norseofcourse
Herd Master
I'm so sorry you lost Hank 
SheepGirl's 2014 Lambing Thread
- Thread starter SheepGirl
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #142
Thanks guys.
Another update...
I haven't given the bottle babies a bottle since Saturday, though my dad decided to give them one today...
Anyway, on the 24th I bought five little chickies from Southern States that were hatched on Easter They are in the sheep shack in a cage. They are Partridge Rock pullets.
Annnddd after I sold the two ram lambs I moved Bella, Ciqala, and Lady Gaga into that pen. So it's just Rosie, Ali, and Katy Perry plus all ten lambs out in the field right now.
I need to castrate #26. I've already castrated #22 and #23. I might castrate #21, though I will figure that out when he's 60 days old.
Another update...
I haven't given the bottle babies a bottle since Saturday, though my dad decided to give them one today...
Anyway, on the 24th I bought five little chickies from Southern States that were hatched on Easter
They are in the sheep shack in a cage. They are Partridge Rock pullets.Annnddd after I sold the two ram lambs I moved Bella, Ciqala, and Lady Gaga into that pen. So it's just Rosie, Ali, and Katy Perry plus all ten lambs out in the field right now.
I need to castrate #26. I've already castrated #22 and #23. I might castrate #21, though I will figure that out when he's 60 days old.
bonbean01
Herd Master
Catching up on here and so very sorry about Hank.
Goat Whisperer
Herd Master
I'm so sorry about Hank - Thread starter
- #145
I haven't updated in a while.
But here are some things that have happened...
Ciqala, Lady Gaga, Bella, and Rosie are penned up. Ali and Katy Perry will be moved into the pen any day now, too, as soon as it stops raining. When they go in the pen, I'm moving Ciqala, Lady Gaga, and Bella into the field. I just need to wait until the grass is dry and I can fill them up on hay so they don't have issues with bloat.
I like the way I weaned the lambs this year. Very little issues with animals being loud. Last year I moved the lambs into the pen at weaning. Very loud. Probably a combination of the stress of weaning as well as the stress of being in a new area (despite being right next to where they lived before) -- because they had a new water source, a new shelter, a new diet (hay instead of pasture) and a new roommate. Adult ewes are much more adaptable to change than lambs and don't stress (at least not as much).
#20, #21, and #26 I think will stay rams. I've castrated #22, #23, and I decided to castrate #24. I haven't done it yet though. The thought occurred to me yesterday as I was looking at #26's butt. #26 and #24 are very closely related. I really wanted a ram out of Ali because of Rosie and now, Elektra (#24's twin). Very consistent. However, #24 was bottle raised due to being hypothermic and then his dam didn't want him after I brought him back out to her. So that was strike 1 against 24 being a ram. Strike 2 was him being bottle raised. Strike 3 is he's not growing very well. #23, the same cross, born just 4 days before him, is already so much bigger than him. So he's not growing very well despite the same treatment as #23.
So that got me looking to #26. I was initially going to castrate him. However, I think he's a keeper ram for the cross I like. His dam is Katy Perry who is out of a twin sibling breeding of Ali and Billy. Ali has two ewe lambs out of Hank that are little meat monsters that have been growing really well. I would've kept her ram, but like I said, he's not that great of a specimen in terms of hardiness and growth. And as I was thinking about that, #26 caught my eye with his muscling. His twin sister is short and tiny (can't blame her, Katy Perry is only 105 lbs) but she has nice thick legs on her. But 26 is a nice size when standing next to his dam. So I like his genetics and I like the way he looks.
So I have three rams I have decided to keep intact:
#20 - out of Ciqala, my healthiest, most prolific ewe. He has more muscling than Edward, his full brother, which is what made me feel okay about shipping him.
#21 - out of Rosie, a sire x daughter cross. I lost Hank, so I think this is a good cross to kind of keep his genetics. He has 75% of Hank's genes and 25% of Ali's.
#26 - out of Katy Perry, the better of the two options I had for wanting a meatwagon of a ram that was closely related to Elektra and Rosie.
The rest of the rams will be wethered and taken to auction or sold for pets/meat, except for #22. My mom said he has to stay.
aannndddd I think that's it.
Other than my chickens. They are growing really fast. I've had them 3 wks already.
But here are some things that have happened...
