Newton the goats first lambs! And this marks the end

[newton the goat]

What is "old enough"? My understanding is that they will get gamier is they are intact. Other than @Latestarter's reason, I don't see how one loses money by castrating the ram lambs. Does he say why he thinks that?

@Latestarter 's reason is exactly why he will lose money. We have a high muslin and other religious population around here. All of them want intact rams. Plus my dad has a belief that the rams won' grow as big if you castrate them early on. And old enough is around 4-6 months and depends mainly on their weight.

 

[Mike CHS]

Their growth rate is considerably faster when they are intact also. We have processed a two year old and the only difference was in the size of the chops.

 

[Baymule]

I am leaving my ram lambs intact this go 'round. One is a VERY nice ram and I'm going to keep him for breeding, at least one season. He's just too nice to slaughter. I'll put the others on Craigslist when I wean them. We'll see how it goes....

 

[Wehner Homestead]

x2 to what Mike said. We know some cattlemen that can’t work their cattle like they used to so they don’t steer Bulls. Seems like they make just as much at market for theirs as the others do for steers. Testosterone makes the intact males grow faster. In cattle, tough doesn’t happen until after about 18 mos-2 yrs.

 

[newton the goat]

And so this is it. The final journal entry to what felt (to me) like an eternity of lambing. I am proud to say that I am officially (as my bf likes to call it) a "lamby grammy"

Dad called me out yesterday morning after work yelling about how I needed to go clean up the placenta because Sara just had a baby! Completely overrun with joy I flew out the the feild (plastic bag for disposal in hand) almost bawling my eyes out due to being so happy. Got there and saw Sara loving on this beautiful white ram lamb (that' when I really wanted to cry because I know I couldn't keep him)
Checked him out and everything seemed fine. Sara had him all cleaned up and fluffy and was coaxing him to nurse.
So I happily left her to her own and went to clean up the placenta..... only ..... there were two.... now if I know what I know since Newton... Sara if she only had a single should have had only ONE after birth. So I look around counting heads and matching moms to babies and after a few seconds I spotted the little One! Josie had claimed it and was currently attempting to usher it away from the scene of the crime.... OH NO YOU DON'T!!! so I reclaim the lamb and bring Sara and the ram into their house aka our makeshift "bonding pen and put the baby down hoping, almost pleading for sara to take it. And to my utter joy she started to clean the poor bedraggled thing and turned a slightly grey lamb into the fluffy white it needed to be! after letting them settle down I decided to get my hands on the little One. good weight, good legs. Eyes work and so do the ears and nose... And for the final check ..... I HAVE A LITTLE GIRL FROM SARA TOO thank the stars
Here are my new lovely babies! The female on the left and the male on the right... I am so in love!!!

 

[Baymule]

A thief!! Glad you "stole" her back! So happy for you that you got a ewe lamb from Sara. And your flock grows....

 

[newton the goat]

A thief!! Glad you "stole" her back! So happy for you that you got a ewe lamb from Sara. And your flock grows....

I'm so happy I got a girl from her! I would have not only been sad and gotten overly attached to Sara's son had he been her only offspring and I wouldn' have wanted to sell him

 

[Wehner Homestead]

Congratulations!!! They are adorable!!!

 

[newton the goat]

Congratulations!!! They are adorable!!!

Thank you! I'm glad to have such a good end to the season

 

[Latestarter]

Sweet success! Congrats! They're beautiful.