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It's been like 5 years now you all should know the drill. I have a farm with sheep and goats and rabbits and guinea pigs and an rear end in a top hat dog. Several of those things have babies every year and I post the pictures. Feel free to ask questions no matter how dumb you might think they are. I assure you I have heard stupider things and answered with a smile. Also feel free to post any farm animals, both babby and non-babby you might encounter. I have been up since 4 so I will perhaps make a better OP later? Here is last year's thread in the meantime. Anyway you're all just here for this stuff. Grade A, high octane baby lambs.  Oh yeah, check it out.  These are twin romeldales born at 5 this morning to Eleanor. She was as big as a house so I expected another one but she's just an enormous sheep. That's cool. The dark one is a ram, the light one is a ewe.  The girl is looking a little droopy but her mouth is warm so she's probably fine. If she's still looking off in an hour or two I'll tube her.  I spend the first day or two in a panic thinking babies are about to die at any second but really it's just that being born is hard work and they need to rest up a bit.  These guys are just the first wave. The rest of the girls are due starting March 9th and are almost all due within a week of each other so it should be nuts. After the last couple of years I'm really looking forward to a million spotty jacob babies running amok and generally being alive.
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Feb 24, 2016 15:20
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I was brutally savaged by tiny sheep. RIP me. When they were done they needed to take a nap with mom.  Hopefully it will be less dark and rainy tomorrow so I can take some pictures with my real camera. I'm really happy with these little guys 
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Feb 25, 2016 02:08
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Lambs are doing lamb things and getting bigger and stronger by the day. I was worried about having lambs in February but it's been a good year for it and they have figured out where the heat lamp is pretty quickly. They are good little babbies who like to bounce around and try to suckle your nose. Someone has already expressed interest in the little ram if I decide not to keep him but no one has been quite able to figure out what color pattern he is.   
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Feb 26, 2016 22:52
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Writer Cath posted:Can you post who was bred to who? That's always super interesting to me. Sure thing, here are my crappy breeding notes:  Bialy kept crushing his chalk so I thought that's why only Eclair had been marked but now I think she might have been the only one bred (besides Daisy the jacob who B busted through a door to woo). None of the rest of them appear to be growing udders. Ugh, cormos. Get your acts together. The jacobs were all bred almost as soon as I put them in with Isadore and even tiny baby Appomattox seems to have gotten the job done. Speaking of creatures who need to get their acts together, I'm not sure any of the goats are bred either. Pearl and Opal never visibly went into heat, although they could have done it stealthily and don't seem particularly pregnant now. All of the others I put in to be bred have cycled again since I split up breeding groups. Except Taffy. Taffy who was last seen being a total slut but only towards her dad Heath. I thought a gate inbetween them was enough but maybe not. We will see around May 4th. Rex had a case of pneumonia during breeding season so I think he just wasn't up to the challenge of impressing ladygoats. Heath is just Heath. Have some babby pics while I'm at it.   
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Feb 28, 2016 19:21
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McSharpie posted:That's too bad about the cormos. Maybe next year you can let Izzy knock all of them up since he's a super stud and then convince people that their lambs are spotted cormos with horns. I have both a spotty corm and a corm with horns so no one would be the wiser! meteloides posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-WbBChF4RY I counter those tiny goats ( ) with a tiny vicious sheep. Sometimes you eat lamb, sometimes lamb eats you.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGld6N6VuX0
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Mar 1, 2016 19:39
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Angrymog posted:Are these guys rare sheep or edible sheep or both? All sheep are edible sheep. The CVM romeldales are a ~rare heritage breed~ but if a sheep isn't good enough to be bred I'm not going to sell them as breeding stock just because they're rare. I'd much rather they go to slaughter than end up a pasture pet for some weirdo who has no idea how to take care of them either. These two particular sheep are probably safe from a trip to freezer camp though.
