Meet #49, our new St Croix ram lamb!

[carolinagirl]

She CAN get bred at 3 months, although with this heat she is not likely to. You are probably safe for maybe another month and then she needs to get out of there or something bad might happen.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

She CAN get bred at 3 months, although with this heat she is not likely to. You are probably safe for maybe another month and then she needs to get out of there or something bad might happen.

My friend managed a farm that had dorper and katahdins and one ewe got bred in July and lambed on Thanksgiving. MD summers may not be as hot as Texas, but those hair breeds are known for "out of season" breeding so I would think it's definitely possible for them to breed in the summer.

 

[carolinagirl]

crap....I am a month behind. I was thinking the lamb is just now 2 months old....and she is really 3 months old! Yep....I'd get her out of there now. The man I got my katahdins from said he has never had one breed in the hottest part of summer, it CAN happens so don't risk it.

 

[rockdoveranch]

Life was sure a lot easier when we just had the Barbado and kept the rams with the ewes year round.

Sign me,

The Lazy Rancher, Want To Be

 

[Bossroo]

In my sheep fertility studies at UCD... at least in Cal. ... ewes will start to cycle in mid June/ July when the temperatures are 100* +. This is to take advantage of producing a lamb in Nov., the start of the rainy season and the flush of new grass. Meat breeds such as Sufolk start to first cycle at 6-8 months of age.

 

[rockdoveranch]

In my sheep fertility studies at UCD... at least in Cal. ... ewes will start to cycle in mid June/ July when the temperatures are 100* +. This is to take advantage of producing a lamb in Nov., the start of the rainy season and the flush of new grass. Meat breeds such as Sufolk start to first cycle at 6-8 months of age.

When we did not remove the rams from the ewe herd our crop of lambs were always born just before and just after New Years. On occasion we would have a ewe lamb in April. We were told my an A&M veterinary professor that the lambs are born with something called brown fat to help get them through extreme cold, wind and rain.

Now that we are in our 3rd drought in 3 years we are not sure yet what we are going to do about breeding. Our luck if we do not breed the rains will come. If we do breed the drought will continue.

 

[jbourget]

nice ram but i prefere mine!