A NEW DIRECTION FOR THE OLD RAM

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day B M,I suspect in the arid zones the native herders run the rams all year round,but with regard to the young breeder ewes I would separate them and run them with a couple of old grandmothers to learn the ways of the flock before returning them beck to the flock at about 15 months old.It's funny they "never " forget who mum is and I often observe 2/3 generations with lambs at foot in the flock.

Pic's.1/2 are the boys after a "haircut".34&5 are the stud ewe lambs we purchased.

 

[Bossroo]

TOR, one of my neighbors has a flock of 50 mostly Suffolk x ews as well as Ramboulet, and Correidale ewes. For the breeding season he puts in a mature Suffolk, a 2 year old Barbados, a 3 year old Ranboulet , and a 7 month old Black Head Dorper that was easily half the size of the others. Come lambing time fully 70 % of the lambs born were sired by the Dorper. All of the lambs were born smaller ( not asingle ewe had any difficulty giving birth) than the lambs sired by the others, but were much more vigorous and outproduced the other in rate of gain, then were heavier at market ime, as well as brought a much better price at auction, since they were ready to be processed instead of being sent to a feed lot. Something to consider.

 

[Baymule]

VERY good looking ewe lambs! BIG butts! LOL

@Bossroo I have read and studied the 3 lamb crops in 2 years as well as 1 lamb crop per year. Most people seem to prefer breeding once a year. I know I am a very small shepherd but I want to learn all I can. I am leaning toward the 3/2 lambings.

 

[Eteda]

The Old Ram they are absolutely beautiful. I see some great mamas their. doropers, katahdins,barbados and st croix will all breed out of season. You can get two lamb crops a year if you feed them. Of course your heard has to be small enough to be manageable and feasible. My 13 year old dorper lambed twice her 12th year. however only producing one lamb the second time (Lee Lee) and not much milk. there for she has been retired. She will now be a bell sheep, and honor amongst my herd. Since I keep my rams separate I do not cull any ewe put to retirement. They are the baby setters for orphans and comforters to the infirmed. They also become the church sheep for live nativities as the pregnant ewe heavily by december cant travel. With the orphans they have the patients of a grandmother and experience the orhans need to learn. They teach the lambs to drink water, out of the pond too. They teach them to be weary of dangers. The lambs follow the older experienced ewes willingly. All you have to do is go out with your bottle lamb in to the pasture and follow that old ewe calling our orhan to keep up and rewarding it with a few sips of milk. Stay on her tail with in 10 feet or less of her as she grazes to and fro, up and down the pasture. When she lays to chew the cud lay with her teaching the lamb. it only takes a few days to teach the lamb which ewe to follow. Each old Ewe has a bell with a distinct tone. The lamb learns the tone and knows where the ewe is in relation to the herd. She will keep up with that ewe and that ewe will inadvertently raise that lamb for you if you will just feed it. Thus the orphan lamb can be put with a few ewes that have lambs the same age along with the old ewe. a creep pen built out of wood pallets can harbor food, salt, minerals and water for the lamb in the loafing area even if their is no barn. A source of milk can be put their for the lamb to nurse on through the day when you are at work. Within a week the small herd can be put back in with the main herd. however I keep the main herd in a small pasture by the barn to make things easier for the orphan lambs. Don't forget to cuddle and hold your orphan if it is a ewe lamb. The old ewe wont do that for you. If you want her to be a good mama and love her lambs, you must be a good mama and love her. The more you love her he more she will love her lamb. in this photo valentine 2/14/2007 ten years old still lays her head on her first born lamb 9 year oldLeapsy 2/29/2008 just like she did the day she was born. She has probably had around 30 lambs or so before being retired but I sold all but her first one.
most ewes really love their lambs.

valentine and her last lamb of Oct. 12, 2015

Mia twins ewes at 13 dorper and still in good flesh with lots of milk. they are 6 days old.

Im not sure how old Mia actually was. She was given to me with her two twin daughters that were born in 2005.
her daughter Ree Ree and the third lamb little bit of 2016 at age 12 also.

little bit and her 2017 lamb.

 

[Baymule]

@Eteda that is putting old ewes to good use!

 

[Eteda]

The old Ram,
have you used the long range injectable moxidectin yet on your sheep? I so want to try it on mine but it is not hear in the us yet. I cant wait until it is. Im watching and waiting on it. if you have, does it burn when you give it and what is your opinion of it. how does it compare to the liquid. what athletics or combination is your favorite and why.