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Mar 2, 2016 20:40
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Angrymog posted:A question about goasts and sheep - the stereotype is that sheep are dumb and goats are smart. How true is this, or is it more of an individual thing? A lot of people swear that goats are so smart and friendly and great but that has not really been my experience. They're much more curious and stubborn than sheep which might make them seem smarter but really just gets them in more trouble. And then they will keep doing it over and over. One of my goat bucks, Heath, can only be in some of my pens because even at 4 years old he compulsively gets his head stuck in things. I have pulled his head out of fences and gates hundreds of times and he just keeps doing it. He also needed a sheep to show him how to breed because he couldn't quite figure it out. He is not a smart animal. My big meat sheep aren't super bright but they mostly just don't waste time thinking. Eating is their job and they take it seriously. Also they're big enough that if they want something they will just go through anything that's in their way. The jacobs on the other hand spend a lot more time plotting things and one of them now knows how to open doors and can go under electric fences without being shocked by using her horns to lift the wire. They are much more clever than anyone gives them credit for.
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Mar 2, 2016 21:31
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Nuns with Guns posted:Isadore is new right? Does he get along well with the other rams? Yeah Isadore is the replacement for Dennis and Windsor (as if anyone could replace Dennis  ) that I picked up last summer. He's actually Dennis' half nephew. Everyone gets along with Isadore, he fits in super well. He's not super friendly towards people, but he doesn't pick fights with bigger rams, he and Two have become good buddies, and the ladies thought he was the hottest ram ever. Sometimes they can think ram lambs are a little dweeby but not Isadore. He's the first ram I've picked just based on pedigree, before he was born even, and so far I'm really happy with him. We'll see how his babies look in a week!Here's Mr. Heartbutt himself.   
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Mar 4, 2016 01:59
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Neddy Seagoon posted:Isadore is a very distinguished and handsome looking ram Izzy prefers everyone to keep their hands to themselves, which is totally normal for jacobs. He was easy to manage even in with his ladies and that's all that really matters to me. Not every sheep is going to be my best friend (even if they should be because I have a pocket full of cookies). Fluffy Bunnies posted:I'm going with the answer to this is "someone's gate got opened". And it was likely by mister "I'm gonna lick your fingers". Yeah I'm going with an escape-goat and his guard llama wondering where he was off to.
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Mar 5, 2016 15:16
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Chicken Doodle posted:I was surprised to find out there's a farm half an hour freeway drive which apparently has the biggest flock in Canada of jacob sheep! http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/abbotsford-farm-returns-jacob-sheep-to-israel-1.3478635 Apparently they're taking them to Israel. I immediately thought of your awesome sheep. These people have actually been brought up several times in the jacob sheep breeders association group because they make some weird claims. Although spotted or piebald sheep existed in Syria about 3000 years ago and genetic testing has shown that jacobs are more related to sheep from South-West Asia and Africa than British breeds, they didn't even get the name Jacob sheep until the 20th century. It's a fun story that they originated with Jacob of biblical fame there's no real evidence of it and modern jacobs are probably not well suited for life in Israel as they have been bred away from the native fat tailed sheep into more modern sheep with British aesthetics. If Jacob was breeding spotty sheep they would most likely look more like these awassi and damara sheep who are still endemic to the region.    Also there's no real evidence that they have the largest flock in Canada and a lot of their sheep are kind of shabby looking for animals that are supposed to represent the entire breed as the first back to their supposed country of origin. Sheep gossip 
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Mar 7, 2016 16:21
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Still sitting around waiting for more babies. I docked tails yesterday, which I hate doing but needed done, and I think I'm going to try and get shearing started tomorrow. It's supposed to be in the 60s all week so I really couldn't ask for better weather. The lambs got to go out and enjoy it today. They had a great time trying to eat dirt and generally running amok. Um num dirt   Got an itch  Maybe eat a stick?  It's almost grass I guess.  Away!  
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Mar 8, 2016 02:21
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First timer Bramble went into labor last night and after diligently getting up every 2 hours all night I ended up having to pull the lamb at around 10 in the morning. So much sleep I could have had  Bramble is pretty sore and the little ram wasn't sure he really wanted to be alive but they both seem to be doing well now. Breathing is not optional around here kid! Excuse the weird colors, there's a red heat lamp going and it makes things look super weird without filters. Or with filters really.    Still waiting on Juniper and Aster but neither look like they are popping today. Or at least they are waiting for tonight so I can spend another night staring hopefully at sheep butts instead of sleeping.
