Ridgetop
Herd Master
Sorry I do tend to give too much advice. 
Pictures are always good.
Pictures are always good.
- Thread starter Fluffy_Flock
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- #22
Fluffy_Flock
Overrun with beasties
No I always love advice! Please don't hold backSorry I do tend to give too much advice.
Pictures are always good.
I just realized that the bottle baby is in my profile picture. That was him at about 1-2 weeks old though so he is kinda scrawny in that picture compared to today.
I will take better pictures tomorrow
Sheepshape
Herd Master
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I don't disagree with what folk are saying about bottle lambs, but individual circumstances always come into play. I'm a longstanding vegetarian (near vegan), so my freezer isn't for lambs.Over here we cannot slaughter our own animals (not that I want to). They have to go to a licensed abattoir which has veterinary input.
Why was the lamb a bottle lamb? Was he a triplet...though to be too much for mum to cope with? Did mum die? Was he rejected by her? etc. I personally only leave triplets with young, fit, fairly fat ewes as it can be too much for her to cope with under less than ideal circumstances. An episode of wet and cold weather can place a ewe under stress and temporarily drop her milk supply.Over-suckling by triplets will then likely lead to mastitis.
Mum had a low milk supply. .....Is she ill? Does she have mastitis? Neither of these are heritable traits. If she had a low milk production because of an illness or udder condition, there's nothing wrong with her lamb's genetics.
Personality and temperament of the ram matter to me a lot, though he has to look right, too. Aggression is a heritable trait. I like the 'Gentleman Ram'. I want a ram that I can feel safe with when I have to treat him.
At the end of the day, there's a lot of factors to take into account when deciding which rams go and which stay.
Why was the lamb a bottle lamb? Was he a triplet...though to be too much for mum to cope with? Did mum die? Was he rejected by her? etc. I personally only leave triplets with young, fit, fairly fat ewes as it can be too much for her to cope with under less than ideal circumstances. An episode of wet and cold weather can place a ewe under stress and temporarily drop her milk supply.Over-suckling by triplets will then likely lead to mastitis.
Mum had a low milk supply. .....Is she ill? Does she have mastitis? Neither of these are heritable traits. If she had a low milk production because of an illness or udder condition, there's nothing wrong with her lamb's genetics.
Personality and temperament of the ram matter to me a lot, though he has to look right, too. Aggression is a heritable trait. I like the 'Gentleman Ram'. I want a ram that I can feel safe with when I have to treat him.
At the end of the day, there's a lot of factors to take into account when deciding which rams go and which stay.
- Thread starter
- #24
Fluffy_Flock
Overrun with beasties
There is about a month difference between the two but they are almost the same height. Bottom is the bottle lamb and he just got weaned this week. He was not happy
It's hard for me to picture what these guys will look like when they grow up.
Baymule
Herd Master
They are both nice looking boys. They can change as they grow, so hold off on any decision until they get older.
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Hard to tell at this age and they will change as they grow. You have time to decide which one to keep. The other can go in the freezer as late as 12 months without any ram taint to the meat. One year DS1 kept "Mufasa" as a ram because he was a lovely silver color. DS1 bred him to all his ewes, then we ate him. He tasted fine. All his lambs were white anyway. LOL
