My Sheep Journal~ I'm a grandma! Black Betty had twins!!!

[Beekissed]

Well...we are getting close to lambing here and I don't see any difference in my preggers ewe. Her flock mates are starting to lamb, so I expect it will be any day now.

This evening I noticed the other sheep were acting funny around her...butting her in her udder and riding her. I was wondering if she is secreting some hormone that would indicate her lambing is due? Is this normal?

Anyhoo...I put her in the lambing jug for the night, just in case.

 

[FarmerDenise]

I found this site on on Goldenseal, which discusses the cultivation.
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/g/golsea27.html

Here's to hoping you have a little one or two in the morning

 

[freemotion]

The term "lambing jug" is so odd to me....I can't help but picture a ewe having a swig of moonshine from a stoneware gallon jug!

 

[ksalvagno]

Well, here are the results of the fecals done on my alpaca. Initially she had a few each of coccidia, nematodirus, strongyle and trichuris. My alpaca is almost 200 pounds.

I did 5 days of twice a day Golden Seal at 1.5cc. I also did Molly's Herbals wormer #2 for 5 days in a row the first week and then once a week after. My alpaca is pregnant so I didn't want to use Molly Herbal wormer #1 because of the wormwood.

Fecal taken 2 weeks after last dose of Golden Seal came back with a few coccidia and a few strongyle. So the herbs did take care of 2 parasites, at least enough that they don't show up on a fecal. Since it is still only a few, I'm going to continue with trying herbs to rid this alpaca of parasites (yes I know I will never totally rid my animals of the parasites).

I think I'm going to do another round of Golden Seal but up it to 2cc twice a day. I have also started putting cloves in their food every day and will soon get black walnut to put in their food every day.

The local goat breeder that I consult with on the herbals gives her Nigerians a teaspoon of cloves, a teaspoon of black walnut and a teaspoon of DE every day. She does her own fecals and if she finds coccidia, she does the Golden Seal for 5 days. If she sees lice or mites, she adds garlic powder.

So I'm going to continue the Molly's Herbals wormer but also add the daily cloves and black walnut. I'm having a hard time finding the right DE. The feed stores around me just carry the powder stuff and I have been using it and it is doing nothing. Found out that the powder won't do anything.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Anyhoo...I put her in the lambing jug for the night, just in case.

How big is your jug? It's not really recommended for them to lamb in the jug. They go in the jug after lambing. There's usually not enough space to safely lamb, but yours may be big.

And my ewe is really bagging up! I hope to have lambs next week!

 

[Beekissed]

Ksalvagno, that is interesting info and I'll try to find some goldenseal and see if I can't grow my own.

I don't know that I would want to do a daily de-worming, especially with my wild herd, but I do plan to use my walnut hulls this year as well as continuing to use the garlic and Shaklee's soap.


Aggie, my jug is approx. 6 ft. x 6 ft., so should be plenty of space to lamb....but I put her out of it this morning and expect she will lamb up in the orchard like my milk cow did. I just really wanted to SEE the lambing, but I'm sure I won't get to see the blessed event...never do.

It was so rainy and wet last night and they were all acting so weirdly....and they were running with the dog~a little game of tag they like to play when its cool in the evening. All of these made me think I should just pen her up for the night....of course, animals have their own minds about these things.

I have two lambing jugs and the one mentioned is the smaller of the two...I could actually divide the other and make it into two jugs.

Free..the first time I heard it I had to laugh also!

Around here everyone calls ewes "yohs", which also made me laugh the first time I heard it. But you just cannot call them ewes here because no one knows of which you speak...so I found myself calling them yohs also.

Now...imagine putting your yohs in a lambing jug.... almost like a foreign language, isn't it?

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Aggie, my jug is approx. 6 ft. x 6 ft., so should be plenty of space to lamb....but I put her out of it this morning and expect she will lamb up in the orchard like my milk cow did. I just really wanted to SEE the lambing, but I'm sure I won't get to see the blessed event...never do.

It was so rainy and wet last night and they were all acting so weirdly....and they were running with the dog~a little game of tag they like to play when its cool in the evening. All of these made me think I should just pen her up for the night....of course, animals have their own minds about these things.

I have two lambing jugs and the one mentioned is the smaller of the two...I could actually divide the other and make it into two jugs.

I'd still be careful. 6' square isn't really that much space, especially because ewes like to build nests and get up and down a lot when they lamb. I can see a lamb getting stepped on if there's no space for the ewe to move around. Jugs are really for after the ewe lambs. Do you have an open are under cover if you need to bring her in from outside?

 

[BriteChicken]

Aggie I think Bee was saying that her jug is 6'x6' so wouldn't that make it 36 square feet? I'm newly researching so I'll admit I know very little but 6x6 ft sounds good for birthing to me but if it isn't why would that amount of space be good to put momma and baby in after it's born?

Sorry for all the questions but I'm curious about this

EDIT: I love this journal it has made me want to get Katahdins when I do get sheep!

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Aggie I think Bee was saying that her jug is 6'x6' so wouldn't that make it 36 square feet? I'm newly researching so I'll admit I know very little but 6x6 ft sounds good for birthing to me but if it isn't why would that amount of space be good to put momma and baby in after it's born?

Sorry for all the questions but I'm curious about this

EDIT: I love this journal it has made me want to get Katahdins when I do get sheep!

I could possibly work out just fine, it just sounds small. The smallest recommended jugs are 4x4, and 5x5 is even better. I certainly dont' want to tell what to do, but I just think even a 6' square jug is small for lambing. Jugs are really for after lambing. If you watch sheep, they get up and move around a lot during the lambing process. I think the smallest I personally would feel comfortable with for a lambing stall would be 8' square. I really feel better with them lambing out on pasture.

Bee, please don't think I'm being bossy. I mean it in a helpful way, not a mean way.

 

[jhm47]

The biggest problem with lambing in a small confined space is that the ewes will lie down in a corner and try to push the lamb out. The lamb will often hit a wall, and the ewe will have to try to push the lamb out against the resistance of the wall. Sheep are not noted for their high intelligence, and the ewe will often stand up and go to another corner, and do the same thing till the lamb is either dead or it falls out on one of the ewe's circles around the jug.

Cattle do the same thing sometimes, that's why I try to have them give birth is the biggest area possible, and then confine them in a smaller space till they are imprinted and doing well.

With cattle, I'd never confine in less than a 12 X 15 pen.