Our 1st lambing season

[misfitmorgan]

We don't know when ours are due either. Being we have only one non-seasonal sheep though, i just due the math off of the first sheep to give birth. So far that is working.

In the future we will have the rams separate from the ewes but as of now we have no place to separate them due to moving.

 

[RoahT]

@misfitmorgan, what do you do for lambing season if you can't separate them? I have a ewe that seems to be due soon, but I'm in the same situation of not being able to separate the ram from the ewes...

 

[misfitmorgan]

Once the ewes are bred they no longer need to be separated.....only non-seasonal breeders need to be separate from the ram's when lambing so they are not bred back right away.

If you can move the expecting ewe to another area like in a stall in the barn or a temporary shelter for a week or two that would solve the problem. Being in colorado your going to want to keep the lab inside for a couple weeks anyhow otherwise you will have bad frostbite issues.

We typically have some ear loss from frostbite on early lambs or kids i know it can be much more severe though. Someone we know had a goat kid suffer frostbite so bad she lost the bottom half of her front legs and the bottom quarter of her back legs. She still lived for about a year, i think i would have put her down myself.

What kind of setup do your sheep have? Depending on where in colorado you live your day time temps might be fine for lambs the over nights for the first week or two would be hard on them.

 

[Annwise27]

Right now I have 2 large fields to put our little herd into. 1 has no grass in it all right now so I have 3 ewes and our ram all together and have my mean ewe in our quarantine pen so she doesn't kill any lambs, since the ram seems to be great with the babies. 2 of my ewes in the field are untouchable so we can't move them to our lambing pen. My plan for this spring is to have another field fenced for any boys we might have. We'll see how that goes though lol .

 

[misfitmorgan]

So you have two fields, a quarantine area and a lambing pen?

 

[Annwise27]

The lambing pen is actually a little stall built under a lean-to The quarantine field is just big enough to run 1 sheep in (2 if they are small). It's not ideal yet but the kids and I are getting a little closer lol.
Just wanted to give Roah an idea of what our first year of learning looked like and how I am hoping to make improvements in the next year. ( I don't know why I wasn't thinking about early breed back after the babies are born! )

 

[misfitmorgan]

If you have the hay i would put the ram in the other pasture without any grass for now.

The mean ewe attacks lambs or just the other sheep?

 

[Annwise27]

The mean ewe seems to attack anything that walks or breathes. I was going to sell her or butcher her when she started being so violent but my son and husband get mad at me for even thinking about it. She is loving as long as there is a fence between her and everything else

 

[misfitmorgan]

I would retain a ewe lamb off of the mean ewe and bottle raise the baby and then sell the mean ewe for meat.

There is nothing wrong with your thinking. If you all really want to do 4-h and FFA good herd management is a big part of it and having animals who attack others...you know for breathing...is not good herd management. Really the only exception there might be a male animal and even then they better not go after anyone but other males. Ewe's picking on each other is normal but there is a point when it goes beyond normal.

 

[Baymule]

I agree. Animals need to get along and not be attacking the others in the flock or herd. This ewe is beyond being a bully and needs to go. Either to the sale or freezer, but she needs to go. I don't think I would keep a ewe lamb from her, I wouldn't want those genetics in the flock. Sometimes you have to make the tough calls and it sounds like you are on the right track......now to bring your DH and son up to speed.......