mysunwolf lambing 2016

goatgurl

Herd Master
Joined
May 22, 2014
Messages
2,048
Reaction score
3,977
Points
343
Location
Arklahoma
doesn't it feel good to know that your done for the year? as much as i love lambing and kidding i also love knowing that we're done and everyone is ok. congrats on the new babies. is the black lamb a ram or a ewe?
 

mysunwolf

Herd Master
Joined
Nov 23, 2012
Messages
1,237
Reaction score
1,655
Points
343
Location
Southwest Virginia
doesn't it feel good to know that your done for the year? as much as i love lambing and kidding i also love knowing that we're done and everyone is ok. congrats on the new babies. is the black lamb a ram or a ewe?

It is such a relief. Of course, now comes all the other problems... like, Drusilla's lambs have soremouth; my bottle baby has some little pimples on her behind that I've never seen on a sheep before; and the parasites are sure to rear their ugly heads soon. Plenty of the sheep have mushy poo from the rich forage. And I still have Spotty's weird nose to deal with. Yikes.

And the black lamb was a ram... of course! :D 2 ewe lambs and 6 ram lambs from the batch. So not awful, just have the ewe lambs from the wrong ewes!

If all goes well, I will start attempting to milk in a few weeks. The girls have not been trained to anything yet, that is my big worry, but they are trained to stand calm while they eat grain and I touch their udders, so I have a few picked out that will be easier. Darla has the biggest udder but she jumps straight up in the air when I touch her udder so it might be more like a rodeo than a milking session. But that will be a different thread ;)
 

mysunwolf

Herd Master
Joined
Nov 23, 2012
Messages
1,237
Reaction score
1,655
Points
343
Location
Southwest Virginia
Okay, there has been no milking yet... so no video! :p The lambs have not figured out the creep feeder at all, so I'm having trouble separating them out. I may have to come up with a more creative creep feeder than a gap in fencing that leads into the barn. They don't seem to want to go into a solid structure since there isn't a way out at the other end... dang clever sheep.

We banded some of the boys this morning, Darla's twins and Sarah's lamb. Dru's boys weren't quite descended yet, even though they're 3.5 weeks old, so they'll have to wait. Cow's boy we are waiting on to see what he grows into, because SPOTS! We will probably band him at 3 months if he doesn't look nice (might have to get the calf bander), and if so we are planning to keep him as a companion for our ram. Not quite sure about all of it yet. If he does look like a breeder, we'll try to sell him.

This is Dru being the designated babysitter.
DSC_9658.JPG
 

mysunwolf

Herd Master
Joined
Nov 23, 2012
Messages
1,237
Reaction score
1,655
Points
343
Location
Southwest Virginia
Thanks Parsnip, I am in love with all of them :love The best part is watching the lamb races when the moms decide to join in.

Sheep party in their favorite field:
DSC_9731.JPG
DSC_9733.JPG
DSC_9743.JPG
 

mysunwolf

Herd Master
Joined
Nov 23, 2012
Messages
1,237
Reaction score
1,655
Points
343
Location
Southwest Virginia
The lambs are growing very well. That ram made some beautiful babies, and I really wish there had been more ewe lambs from the group. The boys are going to make some fine lamb.

This is Helena's ewe lamb, almost as tall as her mother, ~60lbs at 70 days. Nice long body, solid bone structure, and very hardy like her mom. Plus I think she will be an excellent shedder.
DSC_9991.JPG

Spotty's lamb is not quite as nice, but Spotty is also my smallest ewe and was pregnant at 8 months so I am forgiving her. Still a very solid bone structure and long body, plus is growing well. She was ~50lbs at 63 days.
DSC_9997.JPG

Both the ewe lambs are singles since the mommas were pregnant so young, so we'll see how the moms do next spring and how the ewe lambs do next summer with more lambs!

Also, sheep butts:
DSC_9996.JPG
 

mysunwolf

Herd Master
Joined
Nov 23, 2012
Messages
1,237
Reaction score
1,655
Points
343
Location
Southwest Virginia
I'm going to use the same thread over and over again for our lambings :) Because it's that time again...

First wanted to post some pics of our little ram lamb all grown up. Stud Muffin is out with the ladies and has already bred a few.

He's 8 months old and already taller than the yearling dairy ewes.
DSC_0655.JPG
DSC_0664.JPG

He's certainly overly-friendly too, but look at that cute little face!
DSC_0665.JPG


And might as well throw in a pic of our LGD pup, Puff, eating sheep minerals :lol: He wants to do everything the sheep do.
DSC_0646.JPG
 

mysunwolf

Herd Master
Joined
Nov 23, 2012
Messages
1,237
Reaction score
1,655
Points
343
Location
Southwest Virginia
At this point, we are really hoping that the ewes are bred! It's been a month since we've thrown the ram in with them. I went out the other day and got some great November photos of the flock.

DSC_0779.JPG


DSC_0781.jpg


Here's Stud. He's got an odd hump at the end of the back, but his father and mother do too. Dairy breeders seem more inattentive to conformation and more focused on milk production, which makes sense but certainly makes me wary when I look at what's happened to the cattle industry.
DSC_0788.JPG
DSC_0789.JPG

Puff the GP/Toli is doing great and is honestly such a good dog.
DSC_0793.JPG

This is an updated shot of our keeper ewe lamb. She's 7 months and well over 100lbs. If she lambs well she may completely replace one or more of my older ewes.
DSC_0795.JPG

The two dairy lines, side-by-side. They balance each other quite nicely and I'm curious to see what they produce together.
DSC_0796.JPG
 

Latestarter

Novice; "Practicing" Animal Husbandry
Golden Herd Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2014
Messages
11,384
Reaction score
17,481
Points
623
Location
NE Texas
You have beautiful animals, beautiful views, and together they make beautiful pictures. :) Hope the breeding went well and that they've all settled. Hope you get more ewes than rams this birthing season! Since you're using this young ram for sire duties, I'm assuming that the original "mean" ram became chops? What ever happened to him? he was a good looking ram. Also, just curious as I know nothing about sheep (but after reading all the various folks input on them, may need to get a few after I get my land next summer), some of them have long tails, and some of them don't... Is it a breed thing or do you band them to remove them? Are they a good thing to have or bad? Looking forward to reading all about your lambing this coming spring.
 

Latest posts

Top