And so it begins.

[1sheepdoggal]

Tonight At 5:30pm ( or there abouts) this evening, one of my ewes gave birth to our first baby lamb for this year. Its a little ewe lamb, pretty little thing. She's doing well, and so is mom. All red with a little white head. Almost looks like a little hereford calf! Camera's got dead batteries, but maybe I can post pic tomorrow. Just had to share my excietment. Cant wait for more. For me, theres nothing cuter than a new baby sheep.

[juliepoudrier]

Congrats, and good on mama for waiting until the downpours were over. You should be starting on a roll now, huh?

 

J.

[1sheepdoggal]

Yep, I was glad she waited. She only had the one, but its her first time. She is out of a set of triplets, and I was hoping for a pair, but am happy with a healthy single. I was told years ago, by an old sheep hand, that if you used a ram that was out of twins or trips, then thats what he'd throw, and the same for ewes. If the ewe was out of twins or trips, thats what she'd have. Given that this is the first time they have lambed, Im wondering if after next falls breeding they will have more than a single, or if he was just quoting an old wives tale, on both parts. Reason being that I kept those that I did, and kept him for the ram, was based on what he'd told me. Sounded good to me at the time, but now I wonder. Theres only one gal that looks like she may have more than a single in her. Ever heard of such a rumor? And dont first timers usually have just one?

[Bill Fosher]

Environment plays a bigger role in multiple birth in sheep than genetics, but the trait is heritable. You won't see the ram's contribution to multiple births until you start to breed his offspring. There are more than enough sperm available to fertilize however many eggs the ewe sheds on a given ovulation. Environmental factors -- primarily nutrition -- will determine how many eggs she sheds, how many of the eggs implant, and how many survive to term.

 

Hoggets are still growing, so their net energy balance tends to be lower, which reduces the number of eggs shed, and often means that only one fetus will be carried to term. Any other fertilized eggs either won't implant or will die at the embryonic stage and be resorbed.

 

Another thing that will effect the number of eggs shed is the season when the sheep are bred. To be lambing now, your ewes were probably bred on the first or second cycle of the year. On these early cycles ewes tend to shed fewer eggs, so there are likely to be more singles. High temperatures at breeding can also reduce the ram's libido and the viability of his sperm, but this is more likely to reduce the number of ewes that get pregnant than influence the number of lambs they bear.

 

All that said, if you want multiple births the first step in getting them is to select breeding stock that are themselves multiples because without the genetics, all the management in the world won't change them. But you need to also be aware that your management will have a bigger effect on the number of lambs born per ewe exposed to the ram, and more importantly, the number of lambs weaned per ewe exposed, than the genetics will.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

I breed on the first couple cycle when it is very warm here still, also, and my number are quite low also. I like that because I'm not looking to grow my numbers right now - and I know these ewes will produce if I breed in the cooler more fertile mid-or-late fall because I've done that a couple times too.

 

My notes from tupping that correspond to this time say that temps were in the high nineties a few weeks prior. That's why I had Cord's surgery done now - I figured there'd be a gap in lambing about now. We have been hard at it this week, however, again - the exact day Cord was "back on duty" five ewes lambed. I had no idea it would be that perfect, but all take all the breaks I can!

[Mona Howard]

I have found what Bill says about how early in the season you breed to be true.

I used to breed late summer to early fall. My favorite ewe had singles two

years and when I kept the ram back another six weeks the following year she had

twins and then the year after that triplets. I think she always sheds just one egg

on her first heat. Other ewes that singled also threw twins. It's nice to get those

early lambs and get some growth on them before the worm season gets rolling but

I would rather have the multiple births and warmer lambing weather by waiting a

few more weeks.

[1sheepdoggal]

Thanks you guys. I reckon the old hand told me how to pick em, he just neglected to tell me when to put the ram in. But, in this case, the ram had been in with them all year, but we have recently built him his own little place to hang, and gave him a few goats to keep him company and they seem to be getting along well so far. He was a bit upset at first that he was seperated from his girls, but seems to have setteled into the the bachelor life pretty well. I will be sure to put him later when its cooler this fall and see if that gives me a better lamb crop next year. Very much appreciate the info. Heres a few pics of the little darlin' that I took today, and I just had to share a few of my ram. He is such a striking fella to look upon.

 

 

 

[JBP]

My first of the season came today too. Little ewe lamb (hooray).

My son and Jill are tending her in this pic.

[nancy]

Don't jump all over me. But I can't understand how you all can do it. Any lamb I ever met would have a name and be a pet as long as it lived.

