Lambing Season Recap

Lambing season 2021 has come to an end. As always, there were highs and lows, successes and failures.

Our first lamb was born March 8 and the last was born April 13. We have a grand total of 20 lambs between our Tunis, Shetland and Icelandic flocks. All are super healthy and growing like weeds!

We let the ewes choose where they give birth. Some prefer the pasture, some prefer the barn. After they’ve had their lambs and have cleaned them up some we bring them into pens we have set up in the barn for a day or two to give them time to bond without the distractions from the rest of the flock. The day after birth we tag ears and dock tails, then they go back out to the pasture with the rest of the flock.

REJECTION

A first for us this year was one of our Tunis ewes rejected one of her twins. I found her shortly after she lambed early one morning in the barn area. She was attentively licking a lamb and I thought all was good, until I noticed movement several feet away and on investigation found another lamb, wet and confused but on its feet. I put them in a stall, hoping she had just forgotten about the lamb and would begin caring for it, but apparently this ewe couldn’t count past one and totally rejected the little girl. She aggressively head butted her away any time she approached to nurse, to the point I was worried for the lambs safety. I had to tie her up and squeeze her against the wall in order for the little one to nurse.

Sometimes after a rejected lamb has nursed a few times the ewe will accept it. Not this one. I repeated the tie and squeeze thing every couple hours, but she continued to be aggressive toward the lamb. After a day of this I had Jon build a stanchion for her and we kept her in it for 3 days (she could stand, lay down, etc., just not hurt her baby), letting her out under observation a few hours each day.

Her time in lock up decreased her aggressiveness, but she still wouldn’t let the lamb nurse willingly… if she knew about it. Over the next week the lamb learned to “stealth nurse” by going at it from directly behind where the ewe couldn’t smell her or using her brother as a shield when they nursed together.

So, in the end it all worked out. The lamb outsmarted the ewe long enough for something to finally click in her brain that she had two babies and she’s been fine since then.

A BOTTLE BABY

I did end up with one bottle baby this year. She was born to an older Tunis ewe who just up and died a week after having her. The ewe was in good condition, no health problems, and just died right at the hay feeder. We think she had a heart attack. So the lamb became mine to raise. I named her Daisy and she’s doing great.

YOU WIN SOME, YOU LOSE SOME

The little Shetland lamb pictured above was born with some sort of spinal defect causing her to be a little unsteady in her back legs, but the bigger issue was she wasn’t able to arch her back to squat and pee normally. She dribbled urine all day long and her backside was constantly wet with urine. The vet hoped a course of steroids might help, which did help her movement, but not the urinary problem. She would’ve suffered with urine scald and possibly even fly strike, so after a month of treatment and hoping she’d outgrow it, we had her euthenized. I can’t begin to describe the sadness in picking a happy little lamb up where she’d been playing in the pasture and taking her to the vet to end her life. It was the right thing to do, but still so very hard.

We also lost an older Shetland ewe who developed complications prior to giving birth. She had to have a C-section, which rarely ends well, and our case was no exception. We lost her and her twins.

One month old Tunis lambs

Shetland lamb.

So in the end we have 20 beautiful, healthy little lambs frolicking in the pastures. I could sit for hours just watching them play and showing their different personalities. Most will go to new homes later this summer, but for now I get to enjoy them.

Shearing Day Prep

One of the most anticipated days on our farm is shearing day. This is the day we harvest the wool the sheep have been growing for the past year, which we then send to a mill for processing into yarn and roving that provides a small income for us.

Our shearer comes down from Kentucky and does a wonderful job with our girls. He’s very gentle and like any good shearer, he gets the job done quick with minimal stress on the animals.

To prepare for shearing, we pen the sheep up in the barn 12 hours prior and withhold food and water. If a sheep has a full rumen, it will press on the diaphragm while being held in the shearing position and can cause respiratory distress as well as panic, making the sheep fight more and causing greater difficulty and risk of injury to the shearer. Another reason we put them in the barn is so they remain completely dry. Even moisture from dew will make shearing difficult.

One of the best things about shearing day is that it’s a family affair. We are so fortunate our kids and grandkids take an interest and all come to help, and we have a job for everybody. We need someone to catch the sheep and bring to the shearing board, someone to carry the fleece to the skirting table, someone to sweep the shearing area, take the sheep back to the pen, skirt the fleeces, and tag and bag the fleeces. At this point we’re just doing a quick initial skirting to get rid of anything nasty. We bag each fleece individually with the name or number and will come back later for a more thorough skirting as well as to record staple length, fleece weight and any particular notes about that fleece.

This year my son-in-law, who has a broadcast/video/marketing background, will be documenting the whole shearing day process on camera. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and am really excited to see how it turns out!

