Pregnant Ewe or False Positive Blood Preg Test?

[horsehead520]

TL: DR - Ewe preg tested positive (blood test) 75 days after lambing - pregnant or false positive from hormones present from last pregnancy? (Most sources say 60 days post-lambing is the point where those leave the ewe unless she's bred back already)

I have Katahdin ewes. Got them in September. Also bought a Katahdin ram. Two older ewes (now 5) and one yearling. Five year old ewes lambed Feb 28th, both triplets. One ewe struggled with lambing and being pregnant. Nothing crazy, just didn't seem like she was having a good time, especially compared to the other ewe of the same age. Wasn't planning to rebreed her. Ram was supposed to be picked up when lambs were born. Due to scheduling, he didn't get picked up until lambs were about four and a half weeks old. I don't have a set up to keep ram separate from ewes. Ram stayed in with ewes and babies. Most online sources say Katahdins can lamb three times in 14 months - breeding when lambs are two months old. I assumed I was good to go, but did a preg test just in case, before listing this ewe for sale. She preg checked positive on two blood tests. Blood test says must be at least 28 days into pregnancy - ram left six weeks ago, so that checks out. But I've found exactly one article about PAG hormones leaving the bloodstream post-lambing, and that said you can get false positives up to 60 days post lambing. She's at 75 days post lambing, when I did the blood test.
I realize this is poor management, I had a better plan set up and then that fell apart for various reasons. It'll be taken into consideration in the future. I'm just wondering if she's actually 6-10 weeks pregnant, or if I should wait a month and retest her to see if it's residual hormones.

 

[Baymule]

Don’t worry, we all have breeding boo-boos. Sometimes things just happen.

As far as her being pregnant, I’ve never used blood tests. Since you researched it, time wise and hormones, probably a good idea to test again, if you want to know for sure. With gestation being 5 months, if she is bred, it won’t be long until you find out!

For using a ram, you can use a ram lamb, best at 6 months or older, then take to slaughter for your own consumption. Then you don’t have a full grown ram to contend with.

 

[horsehead520]

Don’t worry, we all have breeding boo-boos. Sometimes things just happen.

As far as her being pregnant, I’ve never used blood tests. Since you researched it, time wise and hormones, probably a good idea to test again, if you want to know for sure. With gestation being 5 months, if she is bred, it won’t be long until you find out!

For using a ram, you can use a ram lamb, best at 6 months or older, then take to slaughter for your own consumption. Then you don’t have a full grown ram to contend with.

I'm so used to Facebook and people losing their minds, I feel like I have to clarify any mistake, preemptively. Lol

Yeah... this particular ewe, I was hoping wouldn't get bred again. I dont mind as much on the others, this one just had a terrible time with it.

I didn't mind the ram I had, he was fine to work with. And I'm not opposed to having a ram long term. I sold that one because I'm keeping four of his daughters, and I don't want to breed him back to them. Planning to use offspring for meat, but I just dont want to risk weird anomalies when there's plenty of decent rams around me

 

[SageHill]

I'm so used to Facebook and people losing their minds, I feel like I have to clarify any mistake, preemptively. Lol

Oh yeah. We've all been there. You'll find we are helpful and the opposite of Facebook!!

 

[Baymule]

We sure are not Fake Book! Ask anything you want, there are no stupid questions. We won’t chop your head off for being human. We’ve all been there!

 

[horsehead520]

Update for everyone: I retested at 90 days out from lambing, she is confirmed pregnant. She's at least 60 days pregnant, based on when the ram left, at most 90 days, I guess? Planning to also test the other ewe that lambed the same day, mostly for curiosity's sake at this point. I will update when she lambs as well! She normally has triplets (based on previous owner's info and she did have triplets with me), I'm curious if she will only have twins this time since it was so close to the previous birth

 

[Ridgetop]

Most online sources say Katahdins can lamb three times in 14 months - breeding when lambs are two months old.

I asssume you meant 24 months. Both Katahdins and Dorpers can lamb 3 times in 24 months. If the ram is left with the ewe and new lambs, they usually rebreed when the lambs are 3 months old. They can rebreed sooner depending on amount of feed available.

