Sheep Chat Thread

[theuglyduckling]

here are what the thorns look like

 

[Henerz101]

Pedigree texel x pedigree lleyn

 

[Henerz101]

Floppy and the one behind it are both pure texels, and the other ones are beltex texel

 

[Penny Hen]

You can butcher any sheep you want. But if you have room for four sheep, I would get a Texel or Southdown ram (for siring heavy muscled lambs) and then for your ewes I would get either a Dorset or an East Frieisan for your milk production and depending on the type of wool you want to produce, a Merino (fine), Rambouillet (fine), Border Leicester (long), Bluefaced Leicester (long), Scottish Blackface (carpet), Karakul (carpet), Cheviot (medium), or Montadale (medium) ewe.

The problem with using dairy genetics also for wool production is that they put so much of the nutrition they consume into their milk production that their wool quality lacks severely, with many breaks in the wool. The adult sheep are what you are going to shear and get the wool off of, so depending on how much wool you want each year, choose 1-2 (the ewe and/or the ram) with the fleece qualities you like.

You might want to explore using Finn ewes. They have from 2 to 5 lambs and the goal of the breeding is to be able to feed that many. There have been a few exceptional individuals that have been able to feed 6 lambs. Of course they consume a larger amount than usual of hay and grain to be able to perform that feat. The criteria for registering a Finn ewe is that they can twin their first year and feed those lambs. They do not show officially (as Finns, You can show them as colored wool sheep if they are colored). They are all about performance not a beauty show.

 

[Penny Hen]

So who is having lambs this spring?I only have two ewes bred this year. One is an East Freisian-Lacune/Dorset ewe and the other is the same crossed with a Shetfindor.. The Shetfindor (Shetland/Finn/Dorset) ram as well as a ram that is a cross between a Shetfindor and an E.Freisian-Lacune/Dorset ewe (half sister to the aformentioned EF-L/D.)

 

[BobDBirdDog]

MMMMmmmmmm baaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhaaaaa

 

[Penny Hen]

MMMMmmmmmm baaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhaaaaa

You must have drunk more beer/apple ale than I have.

 

[WallabyOfChaos]

We are lambing now. The first ones hit the ground February 15, and those ewes will lamb through mid-April. We just finished weaning the last of our Fall/Winter born lambs, and those ewes have been back with the bucks to begin lambing at the end of May.

 

[WallabyOfChaos]

Floppy and the one behind it are both pure texels, and the other ones are beltex texel

They are some chubby bunnies for sure.

 

[MileyD]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the little black sheep!! So adorable!! I raise Katahdin sheep and this year, I am getting mostly dark brown lambs!! This is a little bottle baby we are feeding as momma didn't make it. Her name is Willow and she is our little "baby"!!