High Desert Cowboy- How far is it up north?

[High Desert Cowboy]

According to my calculations my ewes will start lambing the first part of April, and with snow in the forecast and our lovely weather being what it is I decided to go out and crutch the ewes today. Seeing as the ram had a lot of dingleberries clinging on I trimmed him up too. It’s not the prettiest but hey at least it’s done and we should be golden in a months time

 

[Baymule]

I'm glad to have hair sheep so I don't have to fool with that, or shearing either! Snow in April? Awww NO!

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

I'm glad to have hair sheep so I don't have to fool with that, or shearing either! Snow in April? Awww NO!

Here too!!

 

[High Desert Cowboy]

We were supposed to get snow on Sunday which never showed. Snow in April isn’t common but it happens. Where I still have a month before lambs start hitting the ground witch chances of snow and cold I like to make sure the ewes are comfortable, then probably a month after they lamb I’ll go out and shear them. Where I only have a handful it’s not worth bringing someone out here to do it so I get to go out with the blade shears. It’s not the prettiest job but like the difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut it’s only a matter of weeks. I think I did an alright job clutching this year.

Heart here was a lot easier to do than Dotty. Partly because her tail is a lot shorter. I didn’t dock heart, but she came here when the twins were a day old. As a new sheep owner, I was determined to do right by them and knew that tail length plays a part in rectal prolapses. So after doing a little online research looking at studies done in the UK and Australia I decided best practice would be to dock so that her tail could just cover her vulva. And I’ve learned since that Dotty will suck that tail stub down tight over her vulva and blending everything into an impenetrable wall of wool. So I have to be extra careful cutting around there so I don’t nip the tail or worse.

 

[Bruce]

Especially the "or worse" !!

I think I did an alright job clutching this year.

Or crutching
I don't think the sheep look in mirror after they are sheared. Good thing my 2 alpacas don't.

 

[High Desert Cowboy]

I can’t say I’ve ever tried to trim an alpaca before. I imagine you can’t really put them in their rump to shear so how is it done?
Yesterday I was checking on the ewes and heart and Dotty are big! Bellwether isn’t nearly as big as she was last year but last year that last month she really blew up. I remember telling my wife I thought she might have triplets with how close her belly got to the ground by the end of it. I noticed Hearts starting to get a little bit of a bag going. And I’m sure they’ll love the break they’re getting, poor Bella misses her sheep but I figure I don’t want to work them for the month before and after lambing. I don’t want toover stress. For now we do a little work on positioning and directions on Alfalfa the goat, he’s not the biggest fan but for now he’s what I got, everyone else’s cows are calving or about to calve and again we don’t want to stress them.

 

[Baymule]

That looks like a good crutching job to me. Autocorrect on my phone changed it to crunching. LOL

 

[thistlebloom]

Especially the "or worse" !!


Or crutching
I don't think the sheep look in mirror after they are sheared. Good thing my 2 alpacas don't.

Probably because it's really hard to hold that mirror for a fanny look. Especially with no opposable thumbs.

 

[Bruce]

Yeah, and only 2 toes per foot!

can’t say I’ve ever tried to trim an alpaca before. I imagine you can’t really put them in their rump to shear so how is it done?

Most of the time they are stretched out on the ground with their forelegs pulled one way and hind legs the other. I built a stand 18" off the ground, figured it would be less traumatizing for them. There is a board at the right height to clip their halters to keep them on their feet. Teddy puts up with it though not at all happily. Laddie still fights like someone is trying to kill him. Even with his head held high and all for feet tied to the corners he still bucks, tries to drop. Real PITA and wears out the poor people (us) trying to shear him. He didn't even get sheared last spring.

That looks like a good crutching job to me. Autocorrect on my phone changed it to crunching. LOL

That would be an alternate method of rendering a ram lamb unable to make babies in the future.

 

[thistlebloom]

Most of the time they are stretched out on the ground with their forelegs pulled one way and hind legs the other. I built a stand 18" off the ground, figured it would be less traumatizing for them. There is a board at the right height to clip their halters to keep them on their feet.

That's interesting, I never actually thought about the process. Sounds like alpacas are not easily acclimated to routine handling.