Bruce
Herd Master
Lots going on! Maybe if the ram brings flowers and candy, the unbred ewes will be receptive 
Ohiogoatgirl's Escapades & Adventures- Pulse check! pg14
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- #112
ohiogoatgirl
True BYH Addict
I checked backsides of all the ewes. Either they're all bred or all not bred. They all looked the same except 3 of the 4 Shetland ewe lambs and one Shetland ewe.
IE one of the bigger Shetland ewe lambs might be bred and one ewe looked a little 'flat' like the Shetland ewe lambs.
IMO they basically look like when they were cycling. Since they seem to have just stayed that way since, I'm guessing bred. Which is a relief if so because I'm going to be needing to sell all or nearly all of them to catch me up
On the other hand, now I'm reconsidering my plans. Would it be better to get the border cheviot ram and keep a bunch of ewe lambs from him? Then I could have more time to find a BFL breeder and even get on a waiting list for a good ram lamb. So this fall use the b cheviot, next year get a bfl ram lamb. Next year use the b cheviot and bfl ram lamb on all the ewes. I should easily be able to tell the difference of sires. Then after breeding groups I sell the b cheviot ram and know the ewes are bred. The following year I'd be more comfortable leaving the bfl to alot of ewes. Maybe even having kept back a b cheviot son for backup.
I also wrote out feed and weight, how much in a feed run,... So I've estimated that this year I'll be in $23 per lamb in feed cost if I get 21 lambs to market.
REALLY hoping to have that lower next year. Ugh. I'm going to be stopping at the local feed mill about getting a mix and some minerals I don't want to buy online and ship. I'd like to get off the sweet mix. At least something without molasses and that is whole grains. And if it could be around the same price or lower that'd be great! Ha!
IE one of the bigger Shetland ewe lambs might be bred and one ewe looked a little 'flat' like the Shetland ewe lambs.
IMO they basically look like when they were cycling. Since they seem to have just stayed that way since, I'm guessing bred. Which is a relief if so because I'm going to be needing to sell all or nearly all of them to catch me up
On the other hand, now I'm reconsidering my plans. Would it be better to get the border cheviot ram and keep a bunch of ewe lambs from him? Then I could have more time to find a BFL breeder and even get on a waiting list for a good ram lamb. So this fall use the b cheviot, next year get a bfl ram lamb. Next year use the b cheviot and bfl ram lamb on all the ewes. I should easily be able to tell the difference of sires. Then after breeding groups I sell the b cheviot ram and know the ewes are bred. The following year I'd be more comfortable leaving the bfl to alot of ewes. Maybe even having kept back a b cheviot son for backup.
I also wrote out feed and weight, how much in a feed run,... So I've estimated that this year I'll be in $23 per lamb in feed cost if I get 21 lambs to market.
REALLY hoping to have that lower next year. Ugh. I'm going to be stopping at the local feed mill about getting a mix and some minerals I don't want to buy online and ship. I'd like to get off the sweet mix. At least something without molasses and that is whole grains. And if it could be around the same price or lower that'd be great! Ha!
I have to admit, I sometimes end up dizzy watching you cycle back and forth and run around in circles chasing your tail... 
I mean, can't you kinda at least come close to some sort of plan and settle down to achieve it? When you're constantly moving the bullseye it's damned hard to hit it. 
Anyway, that being said, wishing you nothing but the best with your "now" plans and hope you can find a better non-sweet feed at a lower cost. Hope they are all bred with twins for you and they all deliver at high noon on a nice warm sunny day in the middle of the pasture.
I mean, can't you kinda at least come close to some sort of plan and settle down to achieve it? When you're constantly moving the bullseye it's damned hard to hit it. Anyway, that being said, wishing you nothing but the best with your "now" plans and hope you can find a better non-sweet feed at a lower cost. Hope they are all bred with twins for you and they all deliver at high noon on a nice warm sunny day in the middle of the pasture.