 

[Eteda]

yes bay muel. I still have the first two sheep I started with. val was 3 days old and Ena was 4 months old. It will be a sad day when they go. However I plan on becoming a old retirement home for old ewes that can live out their last days in lush green pastures. I decided this year not to breed any more and have already sold my main herd ram a couple months ago. I still have the 2 1/2 year old st croix cross. but I keep him separate. Id like to trade him to someone for a couple banded rams just to keep the girls happy when they come in season. garth was a big nice ram. he was 202 lbs.

kennan I haven't weighed lately hes still growing hes gotta be over 150 though.

He has filled out and grown since I sold his father. My herd will just be pets for now. Ree Ree weighs more than the young ram. I think 187 when pregnant.

fay is my tallest ewe and lambed triplets. she put 8 lambs on the ground in 17 months. she tripled then twined then tripled again. that's from the breeding date of the first set of triplets to the lambing date of the third lambing and the second set of triplets. hear she is cleaning Joy.

a bucket full of joy!!! uh maybe a tractor scoop. LOL

Joy pregnant with her first. usta lay in the scoop. but cant seam to fit.

she cant fit in her old house either. shes obviously in labor and did not sleep well the night before.

Joy teaches her lamb to lay in the scoop. while ree ree and lee lee lay near.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day and thank you Eteda for you contribution,your love and respect for your flock has been rewarded by its productivity.For myself I'm "not" a fan of retirement plans for livestock as it takes good productive land out of production.I was not aware of injectable moxidectin,my concern would be the 130 day withholding period for meat.In the main "worming problems" are a result of "management" and low levels of worms should always exist in livestock.I try to avoid "blanket" de-worming except at times of extreme risk of an out-break,ie,shortly after the Spring and fall break.In the Spring I use Cydectin plus Tape for the lambs and normal Cydectin for the adults.In mid Summer I will use a narrow spectrum Barbers Pole /Liver Fluke and after the Fall break I will use normal Cydectin anywhere in between I use a white clear combination only on "effected" animals.For externals I "back-line" at shearing.

Of course Bossroo you are correct in your statements on commercial range land operations,because of the labor costs involved and even when we were breeding only 300 ewes it was preferable to bulk lamb.But its your individual market which determines how you proceed,currently we only need even lines of about 20 hd in lambs for our marketing ,what is more important is the "timing" as apposed to the numbers.The focus in the new flock will be a more controlled delivery of stock for the markets because of their ability to "season" out of season.I have no doubts about the fertility and "keenness" of the Dorper rams in getting the job done.The reason I want to use the existing Suffolk genes is there is resistance to the "denseness " of the Dorper carcass which is reflected in its eating quality when compared with the typical English Shortwools which supply almost all of our domestic market.The photo is of some ewes which were a Dorper ram over Suffolk ewe and these ewes went back to the Suffolk ram this year and the resulting meat will be interesting when the time comes(although out of 9 lambs so far 7 are ewes)...T.O.R.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

@Eteda when I can I will post about the long range. I'd stay far far away from it. Terrible for small ruminants!!! Perhaps start a new thread on it?

 

[Eteda]

goat whisperer I speaking of long acting moxidectin not long range ivermection. even though in the same family ivermectin is not for sheep. I do not use it. never have. vet says it dont work. ivermection having a 30 day and cydection having a 90 day residual action on some worms it doesn't seam logical for sheep. It works good for goats they say but not for sheep. I've seen the results first hand on a friends herd, where I obtained my first orphan lamb. when they saw my sheep they stopped using ivermectin and started using cydection. I use cydection in my sheep per my vets directions. but I think If i could use the long acting moxidectin I would only have to worm my herd once a year maybe some of the young ones twice. If my sheep are not bred, or sold or consumed for meat its like you worming your dog. It doesn't effect any one but their health and me. I will bury them hear when they pass. I've done the no antibiotics no wormer grass fed lamb for market thing. and I've marketed to the different ethnic groups locally. I've sold direct to the butcher , from the farm. Ive sold for herd replacements. Im tired of it. Im tired of the marketing period. I want to rest. I want to retire my whole herd and just have them as pets. today I walked with them and turned them in to a new pasture. its good to watch them run. buck and play with delight even as most are over 8 years old.