norseofcourse's journal - spring and show update

[luvmypets]

Pqvt is good cause she has lots of expirience. Hehe do all the research you can and anything is possible. I never knew much about poultry but now i have 24 chickens, and thirteen ducks and im hatching. Hehe i just had to say something the moment was to right

 

[norseofcourse]

Over the weekend, Little Boy (the wether) got out of the pasture he shares with the ram, and into the adjacent pasture with the ewes - twice. I got him back in his pasture each time. He's very much a mama's boy, and I'm sure he wanted back with his mom, Rose. For several days everything was fine again.

Today, I get home from work and there's a sheep outside the fence (luckily it's a bit away from the road). It was Little Boy. Things are growing in his pasture, and they get hay twice a day, but the grass growing on the other side must have tempted him too much.... I got some grain and got him to follow me back in. It appears he's jumping between the strands of electric rope. I have them a foot apart at most, and some are even closer together (5 strands total). I can't afford solid fence, and I've been working on re-spacing the electric but that's taking some time.

I'm thinking about putting him in with the ewes. I think Elding (the ram) will be fine by himself in the adjacent pasture, and since the ewes have the run-in shed with the hay feeder, Little Boy will have unlimited hay, and his mother there, which should make it less likely for him to want to get out. He gets along fine with the little lambs (who have been routinely 'escaping' into the boy's pasture through the gate that they fit through, like delinquent school kids thinking they're so bad....).

Brosa still hasn't lambed yet. Her tail ligaments feel completely loose. Her udder is still small, but firmer than it had been. Not real tight, though. Her vulva is swelling, and I think she's passed a few bits of mucous in the last day or two. I'm hoping she's within a week, at most. She's waddling a little as she walks now, but her appetite is still as strong as ever - so I don't think I can use 'decreased appetite' as a sign for mine!

I've worked a few times with the little (still un-named) mare. She still has aggression issues. She's not kicking or rearing as much, but if she's ticked off she's quick to come at me biting. She is one angry little mare, and I sure hope I can get through to her. Prince (my first mini rehab) taught me a lot, but she's going to teach me a lot more.

 

[norseofcourse]

Brosa was definitely passing some mucous when I fed this evening!! I checked back, and her mom passed mucous several times in the 8 days before lambing (that I saw). But her mom's ligaments weren't totally relaxed till 3 days before lambing, and Brosa's have been loose for a few days now. So still we wait....

 

[norseofcourse]

Little Boy got out of the fence again, so he's now in with the ewes and lambs. This is making it a little easier to live with my decision to send him to the processor this fall - I don't need a sheep that's going to be a constant challenge to keep fenced in. Elding seems to be content to stay in his pasture by himself (it helps that Icelandics are seasonal breeders, and the girls shouldn't be going into season till September or October).

Brosa still hasn't lambed. Her udder is still small. I'm now trying to keep track of how it feels - cool, warm, hot, not as full, full, tight... this evening it's warm and full; if I remember right, this morning it felt full but not as warm. I haven't seen her pass any more mucous lately, but her tail ligaments are still completely loose. I'm also watching for changes in her behavior - since she's the most friendly sheep I have, I'm hoping I'll be able to pick up on anything different.

The three lambs are growing, and such fun to watch. They pal around together, exploring things, playing chase and run-as-fast-as-you-can. Last year, Rose hardly ever let Little Boy out of her sight (he was her first lamb). She's still a very good mom, but she's more relaxed about letting her lamb run around and play. She's got plenty of milk, but I don't know if I'll be able to milk her - she's the most skittish of my ewes.

Gracie is doing well with the twins, and I've been working on touching her udder when I feed them pellets morning and evening. She's not thrilled, but she's getting better, so I may be able to milk her. The twins will be 2 weeks old on Sunday, so I may try a little milking then.

I don't think Brosa will be a problem to milk - I can handle her anywhere. She just needs to hurry up and lamb!!

 

[promiseacres]

Your Brosa sounds like two of my girls.. have been watching them get bigger and bigger and to that "any" day period of for 2 weeks. for some lambies for you soon.

 

[norseofcourse]

Still waiting on Brosa to lamb... her udder is firming up, her teats are filling out, and there's some heat to her udder now. Her vulva is swelling, and sometimes it's a bit redder than the rest of her hind end. I don't check her ligaments anymore since they're as totally relaxed as I think they can get. She is always happy to see me, and continues to have a good appetite. I've seen bits of mucous that she's passed several times now. And the waiting continues...

I worked on some fence over the weekend. I dug holes and set two wood corner posts, so I can enlarge the paddock the little mare is in. Prince, my other mini, came and helped (translation: nosed around in all my supplies and dumped the bucket of water ). We're getting rain all this week, so I'm glad I got the posts in before it started. Next is getting the insulators on and the fencing restrung, and then I can start clearing the fenceline for the next section - another big area for the sheep!

 

[norseofcourse]

Still waiting for Brosa to lamb... when I checked her last night, she seemed restless, and went outside the run-in area a couple of times, not really stretching her back legs, but shifting her weight side to side on them. I was hopeful, but it was a false alarm.

Little Boy hasn't gotten out of the pasture since I put him in with the ewes, and Elding is doing fine by himself in the adjoining pasture. Once Brosa lambs, and the little ones grow a bit, I am considering putting Elding back in with everyone, at least for a few months. It would make things easier. He's been alright with the lambs so far... they get into his pasture daily.

I'm glad I got those two wood posts set last weekend - but there's been too much rain to do anything else since then. I am thankful we don't have the severe weather they're having in some parts of the country though, and my thoughts are with those living in the paths of those terrible storms.

When I checked the sheep earlier today, they were all in the run-in area because of the rain. The lambs were bored and tired of being cooped up, so of course they were making pests of themselves - one was nibbling on Brosa's ears and horns, then on Gracie's ears; Brosa put up with it till one of them tried to stand on her. I got the camera out when Gracie's twins were climbing on her. They are growing well!

 

[luvmypets]

If you didnt live so far from me i would purchase that little black and white lamb.. An ewe right Lily jumps on mammy all the time too.

 

[norseofcourse]

@luvmypets - thanks, I love the markings on that one too - but both of Gracie's twins are boys, and that one's going to be brown (moorit) and white - I can see the brown on his head now, but his body color still looks black unless he's in direct sunlight (which has been in short supply here in Ohio lately ). Rose's lamb is a girl, and she's got the same dark eye rings, but her body is white - and she's getting to be quite a little chunky-butt!

Still waiting on Brosa. Her udder temperature varies, sometimes it's cool, sometimes it's warm, sometimes it's between warm and hot (just feeling it, not taking an actual temperature). I'm thinking the others had quite hot udders before they lambed. Maybe a clue? Or just another thing to obsess over!

 

[luvmypets]

I have an emergency. Mammy has udder issues. Her udder is firm in the middle and soft on the sides. We tried milking her for lily but she just spooked . Her udder is huge but nothing comes out. When lily tries to nurse mammy moves to the side. We have colostrum supplement but no bottle What can we do.