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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2015 14:05:27 GMT
Last year I noticed some swelling under the tail 5/4, and first lamb was born 5/25. Well, I saw one girl the same way Friday (4/3), and I thought "that seems early" and the next day four more... I guess last year they didn't take on the first cycle of breeding last year? (2013 breeding took place at prior owner's farm, and they were over-wooled and the ram had foot problems. 2014 breeding took place on my farm, with girls in better shape and a new ram.) End of April lambs would be a bit earlier than I targeted, but within the calendar of possibility.
I'm still working on my hay quality issues, but I start supplementing other feed earlier this year than last, not waiting for it to become a huge problem. Five of the girls seem decent to me, although could be slightly fatter, my oldest girl is too thin. Not sure if she's having trouble chewing or if she has parasites. (Of course she has parasites, all sheep have parasites, but the question is if her parasites are overwhelming her.) We have a new hay man lined up for next year. I'm also planning to step up the haying by hand operation, since that super early loose hay comes out so much higher quality than anything I can buy.
I need to bump up the pre-lambing vaccination and hoof trim schedule. I already bought the vaccine and needles, just need to get it done.
So glad I found a professional shearer this year, that's all taken care of and I'm not rushing to do them all with hand shears.
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Post by bergere on Apr 8, 2015 19:34:35 GMT
Keeping my fingers crossed for you, that you have a great lambing season!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2015 19:59:27 GMT
X2! Looking forward to lamb pictures  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2015 21:03:15 GMT
I just wish the grass would start growing to support lactation. We're gonna have to use a lot of supplemental feed until it comes in.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 16, 2015 17:56:52 GMT
Sweet Pea is really bagging up. She's my smallest ewe, I'm a little worried about her with the big ram we got. I purchased her last year and her lamb had not been fully weaned first. Her bag was very swollen up and looked painful. We milked her out by hand, but quickly realized there were two baby lambs about so we put her in the maternal group and the lambs were perfectly happy to nab a snack off an auntie, and so they took care of the rest of her drying up...
The sheep are starting to ignore hay. It doesn't look like much grass out there to me, but they seem to be doing fine with it. Still supplementing with beet pulp once a day to get some calories on the thinner ones.
Probably at least another week to go.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2015 2:02:29 GMT
I think we have at least a week yet to go, but I'm starting the paranoid pasture patrol, making sure no new mothers left lambs over the hill when coming in for the night.
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Post by Callie on Apr 19, 2015 20:21:26 GMT
Hang in there... you'll have some little ones pretty soon!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2015 0:27:46 GMT
Four bagged up...
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2015 1:22:15 GMT
Got out my BO-SE to double check dosage, and it says for lambs 2 weeks or older, I thought I was supposed to give some within the first 48 hours?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2015 16:56:27 GMT
Ok... So 1/2 cc at birth is common but off label use. I should dig through my notes for the veterinarian approved dosage.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2015 17:37:03 GMT
So hard to balance the two jobs right now. I want to be home checking the flock every few hours. If I got a webcam I'd be incessantly checking it, and then I'm a 45 minute drive away if there are any problems. By the time I get there and call the vet, it's going to be too late...
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2015 13:29:49 GMT
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Post by Callie on Apr 28, 2015 17:52:19 GMT
Congratulations!
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Post by shellymay on Apr 28, 2015 18:42:36 GMT
Congrads and I think one of them is a boy for sure  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2015 19:23:10 GMT
...boys are good. I've not really got room to expand, I'd need to cull a ewe if I kept a girl.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2015 19:25:03 GMT
Still 4 more ewes to go. This stinker picked the one night I needed to catch up on sleep and skipped the 4 AM barn check...
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Post by Callie on Apr 28, 2015 21:24:01 GMT
Of course....maybe she knew she wasn't going to needy you?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2015 21:35:59 GMT
One more didn't need me while I was at work.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2015 21:47:10 GMT
That's great! Congratulations . Two more to go? |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2015 23:19:28 GMT
Three Ewes to go.
#178 - stillborn, having emotional/aggressive issues
#179 - Twin boys
#177 - Single female
Janelle - Looks about to burst, surprised she wasn't first.
Katie - pending
Sweet pea - pending
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2015 1:56:16 GMT
I let #179 on pasture after I gave the babes iodine, bo-se, ear tags and tail docks. #178 was pretty aggressive with the lambs so I threw her in a lambing jug while #179 got some pasture time. #177 lambed on pasture and I took my kit out to pasture and took care of her there.
#177 and #179 were pretty aggressive themselves when I brought the flock in and the lambs got confused about who their mother was. I jugged them for the night (let #178 go) and everyone seems happy.
Here's hoping for more lambs tomorrow morning.
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Post by shellymay on Apr 29, 2015 11:44:29 GMT
Hope all goes well with the balance of ewes and hoping for more girls |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2015 20:31:57 GMT
Sweet Pea just had twins. I want them to nurse and nap before I mess with them. I'll probably go back to work tomorrow. Janelle and Katie were both a month late last year, so waiting on them until the boss gives me an ultimatum isn't a great idea. (Although I swear Janelle looks like she's going to burst any day now for the last week.)
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2015 21:04:36 GMT
I really hope Janelle is carrying twins too. She's huge, and that would be hard to deliver as one lamb.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2015 0:02:02 GMT
Invited over a girl from church that wants to be a vet to do post-natal care for Sweet Pea's twins. Sweet Pea was more protective than average, bumping me enough I decided I had to put her in the jug before giving the BO-SE shot. Usually I let the ewes sniff while I work and that keeps them happy.
I'm concerned that Sweet Pea's lambs are not nursing real well. She has huge teats they have trouble getting a hold of. They have energy and are warm, but bellies not as full as I'd like. I'm keeping a close eye on them.
Sweet Pea was the one I was most worried about, as she's the smallest ewe. So I can relax my guard a little.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2015 14:17:06 GMT
Congratulations again . Hoping for twins from Janelle as well. I have no desire for large lambs. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2015 15:19:37 GMT
Sweet Pea's lambs had enough energy to follow her out to pasture, so I think they're nursing well enough without intervention. As they learn and their mouths get bigger they should improve.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2015 15:22:49 GMT
Hard to be here at work, but I have to make up the lost hours I spent fussing over lambs and taking much needed afternoon naps...
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Post by shellymay on Apr 30, 2015 16:02:33 GMT
Try having 150 lambs on the ground, I just want to spend the hole day everyday on the farm and not be here
at work  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2015 16:10:33 GMT
Yeah, next year I'm going to sign up for half time vacation or something. (Hopefully I won't blow through all my sick days and be hoarding my vacation days against disaster before lambing season next year.)
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