Ciqala, Lady Gaga, Bella, and Rosie are penned up. Ali and Katy Perry will be moved into the pen any day now, too, as soon as it stops raining. When they go in the pen, I'm moving Ciqala, Lady Gaga, and Bella into the field. I just need to wait until the grass is dry and I can fill them up on hay so they don't have issues with bloat.
I like the way I weaned the lambs this year. Very little issues with animals being loud. Last year I moved the lambs into the pen at weaning. Very loud. Probably a combination of the stress of weaning as well as the stress of being in a new area (despite being right next to where they lived before) -- because they had a new water source, a new shelter, a new diet (hay instead of pasture) and a new roommate. Adult ewes are much more adaptable to change than lambs and don't stress (at least not as much).
#20, #21, and #26 I think will stay rams. I've castrated #22, #23, and I decided to castrate #24. I haven't done it yet though. The thought occurred to me yesterday as I was looking at #26's butt. #26 and #24 are very closely related. I really wanted a ram out of Ali because of Rosie and now, Elektra (#24's twin). Very consistent. However, #24 was bottle raised due to being hypothermic and then his dam didn't want him after I brought him back out to her. So that was strike 1 against 24 being a ram. Strike 2 was him being bottle raised. Strike 3 is he's not growing very well. #23, the same cross, born just 4 days before him, is already so much bigger than him. So he's not growing very well despite the same treatment as #23.
So that got me looking to #26. I was initially going to castrate him. However, I think he's a keeper ram for the cross I like. His dam is Katy Perry who is out of a twin sibling breeding of Ali and Billy. Ali has two ewe lambs out of Hank that are little meat monsters that have been growing really well. I would've kept her ram, but like I said, he's not that great of a specimen in terms of hardiness and growth. And as I was thinking about that, #26 caught my eye with his muscling. His twin sister is short and tiny (can't blame her, Katy Perry is only 105 lbs) but she has nice thick legs on her. But 26 is a nice size when standing next to his dam. So I like his genetics and I like the way he looks.
So I have three rams I have decided to keep intact:
#20 - out of Ciqala, my healthiest, most prolific ewe. He has more muscling than Edward, his full brother, which is what made me feel okay about shipping him.
#21 - out of Rosie, a sire x daughter cross. I lost Hank, so I think this is a good cross to kind of keep his genetics. He has 75% of Hank's genes and 25% of Ali's.
#26 - out of Katy Perry, the better of the two options I had for wanting a meatwagon of a ram that was closely related to Elektra and Rosie.
The rest of the rams will be wethered and taken to auction or sold for pets/meat, except for #22. My mom said he has to stay.
aannndddd I think that's it.
Other than my chickens. They are growing really fast. I've had them 3 wks already.
luvmypets
Herd Master
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2014
- Messages
- 2,816
- Reaction score
- 4,911
- Points
- 413
- Thread starter
- #147
I let Ciqala, bella, and Lady Gaga out in the field on Tuesday and put Ali and Katy Perry in the pen. Yesterday I noticed Ciqala had bottlejaw. So i gave her 23 cc of privermectin. This ewe is 8 yrs old and this is the first time sshe's ever been dewormed. She's the thinnest of all my sheep so I'm not surprised she was the one affected.
sorry...im not sure why the pics are upside down.
sorry...im not sure why the pics are upside down.
- Thread starter
- #148
Haven't really updated in a while. But yesterday morning I lost #27, one of my replacement ewe lambs. Her eyelids were white and she was weak, so I could only assume she was afflicted with barberpole worm. Her temp was 103.8. I gave her 5 mL of Ivermectin and 0.5 cc Pen G. Plus some yogurt and gatorade. Unfortunately she faded just a few hours after I gave her medicine
- Thread starter
- #149
UPDATING this thread!!
I also lost #22 to parasites and saved #21 before he got too bad.
Everyone grew fine for the rest of the year and I took #21, #23, #24, and #26 to auction and got $2.10/lb for them in Sept.
New stud ram was bought and penned up. When lambs were taken to auction, ram was moved in with the ewes and #20 was moved into the pen.
I currently have 11 sheep: my new stud ram, my keeper ram lamb (#20), and nine ewes.
I also lost #22 to parasites and saved #21 before he got too bad.
Everyone grew fine for the rest of the year and I took #21, #23, #24, and #26 to auction and got $2.10/lb for them in Sept.
New stud ram was bought and penned up. When lambs were taken to auction, ram was moved in with the ewes and #20 was moved into the pen.
I currently have 11 sheep: my new stud ram, my keeper ram lamb (#20), and nine ewes.
