SheepGirl's 2013 Lambing Thread - Update - July 2013

BrownSheep

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I've had lambs that after three months were still trying to nurse! Luckily momma didn't feel like nursing her 8 month old triplets any more!

Nice look ram lamb!
 

Bridgemoof

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Congratulations Sheepgirl! I'm so proud of Kate Perry. What a great mommy. The lamb is perfect. :D
 

SheepGirl

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Thanks, guys! I'm so excited about him & my ewe :D

I will dock him and tag him tomorrow morning. I was going to do it tonight but I decided I would let him wait :)

And I think I already have a buyer lined up for him. One of my coworkers wants a whole lamb to barbeque so I think that's gonna be his fate :/
 

SheepGirl

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I docked and tagged him this morning. He took it like a champ. Didn't even flinch! :cool:

okay and here's a little rant.....

I came home from school this evening (had a final in Stats) to find my grandfather had talked to my dad and my dad proceeded to mow the field :somad :rant Apparently my grandfather told my father, none the wiser, that the field should be mowed because "sheep can't eat tall grass." :rolleyes: I love how my grandfather always does this when I'm not home. How much sense does that even make? My grandfather does NOT spend any time at all out with the sheep--he doesn't know their grazing habits. I was just out there this morning and I saw all the sheep eat the seed heads off of the grass (don't know what kind of grass it is, but the seed heads are purple?). That and they ripped the grass halfway down the stem and ate the top half of the grass. So I'm mad because 1) they're my sheep so I should be the one to make all the feed management decisions (my dad even asked me this morning if the field should be mowed because it looks 'bad'--I was like, 'no, it looks great and the grass is tall and lush and it will be tall enough for if/when we have a summer drought, the sheep will have something to eat'); 2) It is May--it is warm. It is wet and rainy. The grass is short. My sheep are probably going to be infected with internal parasites. I'm not so worried about Ciqala, Katy Perry, and Lady Gaga, but I'm mainly worried about Ali and all the 2013 lambs. 3) My sheep are eating the grass clippings...which is a cause of grass tetany. I don't need to be dealing with that.

I just wish people would ASK and THINK before they ACT. My dad listens to my grandfather because 'he was a farmer' -- yeah, well look how that turned out. He's not one anymore. Things have changed. The way animals are managed have changed. The way pastures are managed have changed. Okay, well they aren't his sheep. They are mine. I know what's best for them. Heck, I know a LOT more about sheep than my grandfather, who back when 'he was a farmer' would just throw feed out to the critters and he didn't even know what kind of sheep he had. My neighbor always mowed his field in late June--why? Because it was hot and it was summer--when parasites weren't much of an issue. AND he didn't mow it with a lawn tractor and leave the grass 2.5 inches tall!! :rant -- he mowed it with a pull behind mower attached to his tractor. And the only reason why he mowed it was because we had one sheep per 1/2 to 2 acres (depending on flock size)--which is way more than the sheep could keep up with in the summer, even with a drought. I have (or will have once the lambs are done being weaned) 4 ewes and 4 lambs on a hair under two acres. They will be able to keep up with that very well. ugghhhhh my grandfather just annoys me thinking he knows more than me and even my old neighbor. :rolleyes:

This is the second time my grandfather has had the field mowed WITHOUT ASKING ME FIRST and doing it WHILE I'M NOT HOME to stop it. Tomorrow on my way to work I'm going to stop at the hardware store and buy a lock to put on the gate. I'm done with this.

okay, rant over. :th

now pictures of my sheep :)

Grass before
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Grass after--as you can see it is WAY too short for sheep to be grazing at this time of the year
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I love this photo here. All the way in the back is Ali, standing in front of her is 11 week old Rosie, in front of her is 11-2/3 month old Katy Perry, and then her 1 day old ram lamb.
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Looks like this lil guy is cow hocked
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What a cutie! :)
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His ears are really strong, don't you think? The ear tags aren't making his ears sag like they made the other lambs' ears sag.
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Learning how to graze
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Okay, I'm sorry for all the udder photos. But I am seriously in love with this girl's udder. I am SO happy with it and my sheep's genetics (since she is out of a twin sibling breeding). It is just so perfectly shaped and her teats are perfect (well, almost...her teat placement could be a little better) and the fact she isn't even one year old yet!!
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Chillaxin
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I love this face
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Is that my baby up there?
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Bella -- She looks more like a Montadale than anything else, even though she's only 1/4 Montadale
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Edward -- I think he is a perfect blend of Montadale and Texel. You can't really tell that he is 1/4 Babydoll Southdown.
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Tonight's Sunset -- Can you tell which sheep is which? I can :D
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SheepGirl

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Bella lost her Scrapie tag today :/ It was a bloody mess...she has her whole side of her face stained with blood. At first I thought she had sliced her ear right where it attaches to her head. Nope...just blood stained wool. She had me freaking out there for a second. I didn't even check it before I ran back into the house to grab some iodine and my screwworm spray. So now her ear & some of her face is stained yellow and blue. And a little bit of green :D But she should be okay, she wasn't acting like she was in pain.

And also the sheep were laying in the sheep shack today for their source of shade. But it was so wet & nasty & muddy & goopy in there from last night's thunderstorms, I shooed them out, I opened the gate and let them go behind the feed shack for shade. They stayed there all afternoon lol. I really need to find a way to keep the water from coming into the sheep shack. Do you think putting gravel at the opening will help? We have plenty of gravel....

This weekend we are having family up for Memorial Day. We have my cousins from North Carolina coming up tonight. So I've been on a cleaning frenzy all day with my mom. Mainly cleaning my room since my cousin will be bunking with me haha. I just have clothes all over the floor. And magazines. And shoes. And other teenage girl stuff. hahahahaha So that's been my day so far. And I close tomorrow & Saturday night at my job. Stinks because we always have so much fun at night with the family :( Crazy me forgot to request off again & I lost track of time. These weeks seem to really be running together, it's crazy. I work 35-40 hrs a week and then usually after work I go out with friends and I don't get home til 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 in the morning :ep Usually we are at someone's house watching a movie or two. Sometimes we will go to IHOP first. One time we went to a club. I asked my mom if I could go and she actually said okay! I think she was only okay with it because we took a coworker there, and she's like 67. But she had a week off at her other job and she had off at our job, so we took her out to the club. She had a lot of fun actually. It was my first (and only) time going, too lol. But it was a lot of fun. It reminded me a lot of homecoming & prom, except people were dressed a lot....differently haha. Not that I have any room to talk, I wore a blue mini dress and 4" heels :hide lol but I got a great work out wearing heels and dancing! You should see my calves...they are all nice and toned now hahaha. I was asked to dance by three guys, but I said no to all of them because I was there with a guy I'm kind of seeing and he kept scaring them away lol. I guess word got around because after the first hour no one else came up to me :p But one of the guys that asked me to dance asked my 67 year old coworker to dance! I thought that was pretty adorable.

So yeah...there's my update :p :D
 

bonbean01

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4 inch heels and clubbing???? Okay Missy...once in awhile is okay...but make a habit of it and I'll have to come up there and give you a talking to :old Actually, I'm glad you had a good time!

I had to come back to this just to enjoy those photos!!! Your little lambies are sooooo stinking CUTE!!!!! :love
 
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