Bruce
Herd Master
How about we add "on successive days". She probably doesn't want them all dropping lambs at the same time.Hope they are all bred with twins for you and they all deliver at high noon on a nice warm sunny day in the middle of the pasture.
Excellent point Bruce. I mean if you're gonna wish, you might as well be as accurate as you really want the result to be.
B&B Happy goats
Herd Master
Sure got me dizzy and confused.....hope all your planning pans out for you
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- #117
ohiogoatgirl
True BYH Addict
Well yes and no. I'm going for the same goal just trying to think through the best way to get there. Though I'll be the first to admit I run alot of circles in deciding.
I'm really trying to make the decision before fall. If I get the border cheviot ram I'll lock myself to that plan. If I don't and get a BFL this year I'll lock myself to that plan. In the meantime I'm weighing the options. If my friend didn't have him up for sale I'd be settled on the bfl route.
I've tried to put down the how and why of my thinking. So I'm not just deciding but deciding based on proper reasoning.
-current ewes are about 60 to 85#
-bfl ewes avg 150 to 175#
-border cheviot ewes avg 140#
-shetlands are short and bit leggy
-bfl are fair height and a bit sleek build
-border cheviot are fair height and kind of solid meaty build
I already have two border cheviot/shetland ewes so I know what I'll get from the cross. They are nice sized ewes and much better meat frame. And being more broad framed they'll produce meatier lambs and be less likely to have birthing issues of bigger lambs.
In the short term I know that the border cheviot sired lambs will grow nicely for market. I can happily keep the best of the ewe lambs and get a return on the rest of the lambs whether I keep none or many. And those kept will have the best growth rate, and should in turn get a better return each lamb crop.
Shetlands and crosses-
I already have them and they have good fleeces.
Border cheviot-
More broad frame, meaty frame. Lamb growth. Good fleece. Proven ram. Not far.
BFL-
Good fleece. Lamb growth. Probably ram lamb. Probably far, expecting over 2hrs away and at least as much $ as border cheviot ram.
Corriedale-
Fleece weight. Good fleece. Lamb growth.
I have a friend that says he'll bring in what he can to get traits his flock doesn't have because he knows in two generations he can bring down micron to the real fine that he breeds for.
Much like that, I'm wanting to bring in the growth traits and fleece traits, then I can fine tune homogenous type and fleeces once I'm getting good growth and type.
I plan to look at individuals as well as comparing different crosses. If the numbers tell me a certain ram isn't producing up to standards then I'll replace him. Same for a ewe.
If breeding half bfl ewes to border cheviot ram doesn't produce as well as back to bfl then that's what works. If certain cross or back cross works better than that's what goes.
Hypothetically if I were to alternate rams I'd end up with a ewe flock thats about 15% and less Shetland, cormo, etc, and about 42.5% bfl 42.5% border cheviot. However I don't think I want/need too many rams so unless I end up able to increase the ewe flock much quicker than I'm now anticipating, I'll likely sell one of the rams in a few years.
Seeing what happens, with the corriedales I might keep them more as their own line. I could breed half to the BFL and half to the border cheviot. Then keep the best ram lamb of each. Use those two over the corriedales a couple years. Then cull down to the best.
I'd have corriedale..
Half bfl, second gen half bfl, 75corr/25bfl..
Half b ch, second gen half b ch, 75corr/25b ch..
50corr/25/25.. 62.5corr/25/12.5
I have tons of ideas but I know that in reality, which ones turn out to be the best producers will make the biggest decision on how the flock makeup and further breeding continues.
I'm really trying to make the decision before fall. If I get the border cheviot ram I'll lock myself to that plan. If I don't and get a BFL this year I'll lock myself to that plan. In the meantime I'm weighing the options. If my friend didn't have him up for sale I'd be settled on the bfl route.
I've tried to put down the how and why of my thinking. So I'm not just deciding but deciding based on proper reasoning.
