SheepGirl's 2012 Lambing Thread

[boykin2010]

We put our ram up on Craig's list here and stated very clearly why we were selling him...at that point I didn't care if someone wanted to take a chance with him as a breeder or if he was going to end up hamburger. Phone started ringing right away and one guy called and said he needed a ram as soon as possible to breed his ewes for spring lambs and he wasn't concerned with his aggression since he'd use him for breeding and then take him to auction. Guy showed up pretty quickly with a livestock trailer, loaded him up....paid cash (we didn't ask much and he was pretty happy and so were we) and he left with us again stressing how dangerous he was. I've always wondered if being moved to another location with other people changed his attitude or if he remained dangerous.

You could try Craig's list...just be sure to stress why you are selling him. This guy didn't care...just needed a ram right away and this ram was a handsome Kat, which is what he wanted.

Your Mom would have a fit if she really knew how dangerous even a smaller ram is...broken bones...you down on the ground and not able to get away as he continues to ram and ram you. Really not funny at all, but she's probably thinking of how cute your breed is and not realizing just what could happen to you.

I did the same thing with my bottle baby ram. He became aggressive after his first breeding season. I put him on craigslist stressing how dangerous he was but since he was purebred and registered plus he was RR someone wanted him right away. The bottle baby was always very obnoxious and when he arrived at his new home he started to try and headbutt one of three Anatolian Shepherds the guy had. The dog didn't like that at all and let the ram know it too. He was a in a pen with 3 full grown kiko billies with huge horns and 2 anatolian shepherds. So, he settled down pretty quick from what I understood. I think his attitude changed after the move to another location

 

[SheepGirl]

I put him on craigslist as you all suggested, so we'll see if we have any bites. But he's always been this mean, except it's always been in the fall when the ewes start to come into heat. As a ram lamb he rammed me into the barn wall (the barn made of cinder blocks) while I was feeding the ewes. In the winter as a ram lamb, he rammed into my neighbor and my neighbor had to walk around with the shepherd's crook for a week or two. He was fine as a yearling and a two year old, but now that he's three it's like he's a whole new ram. Even while he was on pasture at my neighbor's he would try to ram me, except they were more of 'threats' than serious, since I was able to stop him by putting my foot up in his field of vision. But now it's war lol. I've even tried choking him--which worked before--but even he's not scared of dying if it means he can ram me. So he's on craigslist and I emphasized that he needs to go due to his aggression. But if he's not sold, he'll be going to auction next Tuesday.

On the upside, today is a beautiful day--sunny, not too hot with a cool breeze, and beautiful clear blue skies. I may take the ewes out to graze around our sheds and the house today since I don't have anything better to do.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Billy might be more frustrated or bored since he's moved, but it defintely sounds like it's his time to go.

And goodness, don't fret over Ali's job of raising the lambs. After all, they weren't even hers. I'd be happy as pie she even lactated at all!

 

[SheepGirl]

Lol, well I can't wait till next year when she has her own!

I'm still trying to think of what breed of ram I should buy...another Babydoll? Maybe a Cheviot...or a Texel. Or maybe a Finn? soo many choices! lol Just don't want anything too big for Ali to deliver, since she's ~130 lbs. Maybe I could buy a Katahdin ram and use my ewes to create a registered flock over a couple generations?

 

[aggieterpkatie]

You could buy a Southdown. I wouldn't go with a Finn...not if you want meat sheep.

 

[boykin2010]

Lol, well I can't wait till next year when she has her own!

I'm still trying to think of what breed of ram I should buy...another Babydoll? Maybe a Cheviot...or a Texel. Or maybe a Finn? soo many choices! lol Just don't want anything too big for Ali to deliver, since she's ~130 lbs. Maybe I could buy a Katahdin ram and use my ewes to create a registered flock over a couple generations?

