SheepGirl's Journal - Photos of the sheep 4/25

[SheepGirl]

My internet is being a pain and won't let me upload any pics. I'm going to try resizing the pictures and then uploading them to see if that helps any.

 

[SheepGirl]

So yesterday bringing them up was a pain. Ciqala walked willingly without any grain, so I'm proud of her Ali was being stubborn and wouldn't move unless her tail was being pushed up on. I was glad my mom brought her up lol. And then it was the boy's turn. My mom got Billy and I got Paulie. Billy was super easy to walk 1/4 mile uphill from the barn to my house (of course he needed grain). Paulie was more stubborn than Ali! I couldn't get him to move...not with grain, not with pushing up on his tail...I even tried smacking him on his butt! That would only get him to walk a step or two. So then my grandparents came out and my grandmother was smacking his butt and everything and then my grandfather was yelling trying to get him to move and it finally worked. It took that boy 20 minutes to walk up the hill!

Originally, the boys were going to be housed together and the ewes and lambs were to be housed together. Well turns out Paulie is deathly scared of Billy (he even jumped a 4.5' fence to get away from him), so Paulie's in with the girls and Billy is all by himself. The final dimensions for the ram pen is 8'x14' shelter + 8'x32' exercise lot and the final dimensions for the ewe/wether pen is 16'x16' shelter + 16'x32' exercise lot plus I fenced around the stairs for them. That will be turned into a creep feeder for the lambs.

Oh, and weighed the lambs today. Lady Gaga (the one who got flystrike) weighs 9.5 lbs at 14 days old and Katy Perry weighs 14 lbs at 14 days old. I didn't get a birth weight on these two but their littermate weighed 5.5 lbs. So I'm guessing they weighed somewhere around there.

Ciqala on the left (the black leg belongs to Paulie), Ali on the right, the lamb in front is Lady Gaga, and the lamb nursing is Katy Perry.

Ciqala and Katy Perry

Ali and Katy Perry

Ciqala and Paulie at the feeder I made for them

The view from the ram pen

Katy Perry taking a nap under the stairs

This is Paulie. Chewing cud is better than chewing tobacco

 

[BrownSheep]

I really, really like Katahdins, but they are a hair breed and I don't want to deal with a hair x wool cross, so I'm pretty much 'forced' to choose a wool breed. I was thinking of crossing them with a Texel since he'd be the perfect size (don't want a big ram because my smallest ewe weighs ~130 lbs) and then I'd get some nice meaty lambs. But I also want to get a Finnsheep or a Romanov to improve the prolificacy in my flock (not that I need that after my ewe had quads two weeks ago lol), so I don't know. The possibilities are endless

I really need to sit down and think about what my ewe's strengths and weaknesses are, and then pick an appropriately-sized breed (so my little ewe won't have any issues lambing) that will help with their weaknesses. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow...or sometime before I want to/need to buy a ram haha.

I've actually sheared wool/hair breed crosses. They were a dream! The had wool and didn't shed but had very little lanoline. The wool just peeled off and you really could have sheared them with a pair of paper scissors.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Glad to see the sheep are finally home! Your views are spectacular!!! I'm jealous, it's so darn flat over here!

 

[autumnprairie]

lad they got home even if a few were stubborn. love the pics

 

[Symphony]

Lovely little Sheep. I like their wool and they look very happy in the new place.

 

[SheepGirl]

I've actually sheared wool/hair breed crosses. They were a dream! The had wool and didn't shed but had very little lanoline. The wool just peeled off and you really could have sheared them with a pair of paper scissors.

That sounds nice--I bet you it was really cool to just peel the wool away! The only thing though is I wouldn't be able to sell the hair/wool at the wool pool so I'd be stuck with it or I'd throw it away.

Glad to see the sheep are finally home! Your views are spectacular!!! I'm jealous, it's so darn flat over here!

I went to the Eastern Shore back in January for a college tour of UMES (got accepted, but I'm not going) and you're right--it's SO flat! I'm not used to MD being super flat lol

lad they got home even if a few were stubborn. love the pics

Thanks They seem to be settling in nicely.

Lovely little Sheep. I like their wool and they look very happy in the new place.

Thanks They ate all the grass in their pen and so now they are finally eating sufficient quantities of the hay I put in the feeder. They seem happy to be waited on rather than have to look for their own food through grazing

 

[Roll farms]

Pretty sheep!

 

[manybirds]

sheepgirl,do you raise a particular breed of sheep or just mutts?

 

[SheepGirl]

Pretty sheep!

Thanks!

sheepgirl,do you raise a particular breed of sheep or just mutts?

They're mutts

Ciqala is 1/2 Babydoll Southdown x 1/2 Montadale
Ali and her twin brother Billy are 3/4 Babydoll Southdown x 1/4 Montadale
Paulie, Katy Perry, and Lady Gaga are 5/8 Babydoll Southdown x 3/8 Montadale