Baymule
Herd Master
Your lambs are all so cute. I just love the badger faces!
mysunwolf - four acres and some sheep
Bruce
Herd Master
Hey, 175% is 175%!!
Thanks for sharing the pics. They all look so healthy and happy!
CntryBoy777
Herd Master
Will Charcoal's lamb maintain the black wool, or will it turn to brown like hers after a shearing or 2? They really do look really good.
- Thread starter
- #135
mysunwolf
Herd Master
Milking is going well, production is improving a little every day, and my two main ewes produced 2 quarts between the 2 of them today. Woohoo!
- Thread starter
- #136
mysunwolf
Herd Master
Will Charcoal's lamb maintain the black wool, or will it turn to brown like hers after a shearing or 2? They really do look really good.
The little black lambs will fade to brown like their moms. I wish they would stay black, but the sun has other ideas
I wish my shearer would come over soon, though, it's going to get hot quickly this year.
Baymule
Herd Master
2 quarts! That's awesome!
Mini Horses
Herd Master
I'm in VA, also!
Love your lambs. I don't have sheep but, milk goats. This years have 5 first year milkers that I've owned for a while. But, been really good to milk, some resistance at first. It is so true, imprint at birth!!!!
I enjoy reading what others are doing -- good, bad or otherwise. Sometimes it helps you realize you are not the only one interested in doing these things.
Love your lambs. I don't have sheep but, milk goats. This years have 5 first year milkers that I've owned for a while. But, been really good to milk, some resistance at first. It is so true, imprint at birth!!!!
I enjoy reading what others are doing -- good, bad or otherwise. Sometimes it helps you realize you are not the only one interested in doing these things.
- Thread starter
- #139
mysunwolf
Herd Master
I realize I haven't updated in forever! I've been busy starting controversial threads and bothering folks in other ways 
I'm good at that.
Have not been milking due to a bunch of off-farm jobs in addition to my ewes having heavy parasite loads. My best milker is basically too old to milk at 5-6 years! She was drawing herself down too much and I still can't get her much higher than a 3 on her famacha. So off the milk line she goes. And who wants to do the whole setup when you're only milking one sheep? So no milk for me.
This is Ginger, my oldest ewe at 5-6yrs and the best milker.
This is Dora, she's 4-5yrs and has had a few bouts of mastitis so I don't milk her, but she has produced some lovely lambs for us. She also has really interesting fleece.
But I am really looking forward to next spring. I'm going to breed all the ewe lambs this fall, regardless of whether or not they make weight. That will be their first "test" since I refuse to wait until they're 18+ months to breed them. Probably will sell the ones that don't do well with my program next spring or sometime thereafter. And will start milking them and see what they produce!
Here is Charcoal's single ewe lamb, Squid Ink, aka Madame Squid. She's already made breeding weight at 90 days old. She was skittish for a while, but the last few weeks has decided that scratches are the best thing ever. Can't wait to milk her next spring.
Here's one of Ginger's triplets, this girl actually has no name yet. The other triplet, James, looks exactly like this girl, except has Ginger's coloring. Both of these girls should be incredible milkers, but may be a little temperamental health-wise (like their mother), and I'm still waiting to see how they perform parasite-wise. All the triplets are pretty small, something I don't like to see.
Oh, and this is Little Boots! Aka Lil Dog. She is the friendliest lamb but so far I see her as the poorest producer. Her sister, Snow, is a little more muscular, but both of the them have the poor feet of their mother. However, they are both very very parasite resistant, so that is a plus. Only time will tell how they will milk.
My new ram lamb is EF/Awassi/Lacaune crossed with Icelandic/Clun Forest/Cotswold. A true mutt who is small-ish, super hardy, stocky, awesome forager, great feet and personality, as well as decent dairy genetics. Not sure how resistant to parasites he is yet, we'll see as the summer goes on. Hopefully he'll be able to breed by this fall. I think he's going to make some beautiful crosses with my older ewes. Will be interesting to see what the crosses with the younger ewes and ewe lambs will look like.
I've got an awesome rotational strip grazing setup this year. It could use some more sheep right now, but I think next year when the ewe lambs are full grown it will be perfect. I use my scythe to cut a path for the electric net, then I have 3-strand electric wire as an aisleway that also electrifies the net when it's connected.
For an example of how much more forage I have using this setup... I grazed the sheep on this strip in March, mowed, grazed cattle, and today went out and the grass is up to my shoulders. Good thing the sheep are thinning it out before I get my riding mower out there, otherwise there's no way I could mow it down!
I'm good at that.Have not been milking due to a bunch of off-farm jobs in addition to my ewes having heavy parasite loads. My best milker is basically too old to milk at 5-6 years! She was drawing herself down too much and I still can't get her much higher than a 3 on her famacha. So off the milk line she goes. And who wants to do the whole setup when you're only milking one sheep? So no milk for me.
This is Ginger, my oldest ewe at 5-6yrs and the best milker.
This is Dora, she's 4-5yrs and has had a few bouts of mastitis so I don't milk her, but she has produced some lovely lambs for us. She also has really interesting fleece.
But I am really looking forward to next spring. I'm going to breed all the ewe lambs this fall, regardless of whether or not they make weight. That will be their first "test" since I refuse to wait until they're 18+ months to breed them. Probably will sell the ones that don't do well with my program next spring or sometime thereafter. And will start milking them and see what they produce!
Here is Charcoal's single ewe lamb, Squid Ink, aka Madame Squid. She's already made breeding weight at 90 days old. She was skittish for a while, but the last few weeks has decided that scratches are the best thing ever. Can't wait to milk her next spring.
Here's one of Ginger's triplets, this girl actually has no name yet. The other triplet, James, looks exactly like this girl, except has Ginger's coloring. Both of these girls should be incredible milkers, but may be a little temperamental health-wise (like their mother), and I'm still waiting to see how they perform parasite-wise. All the triplets are pretty small, something I don't like to see.
Oh, and this is Little Boots! Aka Lil Dog. She is the friendliest lamb but so far I see her as the poorest producer. Her sister, Snow, is a little more muscular, but both of the them have the poor feet of their mother. However, they are both very very parasite resistant, so that is a plus. Only time will tell how they will milk.
My new ram lamb is EF/Awassi/Lacaune crossed with Icelandic/Clun Forest/Cotswold. A true mutt who is small-ish, super hardy, stocky, awesome forager, great feet and personality, as well as decent dairy genetics. Not sure how resistant to parasites he is yet, we'll see as the summer goes on. Hopefully he'll be able to breed by this fall. I think he's going to make some beautiful crosses with my older ewes. Will be interesting to see what the crosses with the younger ewes and ewe lambs will look like.
I've got an awesome rotational strip grazing setup this year. It could use some more sheep right now, but I think next year when the ewe lambs are full grown it will be perfect. I use my scythe to cut a path for the electric net, then I have 3-strand electric wire as an aisleway that also electrifies the net when it's connected.
For an example of how much more forage I have using this setup... I grazed the sheep on this strip in March, mowed, grazed cattle, and today went out and the grass is up to my shoulders. Good thing the sheep are thinning it out before I get my riding mower out there, otherwise there's no way I could mow it down!
- Thread starter
- #140
mysunwolf
Herd Master
Oh, and we have calves! I didn't think I would ever have cattle again. But I really, really needed some more animals to mow down the grass this year. So purchased a big 350lb calf, and then a bottle calf to be her friend. Already looking forward to beef in fall 2018
