Sheep Chat Thread

[chickengirl4]

Aww im sorry to hear its orphaned it is definatly adorible though hahahaha.

 

[AlienChick]

@ Chickengirl: Nice ram in that pic!

@ Wallaby: Yep! You've been jinxed!

 

[chickengirl4]

Thank you except it wasnt a ram it was a wether

 

[AlienChick]

Do they show rams in 4-H or only wethers?
Excuse my ignorance, but I was raised in the suburbs of San Francisco.

We did not have as many awesome experiences and opportunities as kids raised in more rural locations.

You could ask us what is the difference between a RAM and a EWE and you would get:

LOL

Nice wether, tho.

I was at the NAILE last Fall and had the pleasure of seeing all the beautiful sheep there.
Of course, I was there because this was the first year that Katahdins were entered.

 

[chickengirl4]

Well in 4-H. 4-Hers arent aloud to show rams. THat lamb was for market and not breeders though.

 

[motherhen71185]

Hi everyone!
I am new hear, Just found the sheep thread! We have Romney/Finn cross breads for wool/pets/lawnmowers.
We have 18 at the moment. Our one young ewe had her first lmabs Wed evening. She had them a little earlier, they were triplets, and with her in-experience and the cold weather, i could only save 1. He is in the house as mom wants NOTHING to do with him, he was too weak to stand and cold so i had to tube him and get him next to a heater. He is inside in a dog crate, eating happily from a bottle and is very active and healthy. No more heater needed. :-D My question is... When can i move him to the barn?!?!? He is getting spoiled and is begining to think he is a dog. He is fed every 4 hours now but i will move that up to every 6 on monday. I have a ewe with twins that are about 4 weeks old now and I have to supplement them with a bottle once a day as the ewe is 11 and her milk supply really dropped this year. I was going to lock them in next to the little orphaned ram lamb. so they could see and smell each other for a few days and to give him some company. Then maybe later next week i can take out the divider and let them all be togehter. My hope is that he will make friends witht the other two lambs so he can follow them around. The ewe is a great mom and isn't hostile at all, so i don't think i have to worry about her hurting the baby. He won't try to nurse from her i am sure. that would be best case that she would take him on, but with the age gap i kinda doubt it. It is still chilly here in PA. 40's during the day 20s-30s at night. Should i keep a heat lamp on him since he wont have another sheep to lay with? I don't want to put him out too soon and have him go down hill, and i don't want him in the barn by himself. What to do... ANy suggestions??
Thanks in advanced!

 

[WallabyOfChaos]

Hi there! I'm sorry to hear your ewe has thrown in the towel on her lamb. I think the little guy will probably be all right in the barn if you haven't already moved him in there. Strong, healthy baby lambs can handle quite a bit of cold as long as they stay dry and have a place to get out of the wind. I think it is a good idea to keep him next door to the other ewe so he doesn't get so lonely. If you do turn him in with the other ewe be sure to keep an eye on them just in case. It kind of goes against nature for a ewe to take on another lamb that isn't her own, but it can happen. I would watch them closely and if he tries to nurse and she turns him away, then they will probably need to be separated again. If he gets persistent she may get frustrated and accidentally hurt the little guy trying to discourage him from "stealing" milk. We just ended up with one bum lamb last year and when she was about a month and a half old I kicked her out with the rest of the flock during the day, called her up for her feedings, and put her back in her pen each night until weaning when she went out permanently with the other lambs. It seemed to work out pretty well for her and we sold her to a family friend. He really liked her because she wasn't overly clingy towards people like some bottle raised animals can be and she knew how to function turned out on pasture with the rest of his flock.

In other news on this outfit - We rehomed bottle lamb #1 on Sunday and this morning we have bottle lamb #2.

Anyone know how to break the bottle lamb jinx?

 

[sheepsrus]

Beautiful, and congrats. Luv the pics

 

[thedollysmama]

Hi. All!
We got our new Dorper ram lamb to replace our other ram just thus last Sunday. His name is Arthur Dent as his ear tag number us 42. He is a whopping 5 days old and quite sure that our goat kids, who are 9 days old, are scary in a thrilling way. Arthur is a bottle baby and I adore feeding lambs and goat kids. Since the weather is mild and we have other babies on the pasture we let Arthur run around with the herd during the day and I bring him in at night. Our two ancient St. Croix ewes are due to lamb any second and Arthur has decided they are his mommies even if they won't feed him. All of the Dorpers around us are pure white so it was nice to see black headed Dorpers on this forum!
I'll post a photo when I can figure out how to do it!

Karen in Oroville, CA

 

[AlienChick]

Arthur sounds like he's having fun.

Can't wait to see pics!