SheepGirl's 2013 Lambing Thread - Update - July 2013

[SheepGirl]

Ahhhh...I remember that about photobucket when I used it on my old computer...took me so many tries before I figured that out about maximum size too!!!

You know...most people cull ewes that don't produce twins...but we don't...sometimes we figure being a small farm and golden oldies...one healthy lamb is better than twins or triplets that are too small or weak...but we're old timers compared to you and have limited space....plus we are such softies...couldn't cull a friend for having singles...so far since we've started in sheep we've only had one set of twins...but the new ram we bought this winter is a twin and so are two of our ewes, so who knows?

Other sheep breeders in our area think it funny how much we coddle and spoil our sheep...ehhhh...we enjoy it...and I am known as ...women who pets and cuddles her sheep too much...

Your breed look like such cuddly teddy bears and those lambs are just too adorable...sometimes they are sooooo CUTE that they look fake...and that is a compliment

Just watched the video of you giving Hank his shot...good video and helpful!!! Thanks for posting

Lol, I don't think I could actually ever get rid of my Ali, much less take her to auction. She's annoying most of the time, but I still love the lil booger. I love singles in that they are bigger & stronger & grow faster, but I like twins & triplets better because while slower to start, they catch up and it's one or two more lambs to play with and later sell And hopefully you will get more sets of twins and you see what I mean about having more babies to play with!! lol

hahaha yeah I'm known as the girl who loves her sheep too much around here Everyone always says that haha so for both of us loving our sheep too much! lol

And thank you And you're welcome

Bon and I will be fighting over Rosie, because she has stolen my heart, too! She is too precious. I guess she looks like Lady Gaga and Kate Perry when they were younger, right? She is going to be as cute as them I think, very expressive face. The others are adorable too, but they just don't have that chunky cuteness that Rosie has. Speaking of Lady Gaga and Kate Perry, they were bred, too, right? When are they due, May? That will be fun to see what they bring on!

I haven't watched the video yet. I hate tagging. I won't tag my lambs until I sell them. We tagged all the baby goats though and believe me, they screamed bloody murder, but only for a second. One baby goat already got his ear tag stuck in the fence, but I don't think he ripped it out fortunately.

haha I love Rosie. She loves to climb on me when I'm sitting down. You can definitely tell she's got more Southdown in her than the other two. I'm pretty sure that's where she gets her fluffy face from haha. I can't wait to find out if it stays open or if she ends up getting wool growing on her face. And Katy Perry was bred, Lady Gaga was not. Katy Perry is due May 18 (day 147), 1 week from their first birthday. She should have a lamb that looks a lot like Rosie.

Tagging for me isn't all that bad. I would rather tag them when they are younger though because their ears aren't as thick so you don't have to pierce through as much ear as you would when they're older. And goats are just so dramatic. I've heard stories where they yell when they're tagged, give birth, get rained on, etc. Sheep are either very quiet (and smart--they wouldn't want to alert a predator they're in distress lol) or they are so much better than goats. Yep...I think the last one's it. They're better than goats

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Well I docked the two triplets today. They both took it a LOT better than Rosie. They were still active and playing and not laying down or rolling around and everything haha. I didn't tag them, I didn't want their cute little ears to be all droopy quite just yet because I want to take more photos of them. So maybe in the next couple days I will get around to tagging them. And the ewe lamb has finally learned to kneel down to nurse! The ram lamb isn't as smart, so he needs some help. But I've been going out there 2x each day (when I feed) and getting them to nurse until their bellies are full. They look bigger than when they were born but I'm sure they haven't gained much weight, and I don't expect them to until they really get a hang of nursing completely on their own.

And these two babies are soo sweet. They always climb in my lap or when I'm sitting down and have my legs off to the side, the ewe lamb lays down & curls up right in the little 'nest' my legs make, and rests her head on my knee Wouldn't it be cool if she still did that when she becomes an adult! How awesome would it be to have a 150+ lb ewe lay down and curl up with you? lol I'm sure she'll outgrow it though. But gotta enjoy it while it lasts! No more lambs until May, and then a year from now.

I'm already thinking of breeding plans lol. I might buy another ram (I'm thinking a Finn) and breed him to the two ewe lambs and breed Hank to the mature ewes and Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. Or I might buy another ram, breed him to the ewe lambs, breed Hank to the mature ewes, and keep the little ram lamb and breed him to Katy Perry and Lady Gaga (for 1/2 Babydoll Southdown x 1/4 Montadale x 1/4 Texel babies). Orrr I will just keep Hank and breed him to everyone. Or if I decide to keep the ram lamb, just breed him to KP & LG and Hank to the mature ewes and the ewe lambs. Decisions, decisons lol

 

[BrownSheep]

I am also hankering for a Finn. I've already inform my padre that is what I want to make up for Bertha.