-current ewes are about 60 to 85#
-bfl ewes avg 150 to 175#
-border cheviot ewes avg 140#
-shetlands are short and bit leggy
-bfl are fair height and a bit sleek build
-border cheviot are fair height and kind of solid meaty build
I already have two border cheviot/shetland ewes so I know what I'll get from the cross. They are nice sized ewes and much better meat frame. And being more broad framed they'll produce meatier lambs and be less likely to have birthing issues of bigger lambs.
In the short term I know that the border cheviot sired lambs will grow nicely for market. I can happily keep the best of the ewe lambs and get a return on the rest of the lambs whether I keep none or many. And those kept will have the best growth rate, and should in turn get a better return each lamb crop.
Shetlands and crosses-
I already have them and they have good fleeces.
Border cheviot-
More broad frame, meaty frame. Lamb growth. Good fleece. Proven ram. Not far.
BFL-
Good fleece. Lamb growth. Probably ram lamb. Probably far, expecting over 2hrs away and at least as much $ as border cheviot ram.
Corriedale-
Fleece weight. Good fleece. Lamb growth.
I have a friend that says he'll bring in what he can to get traits his flock doesn't have because he knows in two generations he can bring down micron to the real fine that he breeds for.
Much like that, I'm wanting to bring in the growth traits and fleece traits, then I can fine tune homogenous type and fleeces once I'm getting good growth and type.
I plan to look at individuals as well as comparing different crosses. If the numbers tell me a certain ram isn't producing up to standards then I'll replace him. Same for a ewe.
If breeding half bfl ewes to border cheviot ram doesn't produce as well as back to bfl then that's what works. If certain cross or back cross works better than that's what goes.
Hypothetically if I were to alternate rams I'd end up with a ewe flock thats about 15% and less Shetland, cormo, etc, and about 42.5% bfl 42.5% border cheviot. However I don't think I want/need too many rams so unless I end up able to increase the ewe flock much quicker than I'm now anticipating, I'll likely sell one of the rams in a few years.
Seeing what happens, with the corriedales I might keep them more as their own line. I could breed half to the BFL and half to the border cheviot. Then keep the best ram lamb of each. Use those two over the corriedales a couple years. Then cull down to the best.
I'd have corriedale..
Half bfl, second gen half bfl, 75corr/25bfl..
Half b ch, second gen half b ch, 75corr/25b ch..
50corr/25/25.. 62.5corr/25/12.5
I have tons of ideas but I know that in reality, which ones turn out to be the best producers will make the biggest decision on how the flock makeup and further breeding continues.
- Thread starter
- #118
ohiogoatgirl
True BYH Addict
It was light rain all day here. As expected it's a week to shearing day and dad has put off building the barn roof addition. So there is three posts in and all the framing and roof needs done still. The next two days could stay clear but with the above/below freezing temps I'm going to be on constant rain watch.
I don't have a way to shut the boys in the small shed in their paddock so they got moved to the barn today. Thank heaven they were good and happily followed me with the feed bucket. They took a jaunt down to the shed where the girls are all shut in but after hearing me pour feed in the bowls they came right to the barn.
The girls were not happy at all to be shut in. I built a temporary hay feeder for them in the shed. If it's clear I'll let them out for the day. They stand out in all but the most absolute torrential rain. There has been one day in a year's time that the sheep have gone inside from weather. They aren't to be trusted to keep dry.
Forecast heavier rain overnight and off and on tomorrow. Monday, sunny, Tuesday and Wed, cloudy, turning into rain overnight. Thursday cloudy turning to rain/snow in the evening and overnight. Friday cloudy and rain chance rising through the day and all day Saturday.
