Baymule’s 2024 Lambing plus 12-23

[Baymule]

I just realized I’ve posted all the past few weeks on my journal instead of here. Oops. I’ll have to catch it up later.

Yesterday I weaned lambs. I took the ewes out and put them back across the driveway. I separated the ewe lambs from the ram lambs. That means I scooped up ewe lambs out of the chute run and carried them to the pen and hoisted them over the 4’ fence.

When I go outside, the noise is deafening. Yesterday I was late feeding them, son and I had something to do, then stopped and ate. Bottle lambs were screaming, ewes were screaming for their feed, ewe and ram lambs were screaming for their mommas. Peggy took their little dogs out for before dark potty and heard all the commotion. She got concerned that something terrible was happening and I might not be home. So she called to check on things. We had a good laugh over that.

 

[Mini Horses]

Hope DS can visit a few days...maybe even a break from work that'll get garage & shed moved from your sister's

Lamb weaning! Here it's kid weaning -- AND noisy!! But all but a couple of mine are way too heavy to pick up! I straddled a couple to hold to worm yesterday almost rideable, and heavy! Dang big doelings! It's a lot of tiring work. luckily only neighbor to hear it is DD and she's mostly at work.

 

[farmerjan]

We will be weaning 20+ calves off... talk about deafening noise.....luckily no one real close... although they will hear them at the house there at the farm... the cows will stay at the pasture and they will get over it in 24 hours if they can't hear the calves... that's 20 min away.... HA....

Headed to rake the rest of the field and taking ranger and and a pitchfork to pick up some of residue from last year's bear mauling of the hay bales.. can get some for the garden while I am there. It is not terribly hot and there are alot of higher clouds today so not bright sun hot.

 

[Baymule]

Ok, I’m catching up on my lambing thread, since I posted all my sorrows on my journal. Anybody reading this lambing thread would think everything was rosy and it wasn’t.
So here goes.

Wednesday, June 5th, I saw tapeworm segments in sheep poop. So the girls and I ran the ewes and lambs through the chute and I wormed the ewes.

I noticed a lamb looking real droopy, and decided to take a fecal sample to the vet for analysis. I was staggered by the results.

I have NEVER, EVER, NEVER had young lambs with worms. This constant rain has caused an unprecedented parasite bloom. Most of my lambs look good, some look bad and the one I took a fecal sample from, dropped dead. This came out of nowhere , all of a sudden. I suspected coccidia. It came back loaded with stomach worms, tapeworms and coccidia. The vet said everyone is having horrible problems with parasites.

All the rain, heat and more rain, mud and more rain has caused a parasite bloom like I’ve never experienced.

Vet recommended a shot of Dectomax, followed by a 5 day regimen of Panacur. I want to take fecal samples from some of the big healthy looking lambs, just to compare.

So, getting to the vet ladt Wednesday was quite the adventure. I took the Kawasaki mule after the rains quit, figuring the road would be sloppy muddy and the truck would probably slide off in a ditch. Road was a sloppy mess. Once on the paved road, the mule quit, I barely coasted onto the grassy shoulder. Great. Me and girls got out, they promptly stood on an ant hill. We slapped ants and picked off stragglers. A neighbor came by and I told him I ran out of fuel, diesel. He went and got some, mule started and we went to my car, parked at church.

At the 4 way stop, just up the road, was Chris, with hood of his truck up. He had stopped to help another man, then his truck wouldn’t start. Other guy left, I waited on Chris to tinker with his truck, he finally said he was out of gas. I offered to take him back to Apple Springs for gas, but he said just take him home and he’d catch a ride to get gas.

You can’t make this stuff up!

Thursday June 6

While the little girls watched cartoons, I dragged wire around, pounded T - posts and made a straight shot from gate at driveway to the opening of the working chute. I rigged up the driveway between gates to the front field where ewes and lambs are the gate of the pen across driveway. Finally I was ready and got the girls to help.

We did it. It took 2 hours to run the lambs and ewes through the chute, and work the lambs. A shot of Dectomax and a dose of Panacur. The girls were a huge help. One handed me syringes and held the bottle of Panacur, the other wrote down their tag numbers and checked off what treatment they got.

