New BYH member from Texas

[Tina's LucyGraycee]

Hello my name is Tina. I do not own any livestock myself but have been raised with all sorts farm animals but never sheep. Definitely a wide subject to take on in my limited income, needs for sheep as far as feeding, housing, medical, breeding, etc. I started taking care of these sheep 2021 due to abusive owner. I have a huge heart for all kinds of animals...go figure living in Texas!! I'm single, energetic, not afraid to face challenges (careful what you say out loud), don't mind doing whatever it takes to help or save anything in need. If I can't help, I find someone who can. I have gained tremendous amount of compassionate people since I took on these sheep. I've learned tons of things about them & their care but I'm always finding myself in new situations that are out of my realm of knowledge when it comes to these guys. I believe all living species (animal) deserve names. I name them according to personality, birth related happenings, familiar traits to people or other animals. I've been surprised continously with these sheep from their unknown background care (definitely not hard to determine though), breeding cross, needs arising from it. I've just turned 65 & live alone with my Exotic Bully Bulldog imported from Italy. I've been on my on for 20 yrs so I've had to learn & adapt to my capabilities for circumstances that may present themselves which is pretty much a given at 4'11 110 lbs. Hey equalizers get it done. Texas saying..

"Git ER Done" sometimes takes considerable more effort than it sounds. In closing that's why I chose to join. I've read just about every forum & used alot of info people have posted for my current situation or I get a direction to go in. I live this site. While I might have alot to offer in beginning I hope to continue lying expand my knowledge by way of awesome members of Backyard Herds (which BTW is literally what I have transformed into sheep habitat, of course with more area than just my yard). Including I'm excited to be part of this site & want to say now "I hope I don't wear out my welcome by asking to many questions. Although on my behalf I try to seek help the most for critical problems with smaller versions of general info. So...

HOWDY & GOOD EVENING FROM

Tx newbie to sheep world. Tina

Thanks for taking time to read my intro. Looking forward to meeting community members.

 

[Tina's LucyGraycee]

Well it seems as if I've already broke rules. So I'll start over. Sorry about pics I attached in filed in my new member introduction. As I live aline I'm always taking pics. Lol Here is correct post of pics. This is my family & myself..
C.J. Calamity Jane tan & black sweet girl Exotic Bully (half sister to Gigi)

Tubby (big boy
Son to Gigi) Sable Exotic Bully

Gigi (big boys mom)
Black & white Exotic Bully

Myself Tina ( just me myself & i)

 

[Baymule]

Welcome to the forum Tina

 

[Baymule]

Phone didn’t cooperate! One more time,
Welcome to the forum Tina! What part of Texas are you in? I’m in Trinity county. I raise Katahdin sheep. How long have you had your sheep? What do you know of their background?

Skipper looks very sick. Poor girl. It concerns me. I don’t know how much you know about sheep, you may already know this. There is a wasting disease called Johnes. It’s pronounced Yah- nees. Yeah, I know, I called it John’s, but what do I know. Has she been tested?

Bad news is, if she has Johnes, there is no cure or treatment. I’m probably jumping the gun here, but that just slapped me upside the head when I saw her picture.

I like the shelters you have made for your sheep. I moved to my place a year and half ago. So far, no barn. I’m on track to start one this coming year. I make pallet palaces from pallets and used tin. Not great, but better than nothing. LOL

 

[Tina's LucyGraycee]

Phone didn’t cooperate! One more time,
Welcome to the forum Tina! What part of Texas are you in? I’m in Trinity county. I raise Katahdin sheep. How long have you had your sheep? What do you know of their background?

Skipper looks very sick. Poor girl. It concerns me. I don’t know how much you know about sheep, you may already know this. There is a wasting disease called Johnes. It’s pronounced Yah- nees. Yeah, I know, I called it John’s, but what do I know. Has she been tested?

Bad news is, if she has Johnes, there is no cure or treatment. I’m probably jumping the gun here, but that just slapped me upside the head when I saw her picture.

I like the shelters you have made for your sheep. I moved to my place a year and half ago. So far, no barn. I’m on track to start one this coming year. I make pallet palaces from pallets and used tin. Not great, but better than nothing. LOL

Phone didn’t cooperate! One more time,
Welcome to the forum Tina! What part of Texas are you in? I’m in Trinity county. I raise Katahdin sheep. How long have you had your sheep? What do you know of their background?

Skipper looks very sick. Poor girl. It concerns me. I don’t know how much you know about sheep, you may already know this. There is a wasting disease called Johnes. It’s pronounced Yah- nees. Yeah, I know, I called it John’s, but what do I know. Has she been tested?

