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@@markpiersall9815 I will look into them. We go off of moon phases out the farmers almanac. This year we had to pull the about 24 hours early and the lambs were loud for just the first day. Then they were calm.

Currently we are planning on breeding them this year so they lamb right at 1 year of age. So that should have them lambing February. But that also depends on how they grow. And a couple of the ewe lambs are heavy on the “blue” wool color. So it I’m excited to see how the grow bc I have always found black sheep really cool looking.

@@BankBarnMeats Hmmm... I don't know. Lambing at 12 months is pushing it. I've never tried it. When I breed ewe lambs, I shoot for having them lamb at 13 or 14 months--but I guess I did it that way because that was the advice I was giving. The extra 1 or 2 months can make a big difference, but then that has you lambing in March or April, which is a good bit later than most of your ewes. Meanwhile, I have some Natural Colored Lincolns, and I can tell you the white Lincoln lambs can't compete with the Black lambs on the cute factor. :)

@@craigpacker7171 we used to not breed them until they were 15-19 months of age. The ewes that didn’t take we shipped after we had been feeding for 2 years. I read some things and talked to a local farmer about it and now I have merged all this into my new process that we are trying this year for the first time. If a ewe lamb is marked and has lambs at one year of age great. If they don’t also no big deal if they don’t and are in good health. I read a article that a university put out that says ewes having lambs 12-15 months of age will have a higher percentage of twins/ lambing percentage over their life span. So we thought we would try it out this year fully aware that these ewes may need more attention in the lambing jug. So this year is a test. I will post the article once I get to a computer bc it makes a case for really what ever way works for a operation

This is the article I was referencing. extension.sdstate.edu/breeding-ewe-lambs . This is why we are going to give it a shot this year and in article they talk about the extra work that it will take. So I don’t know if I’d want to try it with 100 ewe lambs or not but this year will be an experiment

It’s exciting picking out new ewes to bring home and thinking about what their lambs will look/grow like. The part that takes the most work and time is building more feeders and putting more hay in the barn. But we are extremely lucky and look forward to it.

@@normellow yes this is something I have been doing. It is a cost effective way to feel secure knowing that the fence charger is working with good components.

With the way that I put in my water gaps they are a independent unit from the rest of the fence. So when the creek is up and fast moving the amount of debris that the gap catches will usually bend the t posts. We have had them bent into almost a 90 degree angle so I just scrap them then. So when ever I put one in I expect to have to replace the t post due to getting bent up.

In years past we have tried all different ways. Currently we just follow the farmers almanac for the best day to pull them and so far that has worked well for us. But they are always loudest the first day.

We really like her also. She have turned into a good looking ewe lamb. I’m a little behind with the vlogs but this ewe lamb really affected a flock management decision that we completed today.

@@BankBarnMeats I'm intrigued!

With my charger I checked it after I put in a new batter and on clean fence and only was getting 2. Any new cattle get put in a smaller area with a weed chopper charger that plugs in so when they test the wire it gives a good connection.

It’s amazing and surprising to watch and see the changes with some of the ewes once the lambs arrive. We have a couple that run from us and want nothing to do with us. But for the 2-3 months they are in with the lambs they become the friendliest. So for for that little lamb he seems to be adapting well.

I called it all kinds of things the proper name for the condition is Entropion. After editing the vlog I realized at the time I didn’t do a good enough job describing it. Basically the bottom of the eye lid is rolled under so the eye lash is rubbing against the eye. This is our first year experiencing this so its a learning curve for myself.

@@BankBarnMeats glad you found this before the lamb developed major issues. Thanks for the explanation. I love sheep 🐑♥️

For us we have round bales off of the first cutting of hay and that is what we store to feed to the cattle through out the winter. And then the second cutting and any more cuttings is made in to square bales for us to use for the sheep. With the ewes we feed the third cutting during gestation and while they have lambs on their sides. This vlog was one that I used CZcams suggested tittle.

The last and only other ewe we had that had a uterine prolapse healed great and acted like nothing happened. This ewe just was so strong she ended up doing severe damage. And with the vet already here we were able to save a trip charge on the eye staples. I will have to look in the the rubber band treatment and check it out.

@@BankBarnMeats The rubber band thing is really very easy. You just wrap the rubber band around the head. You make sure the affected eyelid gets pulled down enough to make it stick out a bit while making sure the unaffected eye isn't being pulled down at all. So the band goes on at an angle that pulls the turned in eyelid down but leaves the other eyelid alone. It doesn't look nice for the first day or so, but it does the trick. One or two times I had lambs with both eyelids turned in. That's MUCH more of a pain. It's very difficult to fix both eyelids with a band at the same time. And this does NOT work well if it is an upper eyelid that is turned in. There, just fast forward to staples or minor surgery.

We got these from a producer outside of Columbus Ohio

Thanks. This set of lambs have impressed us with their growth so far.

