SCORE! Sheep Handling Equipment

[Cotton*wood]

We did have fun! @Ridgetop and her husband will come back again before heading back home. @Devonviolet and her husband will come over and we will have lunch, visit and do fecal exams. I tell ya' I know how to throw a party! What could be more fun than digging in doo-doo? DV will bring fecal samples from her goats and we'll look for worm eggs. Great topic for lunch, huh?

I wish you lived near ME--I'd love to have joined the party and learned a bunch.

 

[Baymule]

@Cotton*wood i would be more than happy to teach you. Did I hear you say you always wanted to vacation in east Texas? LOL it was a real eye opener for me. I was amazed that sheep with extremely high barber pole worm egg counts looked so healthy. While maybe they handled it well, they were shedding parasites in their droppings and contaminating the pastures, making it hard on growing lambs.

Some universities give classes on parasite testing. Maybe check with your county extension agent and see if any classes are coming up. Teresa went to a class so she and Mike could check their sheep. When we went to go get Ringo, she taught me.

Ringo is parasite resistant. He was bred by Virginia Tech University as part of their parasite resistance program. He might have one or two worm eggs in his fecal test. He is able to pass this on to his offspring. I have him with several of his daughters now. For any of their offspring that I keep, I’ll have to get another ram. LOL

 

[Ridgetop]

OH NO!! BUYING ANOTHER RAM!! Did I ever tell you how I ended up with FOUR rams?!
You wave your bidding paddle at a show just to try to help sell a ram for a top breeder you know and are the only bidder . . . . Luckily the rams are all good ones but FOUR? Well, Lewis is getting some age on him but he still gets the girls covered and settled n record time.

Now we have to build another breeding pen because I have ewe lambs a year old that I need breed NOW BUT can't because their sire is in my only breeding pen with ewes. And although he has covered all those ewes I have other yearling ewes that need to be put in with him now so he can't come out yet. And I just discovered another yearling maiden ewe sired by him that should have gone in with the previous ram in the breeding pen.

This is what happens when you get a lot of ewe lambs and keep most of them. DS1 went out and looked at the fence panels we have available and says he can put up another small pen near the ram pen to make a second breeding pen. The problem will be the number of jugs I have available. DS1 is also finishing another weaning pen below the barn to move the older lambs from the creep into. Oh well, lamb prices are up for the time being so I will cash in on sales as often as I can get everyone bred and lambed. I am also culling out ewe lambs based on wool and conformation (and temperament). 3 more ewes due the end of December. And 6 more currently bred, with another 6 youngsters or more needing to be bred asap. And that doesn't include the mature ewes that have weaned lambs and need to go back for breeding. This is getting to be work!!!

Luckily the dry climate here does not favor worms or I would have a huge job doing fecals.

 

[Baymule]

What a terrible problem to have! LOL too many ewes that need to visit with their baby daddy!

 

[Ridgetop]

DS1 went out today and moved 4 more yearlings in with Lewis. 5 were supposed to go but one apparently got sold last month. She was the one with the bad attitude. Two of the ewes were 12 and 13 months old. I didn't want another couple months to breed them to another ram, so they are being bred to their father. If the lambs turn out nice, fine, if I don't like them their lambs can all go to the auction. One generation of inbreeding won't hurt.