Finns are just so pretty...and plentiful!

 

[Bridgemoof]

Keep me in mind if you want a Finn ram, or any other kind of ram Sheepgirl! You know I have it all.

 

[SheepGirl]

Haha I know right?! Maybe I will borrow Finneas or buy one of his sons this fall if you will let me

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And I weighed the two triplets today. Ram is 10.0 lbs (0.314 lb ADG) and the ewe is 9.6 lbs (0.400 ADG). The ewe's faster growth doesn't surprise me, she got the hang of nursing on her own faster than the ram. Last night I went out to feed and noticed the ram had a full belly, so it must've figured it out sometime yesterday.

Hopefully now that they are nursing throughout the day rather than just filling their tummies 2x/day, they will gain more weight. And also now that they are nursing throughout the day, it's keeping Ciqala's teat size down and her udder has also considerably shrunken up!

She may have had issues with the big teats before and I just never realized it because her past lambs were probably smarter than these two lol. They couldn't quite understand that the teat was hanging lower than they thought haha

so that's all the updates for now...I may post pics later, I took a bunch yesterday of the lambs when it was nice and sunny out.

OH yeah, I forgot something--we FINALLY have green grass again! Just waiting for it to get taller so my ewes can go back out to pasture... With all the rain/snow the past 2-3 days hopefully it doesn't take too long!

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Just checking in! Congrats on your lambs! Sorry you lost a trip, but that's great she had three! Rosie sure is a nice ewe lamb! And hey, if you're looking at expanding your flock, I'm selling my 2 natural colored Romney/Southdown ewes!


I just updated my journal. Thanks for asking about me!

 

[SheepGirl]

Thanks for checking in! I've missed you these past couple of months, lol. How is your new ram working for you?

And thanks, I love my Rosie! I'm so excited about her. She is so stocky and she has the little butterfly shape (the groove) that muscular hogs have And her front legs look pretty correct (though they may get crooked as she grows), which is kind of weird because her parents both have legs that are very in at the knee. So it must be a throwback to Hank's side of the family because I know my ewe's genetics have messed up front legs too hahaha.

And when I took my business class, I figured I would need one or two wool breed ewes to use to sell their wool so I don't lose money on shearing lol So is this Barley and Bean you're talking about? The two little cuties?

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I've missed checking in on your thread! This is the first thread I checked when I came back!

Yep, Bean and Barley! I am reallllly going to miss them, but I tell myself I have to keep my goal in mind. Now that I have purebreds, there's just no reason to keep them. I love having wool, but honestly it'll be a while before I get around to using it, and by then I'd like to get purebred Romneys. I just wanted to sell Bean at first (the smaller of the two), because I really loved Barley. Barley is just so big and correct...long level topline and good confirmation. BUT, I'd really like them to go together so Beanie wont' be lonely. Silly me. I'm sure she'd be fine...but I keep asking myself, "Do I NEED Barley?" And the answer is unfortunately no.

BUT, Emily Chamelin is coming to shear April 14th, and I'm so excited! I cant' wait to see her in action!

And you know what's weird? Barley's lambs were both natural colored. Bean's were not. One looked just like a purebred Southdown, and the other was white with a touch of speckling on the back (that probably would have faded out). It's so weird how they had the exact same breeding, and were bred to the same ram, and then had such different lambs.

 

[SheepGirl]

Well I seriously have not had like any time to be on here at all, except for a few posts here and there I worked 43 hours last week (3 hours overtime ) and I am scheduled for 40 hours this week. I have worked 32 so far. And then last Friday night my manager and two coworkers and I went to IHOP at like 12 am because she had asked us to stay an extra couple of hours. It was so much fun And the one coworker drove me and the other one back to McDonald's to get our cars in his amazing Audi sports car (don't know what kind it is but it is sooo cool...during the day he paints cars (I asked him how much he charges and he said $1500 but he would paint mine for $1000 ) and at night he works at McDonald's). He wanted to go 130 down the highway but I was like NO! hahahaha And I've been staying up until like midnight every day texting guys (who are sooo confusing and weird lol) so I would naturally wake up to only have enough time to feed the sheep, take a shower, get ready for work, and eat breakfast.