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Mar 11, 2016 17:10
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LoreOfSerpents posted:
Almost all my ewes are 4 horned, which is dominant, so I should get a mix of 4 and 2 horned lambs. Let me see if I can dig up a roll call here. Eleanor  Flirt  Minerva aka Minnie Mouse as a tiny baby. Almost positive she isn't pregnant but whatever.  Eclair  Madeleine  Page who is almost certainly not pregnant but we'll pretend because it's a funny picture  Juniper  Aster  Johnnie  Daisy  Jewel  Clementine (see the family resemblance? it's an old picture though)  Another picture of Jewel and Clementine just because  Bramble  Thistle and her :/ face  And the boys Appomattox aka Spud  Goliath  Isadore posing for his registration photo  And Bialy looking naked and beat up after shearing last year when he decided he could take Goliath out (he could not)  I think that's everyone who should be having babies this year. I'll do the goats of endless mystery later because there are new lambs in the barn that I need to take pictures of!
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Mar 12, 2016 17:03
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Hellacopter posted:Babby lamb face. Bramble is being a very good and devoted mom and I never blame first timers for needing help. It's a pretty tight fit in there! Aster had twin lambs this morning. I think Aster likes to give birth like it's an episode of Survivor and the lambs are in an elimination challenge. Last year she deposited them directly into a water trough. This year the water buckets were too high so she had them next to a really drafty door right by a big wooden board. The ewe lamb had gotten a foot stuck under the board and was a little chilled when I found her. Warmed her up and tubed her some colostrum and she is just as perky as her brother now. I also moved them to a safer location and locked Aster in so she can't try anything else. The ewe lamb is little and the ram lamb looks about 3 days old already. He's the one with the spot lamb on his side. 
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Mar 12, 2016 19:17
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This guy is going to be trouble. You're not supposed to be this bouncy at 12 hours old buddy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOKVikXWuMw
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Mar 13, 2016 22:10
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Busy, busy! I've gotten almost all of the pregnant sheep sheared now and since last night 3 ewes have lambed. First up with Juniper who had a really big single ewe lamb. She was 5 days overdue so she basically looks a week old at this point.  Then was Eclair who also had a big single girl. She looks like a little cow   And finally Jewel had twin ewe lambs.  The family resemblance continues. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rparOZ8QJPU It seems every time I go out in the barn there's a new baby or two. I have 3 more ewes that are due at any moment so we'll see what happens tonight.
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Mar 16, 2016 20:10
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Asiina posted:I love Juniper's line of spots and that little girl is so black! She's more spot than not-spot! Is she like that on both sides? Yep, she''s a cormo so she doesn't have the distinct patches like the jacobs. Technically they're all black sheep with white spots though 
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Mar 16, 2016 22:09
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I'm up to 11 lambs now I think? Since the last update there was a single romeldale ewe born and a single jacob ram born. Flirt the romeldale's milk hasn't come in because she was very sick a few weeks back and lost a ton of weight so I'm bottle feeding her girl but she stays with mommy and follows her around like a good little lamb. Left to go are Johnnie, Maddie, and Daisy. If Daisy doesn't pop tonight I'm going to induce her tomorrow. She's at 151 days and I'm getting nervous, especially since she was bred by Bialy the cormo who tends to produce big lambs. Usually jacobs don't make it to 150 days, especially if they're carrying multiples which I'm hoping she is. It was a sunny, if not particularly warm, day so I kicked everyone who was more than a day old outside to stretch their legs. Big babby romeldales      Little babby romeldale    Cormo ewe who looks like a little cow   So many spotty little jacob lambs     
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Mar 20, 2016 22:41
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McSharpie posted:I love that little Cormo-Holstien cross It's more singles than usual but it's because it was super dry in the fall and my pastures dried to a crisp and the sheep weren't in as good condition as they could have been. Also I've got some first timers in the bunch who tend to throw singles anyway. Multiple births is way more dependent on plane of nutrition than breed in general though.