So the roof HAS to be done
*cough* it's not like he didn't know that the last month and a half... *cough*
On the bright side I should have two people from the guild coming to help. Everything else is ready to go. I have a squeeze pen setup for the shearer to easily grab the next sheep. I have a table to skirt fleeces on and note cards to put sheep and fleece info in the bags. I'm going to have a bag for 'mulch' skirtings and 'for me' skirtings that get pulled from the fleece but are still good wool.
After shearing I have everything pretty much set for lambing. Clean out the barn and shed.
I don't have a way to shut the boys in the small shed in their paddock so they got moved to the barn today. Thank heaven they were good and happily followed me with the feed bucket. They took a jaunt down to the shed where the girls are all shut in but after hearing me pour feed in the bowls they came right to the barn.
The girls were not happy at all to be shut in. I built a temporary hay feeder for them in the shed. If it's clear I'll let them out for the day. They stand out in all but the most absolute torrential rain. There has been one day in a year's time that the sheep have gone inside from weather. They aren't to be trusted to keep dry.
Forecast heavier rain overnight and off and on tomorrow. Monday, sunny, Tuesday and Wed, cloudy, turning into rain overnight. Thursday cloudy turning to rain/snow in the evening and overnight. Friday cloudy and rain chance rising through the day and all day Saturday.
So the roof HAS to be done
*cough* it's not like he didn't know that the last month and a half... *cough*On the bright side I should have two people from the guild coming to help. Everything else is ready to go. I have a squeeze pen setup for the shearer to easily grab the next sheep. I have a table to skirt fleeces on and note cards to put sheep and fleece info in the bags. I'm going to have a bag for 'mulch' skirtings and 'for me' skirtings that get pulled from the fleece but are still good wool.
After shearing I have everything pretty much set for lambing. Clean out the barn and shed.
Bruce
Herd Master
Harder to build stuff when it is really cold! But yep, needs to get done and the temps should be slowly improving.So the roof HAS to be done
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- #120
ohiogoatgirl
True BYH Addict
Sheep were shorn on the 1st. Bingley's first fleece was as heavy as Midget's fleece! I haven't gotten to look it over yet but I'm thinking I may have to keep it myself... 
I'm thinking 2 ewe lambs really don't look big enough to be bred. Kitty and Lydia. And they are on the fence of if they are starting to get early udder action. The rest I'm leaning towards all being bred. Pigpig had a really big lamb (12.5#) last year and she doesn't look as big this year so I'm hoping for a more regular size lamb from her. Said ewe lamb (Mary) is nearly as big as mom and I'm expecting will outgrow her in the coming year. She looks to be bred and I'm real interested to see what she has, since the ram lamb is her half brother. I'm hoping for several with great fleeces because I've got someone lined up who wants some breeding stock. Fingers crossed.
Two of the shetlands are looking quite wide by comparison. I'm thinking maybe 3 sets of twins, the rest singles. That'd be 21 lambs. Although with more shetlands and more shetland influence in general I'm keeping in mind that lamb birth weights may well be lower than last year. Meaning maybe another set of twins being well hidden.
Midget, Pigpig, and Ayrshire were with Bingley and Butthead for a week then just Butthead the rest of the time. Having seen their babies last year I'm hoping to be able to tell between sires. They both look like they'll kick off lambing. Ayr may have been bred later, though for her I'm kind of hoping she does lamb later so I can be sure she was bred to Butthead. Either is fine but I really want to see the offspring, I could always put her to Bingley this fall if I keep him on.
The ewe lambs all have that "paunch udder" going on. I'm making sure to look at least every other day or so. Midget went from "paunch" to "real udder" in two days when I hadn't checked! A few shetland ewes are also on watch for the earlier ewes to lamb. I'm hoping they lamb out in a way that I'd have some adult ewes lambing amid/after ewe lambs and hopefully have the option if needed to wet adopt to a proven mom.
I think that would be the big pro to using CDIRs. Knowing most of the ewes will lamb within like a week with some before and some after. I think I'd be much happier locking down for a solid week of intense lambing. Having many ewes lamb close together gives me options that I can't be sure I'll have. Last year I think there was three days that two ewes lambed the same day. For the most part the ewes lambed every other day or two days between.