 

Of course, we go to Yorkshire, enjoy watching the lambs in the fields (and sometimes the bottle lambs in the barns) and manage to make a total disconnect between them and the lamb steaks, chops shanks... that we eat in the pubs.

 

I have always said that, if I had to meet my meat, I'd be a vegetarian.

 

I know that I'm a hypocrite. Heck, I even feel bad about picking a tomato. But it is never really all that cute.

[juliepoudrier]

I manage to name mine and can still eat them when the time comes. (Some people think I'm weird....) Trust me Nancy, they are mighty cute when they're little, but if you have enough sheep, you become pragmatic pretty fast. I prefer to eat what I raise because I know exactly what went in to it and what kind of life it had right to the end. That's the best kind of eating.

 

J.

[1sheepdoggal]

I'll tell ya Nancy, in the 10 yrs Ive been raising my own sheep, I'd never ate any lamb until just last month, nor anytime before that. Some that Id plan to keep over the course of time I named, as in "the old one", "crip," "sh*t head" ( the fence jumper) and the list goes on. I had one little barbatos that was a bummer that we bottle fed, that I called "Little Darlin' and she came to the name. Though she was more the horses friend than the other sheep, ( they never seemed to allow her in incorporate into the herd,) and she would readily follow us around the yard as a dog would, she was quite the little pet, but usless for much else. The dogs wouldnt even acknlwledge her and work her. We were all still very heart broke when we found her one day under a huge bale of hay that rolled over ontop of her and she died under it. My husband took her out and gave her a proper burial, and even cryed. He really was attached to that liitle sheep. ( dont tell him I told ya'll that) Even though she was usless, we kept her none the less, as she gave us all such joy.My ram's name is Jack, I did name him, as I owned his mother, and he was born into my herd. I knew the moment that he was born, that he was going to be my herd sire. When he can no longer serve as a herd sire, he will still live out his life with me. We can be given to moments of sentimentality with our sheep, they really arent all just tools, or a nice tasty leg of lamb waiting to be put in the freezer or used for dog food. Im sure we all have those that we hang onto just because. I dont know about everyone else, but I have a sneaking suspiction, that we all will hold onto a few here and there over time because of sentimentle reasons. But Julie is spot on when she says, that when you have so many, its the ones that dont so much make an impression on ya that are the ones that easily get sold, or put in the freezer. The ones that are a "problem" for one reason or another. Early this fall, I sold off a number of my sheep, that were old, and getting past their prime as mothers. Id had those sheep a long time, and they were my first hair sheep after I decided to get away from the suffolk and colombians. They taught me a lot, were good predictable mothers and good sheep to work dogs with. Even though they had become past their prime, it was still difficult to see them go, and I worried about their fate when they left here. And that may only be true for the hobbyist sheep keeper, or those that keep a heritage flock in smaller numbers as opposed to those that keep flocks of hundreds. I love my lambs when they are born, and enjoy watching them run and play and grow. But I know when they are born, either by gender, or what ever guiding light that forces my hand to a decision, that they are all not destined to live a cozy life here at my farm, and that keeps a reality check on the sentimentle aspect of sheep keeping. As far as eating them. After the yummy lamb dish that was served up last month, you can bet Im putting a hold on putting that yearling calf in the freezer for now, and instead, will be putting that nutty wether that keeps running into the fence every time a dog comes on the feild, there instead. I dont think that the resposisbility of judging who lives and who dies is as easy as we may make it sound at times, its just the reality of it all.

[Bill Fosher]

If I didn't sell, slaughter, and eat my lambs, I wouldn't have room for the next crop. Every old stumble bum that's hanging around burning through $65 worth of feed every winter is a productive young ewe that I can't keep. Not saying I don't get attached to sheep, but I look at them as a flock, not as a collection of individuals.

[juliepoudrier]

Im sure we all have those that we hang onto just because. I dont know about everyone else, but I have a sneaking suspiction, that we all will hold onto a few here and there over time because of sentimentle reasons. But Julie is spot on when she says, that when you have so many, its the ones that dont so much make an impression on ya that are the ones that easily get sold, or put in the freezer.