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Mar 20, 2016 22:57
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my cat is norris posted:Instant Jellyfish -- congrats on so many beautiful babies!! I hope the rest of the lambs are born without trouble. You seem to be having much better luck and health this year, compared to last year. That's wonderful! Will there be another Shearing Day sometime soon? It's amazing what a change in the gene pool can do! Isadore has done exactly what I wanted him to do and I'm very happy with him and this year's lambs. I called the vet to ask for a vial of lutalyse to induce labor on Daisy so of course she immediately splorted out her lambs. Well, not exactly. She needed a bit of a hand because they were super big but only a light pull. The ram is a fake jacob but the ewe shows what they really are. Jacobs, being black sheep with white spots, almost always have black lambs because most other sheep breeds don't carry the spotting gene. The boy was 8 lbs 1 oz and the girl was 7 lbs 9 oz.  Shearing Day is April 23rd from 11-4. Open to the public and we have free food and music and baby animals. I'm about an hour from Erie, PA, a little over an hour from Cleveland,OH and two hours from Pittsburgh if anyone reading wants to come say hi to animals and watch me do some shearing. Just message me for the address/more info or you can look up the farm on facebook.
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Mar 21, 2016 18:53
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Two more spotty babies. A ram and a ewe from Johnnie. I'm really glad Johnnie has two lambs this year. She's a really good and dedicated mom and losing lambs due to Windsor's lovely genes was hard on her  It was my friend's birthday and she's been dying to see baby lambs in coats and it was kind of chilly so I stuffed them in tiny lamb coats.  I'm down to Maddie who could be due anytime and Thistle who isn't due until the 10th. The end is in sight!
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Mar 26, 2016 15:26
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I'm glad people are still enjoying it If you all can't experience a small lamb falling asleep on your lap than you should at least get pictures. My grandma came out this weekend and I took the opportunity to take a bunch of lamb pictures.    Do not believe his lies little sheep, he is not your friend.          
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Mar 29, 2016 01:37
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Asiina posted:Has freckledog ever tried to attack the little sheep? I remember you saying you kept him separated from them for a while until they are bigger and presumably less delicious looking. He hasn't but I also manage him very closely around the lambs. He is a dog who loves murder more than anything and while he understands the rules about what he is and is not allowed to murder I don't trust him in the heat of the moment. Once they are less of a mouthful we'll move to on-leash time around the lambs and eventually he can be off leash near big lambs but there are plenty of lamb free places for him to run amok so I don't risk tiny babbies getting chomped. If you have things that need to be murdered or if you have problems with birds who think they can fly over your property un-barked at, Major is your dog.  Maddie had a big, white cormo girl last night. Now I get to take a break (and by take a break I mean shear all my sheep) until Thistle is due around the 10th.  
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Mar 29, 2016 15:39
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Didn't screencap it but someone apparently found a goat kid (??) in Akron (???) but then decided they couldn't keep it. I'm not sure where small goats are just running around in Akron where someone wouldn't claim it. Seemed like a happy little goat though!
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Apr 2, 2016 18:46
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My last lambs for the year were born last night. Thistle made sure to go on exactly her due date at 2 am so I could freeze my butt off in 12 degree weather. It was a record even! We have a ram and a ewe and both handled the cold just fine. No need to worry about the spotty sheep, they've got it handled.    Unless the goats pull some kids out of nowhere we're done at 18 lambs, 11 ewe and 7 rams. Lambing season has had a few rough patches but overall I'm very pleased with how things went.
