Is it just me?

[farmerjan]

4 months is too young to even think about breeding, possible to in heat, as our dall ram lambs have been known to catch a ewe if we don't get them weaned off quick enough, but never can recall a ewe lamb in heat that young. Don't trust craigslist too much....

 

[luvmypets]

Ah, come on @luvmypets, you know she needs a good home, you have a good heart. It is a match made in heaven. Go get your girl and save her from a life of doom and despair! You know you want her, you know you need her and she needs you. (ok, I'll crawl back into my goatie box now.)

I'm not a betting man but if I was I would bet that she has already thought about bringing that girl home.

I contacted the owner, and got some good info. She is in fact 4 months old, but such a cutie. I just need my dad on board I will keep you updated

 

[TAH]

Boy that is super young.

 

[Sheepshape]

I'd never breed a lamb of 4 months....too much for her little body to take (and,it's almost impossible to tell if a ewe is coming into season if there's no ram around, let alone a lamb,as folk have already said)

luvmypets.....she's VERY cute,would be an asset to any flock,needs a home etc. If I'd seen similar, I'd have had to have her....but I personally keep all my own misfits...currently amounting to about 10....LLeila (Avatar) who has grown really well,but is still much smaller than her contemporaries, a couple who have had joint ill, a couple who have had their fleeces hacked back due to maggots etc. Also a couple who were bottle lambs who are just too friendly and I could never trust a thrifty farmer to treat them well plus a few who's mums can't bear to let them out of their sight etc. guess I'm just a hopelessly soft touch,though.

 

[Green Acres Farm]

I'd never breed a lamb of 4 months....too much for her little body to take (and,it's almost impossible to tell if a ewe is coming into season if there's no ram around, let alone a lamb,as folk have already said)

luvmypets.....she's VERY cute,would be an asset to any flock,needs a home etc. If I'd seen similar, I'd have had to have her....but I personally keep all my own misfits...currently amounting to about 10....LLeila (Avatar) who has grown really well,but is still much smaller than her contemporaries, a couple who have had joint ill, a couple who have had their fleeces hacked back due to maggots etc. Also a couple who were bottle lambs who are just too friendly and I could never trust a thrifty farmer to treat them well plus a few who's mums can't bear to let them out of their sight etc. guess I'm just a hopelessly soft touch,though.

Aren't there diseases you should test for in sheep? In goats, people usually test for CAE as a minimum, and sometimes Johnes and CL as well.

 

[Sheepshape]

Thankfully in my neck of the woods,Green Acres, Johne's and CL are pretty rare. In a country with 3 times as many sheep as people and a low incidence of both CL and Johne's you would be unlucky for a ewe lamb to be incubating either.

Both CL and Johne's can be tested for and the tests aren't expensive. There's a vaccine for CL, and that could be used......she'd be unlucky to have had contact with CL by 4 months of age (not so for Johne's if it is endemic to the area). Whether a person decides to have tests depends upon the disease demographics in that area. It's always a good idea to give at least a two week quarantine period for any new animal arriving on your patch even if CL and Johne's aren't common in order to exclude animals incubating disease, check for foot rot and CODD, lice,fleas,ticks etc which may not have been initially noticed.

My heart all too often rules my head, but I have a closed flock by-and-large (except for the introduction of new tups from trusted sources) and have managed to get a low incidence of disease this way.

 

[Green Acres Farm]

What is OPP? I saw it on my CAE testing submission sheet. Is that something that is not usually tested for?

 

[Sheepshape]

OPP is ovine progressive pneumonia, a viral infection that cannot be cured and persists for life, leading to shortness of breath, persistent pneumonia and "thin ewe syndrome". Secondary bacterial infections often occur with severe bouts of pneumonia, hard bag, arthritis etc. Affected sheep can also get meningitis or encephalitis. Symptoms don't usually become apparent before 2 years of age.

I'm not at all sure as to whether it's something that is usually tested for in a health screen.