~Lamb Watch~
* If the shetland ewe lambs got bred then they will go by April 12. I don't think they are but I'm watching just in case.
* Possible earliest to lamb (April 1) - Midget, Pigpig, Ayr. I'm thinking Ayr held out and will go later. Midget I'm thinking will be the first with Pigpig not long after.
* Next to lamb (April 10) - 60, 15, 56, 184, 185. These are the ones I saw action. 60 has the most filled out udder, then 56 & 15. 184 & 185 are in the "paunchy" stage, these are the half border cheviot ewe lambs.
* Next to lamb- guessing the adult ewes then the ewe lambs. A lot of people say first timers go earlier though. Until someone's udder fills out I've got no more guesses. Today I noticed a couple ewe lambs back ends were much more pink and puffy looking than the rest. I'll try to remember to take a notepad and the camera out tomorrow.
*
I'm thinking 2 ewe lambs really don't look big enough to be bred. Kitty and Lydia. And they are on the fence of if they are starting to get early udder action. The rest I'm leaning towards all being bred. Pigpig had a really big lamb (12.5#) last year and she doesn't look as big this year so I'm hoping for a more regular size lamb from her. Said ewe lamb (Mary) is nearly as big as mom and I'm expecting will outgrow her in the coming year. She looks to be bred and I'm real interested to see what she has, since the ram lamb is her half brother. I'm hoping for several with great fleeces because I've got someone lined up who wants some breeding stock. Fingers crossed.
Two of the shetlands are looking quite wide by comparison. I'm thinking maybe 3 sets of twins, the rest singles. That'd be 21 lambs. Although with more shetlands and more shetland influence in general I'm keeping in mind that lamb birth weights may well be lower than last year. Meaning maybe another set of twins being well hidden.
Midget, Pigpig, and Ayrshire were with Bingley and Butthead for a week then just Butthead the rest of the time. Having seen their babies last year I'm hoping to be able to tell between sires. They both look like they'll kick off lambing. Ayr may have been bred later, though for her I'm kind of hoping she does lamb later so I can be sure she was bred to Butthead. Either is fine but I really want to see the offspring, I could always put her to Bingley this fall if I keep him on.
The ewe lambs all have that "paunch udder" going on. I'm making sure to look at least every other day or so. Midget went from "paunch" to "real udder" in two days when I hadn't checked! A few shetland ewes are also on watch for the earlier ewes to lamb. I'm hoping they lamb out in a way that I'd have some adult ewes lambing amid/after ewe lambs and hopefully have the option if needed to wet adopt to a proven mom.
I think that would be the big pro to using CDIRs. Knowing most of the ewes will lamb within like a week with some before and some after. I think I'd be much happier locking down for a solid week of intense lambing. Having many ewes lamb close together gives me options that I can't be sure I'll have. Last year I think there was three days that two ewes lambed the same day. For the most part the ewes lambed every other day or two days between.
~Lamb Watch~
* If the shetland ewe lambs got bred then they will go by April 12. I don't think they are but I'm watching just in case.
* Possible earliest to lamb (April 1) - Midget, Pigpig, Ayr. I'm thinking Ayr held out and will go later. Midget I'm thinking will be the first with Pigpig not long after.
* Next to lamb (April 10) - 60, 15, 56, 184, 185. These are the ones I saw action. 60 has the most filled out udder, then 56 & 15. 184 & 185 are in the "paunchy" stage, these are the half border cheviot ewe lambs.
* Next to lamb- guessing the adult ewes then the ewe lambs. A lot of people say first timers go earlier though. Until someone's udder fills out I've got no more guesses. Today I noticed a couple ewe lambs back ends were much more pink and puffy looking than the rest. I'll try to remember to take a notepad and the camera out tomorrow.
*