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Apr 10, 2016 15:58
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Surprise! Taffy gave birth to a daughter who is also her sister this morning. She was in with Rex but kept desperately trying to get into the pen with Heath, her dad, and this is obviously a tiny Heath carbon copy so I guess she somehow managed. Gross goat. Gross. She is tiny and fussy and adorable
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May 4, 2016 16:28
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Lots of people breed that closely on purpose regularly and have no problems. The joke is that it's linebreeding when it works out well and inbreeding when it doesn't. What I've noticed with both this kid and the cvm lambs that were the result of a mother/son breeding is that they just aren't as vigorous. They sort of take a while to get going while my other babies basically pop out and start looking to nurse. It could just be those particular babies but that's just what I've noticed this year.
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May 6, 2016 15:47
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Sure I can. We had sort of a lot of losses all in a row and then I started grad school so things have been pretty crazy. The little inbred goat died in her sleep at 10 days old, probably due to a heart defect, one of the jacob lambs choked to death on something suddenly, and a yearling jacob ram developed a neuro issue and had to be put down. All in the same week! It was not a good week. Since then things have gone better though and the lambs are all massive and ready to wean. I'm having new fencing put in today so they'll get to go out on brand new pasture even. Jaffa the cormo ewe lamb  El's ram lamb. He's been castrated and I'm hoping to find a fiber home for him. He had a bad bout of cocci a few weeks ago but has come back well.  Aster's ram. I love his hornset!  Thistle's ram. He's a month younger than the other lambs.  Sequoia, Juniper's lamb. I love this girl! She's got a ridiculous amount of horns and is a huge fat meatball.  Clementine's ram. This is the only lamb related to Windsor. His horns are great but he's too dark to register even if he wasn't Win's grandbaby.  Buckwheat the cormo/jacob cross. He got castrated too and will hopefully be a lovely fiber pet. He's just as sweet as can be.  Petitfour the other cormo ewe lamb.  Suspicious CVM is suspicious.  Maybe not as suspicious as Bramble's boy.  Also I drove 4.5 hours with a new (massive) cormo ram in the back of my toyota matrix. His name is Murphy, he is 6 years old and he's just as sweet as every other cormo ram I've ever met.  I'll try to keep up better if people still want sheep pics! I'm done with class for the summer so I'll have a little more time until September.
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Jul 25, 2016 18:50
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HungryMedusa posted:I love all the sheep pics! All the fluff. It makes me want to spin right now! Oh you reminded me of something else I never got around to posting. My mom and I entered some fleeces in a local fiber fest fleece contest and Page and Benny the cormos both brought home blue ribbons in their classes. That's my mom's name, the farm is a public business so just don't be total creepers please.  Someone I shear for won first and second in her classes too but neither of us won best in show. Some big romney breeder who won Best in Show with her ram at Maryland sheep and wool beat us and I was happy to lose to her. Her fleece really was fantastic.
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Jul 25, 2016 22:54
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Here's the scorecard for a jacob fleece we entered but didn't place (curse you medium wool romneys  ) so you can see better. The fleece sold to a beginner spinner who really appreciated the comments and loved working with it. You skirt the fleece super thoroughly without breaking it all up and make sure to remove any parts that don't fit in with the rest of the fleece, like the britches or the neck sometimes, then stuff it into a clear plastic bag and hand it in. The judge can either take the whole fleece out to inspect it or just dig around in the bag. They judge based on how good of a job you did skirting, the amount of hay and poo poo in the fleece, the amount of second cuts the shearer made that you didn't skirt out, how uniform the fleece is in length, fineness and character, if the fleece has any weak points or fragile tips, the amount and uniformity of crimp if it's a breed that's supposed to be crimpy, "spinning quality" which I think is just if the judge thinks you could spin something decent out of it, and the fleece size. They really want a fleece with a staple length of at least 4" and they like it to be over 2 lbs at a very minimum. It really puts a damper on those of us with small breeds or who are entering lamb fleeces but what're you going to do? It's really a combination of caring for the fleece on the sheep to get good length and strength, making sure your shearer doesn't completely butcher it, and then skirting it really, really well before presenting it. It's a lot of work but it's great to get feedback from outside parties and we won a whole $12 so really that makes it all worth it.
