Search results

  1. shepherdO

    Reed Canary Grass Hay - any experience?

    I need a few more bales of hay stored up to get me through the winter as I have more stock this year. Anyhoo, there's a good deal on some local hay around my way - it's 'reed canary grass hay'. Any experience with this? Apparently some varieties can be high in alkaloids and prompt staggers...
  2. shepherdO

    Pinkeye and Possible Blindness?

    Thank you for your thoughtful and well-written post, Sheepshape. It is very difficult to get abx here in Canada now due to new rules. Does it have to be a tetracycline injection, or can it be (eg) the powdered form that you put in water? I've used it in the past with my chickens, and I know...
  3. shepherdO

    Pinkeye and Possible Blindness?

    Okay, I spend a lot of time with my sheep on a daily basis, and I typically notice everything about them. I don't know HOW, but I seem to have missed a case of pinkeye or something similar. I just noticed it this morning when Sabine was lagging behind the rest of the flock when we took them to...
  4. shepherdO

    Oh dear... ewes being prep'd for slaughter might be pregnant

    Oh dear. We'd earmarked two older ewes for slaughter at the end of October and I've had one separated for fattening up over the next couple months. I just added the other to the same pen today, with, (yes, I know you're going to think/say I'm an idiot) my lovely, newly purchased texel ram...
  5. shepherdO

    Fattening up Mutton

    Okay, so I'm going to be sending my two old rambouillet-suffolk gals of to butcher at the end of October, as they're getting on in years. Both needed intervention (only 1 of their 4 lambs survived), although both fostered a couple lambs. I'm wondering how to beef them up a bit between now and...
  6. shepherdO

    Creative Ways to Weigh sheep

    Hmm... I couldn't get the link to work...
  7. shepherdO

    Creative Ways to Weigh sheep

    Any idea? I typically just guess weight in adult sheep, and I don't have a method to weigh lambs other than just hoist them up and step on a bathroom scale, which then takes about 30 seconds of perfect stillness before it registers. I did this last year with a 105 lb lamb and it was difficult...
  8. shepherdO

    Need Expertise - buying electric clippers

    Hey folks, I'm looking into buying some electric clippers, if nothing else for crutching my ewes. I tried with the hand shears this spring and it was very hard. Took forever (like, 45 minutes per sheep) and in the end it barely did anything. I will typically have about a dozen ewes per...
  9. shepherdO

    Help solve the Great Katahdin Mystery of 2019

    Sold one as a week old bottle bay, sold two when weaned as pets, and am keeping one wether for my new ram as a companion. Sold mama as a retiree to a nice old lady :)
  10. shepherdO

    Terminal Sire Decision: Single or Twin?

    Hi all, I'm in the process of choosing a ram for my flock of commercial ewes. There's a great Texel farm locally which I visited, and was astounded by the quality animals there. Anyhoo, I'm looking to purchase one of their young rams to use as my new breeding ram in the fall. The one that...
  11. shepherdO

    Nibbles had Quads again! Help needed re: LETHARGY...

    Right - it's definitely not an ideal situation, but the lambs need to live, and the ewes have to do their part as well. So finding a way for the sheep to do as much feeding as possible is ideal, to save on replacer. Trust me, it's not fun, and takes a long time to hold the surrogate ewes and...
  12. shepherdO

    Nibbles had Quads again! Help needed re: LETHARGY...

    Mike CHS - hence my asking for advice :) I'm trying to make it easier on her - she loves her babies and I'd like to give her a chance to raise the little two - they were only 2 and 3.5 lbs at birth, so they're not a significant drain on her. I'll bottlefeed them to top them up, so she's not...
  13. shepherdO

    Nibbles had Quads again! Help needed re: LETHARGY...

    Hmm... good point. I had wondered about this. I'm in the process of figuring out the best route to take. Nibbles (mum) is now back eating hay and grain after a very long 6 days 'on the edge', so that's great. She's only producing milk on the left side - the right is a hard mass. Thinking...
  14. shepherdO

    Nibbles had Quads again! Help needed re: LETHARGY...

    Seems she's well on her way to recovery. She even nibbled a bit of grain yesterday (something she's been avoiding). I put her with the other sheep yesterday b/c I think psychologically she needed to get away from the jug she's been in since lambing/labour. I still keep the quads in at night...
  15. shepherdO

    Nibbles had Quads again! Help needed re: LETHARGY...

    I got some calcium from the vet. Took forever to inject. I'm assuming (hopefully) I should see an increase in milk production? I also gave penicillin, some more PropGlycol and corn syrup, and syringed in some water as she's not drinking now. Basically, she's recovered and taken back all her...
  16. shepherdO

    URGENT info needed re: how to encourage MILK production!

    Okay so I've separated the two stronger guys and I'm going to try to latch them onto my rambouillet ewe who lost her lambs. Technically it should work... but I'm seriously getting weary of all this creative lamb-udder switching. I think last night I got to the point where I'm just sick/tired...
  17. shepherdO

    URGENT info needed re: how to encourage MILK production!

    Great idea thanks. I'll do penicillin, calcium injection, more propylene (talked to the vet who suggested keeping that going until she's fully recovered), then massage and hope for the best. I do have two ewes who are suckling (reluctantly) a couple bottle lambs at the moment, so my backup...
  18. shepherdO

    URGENT info needed re: how to encourage MILK production!

    Yep I've been doing that. They suck on her all the time (which has to be hard on her) but she seems happy with them there. However, how do I get some milk out of her?
  19. shepherdO

    URGENT info needed re: how to encourage MILK production!

    Hi all, As I just posted in my post re: Nibbles and her quads, she 'miraculously' came back to life after essentially being a goner. She now won't let me take the lambs away from her - if I do she races around, and ignores her feed completely. At least with her lambs there she'll eat a bit...
  20. shepherdO

    Nibbles had Quads again! Help needed re: LETHARGY...

    So we thought Nibbles was a gonner last night. After pumping her with penicillin, propylene glycol and water via syringe, it seemed too little too late. She spent most of the day unable to move, not eating or drinking, etc. Being in intermittent labour for 4.5 days, along with carrying quads...
Top