SheepGirl's 2014 Lambing Thread

[SheepGirl]

Well I think I named my lambs. All Greek Mythology this year. I went to "Behind the Name" and sorted out all the names used in Greek Mythology alone (got out any names that could be traced to Spanish, English, etc) and then I sorted through the names I could pronounce.

So, here's the list.

#18 - PROTEUS, means 'first.' Even though he died, he was my first lamb of the year and he was around long enough to deserve a name.

#19 - PHOIBE, means 'bright, pure.' She has such a bright white face and is such a sweetheart of a lamb. Not afraid of humans, very gentle.

#20 - ODYSSEUS, means 'to hate.' Though there's nothing to hate about him He's actually a stud ram prospect. Named after a Greek hero known for his versatility; this little guy would be good for a maternal or terminal sire.

#21 - LEANDROS, means 'lion of a man.' Kind of looks scruffy himself, but his name points more to his dam who looks like a lion with a big mane of wool all around her head.

#22 - PERSEUS, means 'to destroy.' He is a bottle baby that will destroy your heart. Named after a Greek hero who killed Medusa. Will be a permanent resident here.

#23 - CHRYSES, means 'golden.' Named after his current appearance, he is still golden colored from the amniotic fluid since his dam never cleaned him off. Also he is the largest and fastest growing of my bottle babies.

#24 - ADRASTROS, means 'not inclined to run away.' He is a bottle baby and was very friendly from day one, since he recovered from his severe hypothermia.

#25 - ELEKTRA, means 'amber.' The orange/brown (as opposed to mousey brown) tips of her ears kind of make her look like she got electrocuted so Elektra she is named.

#26 - ARES, means 'male.' Obviously a boy. Obviously I was running out of names that fit the animal in question that I could pronounce.

#27 - MNEME, means 'memory.' First off, the way I pronounce it, it sounds like "Mini Me" -- she is five pounds, my smallest baby, so the name fits her. As far as the meaning... Well, it really has no bearing on why I chose the name, lol.

And we can't forget the newest addition, the 9.0 lb Cheviot ewe lamb... wait for it... wait for it... originally named "CHEVY." My family won't like the name; they're all Ford fanatics

 

[Womwotai]

Cute names - will you really remember them all? Thanks for the tip on "Behind the Name". I just went and checked it out and love the possibilities. I am so hopeless at naming things that almost every named animal on our place either came with a name or was named by friends and family. Most do not have names. (The only one I named I am actually really proud of. She is my dog, Sammie. Sounds like kind of a cop out name, right? Well, the way it came about is that she is a black dog, so I tried to think of things that are black. Ebony is out - too obvious. What do I like that is black? Licorice. Tried calling the dog Licorice - nope - didn't work. But there is a liqueur that is licorice flavored called "Black Sambuca". So her official name is Black Sambuca, or Sammie for short.)

 

[SheepGirl]

I finally got around to getting 30 day weights on Ciqala's two remaining babies. (But I weighed them today, at 33 days old.)

#19 weighs 13.2 lbs and #20 weighs 20.4 lbs. I'm shocked at the weights to say the least, lol.

#19 ADG is 0.152. (Adj: 0.202) Pretty terrible :/ Don't know why she doesn't weigh that much. She is as tall as her brother and she's not thin but she doesn't have the mass that he does. Kind of weird.

#20 ADG is 0.388. (Adj: 0.469) Not bad, but not good either. He is thick and stocky. I want him to be a ram, but I will wether him if he doesn't grow very well.

Compare this to their full siblings last year, the ewe lamb weighed 16.6 lbs and the ram lamb weighed 19.8 lbs at 30 days old. That is a combined weight of 36.4 lbs. This year the ewe weighed 12.8 lbs at 30 days and the ram weighed 19.2 lbs at 30 days old. Combined, that's a weight of 32.0 lbs, which is 4.4 lbs less than last year.

Also remember that they had another baby in the litter that was nursing for 19 days before he passed away. I don't think he gained 4 lbs, but that could have something to do with the lack of weight gain. Also I am not feeding Ciqala as much grain as last year so her milk production is probably poor.

I am excited to see what Rosie's baby weighs at 30 days. At about two weeks younger than the two triplets, he is already their size.

 

[SheepGirl]

It snowed on Tuesday, we got about 3 inches. Wednesday my sheep were sheared. All but Edward and Emmett. Despite the 35 degree temps plus wind while they were being sheared, they stayed outside and didn't bother going in the sheep shack until nighttime when it got really cold and windy.

my bottle lambs are doing good, they will be moving outside soon. We will be building them a pen for themselves because the ewes brat them up and they don't have a mom out with them 24/7 to protect them.

 

[OneFineAcre]

 

[SheepGirl]

I gave my sheep some pine tree branches today and they went to town

 

[SheepGirl]

Leandros, #21, is 31 days old today and weighs 18.4 lbs. He has an ADG of 0.258.

His adjusted average daily gain would be 0.268 which isn't that good. I really want to keep him a ram because he's 3/4 Texel but his gains aren't good so I think he's gonna be castrated.

 

[SheepGirl]

Sad update I lost Hank on Easter. The day before I found him standing with his head lowered to the ground, he wouldn't move even when budged, wasn't alert, had a runny nose, and green stuff (cud?) on his lower lip. No appetite. So I gave him 2 cc Pen G, 15 cc Moxidectin, 15 cc Ivermectin, 10 oz Gatorade, and a baking soda/warm water mixture.

Perked up a little bit, he was holding his head up and he walked a couple feet away and laid down.

Later that night he didn't get better, he got worse, so we called the vet. She was unable to come out but she said she thinks he just had an upset stomach and suggested to do yogurt, Gatorade, and baking soda. When I got home from work at 2:30 am, I went out on checked on him. Gave him some more stuff. He was trying to stand but couldn't get his front legs up. But he was doing better. I got back inside at 3 and went to bed.

My parents woke me up at 10 because my mom couldn't find Hank in the pen. How could you not find him? Well I went out and found him. Laying flat under a piece of plywood from their shelter. Poor thing probably had the plywood fall on him and he couldn't get up because he couldn't completely stand and the gas had probably built up in his rumen from being flat on his side for so long and his lungs were crushed. What an awful way to go.

And then today I took Edward and Emmett to auction, got paid $1.50 per pound. Not bad.

 

[SheepGirl]

Here's a photo of Hank from back in February, third from the left.

We buried him Easter morning. It was pretty sad. The whole dirt pen had only one little patch of bright green grass and that was where his head was when we found him

 

[luvmypets]

Im so sorry for your loss.