Sheep Chat Thread

[CowGrrrl]

I have Icelandic sheep and today I threw a couple chicken bones in the yard for the chickens. My escape-artist ewe escaped out of the pen and ate the chicken off the chicken bone. Is there any harm in sheep eating chicken bones? Thanks!

 

[theuglyduckling]

does anyone have any pictures of their sheep when they started to show that they were pregnant or maybe a picture of it at four months pregnant?

 

[Penny Hen]

I have Icelandic sheep and today I threw a couple chicken bones in the yard for the chickens. My escape-artist ewe escaped out of the pen and ate the chicken off the chicken bone. Is there any harm in sheep eating chicken bones? Thanks!

It is usually a sign that they need more calcium in their diet. There are several ways to do that. You can lime your fields. You can put some lime in the loose salt. If you are feeding grain you can top dress with powdered milk or the lime. My favorite way is to buy the calcium blocks the hunters put out for deer to help grow trophy racks on the stags. Just make sure that it does not contain copper. The only drawback to them is that they are only out in the Tractor Supply Store and the CoOps seasonally and if you want to supply them all year you have to buy what you need during the 3 to 4 months that they are available. I also like to get at least one per year of the natural rock salt blocks that they have for the deer that provides trace elements.

 

[TwinWillowAcres]

does anyone have any pictures of their sheep when they started to show that they were pregnant or maybe a picture of it at four months pregnant?

Just bred



2 months bred



Four months bred


3-4 weeks pre-lambing


1-2 weeks left



Day of lambing
single 11.2 lb ewe lamb


triplets - 7.8 lb ram, 6.8 lb ewe (pictured), 5.8 lb ewe (froze in snow/dead)

 

[theuglyduckling]

Just bred



2 months bred



Four months bred


3-4 weeks pre-lambing


1-2 weeks left



Day of lambing
single 11.2 lb ewe lamb


triplets - 7.8 lb ram, 6.8 lb ewe (pictured), 5.8 lb ewe (froze in snow/dead)

thanks your pictures were cute. i dont have a ram but my sheep is sorta kinda making me think she might be pregnant. i bought her from a feed store and she was with other ewes and rams in the same pin. two to three weeks ago she was still looking a little skinny from when i brought her home and now she has gotten fat since then, but i just kinda thought she started getting fat kinda fast. i know she is not getting fat from bloat though.

 

[Penny Hen]

thanks your pictures were cute. i dont have a ram but my sheep is sorta kinda making me think she might be pregnant. i bought her from a feed store and she was with other ewes and rams in the same pin. two to three weeks ago she was still looking a little skinny from when i brought her home and now she has gotten fat since then, but i just kinda thought she started getting fat kinda fast. i know she is not getting fat from bloat though.

Straddle her facing her butt and reach around her placing your hands on her abdomen just in front of her teats on each side. Press firmly, first with one hand and then with the other alternating pressure left and right. If she is four months pregnant you should be able to feel the lambs about the size of newborn puppies of a medium to large dog. If a single it will be dead middle if twins there will be one on each side . You will be able to feel the skull knobs as the largest thing. Little knobs are knees and hocks. If you find a whole lot of knees and hock bumps (about quarter size) you may be looking at triplets. They would be placed one central and one to each side. I can tell for sure mine are pregnant this way by the fourth month. It usually takes me to the fifth month to be able to tell between triplets and twins. I have a lot of Finn blood in my sheep and it is not unusual for me to get triplets if I have fed the girls well.

 

[theuglyduckling]

Straddle her facing her butt and reach around her placing your hands on her abdomen just in front of her teats on each side. Press firmly, first with one hand and then with the other alternating pressure left and right. If she is four months pregnant you should be able to feel the lambs about the size of newborn puppies of a medium to large dog. If a single it will be dead middle if twins there will be one on each side . You will be able to feel the skull knobs as the largest thing. Little knobs are knees and hocks. If you find a whole lot of knees and hock bumps (about quarter size) you may be looking at triplets. They would be placed one central and one to each side. I can tell for sure mine are pregnant this way by the fourth month. It usually takes me to the fifth month to be able to tell between triplets and twins. I have a lot of Finn blood in my sheep and it is not unusual for me to get triplets if I have fed the girls well.

thanks ill will try to do that, but i have tried to find puppies in a dog by feeling around even when they were fat with puppies, but i never do it right so i usually can't feel them. ill try to do this though and see if i feel anything. even if i do it wrong and dont feel anything i know that i got her in late april so she has agust and september to go.

 

[theuglyduckling]

i tried to do the feeling the abdomen thing and i didnt feel anything i hope i did it right. i really am not good at that, but i know if by the middle of september she hasn't had any baby/ies she must not have been pregnant.

 

[AlienChick]

Also, if you just brought her home, she may just be getting fat on your fresh new pasture!

Sheep do not tend to 'show' till the last few weeks.

 

[AlienChick]

Just sharing some photos

.



These two sisters are 4 years old and have had triplets every year.







Curious group.





One of the ewe lambs born this year that I'm keeping.







My new ram (Poseidon).
He was born March of 2012.