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Jul 26, 2016 01:54
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my cat is norris posted:I'd love to keep reading farm updates, Jelly! Congrats on starting grad school -- that's gonna be huge for you. What are you studying? It's a masters in biology that focuses on conservation and community outreach. I get to take classes at the zoo! Neddy Seagoon posted:Murphy looks like he's loving the hell out of his roadtrip Usually the big animals are the best in the car. He just barely fit (he's a really big guy) so he had to lay down to keep comfortable. Since he was too wedged in to cause trouble he just chilled out. I think he appreciated the AC too. Haystack posted:Panzer. One of our more photogenic kids this year He's so cute I might die Fencing went up and I weaned the lambs so it's been pretty much nonstop screaming since yesterday. They even scream with a mouthful of grass. It's ridiculous. Bramble yelling and chewing.  The goats were just as excited to explore the newly fenced pasture as I was excited to no longer have fencing they could escape from/get stuck in.   The boys didn't really understand what the yelling was about and just carried on eating as usual.  Goliath and Murphy. Goliath was around 200 lbs last time I checked, just for reference.  Two got in on the yelling for a while just because he likes yelling. But then he saw some new grass to work on instead.  Spud is learning that it's not cool to come charging up to people even if you are really just very happy to see them. He's a sweet boy but doesn't have any brains at all.  Oh the dog was there too. 
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Jul 26, 2016 16:40
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queserasera posted:Dem horns! Two actually doesn't get stuck, but I have had rams die in fencing because of their horns before. If the horns curl into a loop they can get stuck in the wiring and the sheep will panic until they either break their necks or flip themselves and suffocate. The goats get stuck all the time because they're idiots but they just accept that the fence is where they live now until I go rescue them. Two mostly just has issues reaching things against walls or in corners. Horns in sheep are mostly used to impress the ladies/make other dudes see how awesome you are but they are also used sort of like radiators. The horns have a bone core that is full of blood vessels. In the summer they pump them all full of blood to take advantage of one of the few places that isn't wool covered and help stay cool. The thing that can cause issues when breeding for 4 horns is that it tends to impact the shape of the entire skull. The problem with the ram with neuro issues that I had to put down earlier this summer was due to his skull being malformed. The vet said he was just malnourished because he expected a yearling jacob sheep to look like a yearling commercial sheep but when I cleaned the skull I found this.  The red line is the midline of the skull. The doodad way at the end is where the spinal cord enters the skull and it's supposed to be all in a straight line with a nice big opening. It's really not supposed to be at that weird angle. I'm guessing that as a lamb he was able to compensate for his wonky skull but as he hit a growth spurt and his horns started growing he couldn't anymore because of increased pressure on the spine. His brother is kind of weird looking too so I'm putting him in the freezer ASAP and I'll see how his skull compares.
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Jul 27, 2016 21:23
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Do goat horns have a use outside defense and display purposes? I imagine Two gets stuck in places where his head fits but his horns don't.
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Chaosfeather posted:Oh geez, I didn't even think about the four-horned guys being top-heavy to the point of health issues. They just look so impressive I never thought about it. I just chuck them out into the woods until I remember that they're there and bring them in and soak them in peroxide for a while  I've mostly just seen skull abnormalities but I don't generally look at the rest of the bones in the body. I did send a weird runty one to the butcher and got the organs back and it turns out her heart was all tiny and weird. Can't be a big, strong sheep with a tiny, weak heart. None of my sheep are sheared twice a year. They have plenty of access to shade and water and handle the heat just fine. There are breeds that need to be sheared twice a year or they can risk heat stroke or just get terribly matted. I have a shearing job this weekend actually. I generally hate shearing in July but she's fun to talk to and she likes her icelandic lambs to be sheared early every year. If only I could convince my other clients with icelandic sheep to shear twice a year so their fleeces wouldn't be so matted and awful in the spring.
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Jul 28, 2016 15:12
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Esme posted:Why do Border Leicesters get their own division, and why are the rams and ewes divided into separate classes? The fiber show is associated with a sheep show and it has become a national specialty for border leicesters in the past couple of years. BL breeders come from all over the country to show their sheep and fleeces so they get their own division. By dividing it up between rams and ewes I think they're just giving more people a chance to place although there can be differences in ram and ewe fleeces I guess.