Bad news is, if she has Johnes, there is no cure or treatment. I’m probably jumping the gun here, but that just slapped me upside the head when I saw her picture.

I like the shelters you have made for your sheep. I moved to my place a year and half ago. So far, no barn. I’m on track to start one this coming year. I make pallet palaces from pallets and used tin. Not great, but better than nothing. LOL

Thanks Baymule
People are more familiar with Fort Worth Tx. Tarrant & Wise counties run together. I have cared for these sheep off & on for over 3 yrs. They do not belong to me. Owner was very abusive & didn't care whether they ate or had water to drink. I took it upon myself to step in to make sure they were fed & watered. Of course the more I did the more owner let me do. Only background I'm sure of is history I have with them since they were brought to adjoining property. Owner knew absolutely nothing about sheep. I researched, asked questions to all sorts of people trying to care for these sheep. Long story short Owner would bring only 1) 50lb bag deer corn a week. Bought round bales of corn stalk to take place of grass since there was too many sheep on half acre in residential area in country but we're still house to house. All sheep were starved when they arrived. Couple were from sale yards also starved too old to breed. Needless to say my 1st yr was quite an ordeal. I know tons more now than I did but never heard of that wasting disease. I was hoping from observation shes probably wormy, her twins were trying to nurse but she didnt have milk, too weak to fight her way to 1 plastic tub they were fed in & was fed pretty much trash to survive on. So hoping one on one treatment, diet full of everything imaginable to build her system back up so she can get stronger, being fed by herself to assure she gets all she needs.

I'm disable on fixed income so I certainly wasn't & still aren't financially able to provide for sheep like they should be. But with lots of friends, feed stores, endless students & many many others helping I have managed to keep us all a float. That all came to a halt when owner abandoned them supposedly gave them to a man 3 drs down from me. I hated it. I cried but hoped since that man owned dorpers he would tak care of these. Well I have never been so wrong about something in my life. These sheep have all become pets you may as well say. You can't imagine videos & pictures of "Tina's Barn Yard Fun ". I was told I could come visit them at anytime which I was very reluctant to do but had a gut feeling something was horribly wrong. My gut was right. 4) ewes had already died from starvation. 31 were in a small coral with rams. 22 are pregnant due in Jan. Dorpers being a stronger breed kept Barbados from being able to eat or drink. They were in sewer mud 2' deep from busted pipe & alot of rain. U couldn't even tell what color they were. I was sick to my stomach & cried entire time I was taking fences & gates down to let them out. They knew I was there to save them. I just looked a man said I'm taking them home if you've got anything to say about it it's probably best you don't. I hollered, called them by their names, talked them all the way home. No bucket, no feed, no corn, no chasing, no dogs.....just me & them, all 31 of them. So once I got them settled I done somewhat of an emergency inspection to figure out where & with who I had to start with. It took me 3 days to get them separated by critical status. Skipper, Barbie, Little Bit, BB, Little Miss, Wild Thang, all Barbaro ewes (carrying twins as they have pervious 2 yrs). All are due in Jan. Had I not got them back when I did Skipper, Barbie, Little Bit would be dead now. Their unborn babies were pulling them down quick since they were being starved. I have 3) orphans. 1) orphaned at 45 days old, other 2) twins at 60 days old. Very very sick.
So my critical pen started with:
6)Barbado blackbelly ewes pregnant w/twins
2)Dorper ewes (didn't know were pregnant gave birth soon after being penned
2) lamb newborns
3)wool cross orphans
4)sets wool cross/barbado twins.
I've had them for almost 2 mths & have managed to move some over to pen#2 malnourished sheep & 2) rams.

I can proudly say I only have Skipper, Barbie, 2) orphans Lucy & Graycee still in critical pen but I added Snow white headed dorper to pen cuz she's carrying triplets. I saved her & 1 baby out of triplets last yr cuz she was starving. So I want to keep close eye on her. Plus she eats licorice out of my pocket.
Pen#2
1)barbado ram
1)TX Dall Ram
4) Barbado blkbelly ewes showing signs birthing is close.
3)ram lambs
1)lamb twin
2)yearling ewes pregnant for 1st time.
Doing great! Ready for deliveries as ewes are.

Pen#3
6)black headed dorpers
2)dorper ewes should have had their babies already
1)young dorper ram
All in great condition!!
So I'm really excited about how their recovery has progressed including critical pen. In couple of those pics if you can look at them a little closer or even enlarge it you can see how much weight Skipper & Barbie have gained. Barbie was so bad she didn't even have milk bag, well none of them did really but she's due 1st. I was expecting her to deliver her twins last night & expected Snow deliver her triplets 2 days ago.

