New Life
April 11th, 2007 by Good Farmer JohnThis spring, er, winter, er, spring, I mean, this season has been good to us. This is really our first year raising sheep. We purchased a run down, over burdened flock in June of ‘06. They had been fed primarily grain, with very little hay, and no grass.
We got a good deal.
Once we put them on our organic grass-sod, they perked up immediately. In fact, we saw drastic health improvements by switching to grass only and eliminating grain. There was a ram in the flock and starting in Nov. he did his job well. We have been lambing for the past 2 weeks. We have one more ewe to lamb, and out of 15 ewes so far, we have 30 live births. A 200% crop. There were 2 sets of triplets, one ewe rejected on of hers and we gave that one to a friend to bottle feed. Another lamb died, when we didn’t check the pasture quick enough to stop it from getting chilled.
However, to have 28 babies, and one more ewe to go is a very satisfying feeling. Right now, we have 11 ewe-lambs to put back into the flock for breeding this fall, This time next year, we could be lambing 27+ ewes. We might have 50 babies next spring. That will be some serious shepherding.
So far, so good on the sheep. We have found them to be efficient, hardy, and easy keepers. They DO need a shepherd, however. Today, I found a ewe on her back, all 4 legs in the air, looking dead. She had been there a while. I got to her, rolled her over, and she got up and ran off, lambs a-sucking. Crazy!
We never thought we’d be shepherds, but we are really enjoying it.
April 11th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
Novice question: is there a tremendous disadvantage to breeding them a month later so they lamb in May instead of April?
April 12th, 2007 at 8:27 am
Wow John,
200 percent is great. With our goats, we shoot for about 150%. Anything over that is money in the bank.
Never saw one with its legs straight up though. Thats funny!! I can see you walking up thinking how your going to dispose of her and feeling down then boom shes up and going. Kinda the “I’m not dead yet” thing from Monty Python’s Holy Grail…. (funny how those college movies stay with you….)
Congratulations,
Brad
April 12th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
John,
I definitely still looks like winter - we have about 3 or 4 inches of snow on the ground. Was that 80 degree day some time back just a dream?
I have also seen a sheep flat on its back and unable to get up. I have also seen a sheep strangle itself when it got its head stuck in a cattle panel. They definitely do need shepherds, just like we need a shepherd …
Jim V
April 12th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
Brian H,
Hey, good to hear from you. No, there’s no disadvantage, and normally, I think we’ll plan on lambing in May, but the ram we used was sold and I needed to have him gone by Mid-Dec, so I turned him in with the ewes Nov. 1st, thinking that he might not get all of them bred in the first cycle. Well, I was wrong, he got some on the first day, and must have been a very busy ram for about 2 weeks, because the all got bred in a very timely manner.
Brad,
Thanks, yes, you are correct. I was hoping for an optimistic 180% when we started this. I’m not saying we’ll get this every time, but it’s nice to have the flock build like this. These kind of things are not in our control sometimes, or most times, the Lord is the creator, and we are crediting Him!!
Jim V.
I’ve decided that 2007 will be the year with no spring. we will be having summer here real soon. Personally, with the winter we’ve had, I could use an extra dose of summer this year. Yes, we need a shepherd. How silly we are at times!!
GFJ