Feelin' a bit sheepish...

[Beekissed]

This is a funny for all us LGD folks......

 

[Baymule]

Putting up temporary pens, etc allows you to see what works and what doesn't. I haven't firmed up everything to permanent status yet, but we're getting there.

Those new girls do have some nice butts! They just wanted to show you their best side!

 

[Beekissed]

I think those are Dorper butts, for sure!

 

[Sheepshape]

And I really like their chunky, chubby butts!


Nice fat butts, for sure.

Just as a note....when you dock tails of your own lambs (if you do it) next year, don't cut them quite so short. If tails are too short, then muscles which surround the mouth of the anus and vagina (which have some attachments to the base of the tail) can be compromised predisposing to prolapse. This applies particularly to vaginal/uterine prolapse during late pregnancy, but also rectal prolapse.

 

[Beekissed]

Yep....I know that, and that's what makes me worry about these two a bit. I would never dock a sheep's tail~even a wool breed. When I asked the old lady about these two, she got defensive and then changed the subject, so I didn't pursue it.

 

[Baymule]

That is one of the reasons I switched from Dorpers to Katahdins. I see NO reason to dock tails of a hair breed. Stupid.

 

[Sheepshape]

It really doesn't make any appreciable difference in wool breeds, either. A large study showed the incidence of fly strike is little different in sheep with long to docked tails.

Over here, for those going to breeding market the buyer expects them to be docked. For my own ewes, I often don't bother.

 

[Beekissed]

It really doesn't make any appreciable difference in wool breeds, either. A large study showed the incidence of fly strike is little different in sheep with long to docked tails.

Over here, for those going to breeding market the buyer expects them to be docked. For my own ewes, I often don't bother.

Her other lambs were not docked, so I'm thinking, since she was selling all the lambs from a particular ram, she was attempting to make them more marketable in an area where wool breeds prevail. I have a feeling I'll be explaining those tails, or rather lack thereof, for many a long year.

They just look so vulnerable and exposed without their tails....every time I look at that, it feels like I'm looking at an open wound.

 

[Beekissed]

This morning, with the weather turning cold and rain pouring down, mating season has commenced. Virgin ram met 7 yr old Rose, who was the only one that would stand for him. About wore him out trying to reach her successfully....he's still a tad short.

Shine, who I thought was the only one heating up, wouldn't stand today....I might have missed her heat, as she was backing up to him through the fence a few days ago, but is butting heads with him now.

The ewe lambs are singularly uninterested in him and he's only shown them a passing glance.

Hope he can get the job done this month, as I'd like to have April lambs, if possible. Now that he's finally had a chance to complete the act, he should be turning on the male hormones a tad more strongly.

 

[Baymule]

I have two ewes with chopped off tails. These are hair sheep, why do that to them?

I hope your ewes romance with your ram, spring lambs!