A new problem presents itself I've never dealt with...barber pole worm. Deworming very sick lambs & weak pregnant ewes is quite hard in my opinion. But managed to drench 3) orphans but not Skipper, Barbie or Snow. Their to close to delivery so I have to wait till after kidding, according to everything I read, to do them. So many of them & only 1 of me! Potentially looking at an additional 20 to add to count after all babies are born over period of 8-10 days.

There is a light at end of tunnel. 2nd man gave them away again. New owner has plans of taking them to Cleburne livestock auction once their healthy & they've had all their babies. They'll finally finally hopefully be cared for by sure nuff sheep ranchers. So fingers crossed I have all Normal births & this barber pole worm doesn't reick havoc while I'm trying to figure out how I proceed with treatment. I know this worm is bad news for sure & be quick killer of sickly ewes nursing newborns.

Wow when I get started talking about my misfits I have tendency to go on & on. Hope I haven't broke another community rule.

So have a great day!!
Time to go ck to see if I have new babies this morning!! Didn't 2 hrs ago though! LOL

 

[Baymule]

You can give pregnant ewes ivermectin. It won’t hurt the babies.
What do you mean, they have been given away? And he’s going to take them to auction? That gets my bad attitude up. Is this new owner helping you feed them? I think you ought to keep a few of your favorites as payment for what you are doing.

Rams. There should be no rams with ewes . Not even young rams, do you know the little stinkers can start breeding at 2 months old? At 3or4 months, rams are fertile. When the ewes give birth, the smells can get the rams excited and they can breed the ewes.

I wean ram lambs at 2 months old. I will let ewes stay with the ram until close to lambing, then I separate them.

These poor ewes have been starved, they don’t need a ram after them. If you can separate them to another pen, please do so.
You are doing a kind and gracious thing by caring for these sheep. They are such gentle creatures.

 

[Tina's LucyGraycee]

You can give pregnant ewes ivermectin. It won’t hurt the babies.
What do you mean, they have been given away? And he’s going to take them to auction? That gets my bad attitude up. Is this new owner helping you feed them? I think you ought to keep a few of your favorites as payment for what you are doing.

Rams. There should be no rams with ewes . Not even young rams, do you know the little stinkers can start breeding at 2 months old? At 3or4 months, rams are fertile. When the ewes give birth, the smells can get the rams excited and they can breed the ewes.

I wean ram lambs at 2 months old. I will let ewes stay with the ram until close to lambing, then I separate them.

These poor ewes have been starved, they don’t need a ram after them. If you can separate them to another pen, please do so.
You are doing a kind and gracious thing by caring for these sheep. They are such gentle creatures.

Well thanks. I'm doing & will keep doing everythg in my power to continue to care for them. I would love to keep my favorites but I don't have proper land area for them. Limited financially. If there is slightest risk i could be faced with butchers again i want them long gone from here to happier way of life where their cared for like they should b.

I cannot catch Skipper, Barbie, Little bit to give them ivermectin. Only way i can even try to deworm them is by mixing it in their food. That also brings up concern that each of them get appropriate dose. But I'm beginning to think some is better than none. I do have a new contact that might to b able to help. Thats what ive been doin last 2 days & nights. Preparing birthing tents, some kinda chutes and/or small pen to worm kids over 4 mths old. Im flat dab out of room especially since lot sick sheep are on is where sick lamb passed worms is plus im limited on my abilities due to 2 severe head injuries 1 mth apart that left me having to learn how to walk, talk, just do daily functions necessary to day to day going ons. So sheep & i have been on a journey together this past 2 yrs.
And you know what???
WE'RE STILL HERE!!

Here's a little more info about my constant battles & why surrounding these sheep.

Hourly ck on moma's!!
Got to go for now!!!

Turns out I find out through all this all these men are connected in some way. They are from old Mexico. They are also illegals. No numbers whatsoever which is why they are so quick to abandoned them. Original owner bought property I live on & property couple of ladies in their 90's live on. He pushed his way across, over & through our houses at drop of whim like he owned world. Never asked permission for anythg including helping himself to items in or around my yard for his own use. That's how thgs between us got so heated. I didn't let him push his way through me & I told him everytime it came up. He planned on movn kin in (rv trailers) on our lots to sides of our houses, hook into our electricity, sewer & water well. Needless to say fight was on & he was so arrogant he didnt stop to think i had upper hand completely. Which I had to prove. When animal authorities came aftr complaints of abuse he literally disappear & a new Mexican came on 1st for rent money. It was obvoius that person was related to him so that's why he ended up with them. Well he was one that had them living in horrific conditions, starving. Well long story short he didn't want no dealings with me so he "gave" them to another "Spanish" man that is actual Sheep Farmer. I could tell right away he wasn't related. I filled him in on what these poor sheep have been through. He was disguised & upset about whole deal but especially since no one had offered to pay me for takn care of them. He is one that said he was gona tak them to auction once they wer healthy & had all had their babies. He does give me money to buy alfalfa hay for sick & growing babies along with medication, all stock pellets & occasionally gas money. He doesn't live here close so I'm still on my own as far as care but I no longer have to figure out how to feed them. He did comment when he sold them he wanted me to have part of money. So very nice man to deal with FINALLY!!

