Our first St. Croix Lambs

[BeccaJoVon]

Since making the decision not to jug, I have spoken with a couple other breeders that also do not & one said to me that they found when they tried it the ewe really got stressed out & I could see that happening. Sheep are herd animals - these ewes are used to being together & do not like to be separated. I think if we had moved the ewes to jugs they would have been really distressed. As we watch them out there now they all watch over the babies & are doing a really great job. Of course we have way more still to lamb & are learning all the time but mamas & babies are happy so that's the main thing.

Liz

We are new to sheep, too, but I want to comment on this subject.

I had worried over whether or not to jug our two ewes. I did separate them from the others, which are each less than a year old. Because I am inexperienced, I didn't know what to expect. When ewe #1 started lambing, the other stayed far away from her. Even after the lambs were born, ewe #2 still kept her distance for a couple of days. When ewe #2 lambed, ewe #1 acted the same. I assume they have a natural instinct to give the ewe and her new lambs their space. They all run together now. I did think it was really interesting, though.

 

[BeccaJoVon]

Oh, and Congratulations!

 

[Bossroo]

Since making the decision not to jug, I have spoken with a couple other breeders that also do not & one said to me that they found when they tried it the ewe really got stressed out & I could see that happening. Sheep are herd animals - these ewes are used to being together & do not like to be separated. I think if we had moved the ewes to jugs they would have been really distressed. As we watch them out there now they all watch over the babies & are doing a really great job. Of course we have way more still to lamb & are learning all the time but mamas & babies are happy so that's the main thing.

Liz

We are new to sheep, too, but I want to comment on this subject.

I had worried over whether or not to jug our two ewes. I did separate them from the others, which are each less than a year old. Because I am inexperienced, I didn't know what to expect. When ewe #1 started lambing, the other stayed far away from her. Even after the lambs were born, ewe #2 still kept her distance for a couple of days. When ewe #2 lambed, ewe #1 acted the same. I assume they have a natural instinct to give the ewe and her new lambs their space. They all run together now. I did think it was really interesting, though.

More often than not, this is true, however, some ewes that are getting ready to lamb will steal a newborn lamb and not allow the real mother to even come near. There are times when several ewes will surround the newborn lamb and the lamb will then follow another ewe while the new mother is in the process of giving birth to a twin, then she will not claim the first twin lamb. Some ewes that may have low mothering instincts, will just walk away or butt the newborn lamb to keep it away from her. Some ewe's udders may so swollen with milk that they will not allow the newborn lamb to nurse. Some ewes may not produce any milk at all for several hours or a day after parturition. Jugging is just good husbandry practice to give the ewe and newborn lambs private bonding time for the best chance for survival.

 

[peteyfoozer]

My first ewe that lambed this year wasn't jugged and all the sheep came and took turns butting the baby around. She wasn't doing well protecting it at ALL. I finally jugged her up and a week later, all was well. The sheep accepted the baby and she had finally gotten protective.
The second I jugged because I had to pull the lamb and she was really stressed. She wasn't going to let him nurse, so a few days in there with me helping, she finally took over. #3 hasn't lambed yet...but I suspect she too will get jugged! I only have 1 that I am not planning to jug up because she had no problems at all last year and I already know she's a good mama. These guys I just have to find out.

 

[Cornish Heritage]

Jugging is just good husbandry practice to give the ewe and newborn lambs private bonding time for the best chance for survival.

Not trying to be argumentative here but sweeping statements like the above have gotten me into a lot of trouble in the past! LOL! Most farmers/farms do what they feel is right for them taking into account the personality of the animal & previous experience with that animal. Just because something has been done for years does not mean it is right. Did they have jugs hundreds/thousands of years ago? Probably not! Did they need them? Probably not! When caring for today's animals one has to realize that many of the animals have had some of the "mothering" instincts bred out of them in favor of larger & more babies. This has really not done them any favors. Commercial pig farmers use farrowing crates for their sows - does that mean that everyone else should?! Absolutely not!

SO what works for one may not work for another. Here on our farm we breed heritage animals & breed for hardiness & good mothering skills. We want to see these animals, no matter what breed, raising their young out in the pastures as they were created to do. Does that mean we will never jug? No! In fact this morning, the snow was coming down hard & one of our little ones went out to let some of the sheep out despite me telling them to leave them in! She saw a baby lamb, took it & put it in a different pasture from its mother so they were apart for 2 hours! When we got out & realized what had happened we not only had to find the mother but we watched to see if she would take it. The ewe knew it was hers but was not too sure if she wanted to let her drink so we decided to jug her. If it had been a nice day I probably would not have done so but did not want to risk the lamb freezing to death in the snow.

