New addition to the farm today!

[mannytheseacow]

Yeah, I don't know... sounds to me like you got your wish for a bottle baby...

Around my parts, I hear all the vets say that the animals out in the elements are the healthiest, the ones in the buildings have the probems.... I think that's true for the humans, too.

[SilverFlame819]

Animals out in the elements generally do grow up to be pretty strong. But expecting newborns to hit the ground prepared to deal with a wet winter is not realistic. You've at least got to give them a fighting chance.

Everyone has their own style of doing things, I know. For myself, personally, I would feel like I'd failed my flock if their babies were not making it 95% of the time. The sheep can only do so much to get their babies off to a good start. The rest is up to us. I am definitely not trying to say that one way is always better than another. I've had my share of dead lambs and kids, and the guilt about that is what keeps me wanting to better my techniques.

I'm not saying what you're doing is wrong, Matt. I'm just saying that perhaps with some planning next year, you could have a higher survival rate, if you wanted to. Perhaps if the ram just went in with them later...

[mannytheseacow]

[matt walker]

Yeah, it's cool Silver, I know I'm super hands-off compared to most shepherds. I'm pretty satisfied with my "low input" style, just felt like complaining a bit this morning. Haha, "put in the ram," as if I'm doing anything at all about managing this situation. He knocks 'em up when he hits puberty, and not a minute before!

[SilverFlame819]

I figured as much. That was my super-duper-nice way of saying, "Build a ram pen so you can control when they get bred, and you'll have more lambs to sell/eat next year!" Plus, I know some of your rams have been jerks about tearing down fence and stuff in the past. If you had a nice ram pen, you wouldn't have to put up with that crap either. He'd be too busy paying attention to the ladies to worry about fences once he was released in with them.

I'm trying to find the nice way to say things these days - can you work with me here?!

Seems like a waste to me to have ewes you feed through the winter (I know they just eat off the land the rest of the time), and then not have a single thing to show for it. If you've got two ewes who each have a single, and both lambs die... what was the point of feeding the ewes? Even if you're not spending a lot, that still leaves you in the red. Not just for the food they cost you, but for the negative amount of meat or money they produced that year as well (what you lost out on by not eating or selling the lamb). Plus, you just put up with shearing them another year too... So that's a pain in the ass (if you're still doing it yourself) or it costs you money (if you're not), and you're not selling your wool, so there's ANOTHER negative for no payoff. I'm just saying... You crazy, boy, if you ain't putting saving those lambs on the priority list!

[pa_friendly_guy]

A friend of mine used to raise sheep. His plan was maybe a little different than yours Matt. He would keep the ewes that threw twins and get rid of the ones that only birthed a single lamb. He would sell them off for what he could get. The meat value was not as good because we are spoiled and only want lamb and stay away from mutton, but he would sell them off either for meat or as breeders. But he built his flock that way, by keeping the best and selling the rest. He kept the lambing process in the barn, its cold here this time of year. He is out of the sheep business now, so maybe he is not the one to emulate, but I think it was more because he wanted his land cleared and let the sheep do the work, or maybe that he was retired, or maybe he just lost interest in doing all the work. What ever the reason he lost interest and stopped raising sheep. So now he has a beautiful fenced in property that is cleared to live on and garden and raise nut trees and fruit.

[matt walker]

Yeah, my system is actually working out very well for me, I'm totally satisfied. I culled the flock down to my best ewes, I have a pretty solid lambing success rate despite this week's frustrations, and I have very few regular chores to sustain the flock. I typically have enough lambs to sell to pay for their feed, and one or two for my freezer, and I think this year will be no different. Frankly, I have no interest in keeping any animals that need me to help them do natural stuff like having babies, so a natural cull is fine with me. Last year I made more than enough from the lambs to pay for all the hay for both the lambs and the cows, and I've got enough pre-sold for this year to do the same. I have no worries that I'll have enough lambs. Truly, I am more concerned with too many, which I've had in the past and is a really tough problem to deal with.

Hahahaha. Ram pen. Like it's that easy. I think I remember that Silver is one of those who thinks goats are a good thing to have, so this makes sense. I do not want to build a ungulate concentration camp, thank you very much.

Guy, I like your friend's style. They do a great job of grooming the property, for sure.

[pa_friendly_guy]

Yes, he does tend to do things right. He paid a lot for his fence, got a 6 strand high tensile fence. The 40 acres he bought had grown up in crab apple and thorn apple trees before he bought it. He could not walk through his place with out difficulty when he bought the place. The sheep opened it up well and allowed him access to get in and thin the thorn apple trees. It was a good plan and worked well for him.

[SilverFlame819]

I've never had a problem with keeping goats in. You build a decent fence and they stay put.

Ram pens ARE easy. Never had a problem keeping my rams or bucks contained. Sturdy posts, and you do the cross-posts on the inside, so when they hit them, they aren't knocking them down (just hammering them in nicer for you). If you get two, they've got a friend to keep them company and don't cause many problems.

I've seen those nice fences you put on your property. Don't tell me you feel defeated by a cute little fuzzy sheep!!!

Maybe I'm just a greedy bitch. I want ALL those babies alive!

[matt walker]

Well, I had a first today. I shot my .22 yesterday, and even though I had Pearl(my Pyr) inside, she was still freaked out in the afternoon and climbed a fence and left. No big deal, she does it now and then, and always comes back in a few days. However, her absence was noticed, apparently.

Walking down to the barn this morning to feed everyone I noticed something white across the pasture. At first I though, maybe some snow still left in that little depression. As I got closer, I knew it was wool. Then I found the head. Yep, my full grown ram, reduced to a pile of wool, a head, and an organ or two neatly separated and set aside. I knew instantly what it was, since it looked exactly like the mice kitty leaves for me, organs and all. I have 5 baby lambs in that same pasture, 7 slow ewes full of milk and pregnant, and the big cat decides to take the ram with the 18" horns. So weird. Anyway, my first adult sheep loss to a cougar. I guess I'm gonna go dig a hole, and hope Pearl comes home before nightfall.