Yes I was an awesome surprise. And after using the equipment through this lambing we are already making a list of new equipment to pick up next November.

I got them at Rural King. I believe they were $30 or $35 and I have never had one break. The brand is Little Giant. If needing that type of feeder I highly recommend.

@@BankBarnMeats thanks

Thanks. We have been really impressed with our lambs this year. This has been our best crop of lambs so far.

Agreed. I feel it’s easier to produce 90% of my replacement ewes out of the ewes that we like and purchase rams to bring in fresh genetics. I was very happy Diamond gave us two ram lambs so we hopefully will be able to keep one and use him to help expand our genetics.

Yes they are. It’s amazing to see how they adapt to all types of weather and grass conditions across the world.

Thanks! Us also

@joeboo2936 I highly recommend it. It gives you a good expected date window. The harness is right around $20.

Thanks. Yes the heat lamp was a must after the one went down hill.

Yes so far we really like the lamb stand. Haven’t had to use the head gate yet, and I’m not complaining about that.

We have gone at different times and it seems like Sunday’s are the easiest day to be able to look around with out huge crowds. Went on a Friday night in 2022 and it was packed.

That is a ewe lamb. We have kept her in our flock and she just had her second set of lambs.

So true. Over the course of a couple of years we have had good luck, only a couple of the belties have decided to bust through it

Well he didn’t make it. We think he may of had something else wrong with him. The ewe has taken great care of the other lamb but did not want the broken leg one. It was right before a weather change so we are not sure if that had something to do with it also. As in the ewe decided that he wouldn’t make it.

@@BankBarnMeats That's a bummer. Some ewes just know. And generally there's not much you can do about that. Yeah, bummer.

@@craigpacker7171 yes this ewe has had 3 sets of lambs for us and this is the only issue we have had out of her. So she must of known something we didn’t.

No they are milk from mom only right now. They will explore the pen and possibly eat a little of the ewes food

One boy, one girl

Thanks. We had one break their leg above the knee 2 years ago and that required the vet to put a hard cast on it every 3 weeks. That was a time consuming procedure but it still healed up.

Thanks. Yes we are lucky most of the ones we have had have a great disposition/personality.

I am hoping. This week the weather is getting alot colder. So I just know that’s when most of the ewes will lamb

@@BankBarnMeats Yup. That's how it usually works. LOL! Good luck with it.

I have changed how I load them recently. Make a square out of gates making the trailer 1 side. Lure in with feed any number as long as I get the one I want. Sort out the ones I don’t and then load the one I want. Look up cattle bud box, it will give you a good idea on the set up I use. Bud box is to get cows ready to work in a single file I just use it to load.

I enjoy making these vlogs and holding the camera and talking is the easy part. But setting up the camera and making sure the sun isn’t bleaching out the shot or the camera went into dark mode because it is sitting in the shadows all take time. So we were like we got 6 hours let’s just get it done. Also we haven’t started yet and every day that goes by I know will mean that they are all going to be born in a small window of time. And that means we will be busy.

Thank you. So far I am impressed by them.

You are correct they are classic wether dams. In our area hair sheep are becoming popular so when people at farmers market ask what type we raise I just say wool sheep. Trust me when I edit these vlogs together I often wonder why I said something the way I did or wished I used different wording ha ha.

@@BankBarnMeatsHair sheep are a big deal here, too, especially with the local Amish. It used to be wool breeds vs. meat breeds. Now it seems to have transitioned a bit to hair sheep vs. wool sheep. Unless you live in Canada where they refer to terminal breeds (meat breeds) vs. maternal breeds (basically wool breeds), which I have never understood since terminal breeds are usually quite good mothers themselves and maternal breeds aren't always the greatest mothers and can be pretty darn tasty. It's not a parallel comparison in any way, shape, or form.

@@craigpacker7171 yes with our flock being made up of Suffolk and Hamp Cross wether type ewes our wool is low grade. And now all but 3 or 4 of our Suffolk ewes are slick shear type and I feel I can tell a difference in the amount of wool they grow between shearing

Thanks, so far they seem to be doing well. We will find out the end of February how good they end up working out.

Thank You

Belted Galloway. The ones with white by their hooves and not a complete belt have some angus in them from way back.

Thanks. Because we have always been growing and expanding our flock we have never had an issue of not enough rams. We have definitely made some adjustments to our breeding plan.

Thanks!

This year things have been a little simpler for us going from 3 to 2 rams.

I ordered this one off of Amazon.

Yes it’s very disheartening. We are thankful to be able to work with our vet and come up with a treatment plan that keep her comfortable.

So sorry for her loss. She was trying. And, you tried the best you could too. I’m sure you and the vet made the right choice. Yes, this is life on a real farm. And, we just move on from here. 🐄 ♥️

Thanks. We have high expectations for 2024 lamb crop.