Sometimes we do hoof trimming along with shearing and other times we do that separately. After the sheep are shorn we can get a good look at them and assess body condition, take notes, worm if needed, etc. And then back out they go to begin next year’s wool growth.

October is Breeding Season

Jethro “wooing” a ewe before being turned out with his group.

Most sheep are seasonal breeders, meaning ewes only cycle in the fall when days become shorter and temperatures drop. Tunis do not fall into this category, however, and can breed throughout the year, which essential allows you to have lambs in the spring and fall if that’s what your market demands. We are only lambing in the spring at this point, which means October is breeding season for us. We have two rams, Jethro and Jeb, who each have their own breeding group. This allows us to have enough genetic diversity to avoid bringing in a new ram every couple years.

This past weekend we spent a couple hours sorting the two breeding groups as well as separating the ewe lambs out as we don’t breed them until they’re yearlings. We introduced the rams and will leave them with the ewes until December 1. The gestation period is 147 days for sheep. I like to lamb in March or early April for a couple reasons. The pasture is starting to come in then and that helps cut down on the amount of alfalfa hay the ewes will need while lactating. The temperatures are still cool and that means less stress on the ewes. We remove the rams on December 1. Everyone has gone through two heat cycles by then and should be bred. Any later than that and I’d have May or later lambs and I don’t want that.

We can’t forget about the “woolies” either…the Shetlands and Icelandics. They are true seasonal breeders, so the only time to breed them is in the fall. I have 7 Shetland ewes but am only breeding 4 because we just don’t have a good market for the lambs. As cute as they are and as fun as it is to see what colors we get, that’s not enough to justify adding to the sheep population. I will breed 2 of my 3 Icelandic ewes also, but this may be the last year we do that as we’re probably going to phase out of Icelandics by just keeping the ones we have for fiber only.

Lots to look forward to next spring!

Lambs!

We were surprised in early February with a set of twin Shetland ram lambs. I say surprised because I was expecting them more like April time frame. Shetlands are late season breeders, meaning they normally don’t start cycling until temperatures drop into the 60s for daytime highs, and in our case that wasn’t until mid to late October last fall. I had kept the ram in with them all summer but hadn’t noticed any breeding activity at all. Apparently I missed something.

Two weeks later we had a second set of twin ram lambs. All four boys are doing great, very fat and healthy. It looks like three are dark brown and one is black, but Shetland colors can change up to a year old. One has some frosting on his ears so I’m sure he’ll look a lot different within a few months.

Two of them are friendly and come running when they see me. They love to have their necks scratched and massaged. The other two want nothing to do with me.

So, lambing season 2020 is underway, with lots more babies to come in the next few weeks!

Memories

I’m participating in a sheep and wool related Instagram challenge (#wovember2019) and today’s prompt was “memory.” In terms of wool, memory refers to how something made of wool that when stretched, will return to its original shape. Crimpy wool has more memory than less crimpy wool. But I chose to use the common definition of “memory” and that got my mind racing with all kinds of sheepy memories over the last three years, starting with the day we got our first sheep, three beautiful ewe lambs from a farm in East Tennessee.

Our first Tunis lambs.

We had experience with dairy goats and cattle but not sheep, so these three ladies taught us what we needed to know. Mostly that sheep are super easy to care for! We discovered we loved sheep and our starter flock of three has now grown to 29.

Another favorite memory was the first lambs born on our farm. The anticipation was almost unbearable, but the babies finally started coming and our ewes proved to be excellent moms with no help needed from me. I sat in the pasture every day watching those sweet little lambs play.

The first Tunis lamb born on our farm.

As I think about my favorite sheep memories, I realize how fortunate we are to be creating memories for our grandchildren on the farm as well. Our oldest granddaughter loves the sheep… playing with the lambs, helping with chores, and even has a little “vet bag” complete with stethescope, thermometer, etc., that she’ll carry around if we’re doctoring anybody. Doesn’t get any cuter than that.

Lamb kisses!

What about you? Do you have any favorite farm memories?

Why Wear Wool

Shearing time is fast approaching.

One of the benefits of raising sheep is that not only do we get delicious lamb to eat, we also get a lot of wool.  We use our wool for hats, scarves, mittens, socks, blankets, pillows, crafting, and a host of other things.  We wear wool pretty much every day, year round. 

Wool Is:

1.        Sustainable.  Sheep grow a new fleece every year.

2.       Biodegradable.  Wool breaks down without harm to the environment.  .

3.       Odor resistant. 

4.       Moisture wicking.  Wool absorbs 30% of its weight before you feel wet.

5.       Temperature regulating.  Thin fibers allow tiny air pockets in the fabric to trap your body heat, which provides superb insulation. As moisture evaporates on hot days, the air in these pockets cools and keeps you feeling comfortable.

Leave a comment below and let me know how you wear wool!