Yep, there are a few old girls here ("Old Girl" being one) who will live out their lives here for sentimental reasons. But I was just commenting to Laura today as we did the last of the crutching that I now had a large enough group of karakuls (rare breed) to be able to start being more selective about who stays and who goes. You can bet that the ones who are more trouble, or have more foot problems, or who don't give me really nice lambs will be easier to move on. It is easy to have favorites, especially when you start out small and so get to know individuals, but once your numbers get high enough, you don't always have that luxury (my numbers are still low enough that I do know a lot of the sheep individually, but even so that's just one more bit of data to use when making culling decisions). Last year I knew all the rams lambs would be heading to market, so I simply didn't allow myself to view them in any other way. They were well cared for while they were here, and lived natural sheepy lives, but you just don't need many rams, so they really do have to make way for the ewe lambs that can be used to grow the flock and produce more sheep....

 

Oh, and I think one thing people don't realize is that a lamb is still considered a lamb for slaughter purposes long after it stops looking like that cute little bouncy critter with the "smile" on its face. What actually goes to slaughter looks a whole lot like a slightly smaller version of the adult sheep.

 

J.

[nancy]

Oh, Julie. You just don't understand that some of us find "lambs" so darned cute even when they become sheep. Then again, my idea of sheep is Swaledales - which never get big. So Swaledales are always cute. Except for the tups, who are huge.

[jdarling]

Now how you could eat this?

 

 

Actually, what we are trying to do is make our entire flock self-sustaining ... selling all of our wether lambs at the sale in the fall, and take the money and buy hay to get the rest of them through the winter. I don't eat lamb. I pick them up and snuggle and kiss them. At least I don't name them. Well, ok ... only a couple.

 

Geez, I suck at this ...

 

Jodi

 

ETA: By the way, Darci, that's a gorgeous ram!

[1sheepdoggal]

Thanks Jodi, Im probably a bit prejudice about him as he was out of one of my favorite ewes, and by a friends really sweet ram, but I do enjoy looking out and seeing him. To me, he's quite a handsome sight. Much better looking than even his own sire, who was a full St. Croix. His mom was a full Katahdin. He has proven to be a real easy keeper and an easy ram to have around. I heard so many horror stories about rams, that it took me a long time to ever decide to keep one, and so far he has proven that when raised and handled properly from birth, a ram can be a pleasure to have around. At least this one surely is.

Thats what my husband and I were talking about tonight, selling any ram lambs, and the few wethers and putting the money back into hay. But this year, my lamb crop is going to be so small, all I can hope for is to get all ewe lambs to start to build back up the herd.

Thats an awful pretty baby there, it looks like the sheep behind it are hair sheep? What kind is the baby? Such pretty colors and markings. I'll admit to it too, I pick mine up and cuddle them, how can you help but not? Beside me in the pic, was my ever present little friend the little barbatos Darlin. We still miss her presence, she was such a sweet and friendly little thing.

 

[juliepoudrier]

Heck, I pick 'em up and cuddle 'em too. I love watching races in the evenings. But you can't keep them all (unless you have endless space, feed, and money, none of which I, nor most other shepherds, have).

 

If I couldn't bear the thought of selling them (and face it, not many go for bloodstock, which means most go for slaughter), then I just wouldn't breed them.

 

J.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

Now how you could eat this?

 

 

Ha! That's not the one of the parts I eat!

 

[1sheepdoggal]

That's not the one of the parts I eat!

 

 

Ha! Becca, you make me laugh! Although, it did make me feel a bit sadistic that I did.

[ItsADogsLyfe]

I never kept livestock of any sort unless it could pay for itself. I started raising sheep, goats, poultry, pigs, for my family so we could eat healthier. I always sold the excess lambs, kids etc that weren't cost effective to keep, or it went in the freezer. We had a huge freezer. I also did disbudding, castrating, docking etc to earn some extra money. It all went back into the upkeep of the animals. The manure went into the compost pile to fertilize our garden. We did name some of the animals, but mostly the ones that we kept for breeding, milking etc. Pigs were named appropriately Dinner 1, 2, 3 etc... the thing about lambs and kids is that they are cute when very young, but then they get older and start not being so cute. Everyone wants these flocks of sheep with all the pretty colors. That makes it harder to eat when the time comes. Most of my animals were nondescript in looks but sure tasted good! Some I couldn't wait to get rid of! I did have my favorites though. My old goat, Molly. She was my favorite doe and gave me lots of really nice babies. I feel bad I never kept any of her offspring because when she got old she had problems kidding and we had to shoot her as there was nothing I could do to help her. We also had a pet chicken that had hatched with a leg deformity. I had a few hatched that way out of my incubator and I think I didn't have the right amount of moisture during the incubation time. That chicken would come when you called her and my kids just loved her...then my dog ate her...damn dog! That was a dog I had before Border Collies.