Three more lambs dead this morning, including the beautiful black and white spotted ewe lamb I was so excited about. I wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn’t come. There is another one that probably won’t make it.

There are several that look bad. Still on their feet, running around, but just don’t look good. If they survive, they will go to auction. They got a check under the letter A.

This has hit like a bolt of lightning. Heck of a way to cull the flock. I wish I could cry.

 

[Baymule]

Friday June 7

No dead lambs this morning. Got all dosed with Panacur and 9 got iron shots. Only took a little over an hour .

One little ewe lamb is weak, she got an iron shot and Nutridrench

My sister fought the river and the river won. She is buying a smaller house in a real nice neighborhood in high ground, so that makes her the winner.

The same rains that flooded her out have wreaked havoc on my farm. I’ve had losses and it hurts. It seems the rains are beating me down, but I will overcome adversity. I am heartbroken, but I’ve dug in and I’m fighting back. I have some beautiful healthy lambs out there and I have to remember that.

It’s not just me. People all over East Texas and Southeast Texas are having the same problems with small livestock.

The rivers have taken a lot from people. Their homes, cars, trucks, everything but the clothes on their backs. Those without flood insurance have lost all they have. I keep reminding myself that I am blessed.

Saturday June 8

Another lamb dead this morning. That makes 6. I’m leaving ewes and lambs in the pen that connects to the working chute. I won’t have the girls to help run them through. They are going home today. 2 more days of Panacur. Then one day of Toltrazuril for coccicidia.

They are going to hate me for cooping them up, but too bad. The girls helping me has been a HUGE help. Katahdin lambs scatter like quail. Trying to herd them all across the driveway and get gate shut before the first one turn around to run back, it makes me hate sheep. LOL So frustrating. So they can just eat hay the next few days. Yes, I’m a mean sheep mommy.

 

[Baymule]

Sunday June 9

I got all the lambs worked and medicated this morning. Came in at 8:49 and got a shower. Got time to spare before church class at 9:30.

The little girls help was great. The ewes now know they get feed and treats in the chute and they line up bawling to be let in. It was easy to get the lamb stragglers in too.

I’m going to make a new list, can’t read the scrawl and some numbers are duplicates. New list tomorrow and I’ll know who I have. I’ll match up to ewes.

Best of all, no dead lambs this morning.

Monday June 10

I worked the lambs through the chute, gave them last dose of Panacur. Today is the medicine for coccidia. There was one yesterday evening that wasn’t looking good at all.

 

[Baymule]

It is now June 19, I wound up losing 8 lambs. There is a ram lamb that looks horrible and I will butcher him for dog meat. I have a ewe lamb that is small, probably stunted. The survivors look good, I have them on a 16% lamb feed, all the hay they can eat and lots of fresh clean water.

The 3 bottle lambs, 2 of which are from registered parents, are also doing well. The black and white spotted ram lamb, I’ve decided to keep and see how he grows out. When the dust settles and I see which lambs I’m keeping, I’ll send off for registration me recorded papers. I also plan on weathering a couple of the rams for the freezer.


I have 6 ewes with Cooper, 5 with Rocky and 2 with Ringo 2.0. I’ll take them out next month, making lambs due September to December.

I’m going to try to shift most if not all breeding in the spring for fall lambs. I can’t take another spring like this one.

 

[Mike CHS]

You may already do this but we make it a point at a minimum to have a wether or even a tame ewe in with lambs. The lambs tend to follow the adult and it tames them down a lot faster.

 

[farmerjan]

Like what we do with the calves we wean... bring home a couple cows with them that they have been with... gets them to come to call easier... THANK GOD for that the other night... 20 calves 2 days off their mommas, out running the neighborhood with 2 very good, come to call cows.....

Gets the calves quieter quicker when they learn to come in for feed and we walk around and the cows are so nice and easy going... like "okay, this is no big deal.... they're the good guys that bring us feed"....(except for the occasional stupid idiot calf that just writes their ticket for a one way trip to SOMEWHERE ELSE)

 

[Baymule]

I have two ewes in with the ram lambs, but they are leaving Saturday. Wouldn’t want to leave them very long anyway. LOL But that’s a good idea about the wether.