Yes I know rams nor ram lambs should be left with ewes. I've hollered that to high heavens till I'm almost deaf. I'd have them separated & would come home & find them all back together which I'd have to separate again. I told him why & fact Barbados can breed year round. They are best for beginning a herd bc they are known for having twins. Slow growing but multiply quickly. Of course he didn't care. He never said what his intentions were owning these sheep. I mean like a business to make money selling ram lambs for meat or hair on hides, what? I'm not never. I was raised on pig & cattle farm where livestock was taking to market. I know slaughter is part of business. I still name them. Keep my distance for most part except for like u said "favorites that steal ur heart with their struggles, personalities, other traits they have or simply cuz their one of God's animal creations like u say gentle in nature that deserve to be takn care of compassionately. Well OLD MEXICO is barbaric to this day. Still set way back time on certain ways of life. Treatment of animals is not top of their list. They are only a food source & sacrificial purposes only. Somethg I didn't know still existed today & shouldn't in USA but is brought in by people like these guys. When I told him main reason they had to be separated was to mak sure no inbreeding took place. Moms-sons, papas-daughters, sibling-sibling. All that didn't matter since they have no other purpose than I told u. I found out about their true purpose when set a twins (ram lamb & lamb) were born deformed. I had a screaming fit, u might say. Dragged him up here. Showed him what happens when u don't keep them all separate. That's when he told me what he was doing with them. Papa ram is extreme head butter. He's mean on top of that. I thought I had him convinced to get rid of him cuz his offspring would be same way which they are. Long story short 1 of young rams suffered brain damage & should've died by didn't. For all practical purposes he wasn't gona be good for much & if he got head butted in right place he would drop dead wher he stood. That's how I found out or was introduced to killing part of their customs. I had no clue what I was about to witness & will never forget it in my life time. I really can't stomach telling u what brutally & inhumanely took place. I will just say I was so mortified that I worked days on end trying to get justice for my little ram through Cruelty Animal Acts to get them prosecuted to full extend of law. I got it done too! Well let me back up...almost got it done. They fled to Mexico before USA Authorities caught up to them. Hence them being abandoned/ given/ left, (however u want to label it) away 2nd time.
So yes they have been separated since I brought them home almost 2 mths ago. Only ram lambs together are ones that are less than 2 mths old & extremely malnutrition & now wormy. This new owner is taking 4 rams this wkend to auction to get them off property cuz their such a prblm I living situations like I have. IF YOU CHOOSE TO LIVE IN ANOTHER COUNTRY IT SHOULD BE REQUIREMENT OF LAW THAT YOU WILL PROHIBITED FROM PRACTICING ANY TYPE OF CUSTOMS OR PRACTICES OTHER THAN ONES ALREADY PRACTICED IN & TO USA!!!

 

[Baymule]

You have a big heart and I’m glad their “new owner” is helping you with feed. Yes, it will be much better for them to go to auction. Just bless you for making their lives better.

I’m guessing that the killing you witnessed was cutting the lambs throat. I have never seen that done, but like everything else, there is a right way and a wrong way.

So if the illegal owns the land you and several others are on, property taxes will be due soon. He’s gone back to Mexico, after a couple of years of unpaid taxes, land gets sold on courthouse steps. That’s providing land is paid for. Bank may repossess it first. Sounds to me that you and others might be in quite a pickle.

 

[Ridgetop]

property taxes will be due soon. He’s gone back to Mexico, after a couple of years of unpaid taxes, land gets sold on courthouse steps. That’s providing land is paid for. Bank may repossess it first. Sounds to me that you and others might be in quite a pickle.

My thoughts too. Can you check with courthouse about tax situation so you won't be caught unaware. Check if you can buy for back taxes before auction. It is not illegal for non-citizens to own property in USA. If they continue to pay taxes and mortgage no problem. But if they don't you can be in trouble Who collects the rent now they have left? Make sure you get receipts for rent payment from whoever is their agent. You don't want the owner to try to force you out by claiming non-payment of rent.

Glad the second man is paying for feed and med on sheep.

 

[Missa@#5252]

Best of luck