Theawesomefowl~ My Hair Sheep Journal ~ NEW LAMB PICS! YAY!

[theawesomefowl]

How did your blood drawing go?

Awful. I couldn't even find the jugular vein because they were so wooly. I need to find myself some clippers.
So I have no idea whether they're preg or not---we'll see in April, when they would be due.

As of right now the girls are shedding. I pulled a ton of fluff off of Sadie's neck! They seem to be drinking more too.

 

[theawesomefowl]

Curse you people! Looking at all the photos of your adorable little lambs makes me want some so....bad.

Okay so in preparation for lambing, what supplies are essential? I have iodine, gloves (in case I had to help out) and a jar but that's about it.

My poor ruminants (sheep + goat) are going crazy for spring. Our grass is all still dead now and it is cold. Their diet is grass hay, whole corn and sheep mineral right now. Plus BOSS when I remember to give them some.

 

[Remuda1]

Lubricant, sheep NutriDrench for quick energy for both lamb and ewe after a difficult birth.

 

[SheepGirl]

Our ewes normally lamb by themselves...we rarely have to help. But it's good you're prepared just in case you do, anyways.

But once we find the lambs, we will sometimes jug them and the ewe...not all the time, though. It depends on the ewe. But anyway, once we jug them (or catch them), we dip their umbilical cords in Iodine. After that, if we don't jug the lambs, then we will tag them and dock them. If we do jug them, we will wait until the day we turn them out (1-3 days old). Because you have hair sheep, it's not necessary to dock the tails.

So my suggested supplies:
- Iodine (which you already have)
- Ear tagger (or some other form of ID)
- Elastrator and rubber bands (if you want to castrate/have males)

IF you have an issue, you may want to have some Pen G, 18 g needles, and 3 cc syringes on hand, especially if you have to assist. Also I would recommend having a thermometer.

But that's all I can think of now lol. Good luck!

 

[theawesomefowl]

Thanks! I will certainly start collecting all those things....gosh I hope they got bred. They most likely did though; it's just that I tend to over think everything.

My goodness, you really can tell the difference between the Dorper cross and the pure hair sheep. The shed hair of the Dorp is mostly wool, with very little hair fibers interspersed, while the other is shedding hair like a dog. (so is our lab right now and our house is covered in nasty dog hair! )

Photos from today:

Sadie:

Amelia:

Fowls!

Sorry, the photos aren't great. I'm no photographer.

 

[SheepGirl]

They look bred to me

I really like Amelia. She's got such a sweet look to her.

 

[ShadyAcres]

Okay so in preparation for lambing, what supplies are essential? I have iodine, gloves (in case I had to help out) and a jar but that's about it.

Check ahead of time with your local feed / farm stores to see if they carry milk replacer etc. If they don't you may want to order some to have in emergency.

If your goats kid first, you may want to save some of their colostrum. I like it better than the powdered. Every lambing season I collect some from one of the ewes and freeze.

A lamb sling is a cheap item to add if you are placing an online or catalog order. Not a necessity, but does come in handy at times. Even if you plan to jug or lamb in a barn, sometimes one surprises us or comes early. My ewes dont seem to know how to look up. If I am carrying a lamb in my arms mom cant seem to find them. The sling holds the lamb low like it is walking away from mom, and she will follow.

And re-read your books / magazines and mark pages you think might need a quick reference to. Such as positions a lamb could be in and what you need to do if she needs help. When it is 2 a.m and pouring down outside it is frustrating to run around the house trying to remember which magazine had the great pictures that showed exactly what was now going on out in your barn!

Saving aside a shot of whiskey to drown your sorrows, or a bottle of wine to celebrate your victory doesnt hurt either.

 

[theawesomefowl]

We live in dairy farming country, so our feed stores carry all that good stuff.
I've been re-reading all my reference books; I think I have an idea of what to do, plus I have a shepherd friend I can call.

I can't drink whiskey because I'm under 21, but thanks for the suggestion anyway! Will have to find something to celebrate with once the lambs come!

The goat is getting rehomed today, so the poor girls will probably feel miserable afterwards, but at least I won't have to worry about him causing an abortion by bumping them into something.

 

[theawesomefowl]

They look bred to me

I really like Amelia. She's got such a sweet look to her.

They do?
Why thank you.

 

[Remuda1]

Okay so in preparation for lambing, what supplies are essential? I have iodine, gloves (in case I had to help out) and a jar but that's about it.

Check ahead of time with your local feed / farm stores to see if they carry milk replacer etc. If they don't you may want to order some to have in emergency.

If your goats kid first, you may want to save some of their colostrum. I like it better than the powdered. Every lambing season I collect some from one of the ewes and freeze.

A lamb sling is a cheap item to add if you are placing an online or catalog order. Not a necessity, but does come in handy at times. Even if you plan to jug or lamb in a barn, sometimes one surprises us or comes early. My ewes dont seem to know how to look up. If I am carrying a lamb in my arms mom cant seem to find them. The sling holds the lamb low like it is walking away from mom, and she will follow.

And re-read your books / magazines and mark pages you think might need a quick reference to. Such as positions a lamb could be in and what you need to do if she needs help. When it is 2 a.m and pouring down outside it is frustrating to run around the house trying to remember which magazine had the great pictures that showed exactly what was now going on out in your barn!

Saving aside a shot of whiskey to drown your sorrows, or a bottle of wine to celebrate your victory doesnt hurt either.

This is all great advice. One other thing I thought about is rather than JUST having the latex gloves on hand, you might want to get some palpating gloves. These go all the way to your shoulder in case you have to reposition one inside of the ewe. You might want to check the sheep/goat section of Jeffers Livestock catalog. Lots of good supplies there and perhaps seeing them all may help you decide what all you need to be comfortable. I have antibiotics in my cabinet just in case I need them. I've got some frozen goat colostrum that was given to me by a friend but I also still have the powdered in my cabinet.

For me.... The comfort I get in knowing that I have these things on hand is worth the expense. If problems arise, it's stressful enough without worrying about whether our feed stores will be out of what I need OR the real possibility of needing these things at one or two in the morning when everything is closed. You're doing a great job doing your research before the need arises