheep (including the rams) which makes handling much easier.

Last year we lost a lot of lambs early in the season due to a variety of causes, so I'm praying for a better season next spring.

The ewes will be scanned at about the turn of the year,so we will know who is in lamb then......but the boys are 'working diligently'!

The grass is green right now,but, with the heavy autumn rains we have experiences in the last few years,this can rapidly turn to a sea of malodorous mud. Still, the ewes currently are fit and fat and run kicking and bouncing on all four legs on field changing, so I assume they feel good, too.

 

[Sheepshape]

I'm going to change my rams over in the next few days, but as the boys have been so 'enthusiastic' I am thinking most are already pregnant.

My old girl, Longface, who is about 11, has been allowed in with the ram this year as she found a ram of her own last year (the neighbour's ram must have jumped the fence and gone back without us noticing) and ended up lambing two months behind the rest.

 

[goats&moregoats]

Your sheep are beautiful

 

[Sheepshape]

My rams are coming out today.
The girls are in great form.......four-hoof bouncing and very friendly. I hope this indicates that they are pregnant. The rams have not had any positive responses from the girls recently, being quick to avoid them when they come 'a calling'.Hopefully lambing should start second or third week in March and run to just about the end of April, with most coming in the first few weeks.
I'll be getting them scanned at the turn of the year.