So over the course of the week, I:
- Tagged the two triplets. I did it at like 11 pm one night (I think it was St. Patty's day) and I wasn't thinking so I messed up on both lambs The ram, I put the tags in right (flat side on the back of the ear), but I put the individual tags in the wrong ears. And the ewe, I put the individual tags in the right ears, but with her scrapie tag I think it was I put the flat side on the inside of her ear. It's more of an aesthetic thing but it annoys me lol
- Weighed the lambs. Don't have the two triplets weights in front of me right now, but I just got Rosie's 3 wk weight tonight and it is 25.4 lbs. She is a chunky, stocky little thing.

And I haven't been thinking much lately (the days seem to be running together, I work too much, and don't get enough sleep lol), so I thought it would be smart to give the ewes a handful of alfalfa through the fence, rather than put it in the feeder (since I really only wanted Ciqala and the lambs to have it). Well Katy Perry the little pig she is wanted some, too, but Ciqala wouldn't have any of it and pushed her out of the way while her head was through the fence. She ripped her brand new ear tag out! It was a bloody icky mess (has blood on the side of her face), but right now she has more iodine than blood on her. I put it in a spray bottle and really squirted the iodine all around her ear. And I found the tag laying on the ground near the fence and it has a chunk of her ear skin on it Poor thing didn't even act like it bothered her, despite all the blood. She still shoved everyone out of the way so she could steal their feed.

And I love the lambs. They are so much fun. I lay down on my belly out in the ewe pen and the bounce on and off my back I love it. They are little climbers though. They must get that from Hank because the lambs we had at my neighbor's farm didn't climb on everything like these lambs do. And I know Hank loves to climb on anything he can. And when I sit down outside, they come up to me and start pawing at me to move my leg out of the way so they can snuggle up right next to me. Who ever said you had to bottle feed little critters to get them to be friendly? I spend no more than a half hour outside of feeding everyday and these little boogers love me lol.

Well that's it for now...I will see about getting updated pics tomorrow since I don't have to work until later. If not tomorrow, then definitely Saturday since I have a day off (my first in 8 days ).

 

[SheepGirl]

I didn't get too many pictures on Saturday (I got like 10) because my batteries died. And we don't have any more batteries, and I keep forgetting to pick them up on my way to/from work. So hopefully I will remember tomorrow so I can take more pictures soon.

But anyway, this first picture is from a week ago:
The day before Rosie's tail fell off. Over to the right you have the ewe lamb and behind her you have the ram lamb.

And these two are from Saturday:
The two ewe lambs. Look at how stocky and Texel-y Rosie looks! Bella (Ciqala's ewe lamb) looks very much like a Montadale.

The ewe lamb (Bella) in front, and the ram lamb (Edward) in back.

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Katy Perry's ear is healing good. Ciqala's ewe lamb lost her tail today. Her ram lamb looks like he's gonna lose it soon, but today it was bleeding (don't know why?) so I sprayed some iodine on it. I'm not sure why it was bleeding--of all the lambs we've docked, I've never seen one start to bleed a week or two after the band was put on.

And we got like 3-4 inches of snow today. It's almost April!

 

[SheepGirl]

Also, I need to figure out where my ram/weaned lamb pen is going to be. At my neighbor's farm we had the ram pasture where the rams would be year round except for breeding season, and then the weaned lambs would move in there for a week or two and then be moved back out to the pasture. Likely this will be a permanent pen, so I need to make it large enough for 1-2 rams plus probably 20 or so lambs. So probably at least 220 sq ft? Plus space for the shelter. Maybe I will build another 8x8 shelter. So I guess I can have an 8x40 pen (8x8 being taken up by another sheep shack), and put it right next to the feed shack. But my mom doesn't want it outside the field, she wants it inside. And I'm just kind of like, I don't want to waste that grass! lol.

So I have to decide what I'm going to do. I will probably make it with T-posts, unless since it will probably be permanent my mom wants to use wooden posts. We shall see. But we're also supposed to be building a barn this spring, so maybe I will make a temporary pen and then make a permanent pen attached onto the barn. Sorry, kind of thinking out loud here lol

I just wish the grass would grow! It's annoying going out and giving the ewes hay everyday, two times a day lol. I used to not mind it when my sheep were on a dry lot last summer, but I had nothing else to do all day lol. I have a job now so time just moves a lot faster and I have to make better use of it. When my sheep move out onto the pasture they will only get checked out once a day, which lets me sleep in longer lol