Ringo’s Lambs! Baymule’s 5th Lambing

[Beekissed]

Mine bled way too much, had to apply a pressure bandage to the area. Been reading about cut vs. band vs. Burdizzo and I'm thinking I'd like to try the Burdizzo like tool on them instead of even banding. Seems the least problematic and painful for the animal.

 

[Mini Horses]

I have a burdizzio and bander (or two).

Banding, you slide it on and they holler when you release it onto them. The banding left them whimpering for about 24 hrs, then like nothing had happened. burdizzio, you have to hold it tight for longer and they do scream. But, I noticed nothing that made me think there was any discomfort couple hrs later. Then you don't have to watch for fall off...flies, etc. Rarely use either much, sell most intact as ethnics prefer than. But any that stay here have to be done. So Spring of 2021 I will probably do a couple to grow out for freezer.
By then the planned meat goats will be kidding.

Bought the Burdizzio from Premier.

By the way, they have started carrying a line of "smaller" than commercial, meat processing things. sausage stuffers, grinders, casings and a pretty interesting packager for ground meat in a tube. Wasn't all that pricy either. Ground is in a vac bag, since I have the vac sealer.

 

[Ridgetop]

We have banded for 30 years - goats, lambs both. We dock tails and castrate with bands. Quick, easy, and no flies. I give1 ml Tetanus antitoxin as well as 2 ml CDT. The Tetanus Antitoxin gives immediate protection while the CDT will eventually kick in. We dock around 3 days but can do it later. We castrate around 2 months old when we give the second CDT booster. We like the jewels a little larger so we can identify the urethra cord easier.

That Dorper buck was not a good one - way too short in the loin. There are much better specimens out there. The black headed Dorpers have a reputation as being "flighty" which my breeder friend who has both Dorpers and white Dorpers translates as "mean and nasty tempered". The White Dorpers are completely different - sweet and docile. With black headed Dorpers as your only experience, no wonder you changed to Katahdins! Yours are very sweet natured which makes working with them so much more pleasant too. I like to shead off any wool to get a good look at the actual bodies if the sheep haven't completely shed out. Wool can hide a lot of sins. When we used to show sheep years ago, you showed in the fleece and a good fitter could make a truly hideous shee look like a champion. the judge had to really feel the animal and know what he was feeling to be able to judge properly. I really like the hair sheep so much better since they are easier to judge when they shed out.

Ringo is a lovely ram. You easily can see the difference between his length of body and the short coupled body on that Dorper ram. Having him helps you learn good body type. You may not know how to explain what you see, but just living with good quality animals helps you learn what to look for. You already can see the difference between him and the ewes you are culling. You can breed his daughters to him one generation so you don't have to replace him when you decide to breed them. It will also double up on his genetic material in the next generation and hopefully fix his genes in his double bred granddaughters. Ringo has really stamped his get with his own good looks. All the lambs show incredible improvement in type.

Those 2 spotted ewe lambs are adorable! I love the colors on Aria. Latigo reminds me of her sire. Good length of body and very elegant looking. Aria is also long and elegant. Very flashy in the show ring. We need to plan to go to the big Katahdin show this summer. Road Trip! Can those 2 be entered as percentages? Fall lamb class. If you have lambs after January 1, they will be in the spring lamb class. Ooh! Maybe they will have a sale and you can get a registered ewe for Ringo!

We noticed when castrating, etc. that the wooly coated lambs were more flighty than the ones with soft curly hair like Aria and Latigo. The hairy ones are the keepers - I like their bodies better too. Type As LOL

 

[Baymule]

Thank you @Ridgetop for the assessment of my ewes and Ringo, you actually did have "hands on" !! I see the difference in the lambs in the first generation. I am being very critical of Aria and Latigo, they are meeting my expectations so far. They are both lovely girls.

I will always keep Ringo, even if I have to keep his own "harem" of ladies. LOL LOL I have thought about of out crossing to a quality white Dorper ram to put a little more butt on my flock. I know that I can breed Ringo's daughters to him for one generation and be ok, but any grand daughters bred to him-their lambs won't be keepers. I do want a few registered ewes so that I have the option of selling registered breeding stock to give another avenue of sales.

Having a small flock, I have only sold the lambs as packaged meat. I have found buyers for the meat before taking them to slaughter and it has been easy because I only had a few. Tuesday we took 6 lambs to USDA slaughter, which gives me the opportunity to advertise the meat for sale. We'll see how that goes. I'll have 8 going to slaughter in May, I am looking for that clientele that wants good quality meat from animals raised in their natural environment versus feedlot meat. I'm looking for the people who want to know their farmer and how the meat they are eating was treated and fed. If this goes well, then YAY! If it flops, then I can always take them to auction. Either way, they still sell.

 

[misfitmorgan]

We band and have not had any problems. We also have not seen the bands bothering them for 24hrs as mentioned but we band about about 2 weeks - 2 months old. They have maybe 30-45 minutes of acting off then they act pretty normal because by then things have gone really numb. I have also seen lambs who were cut...again within an hour or so they are acting pretty normal again so I dont really see a major advantage for how they are acting.

The whole hot knife thing...nope I cant do that. Maybe I am just a whimp but its not for me I will be banding tails forever.

 

[Mike CHS]

Approximately how big were the lambs when you took them into the processor?

 

[Baymule]

They were almost 11 months old, when I called for a slaughter date, they were several months out. Normally I gave a 2-3 week notice, not 3 months. That’s why I went ahead and booked the lambs I have now. Mid May the winter grasses and clovers will be about done and the lambs will have the benefit of good grazing.

 

[misfitmorgan]

They were almost 11 months old, when I called for a slaughter date, they were several months out. Normally I gave a 2-3 week notice, not 3 months. That’s why I went ahead and booked the lambs I have now. Mid May the winter grasses and clovers will be about done and the lambs will have the benefit of good grazing.

Hopefully they make some really nice lamb for you guys. Lamb as in meat not alive things

 

[Baymule]

The 6 we just took are not Ringo’s.

 

[Baymule]

Just because she’s so pretty and so darn cute, here’s Aria.