SheepGirl's Journal - Photos of the sheep 4/25

[aggieterpkatie]

We used to always go red to green to blue. Black is too dark, because you wouldn't be able to see the blue if they are bred a third time. Yellow won't show up well, I don't think. Orange may look too similar to the red. I'm jealous you live close to sheepman. Their shipping is so expensive I try to only buy stuff from them when they're at Sheep and Wool.

 

[SheepGirl]

Didn't get my marker today so I will have to get it tomorrow. But we've used yellow before and you're right, it doesn't show up very well on white sheep. On natural colored ewes it works great. So maybe I will get green, since that combination works well for you

But I got my scale today It was easy to catch Hank. I just put some feed in front of his face, grabbed his harness, and used that to hold him while I got his halter on. I walked him over to the scale and he weighs 122.8 lbs. Yesterday I 'weighed' him and he was 133 lbs. Being that he gained 33 lbs (although the actual weights weren't accurate) since he's been here, he must've come here at 90 lbs He was given a 200 lb dose of levamisole the day I brought him home--I'm surprised that didn't kill him

I caught Ali next. She was a tad bit more difficult. But I grabbed the wool on the side of her face and I moved my hand to around her neck and I put the halter on and walked her over to the scale. She weighs 144.6 lbs! Almost 15 lbs more than what the tape measure method of weighing said. Keep in mind all of my sheep (except for Hank) have BCS of 3/5 (maybe a 3.5 but nobody's made it to a 4 yet).

So I caught & weighed those two in about a half hour. I was then working on Ciqala. I was thisclose to coaxing her close to me so I could grab her leg and then my brother had to come running to the backyard throwing his football and he scared her away and I couldn't get her at all. I then tried for another hour to catch her (I sooo wish my sheep shelter was completely finished so I can build my catch pen!), but to no avail. I was 'bout ready to give up since it was getting dark quick. But I called my mom out and we were so close to catching her but she and Ali jumped over the 2x4 my mom was holding to act as a barrier. Well then my brother comes out again with his football. I yelled at him and told him he had better come out and help me catch this daggone sheep since he frightened her to begin with. So he came in and he decided it was good to wear her out so he was chasing the sheep all around, but I was yelling at him not to chase them because they're newly pregnant (hopefully) and I don't want any of them to miscarry from the stress. My brother wouldn't listen to me and he chased her all around, but we did manage to corner her in the shelter and I was able to slip a halter on her. So I brought her over to the scale and...you won't believe this...she weighs 199.4 lbs At least 40 lbs more than what my tape measure method was telling me! But I brought her back over to the field and the poor thing was panting like no other

So now I won't be surprised if they come back into heat...and that delays my lambing season by 2.5 wks so I'm kind of frustrated about that. But anyway, all I can do right now is wait and see if they're (still) pregnant or not.

Recap:
Ciqala - 199.4 lbs
Ali - 144.6 lbs
Hank - 122.8 lbs
Katy Perry - 62.0 lbs (weight from yesterday)
Lady Gaga - 50.5 lbs (weight from yesterday)

 

[Straw Hat Kikos]

Glad you got your scale. I hope we can get a 'real' scale here soon. lol
Those are some big girls!! 199

That's why I take NO stock in tape weights. They just don't work. I've never seen it even close to the real weight of the animal.

 

[SheepGirl]

Actually it wasn't even a stock weigh tape They don't make those for sheep. But to 'weigh' sheep you measure around their heart girth and then measure their length. Then you do (heart girth x heart girth x length) / 300 and that gives you an estimated weight. I did 'weigh' the lambs with the tape after I weighed them on the bathroom scale and it came within 3 lbs for both.

But I'm surprised she came in at 199. She does have a big barrel and huge capacity and she is a short stocky girl. I think it's so funny because in 2011 when she went to the fair she was penned next to some yearling shropshire ewes when the Fiber Optics tent flooded and they towered over her but they still weigh roughly the same! But the show sheep are bred to be tall and lean rather than shorty & big bodied, so I guess it's just the shropshire's bone that gives them the weight but it's my ewe's body full of grass that gives her her weight!

 

[Straw Hat Kikos]

Those are the ways I know how to do it too. Measure this then that and multiply this by this and divide by this kind of thing. That's not surprising they were close, them being young and all.

Question. When your ewes lamb what are you going to do with the lambs? Sell them, keep them?

 

[SheepGirl]

I will wether all the ram lambs, but any that have big butts will be 'saved.' I will then weigh them at 30 days old and if they haven't gained at least a 1/2 lb per day then I will wether them then.

I would love to keep all of the ewe lambs to expand my flock quickly, but I will likely only keep 1 or 2. I'm trying to establish culling requirements (this year doesn't count )...that I only keep ewe lambs that gain at least 0.4 lb per day and then they have to come out of a ewe that weans a litter at least 50% (preferably 75%) of her body weight at 60 days old. So who knows how many ewe lambs I will end up keeping I may end up keeping none.

But any wether lambs and cull ewe lambs will be fed out to probably 100-110 lbs and then sent to auction or if I can find a customer I will sell the lamb direct to the consumer and then collect carcass information from the butcher. I did have a couple of people at fair I exchanged information with wanting to buy lambs so I may sell a couple wether/ewe lambs to them. (One guy wants 2 lambs for his daughter and one lady wants 2 butcher lambs and 2 ewe lambs to breed.)

 

[Bridgemoof]

Yay on the scale! Boo to your brother what a pain!

So, your flock is coming along well in weight. It's great to have an accurate scale.

What kind of scale is it again? Is it a hanging scale and you have to put them in a harness? Can you post a link to the scale you bought? I am thinking about getting one and don't know much about them.

I also like your culling requirements. Here's mine:
1. If they're cute, don't cull.
2. If they have a name, don't cull.
3. If they are wooly, don't cull.
4. If they are a runt and need special attention, don't cull.
5. If they are sick and need special attention, don't cull.
6. If they are strong and healthy, don't cull.
7. If they have lambs, don't cull.
8. If they are a ram, don't cull.

Needless to say, my flock won't be thinning out anytime soon, lol.

 

[Straw Hat Kikos]

I also like your culling requirements. Here's mine:
1. If they're cute, don't cull.
2. If they have a name, don't cull.
3. If they are wooly, don't cull.
4. If they are a runt and need special attention, don't cull.
5. If they are sick and need special attention, don't cull.
6. If they are strong and healthy, don't cull.
7. If they have lambs, don't cull.
8. If they are a ram, don't cull.

Needless to say, my flock won't be thinning out anytime soon, lol.

Bridge - You're a nut!! lol

 

[Southern by choice]

I am looking for a good scale! They are all ranging at the $300 mark. What kind did you get?

Bridge- you are a nut! But I have to say I could be real close to being a nut myself!

 

[Pearce Pastures]

Um you are going to have a LOT of critters, fast.