First Lambing!
- Thread starter mysunwolf
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #22
mysunwolf
Herd Master
Yep, Darla is the white one! She is definitely a pretty solid ewe. Ugh, an entire month?
At this point, even my sheep-expert neighbor is not sure that these girls are actually pregnant. I took a picture of Darla's bag again today to try and compare, but I don't think I see any changes (minus the beginning of her shedding and scouring like crazy):
Her belly definitely looks a little bigger, though. I could've sworn I saw something move in there today. I'm hoping that if she does have a lamb in there, it'll be born in May.
She has definitely gained some weight. We've been having to trim her hooves every few weeks as she has some foot rot from where she'd been improperly trimmed. When I went to wrangle her this time, she was much much heavier than before. So either pregnant, or getting fat
And, of course, I added another ewe to the flock. She has twin ewe lambs on her! Here's the whole flock:
You can see that one of her girls is much smaller than the other. Mom is not producing enough milk for both, so I've been trying to bottle feed but that lamb is so stubborn I've got a creep set up with some lamb mash that I hope will give her a boost until the ewe can come into her milk a little more. I've checked the ewes udder and everything looks good on that end. Guess I'll have to wait and see on a few fronts!
At this point, even my sheep-expert neighbor is not sure that these girls are actually pregnant. I took a picture of Darla's bag again today to try and compare, but I don't think I see any changes (minus the beginning of her shedding and scouring like crazy):
Her belly definitely looks a little bigger, though. I could've sworn I saw something move in there today. I'm hoping that if she does have a lamb in there, it'll be born in May.
She has definitely gained some weight. We've been having to trim her hooves every few weeks as she has some foot rot from where she'd been improperly trimmed. When I went to wrangle her this time, she was much much heavier than before. So either pregnant, or getting fat
And, of course, I added another ewe to the flock. She has twin ewe lambs on her! Here's the whole flock:
You can see that one of her girls is much smaller than the other. Mom is not producing enough milk for both, so I've been trying to bottle feed but that lamb is so stubborn
I've got a creep set up with some lamb mash that I hope will give her a boost until the ewe can come into her milk a little more. I've checked the ewes udder and everything looks good on that end. Guess I'll have to wait and see on a few fronts!
Are you sure she has foot rot?
If she does, I would have her penned off away from any sheep areas because it is contagious and lives in the soil!
If she does, I would have her penned off away from any sheep areas because it is contagious and lives in the soil!
- Thread starter
- #24
mysunwolf
Herd Master
Are you sure she has foot rot?
If she does, I would have her penned off away from any sheep areas because it is contagious and lives in the soil!
Yep, I'm pretty sure it's foot rot--when I trim that particular hoof, there is a really distinctive nasty smell
It has gotten better, though. I would love to have her penned separately but we are short on predator control and space, so all together they are I'm going to do a zinc oxide foot bath on everyone as a preventative for that very reason. Thank you for the advice though, it is always much appreciated!!
Not a problem, just be aware you will probably have to deal with it again in the future The bacteria lives in the soil so the sheep will have the opportunity to be reinfected by it.
The bacteria lives in the soil so the sheep will have the opportunity to be reinfected by it.- Thread starter
- #27
mysunwolf
Herd Master
ANY NEWS YET mysunwolf?
I'm interested to see if any of your ewes have lambed yet!
No, but I really appreciate you checking up on them!
I am beginning to have serious doubts. I'm going to give them until the end of May and then give up and do deworming/vaccinations etc. (since I've been waiting until lambing to do some of that). Luckily I paid a price for them as if they weren't bred, so I'm not out a whole lot. And planning to breed everyone, even the ewe lambs, this November. But I was still really hoping for some lambs this year!
Parsnip
Loving the herd life
Any lambs?
I'm going to do a first batch of breeding in late July so the lambing correlates with my Winter Break from college.
Then I'm gonna do a second breeding in October for the January/Feb born lambs.
Got things all planned out!
I'm going to do a first batch of breeding in late July so the lambing correlates with my Winter Break from college.
Then I'm gonna do a second breeding in October for the January/Feb born lambs.
Got things all planned out!
- Thread starter
- #29
mysunwolf
Herd Master
So the time has passed that the man I purchased them from said they may be pregnant. However, it has still not been 5 months from when I purchased them
Wow, see Parsnip, I was trying to plan things out. I bet some day I'll get things planned out. Some day...
Right now, after having given up hope, I'm worried that they are pregnant after all? This is very confusing. I have a ram and am actually planning to breed in November/December for late March/early June lambs. I know that's a big window, but, er, my lack of planning has made it difficult. If I can figure out a way to do it, I may take the ram out before the end of December in order to have a better window.
Wow, see Parsnip, I was trying to plan things out. I bet some day I'll get things planned out. Some day...
Right now, after having given up hope, I'm worried that they are pregnant after all? This is very confusing. I have a ram and am actually planning to breed in November/December for late March/early June lambs. I know that's a big window, but, er, my lack of planning has made it difficult. If I can figure out a way to do it, I may take the ram out before the end of December in order to have a better window.
- Thread starter
- #30
mysunwolf
Herd Master
Oops, forgot the updated pictures of Darla. You can see her bag has shrunk significantly, which is what made me believe she wasn't pregnant after all. But then my neighbor came over and saw her belly and asked, "Is she pregnant?" So you can see, she's a very confusing sheep. Zinc oxide and trimming have helped her foot rot, but her feet still tend to grow a little funny. She's a cull for sure for next season.
