Newbie sheep

[barbie]

Hi all, we just adopted 2 pregnant ewes. One is 1-1/2 year old Icelandic Katahdin (Kat), the other is a 1/2 year old Icelandic Barbados Blackface (Barb). The lady we bought them from said "they're kind of wild" she has a large herd of wild mixed sheep and goats,
I wish I had found your site before, we got them home at night so put a collar and lead on each and put them in our big dog kennel overnight. I let them out first thing to graze, got Kat to jump back in the kennel last night but had to wrestle Barb, tonight was just the opposite, Barb smelled the COB and jumped right in while Kat led me around
Tomorrow I'm going to go sit with them before turning them out. I only got a vague idea when they will lamb and Kat is pretty round so nervous about getting them friendly before they give birth. Apparently Kat has had a lamb but the is Barb's first time. How do I know when to get a vet involved? They are both up-to-date on vaccines and feet trimmed the day we got them. Was told they won't need sheared because they are "hair" sheep. Anyway sorry for such a long yarn, very grateful of advice.
barbie

 

[Baymule]

Treats are the way to a ewes heart. Put some animal crackers in their feed. If they don’t eat them, next feeding, break them up on top of the feed. Once they eagerly eat the animal crackers, offer them in your hand. Between fingers, cracker sticking out so they can snatch it. Just sit quietly in their pen, they are curious and will come up to sniff you.

Glad you found us! Great to have you join us!

 

[purplequeenvt]

They are only part hair breed so they may need to be sheared.

 

[SageHill]

They may be hair sheep but only part looks like they may need to be shorn sometime (not saying real soon either).
Animal crackers - yup - believe them -- I learned it here. I'll add in when you try to feed by hand be very very still and don't look them in the eye.
Cute sheep!
Welcome to BYH !

 

[Finnie]

Hi all, we just adopted 2 pregnant ewes. One is 1-1/2 year old Icelandic Katahdin (Kat), the other is a 1/2 year old Icelandic Barbados Blackface (Barb). The lady we bought them from said "they're kind of wild" she has a large herd of wild mixed sheep and goats,
I wish I had found your site before, we got them home at night so put a collar and lead on each and put them in our big dog kennel overnight. I let them out first thing to graze, got Kat to jump back in the kennel last night but had to wrestle Barb, tonight was just the opposite, Barb smelled the COB and jumped right in while Kat led me around
Tomorrow I'm going to go sit with them before turning them out. I only got a vague idea when they will lamb and Kat is pretty round so nervous about getting them friendly before they give birth. Apparently Kat has had a lamb but the is Barb's first time. How do I know when to get a vet involved? They are both up-to-date on vaccines and feet trimmed the day we got them. Was told they won't need sheared because they are "hair" sheep. Anyway sorry for such a long yarn, very grateful of advice.
barbie

How’s everything going with your new sheep?

 

[barbie]

How’s everything going with your new sheep?

Hi, they've adapted to our place well. Pretty much cropped the whole yard so far, am looking into cross fences so they can browse on the back half of our acreage. We've got a little under 2 acres.

I just ordered a nice sized shed for when they get closer to lambing.

Are there any kind of signs I should be looking for when they're close since the timing isn't really clear?

Luckily Kat is supposed to give birth first and she's had babies before so hoping to learn a lot from her experience.

Not able to touch the girls yet but they sure come running when I call em in for treats 🤓

Thanks for asking, loving our sheep 🐑

 

[Finnie]

Are there any kind of signs I should be looking for when they're close since the timing isn't really clear?

I don’t have any sheep, but you can go to the lambing section of the forum and find this question asked and answered lots of times. The general consensus seems to be that if your ewe starts showing signs, then you have anywhere from 24 hours to 24 days left to go. 🤣

 

[Finnie]

Oh, and they talk about mucous discharge, swollen vulva, udder development and acting very uncomfortable and restless.