All our other ewes so far have bonded fine with their babies with no intervention from us.

Hope everyone has a great day & I for one, hope no more ewes lamb today.

Liz

 

[Bossroo]

Jugging is just good husbandry practice to give the ewe and newborn lambs private bonding time for the best chance for survival.

Not trying to be argumentative here but sweeping statements like the above have gotten me into a lot of trouble in the past! LOL! Most farmers/farms do what they feel is right for them taking into account the personality of the animal & previous experience with that animal. Just because something has been done for years does not mean it is right. Did they have jugs hundreds/thousands of years ago? Probably not! Did they need them? Probably not! When caring for today's animals one has to realize that many of the animals have had some of the "mothering" instincts bred out of them in favor of larger & more babies. This has really not done them any favors. Commercial pig farmers use farrowing crates for their sows - does that mean that everyone else should?! Absolutely not!

SO what works for one may not work for another. Here on our farm we breed heritage animals & breed for hardiness & good mothering skills. We want to see these animals, no matter what breed, raising their young out in the pastures as they were created to do. Does that mean we will never jug? No! In fact this morning, the snow was coming down hard & one of our little ones went out to let some of the sheep out despite me telling them to leave them in! She saw a baby lamb, took it & put it in a different pasture from its mother so they were apart for 2 hours! When we got out & realized what had happened we not only had to find the mother but we watched to see if she would take it. The ewe knew it was hers but was not too sure if she wanted to let her drink so we decided to jug her. If it had been a nice day I probably would not have done so but did not want to risk the lamb freezing to death in the snow.

All our other ewes so far have bonded fine with their babies with no intervention from us.

Hope everyone has a great day & I for one, hope no more ewes lamb today.

Liz

I started by saying " more often than not, however..." ... Many, many years ago, shepherds were nomads followed the green pastures so they didn't have the luxury of "jugs". However the good shepherds brought the ewes with newborn lambs into their tents or just under some makeshift shelter against inclement weather, or to care for a sick or injured lamb. After all, their very life and livelihood depended on every ewe and newborn in their possession. Even today in the good old USA, the shepherds that graze their sheep on the open range, therefore are nomads too, will bring lambs in need of bonding after a difficult birth, weak, or injured, severe weather, rejection, etc. , with their mothers into their wagons or a makeshift shelter in order to give it the best chance for survival. Yes, I have personally seen this! You gave another good reason to jug if and when the need arrises. If you didn't in this case, you would have to bottle feed the little one or end up with one to bury. It may be just fine for a hobby farm to not to have to jug if the owner has 1 or two or just a hadful of ewes, and is there often and may get away with it, otherwise dead lamb and may not suffer great monetary harm. But, when one starts to get into numbers on a limited piece of ground ( farmlands are shrinking in favor of sudivisions for exploding populations), one has to rely on technology to supplement Mother Nature for the scale of economics, as not only the owner , but also the hungry multitudes rely on their good husbandry practices. As for breeding " mothering " abilities out of non heritage, new and improved livestock ... since you used pigs as an examle, has everyone noticed the purebred pigs that have gone feral in places like Florida, Texas, California or even Hawaii that have outcompeted the introduced European wild pigs as game animals, and are now classified as nuisense pests?

 

[bonbean01]

We do jug our ewes, but this year didn't realize one of them was as close as she was...when I got out to them, there was quite a scene going on...ewe giving birth, with two little hooves just appearing, and another ewe who was close (she lambed 3 days later) was taking over the ewe's lamb and making loud slurping sounds drinking amniotic fluid...and the ewe giving birth also distressed.

I couldn't get the ewe out that was "taking over" the almost born lamb myself ... she had the mother instinct as if it was hers, and I ran to the house to get my husband. It took both of us to get her out of there and close the jug!!

I had read of this possibility but didn't really think any of our ewes would do that...wrong!!

The first ewe had a beautiful ewe lamb and we left them in the jug together for the rest of the night and until noon the next day. We let her rejoin the maternity ward and the second ewe left them alone. Few days later and the second ewe had her lamb. We caught that on time and jugged her since there was another ewe close to lambing then too.

So, from our experience, jugging is the way to go. Never had this problem in past years, but I guess these sheep like to keep us on our toes...LOL! Every ewe has always just walked in there to lamb and we usually just close the gate when they go in labour...this time we missed the early signs.

Your lambs are soooooooooooo CUTE!!!!! Congratulations

 

[Erins Little Farm]

adorable!