On an accelerated breeding schedule (3x in 24 months) the ewe will often have twins or triplets twice, then the third time might only have a single. Then she will repeat the multiple births in following lambings.
As far as keeping daughters and breeding back to the sire, you can do that for 2 generations before having any problems. The second generation should be terminal. Also, if the animals have any flaws, they will be show up in the second generation.

 

[horsehead520]

I asssume you meant 24 months. Both Katahdins and Dorpers can lamb 3 times in 24 months. If the ram is left with the ewe and new lambs, they usually rebreed when the lambs are 3 months old. They can rebreed sooner depending on amount of feed available.

No, I meant 14 months. That's birth to birth, but that's how it's phrased everywhere I've seen. She 100% got pregnant within a month of lambing. Won't know exactly when, until the next set shows up

On an accelerated breeding schedule (3x in 24 months) the ewe will often have twins or triplets twice, then the third time might only have a single. Then she will repeat the multiple births in following lambings.

My goal is to not have her get pregnant again. So I guess we'll see

As far as keeping daughters and breeding back to the sire, you can do that for 2 generations before having any problems. The second generation should be terminal. Also, if the animals have any flaws, they will be show up in the second generation.

I really have no interest in breeding that closely. Seems too high risk for any possible reward on the level I'm doing this

 

[Ridgetop]

Gestation is 5 months, even allowing a month to breed and settle is minimum 6 months between lambings. While that time span may be possible, it is not normal. In her case, it may have happened and I know that there are instances when am lambs under 3 months can breed their mothers, it is very rare. It wil be interesting to see exactly when she lambs. She may only have a single.

The reason for accellerated lambing is that the flock will make more $$$ for the shepherd. In large commercial flocks on large acreage a good lamb production birth rate is about 1.5 per ewe. Unfortunately the weaning survival rate is much lower. The shepherd needs to produce a certain % of lambs just to break even. By lambing 3 x in 2 years the shepherd can get an additional couple lambs to give him a small profit. If you can breed your Katahdins that frequently, have successful live births, and be able to raise them to weaning age, that is a big selling point for their daughters. Ranching is not for the faint of heart, and you have to be on top of any thing that can give you an edge to break even and make some profit.

Do you know how to tell a successful farmer? He/she has a job in town.

 

[horsehead520]

Gestation is 5 months, even allowing a month to breed and settle is minimum 6 months between lambings. While that time span may be possible, it is not normal. In her case, it may have happened and I know that there are instances when am lambs under 3 months can breed their mothers, it is very rare. It wil be interesting to see exactly when she lambs. She may only have a single.

Right. So they lamb, breed back two months later, lamb five months later, repeat. So lambing to third lambing is 14 months. The only lambs she was with, were born on the same day as she lambed, so they would've been at most six weeks old when they would've had to breed her. Otherwise it's the ram that got sold when lambs hit a month old, with the direct intention of avoiding her being bred again

The reason for accellerated lambing is that the flock will make more $$$ for the shepherd. In large commercial flocks on large acreage a good lamb production birth rate is about 1.5 per ewe. Unfortunately the weaning survival rate is much lower. The shepherd needs to produce a certain % of lambs just to break even. By lambing 3 x in 2 years the shepherd can get an additional couple lambs to give him a small profit. If you can breed your Katahdins that frequently, have successful live births, and be able to raise them to weaning age, that is a big selling point for their daughters. Ranching is not for the faint of heart, and you have to be on top of any thing that can give you an edge to break even and make some profit.

Do you know how to tell a successful farmer? He/she has a job in town.

I have a job in town. Trained horses for quite a while, decided it wasn't going to be sustainable if I wanted health insurance or to retire ever. So now I have animals as a hobby for the most part. Only real goal is for them to pay for themselves and be healthy. If they can support the babies, then I don't necessarily mind them lambing frequently. This ewe in particular had trouble with her last set. Not sure if it was just coincidence or if she's going to struggle again. I was hoping to avoid finding out, but I guess she gets a second shot now