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Aug 6, 2016 17:49
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Hair sheep look so mangy while they're shedding out. I wouldn't be able to handle it, the compulsion to shave them down would be too strong.
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Aug 7, 2016 22:46
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The babies could be afraid to compete with the big goats for the better sleeping spots but they could also just be dumb goats and have decided that the bare patch is the best napping spot in the universe. It doesn't sound like it's getting super cold and as long as they are getting warm milk regularly and seem perky they should be alright. It's pretty impossible to force a goat to do anything against it's will so putting them in a box would probably just result in a lot of screaming. They're super cute baby goatlings! I think we need lots of pictures of them.
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Aug 9, 2016 15:14
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Avshalom posted:(btw researching handraising kid goats online is crazy, every article has this confused message of "goats are hardy creatures that are easy to raise however they will instantly drop dead if you so much as breathe on them" and don't even get me started on trying to get a simple answer as to how much you should feed them) That's because that's sort of how goats are. I have one that had his horn knocked off and had a massive hole in his skull while still walking around like nothing was going on. On the other hand I've had one just decide they were done eating forever and had to be put down. If they decide they are going to live they do well, if they decide they are done you really can't make them rally no matter how much work you put into them.  goatsLambs are getting over being weaned but would still like some grain if I could please share maybe??? This one is Buckwheat the cormo/jacob cross. 
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Aug 12, 2016 18:53
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Did I mention I was getting a new jacob ram? Because I got a new jacob ram. This is Glen's Nimrod (the breeder had a biblical name thing going on) and his grandma Reba. I didn't really need another ewe but she was free to a good home so I said to throw her in the trailer with the ram. They were only selling her because she only ever has 2 horned lambs. As long as they are healthy and I don't have to raise them I don't really care how many horns they have. It's always dark in the quarantine part of the barn so you just get awful pictures. Sorry!  Breeding season is coming up soon! I'm planning on starting preparations middle of September and putting breeding groups together around October 19th or so. That will give me lambs mid-March. Here's the line-up so far.  Murphy has been having a few health problems but I'm hoping with some coddling he'll get the job done. Otherwise Bialy will be happy to step in for him. I haven't decided what I'm doing with the goats this year. Look at these ridiculous creatures.  
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Aug 21, 2016 23:51
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Angrymog posted:Silly question - you're breeding Nimrod to Reba? Doesn't that cause inbreeding problems, or is the generation gap enough to avoid them? They're in quarantine together and she'll probably be bred before I feel like it's safe to separate them into the ram and ewe groups. If I see it happen super early I can abort her with a chemical called lutalyse so I don't end up with January lambs but there's a good chance she'll have some inbred little lambs so I just stuck her on the chart. If she isn't bred by the time Q is up I'll toss her in with either Isadore or Bonsai if I haven't sold him yet. Either way there shouldn't be any issues.
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Aug 22, 2016 00:09
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| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 10:08 |
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This year's babbies are pretty giant at this point. I harassed them during dinner for some pictures. The ones with names are ones I'm planning on keeping. Wonder  Sequoia  I love this dude's horns but he can be sort of a douche to the other lambs.  Jaffa with Calliope's butt in the background  Another handsome little guy. He does not participate in grain time for whatever lamb reason he has.  I have one guy with bullseyes on the back of his ears and I think it's super cute.  Johnnie's ewe is pretty shy.  Petitfour  Bramble's massive ram lamb in the back and the cormo/jacob ewe in front. The crosses are turning out really nice.  Murphy says he's definitely a lamb too and needs grain.  Willow, Jewel's 2 horned ewe on the left and the other cormo/jacob cross lamb on the right. That's Jewel's 4 horned ewe walking up behind them.  The cross ewe again.  It's hard to believe how big they've all gotten and soon a bunch of them will be moving on to other homes. It's hard not to get attached to them though.
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Aug 24, 2016 19:36
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