I started doing this a while back with my "experimental sheep." when I first started out I bought some crossbreed wooly looking sheep that were cheap just to get used to them. I bred them to a Katahdin ram and then keep the ewe lambs born. This is going to be my third generation this year and all of the wool is gone. It does take a while but it is cool to see the sheep progressing. They are looking more like a Katahdin now. I am very impatient and wanted purebred an registered ewes now so every year I buy some Katahdin ewes from a breeder that are already purebred and registered. It will be interesting in a few more years when I can compare my new purebred registered Katahdins with my own stock which came from wool breeds. I think it is 5 generations before they can be registered as purebred....

 

[SheepGirl]

Well I think I might end up with a Texel ram...after I sell my ram of course. I'm hoping it will be next week or the week after, whenever we get my car back from my uncle so my mom can drive my car to work and I can have the expedition to take him in.

So when I breed my sheep I will have
1/2 Texel x 1/4 Montadale x 1/4 Babydoll Southdown
1/2 Texel x 1/8 Montadale x 3/8 Babydoll Southdown
1/2 Texel x 3/16 Montadale x 5/16 Babydoll Southdown

I really hope when I breed Katy Perry she takes because with her butt plus a Texel butt her lamb(s) will have a big meaty butt!

Here are some pictures from a couple days ago I never did upload...

The Peanut Gallery was watching me...

...while I had Lady Gaga. (I know the picture is blurry, but she has such a pretty face, especially with those longgg eyelashes )

Oh! And I was able to get my brothers to take pictures of me and my lambs on the 25th, so I didn't need my mom last Friday So in these pictures they are 61 days old.

This is Lady Gaga...I wish I didn't set her front feet up so she was so camped out. I had to put my foot in front of her back feet though because she kept wanting to take a step. (Notice her black & pink tongue...any sheep with natural colored genes will have a bi-colored tongue; a natural colored sheep will have a black tongue.)

This is Katy Perry...you can tell that she is soo much more meaty than Lady Gaga. Too bad I didn't have her set up in this picture. My brother just wanted to get the photo shoot done and over with lol. Katy Perry is kind of annoying when I go out to feed though...she's always bleating thinking I have something for her and when she sees me with grain she stands on the fence to try to get to it. She reminds me so much of my old ewe Lily.

 

[Southdown]

What does the Texel breed look like? It sounds like you are going to have with your sheep breeding in the years to come. So explain the tongue thing; I didn't get it.

 

[SheepGirl]

Texels are a super meaty breed...and they always tend to be the ones that win carcass competitions at fairs. They don't grow as fast as Suffolks or other black face breeds, but they produce a better carcass.

Here's a picture from the Texel Sheep Breeder's Society

As for the tongue thing...as far as I know this only applies to traditional wool breeds...I'm not sure how it applies to hair breeds.
A white sheep without any genes for natural colored wool (which tends to be a recessive trait), ie no black sheep in the pedigree, will have a solid pink tongue.
A black sheep will have a solid black tongue, regardless if there are white sheep in it's pedigree.
A white sheep with genes for natural colored wool, who may or may not have black sheep in it's pedigree, will have a pink tongue with black spots or splotches.

Basically a tongue will "tell" you the color genetics of an animal. So it's helpful especially if you want to produce natural colored sheep (or NOT produce natural colored sheep) because you can choose a white ram (especially if you can't find a natural colored one) with color on his tongue and he may produce a black lamb, depending on what ewe(s) you breed him to. Or if you don't want to produce natural colored sheep, you can choose a white ram with an all-pink tongue and that will pretty much guarantee you wont' have any black lambs.

I hope that's not too confusing :/

 

[Bridgemoof]

Love your pictures SheepGirl. That's good info about the tongue color. My Jacob's have pink and black spotted tongues. I'm not sure what color Dipsy, my Cormo ram's tongue looks like. My Tunis was bred to Dipsy and her lamb is pretty much red, like a full tunis, but had a few white patches on his head.

So back to the aggressive ram thing. How old is your aggressive ram now? At what age do they start to act "ramish" with hormones? Dipsy is the sweetest ram and he is so easy to handle. He never butts. He's almost 2. Now I have a Jacob ram, too, who is 6 months old, Beastie Boy. I just love him to death, he is so sweet, too. But I dread to think if he starts getting aggressive, because he has 5 HUGE horns that surely will be dangerous!