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

[aggieterpkatie]

So Bee, what are your plans for him?

 

[Beekissed]

We were just discussing this on SS.com....I'm leaning towards wethering him right now. I would have to separate him from Mom at 3 mo. if I wanted to keep him intact and I hate to do that.

If I wether him, he can keep my ram company when he has to be separate from the girls. Then I have up to a year to decide to sell or eat.....I really want to taste one of these hair sheep lambs!

I know he's cute but one can't grow food or run a farm on sympathy, can we?

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I know he's cute but one can't grow food or run a farm on sympathy, can we?

Sympathy doesn't give you a full belly. That's the issue I'm having with my romney ram. He's a nice boy...very calm and nice. BUT, the plans for him were always to have him breed the ewes in the fall, and then be processed. I was also going to tan his hide because he's a natural color romney, so his fleece is a lovely chocolate color.

My neighbor (who has Border Leicesters) is giving me a hard time about processing him, though she can't stand the thought of eating any animal she raises. She has more money and more land than me, so I tried telling her I don't have room for pets (when she suggested we wether him and keep him). Plus, his crimp isn't really nice enough to keep him for his fleece.

She's also giving me trouble about breeding him back to his dam. Ideally I wouldn't do that, but I don't have the money to buy another ram, and I'll most likely process the resulting lambs anyways. Decisions, decisions. :/ Sometimes I wish I had a consultant.

On the other hand, this crossbred ewe lamb that was just born recently.....I think I'll keep her because her mother has excellent conformation and is a great mom, and her dad has nice conformation as well. But I guess I have a while to decide on that or not. She's only a week and a half old.

 

[Beekissed]

Aggie, I have a sister like that and she does the same thing to me....agonizes over the fact that I kill and eat the animals that I raise here. She about had a fit over the bottle calf we butchered this winter...my mother wouldn't even tell her that we had done it, it was that bad.

Some folks have more money than sense and that is fine, but I got these animals with the intention of providing food and income to me and my family. This cannot be confused with raising fuzzy things to look at and pet.

I'm glad someone out there still remembers that farming is food production, not a petting zoo enterprise.

Do you think she objects to your breeding program because she is putting these animals on a human level and finds son to mother breeding repugnant?

If you are selling/eating the offspring, I can't imagine that it makes much difference. It happens all the time on farms...whether accidentally or out of necessity. Not the end of the world and shouldn't result in any birth defects, should it?

 

[Beekissed]

Slow Mo is doing well and is getting quite enough milk, from the feel of his tummy. I watch them closely and he only gets a chance to get a mouthful here and there...and her udder is full to bursting...but his belly is full and he is gaining weight.

I'm thinking he would be more aggressive and opportunistic if he had a twin that was competing for those teats!

I am very amazed at the size of the udder on my other ewe, Black Betty! She was bred in mid-to late April for a Sept. lambing but she is already very filled out and starting to get a little udder on her....is this common to see this level of development on a ewe this early on in the pregnancy?

My other ewe, Ugly Betty, doesn't have that full abdomen look to her and has no udder development whatsoever...which leads me to believe that she didn't get pregnant with the breeding. She also has acted like she is coming into heat...riding her flockmates a little.

I will probably sell her this fall, after Black Betty lambs, so she will not miss her quite so much. I know that sounds like a lot of mushy drivel, but these sheep of mine seem to grieve if they lose a friend. They cried for months when I butchered their herd mate, a bottle calf of approx. 8 mo. of age. They were very agitated and running back and forth in their pen on butchering day and they called repeatedly and for days to a calf that looked like ours over in the neighbor's field. They just wanted her to come baaaaaaaaa-ck!!!!


They seem to form strong attachments, so I hate to distress them too much.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Do you think she objects to your breeding program because she is putting these animals on a human level and finds son to mother breeding repugnant?

Probably so, because she asked me, "Would you like to have a baby with your son?" Sure lady, because it's exactly the same.

Glad to hear Slo Mo is doing well!

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Hey Bee, have you docked and castrated? Remember to keep on top of the banding locations to keep flies away. I just checked my lamb's tail yesterday and it had just started to attract flies. I saw three little maggots. I went ahead and cut the tail off below the band, cleaned it well, and sprayed it with antibiotic spray.

One thing you can also do if you have issues with infection/flies is duct tape the tail up onto the back so the bottom of the band is exposed. It's easier to clean and spray that way and you can keep an eye on it better.

I'm not a fan of these summer lambings....

 

[Beekissed]

Me neither! But at least I'm not docking tails right now....hair sheep don't require it, thank goodness!

I am a little worried about banding the scrotum in this heat....so much potential for flies, edema, infection. I may just cut this little fella and soak his wounds in iodine instead of banding.

I'd have to get a scalpel/razor and would need some real good help on holding him steady.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Me neither! But at least I'm not docking tails right now....hair sheep don't require it, thank goodness!

I am a little worried about banding the scrotum in this heat....so much potential for flies, edema, infection. I may just cut this little fella and soak his wounds in iodine instead of banding.

I'd have to get a scalpel/razor and would need some real good help on holding him steady.

Oh that's right, you don't have to dock.

There's a real good hold I can describe for you. You need a helper and some "resting" place preferrably at least waist high. The helper will rest the lamb's bottom on the table (a narrow rail works well too, like a deck rail or something) with the lamb laying back against the helper's chest. The lamb's head will be underneath the helper's chin. Does that make sense? Then, the helper will take the lambs front legs and place them on the outside of the lambs back legs, and hold each pair of legs in one hand. I like to hold the lamb's hind leg (the cannon bone/toward the hoof, not body) in my thumb and bottom 3 fingers, and use my index finger to wrap around the front leg near the fetlock. The helper can sort-of spread the legs apart, and then keep the hooves and legs out of the way. The reason the front legs go on the outside is so the hooves don't droop down and get in the way.

Did that make sense? I can take a picture if you like.

 

[jhm47]

"Pinch" him. No blood, no open wound, and no worries! I do it to young bull calves all the time when need be. Get yourself a good quality burdizzo, and you'll love it.