Bee~ Journal of then...

[Beekissed]

Well, heard from my middle man about my sheep and I could be getting them as soon as the middle of January! If I buy weaned ewe lambs they will cost me around $100 each, if I buy bum lambs they will cost me $25 each and a bag of $50 milk replacer, bringing my grand total up approx. $100 for both. I know bottle fed babies don't do as well in meat production, but these ewes will be for breeding only and the genetics will be there regardless.

I know it will take more time involvement, but I will also get to bond with these babies when they are young and be able to halter train them. These will be Katahdin crossed over with a Dorper ram, so its the best of both breeds! I like the color variations in the Katahdins also. I hope they have the conformation of the Dorpers and the coloring, shedding and docility of the Katahdins. I know thats hoping for a lot but....

This guy has a great farm and is a proven breeder. His farm is one of the places our state university ag dept. works in conjunction with to provide information on breeding, grazing and animal husbandry.

I'll have to get my fencing patched up securely and be getting my lean-to off the drawing board and into reality but that's okay...I'm ready for babies and I'm ready to try something totally new. I've never raised sheep before, so this will be such a great experiment!

Here is a general article about the different breeds of hair sheep:

http://www.sheepandgoat.com/articles/hairsheep.html

 

[PamsPride]

Bee that does sound like a ton of fun!! And babies are always so cute!! Make sure you post pics of them when you get them!

 

[PamsPride]

What does 'bum' lamb mean?

 

[Beekissed]

A bum lamb can be any lamb that doesn't have an available teat! Either a sheep has too many lambs to feed, a ewe dies or is in too poor of condition to support a lamb feeding , or even a cull lamb~one that doesn't fit the profile for correct conformation or breed characteristics, is lame or deformed in some way, sickly, too small to survive, etc.

Of course, I don't want a cull lamb, so more than likely I will be choosing from lambs from sheep that have one too many . As sheep only have 2 teats, it can sometimes be difficult for one with 3-4 lambs to feed all of them adequately.

This farmer assures me that I can finish off both lambs with just the one bag of replacement.

 

[FarmerChick]

yea as long as they had some colostrum from momma they will be fine. I have to say, my kid goats that are bottle fed actually do very poorly. they don't survive as long as I would think....the few I kept thinking they would be good mommas, passed away at like age 2-3-4....they never make it long for some reason???? I just don't know.....BUT THAT is only my experience. Now if I have a bottle baby regardless of how much I want to keep it if a doe, I send it to the sale.

You will have a blast with these kids. They are sooooo adorable and jump so high! Like they are taking off ya know....funny to watch. You will do very fine with them...you are an animal person and know this stuff!

 

[Beekissed]

I hope to keep some of the offspring, especially if one is a ram lamb, so I can start my own flock. I hope the bottle fed ewes do well, but if they don't, I will start over. Yeah, I don't think anything replaces a mom's milk, do you? :/

 

[FarmerChick]

yea I don't think anything can replace their full term on the mom. without mom they just aren't the same. I know some grow obviously and live great long lives and are productive....for me, I don't know...just never works well for me!

At about 7 months of age I had twins pass away,,,,,why no idea. I loved those little suckers cause I fed them many times a day to keep them alive, took care of them etc....and they JUST didn't make it????? I had them named ya know....boo hoo....but that stuff happens all the time in farming....well you know!

how are you going to breed? you are getting ewes only right? are you taking them somewhere or getting a ram too later when they are ready? cause these things are small right? they are done with milk at 3 months old and good to go on feed. I never breed youngsters until 9-10 mos. at the very least.

 

[PamsPride]

yea as long as they had some colostrum from momma they will be fine. I have to say, my kid goats that are bottle fed actually do very poorly. they don't survive as long as I would think....the few I kept thinking they would be good mommas, passed away at like age 2-3-4....they never make it long for some reason???? I just don't know.....BUT THAT is only my experience. Now if I have a bottle baby regardless of how much I want to keep it if a doe, I send it to the sale.

You will have a blast with these kids. They are sooooo adorable and jump so high! Like they are taking off ya know....funny to watch. You will do very fine with them...you are an animal person and know this stuff!

Hmmm...thanks for this info. I did not realize it was such a big deal for them to be kept on their mommas or that bottle feeding would be so bad for them.

 

[Beekissed]

Hair sheep are sexually mature in 6 mo. and are usually bred at 9-10 mos. They are not seasonal so they can be bred up to 3 times in two years. I know a lady with a Suffolk ram that says I can use him when the time comes for breeding. I need to do a little research to determine when the market up. More than likely its the same time as when yours is up....Muslim and Jewish holidays, right?

I don't care about the ram, really, as long as he's a meat ram, as the lambs will mostly be going to market. Now, if I keep a ram of my own(if I get one from the first group) and breed him back to my girls, I will still have 3/4 offspring. If I keep that second lambing's ewes, I can breed back to them again with the same ram I do believe...then, if its like most animals, I will have to try a different ram, I think. Does that sound right?

 

[FarmerChick]

oh yes when I was breeding directly for the meat market I hit all those holidays. lambs are needed for Greek holidays also. Just google "ethnic holidays" and you hit a list of dates...I did that and knew exactly when I needed 3 mos. old kids to go to market.

Even at 9-10 mos. a youngster has trouble with a big ram jumping on her. When they are too small if the ram is big then you can have trouble there also. That is why I either use a younger and smaller buck for the young girls, and my monster buck for the big mommas.

yea I only breed back to family 1 time. I never go further than that. I kept a nice buck from one momma and he bred her back and I had no problems with the kids...but I never pushed it down the line farther than that.

And that is rare for me to do. Usually you can use your ram and if you keep all of his girl offspring, then I would probably take him to market and pick up a new one. they breed great at 8 mos of age too. before that they are kinda "just practicing" and can't service too many cause of his age.

I hope your prices are great. Goat kids were doing well for a while but the price per lb. never increased enough to handle the increasing feed costs and such. Cause about 1 month before kidding, you have to flush them with feed. I always made sure they got sweet feed. They can go low on sugar real fast and have ketosis and preg toxemia real fast. Multiple kids can drain their systems real fast.

Now I don't breed for market like I did. I just have them around for milk for my soaps. I do keep the buck in another pasture for about 1 month when they kid out....he gets in the way of the momma and babies. I like my babies to be strong without any male interference cause of course he can get her back in heat fast. The kids go to market and I make feed costs back and of course I process some for us.

Definitely useful. You will have a blast working with new critters. Always fun and exciting to start a new venture.

I was thinking of getting some ducks and selling eggs and then process them for market but I don't know if I truly want to bother with more feathered things. I am not a bird type fan at all..LOL

oh decisions, decisions..