Wintertime is boring for a period, while the sheep quietly eat and gestate. I’ve been jealous of all my friends posting Facebook pictures of lambs, since I still have six more weeks to wait. I lamb later than most people, since I don’t creep feed, I try to time everything around the best grass. But in the last few weeks, some rearranging has been happening.
Late December, I had a couple of ewelambs that were thinner than I wanted. I chose to pull them up in the barn and pump them up with added alfalfa and grain at the beginning of January. I also confirmed on the microscope that an extra de-worming was warranted on those youngsters. My dilemma was that if I separated them from the rest of their “contemporary group” of ewelambs, I’d need to separate their data in NSIP. This lowers the accuracy of the data since the sample size gets smaller. So I brought all ten ewelambs into the barn for this special treatment so they can be in the same gang of data. Most of them didn’t need it, but weren’t so over-conditioned that it would be harmful.
Then in January, it started bugging me that a couple of mature ewes looked a bit thin. I went through all the ewes and put my hands on each one to “score” them. Heavens to Betsy, most of my ewes are pretty over-conditioned, scoring around 4 to 4.5 (out of 5= totally fat). They have only been on grass hay, a testament to a good ewe that she can fatten this way on modest feed.
This chubbiness makes me a little nervous, however, as this may mean I’ll have big lambs and more birthing problems. I’d rather see them at a solid “3” in early pregnancy. It sealed my decision to only grain them the last 4 weeks of pregnancy, with a two-week ramp-up period. Last year I did ten weeks, because I had the opposite problem- many ewes that were too thin. I eventually figured out it was caused by a coccidiosis outbreak, easily remedied with a 7-day treatment in their water trough.
This time I did find a couple of mature ewes that were lean- maybe scoring around 2.5. I ended up selecting seven more to come up in the barn early February to also benefit from some extra luxury eating. One is an old lady-ten, another had a bout of pneumonia that knocked her condition back some late summer. Some others were in Ok condition, but I know they’ll likely have triplets, so will benefit from some coddling now.
So, seventeen ewes pooping in the barn- not my favorite, and I’ll have a lot of cleanout to do later. But I do enjoy being able to tiptoe out there in my slippers to give them a morning feeding. My plan is to pump them up until the end of the month, then kick them back outside. By that time, the whole group will be graining in the final push to lambing. I am really hoping to avoid having any birthings in the barn this year, as I don’t find that works out as well for me as pasture lambing.
Last Sunday was a nice day, and the warming temperatures are a signal that it’s time to let the grass grow. The field she sheep are in is mostly reed canary grass, which dies in the winter; so I don’t feel so bad about letting them loose in there and getting some exercise. But for one, the change in the way we manage pastures has been causing new species of grass to emerge, and I’d like to give those a chance. And, the RCG will start growing with a vengeance any time now, with these warm days.
So I sequestered the sheep in an Electronet square around their winter feeders. They were at the other end of the pasture when I started setting it up, so I assumed I’d need to move them with a dog later. But it’s funny, they strongly associate the sight of me setting the hotwire with getting fresh grass. So as soon as I started, they came running enthusiastically and put themselves right into the enclosure. Then, they seemed confused, where is the lush green grass that’s supposed to magically happen when the fence gets moved?? They baa’ed and looked plaintively at me, so disappointed that it didn’t seem to work out this time. Sorry ladies, it’s still just plain ol’ hay for a few more weeks…
February 17, 2013 at 1:57 am
I really love your posts! There’s such an art and a science to being a farmer, as you reveal! My grandfather used to raise sheep, and my cousin still does. They aren’t very bright animals (give me a cow any day!) but they are lovely to watch, especially the young lambs.
–Virginia theyearoflivingenglishly.wordpress.com
February 17, 2013 at 2:01 am
Haha! I enjoyed this post and it describes very well my sheep. In the grassy months, I put them out in my electric netting fence but every evening they come in to their area. In the winter when everything is covered with snow, if I ever come to the gate they usually go out, they baa and baa as though me not letting them through the gate is the only thing keeping them from fresh green grass. Alas our ground is weeks yet from being uncovered… And I raise Icelandics so lambs are still weeks away, too.
February 17, 2013 at 2:12 am
I LOVE your barn! So BIG. And I am having the hubby implement some of your feeder ideas here for our goats. We’ll be downsizing our herd for a bit so we can regain some “control” and sanity, so all of your ideas and insights with the sheep really help us in our goat operation. 🙂
February 17, 2013 at 2:40 am
Cool post. I am a sugarcane farmer so I don’t face all of the things those with livestock do but it reminds me of our chickens (just a few laying hens). I keep them in a pen at night to protect them from coyotes but usually let them out during the day. If they get to go out regularly they go back in easily but if not the put up a fight. Of course at dark they will gather inside to roost but I like to have them in before dark especially if i won’t be at the house to close the gate soon after dark.
February 17, 2013 at 4:30 am
LOL, Virginia, thanks, indeed sheep can have weird brains. I suppose its a testament to their flexibility that they observe and remember all sorts of predictors of food, even technological ones!
February 17, 2013 at 4:48 am
Andre, aw, poor things, I guess they are just hoping it’ll be true somehow, that you can make the grass grow!
February 17, 2013 at 4:49 am
Thanks, Liz, tho it seems like buildings can never be big enough! 🙂
February 17, 2013 at 4:54 am
Yep, no matter how big the building (or tractor) you always want it bigger and better! 😀
February 17, 2013 at 4:59 am
Wilson, my chickens are pretty naughty about going where I want them to also!
February 20, 2013 at 12:57 am
CF, what litter do you use for the “barned” sheep? Photo 3 shows what looks like good alfalfa hay. Seventeen sheep enclosed for a couple of weeks should yield excellent “organic” for a garden. What do you do with the leavings? Scatter them back on the pasture? TMJ
February 20, 2013 at 4:53 am
TMJ, I start with shavings and some straw. Unfortunately, my ewes are kinda good at pulling hay out of their feeders in the barn, so they are making a nice bed out of hay! 😐 That is next on my list, to modify the feeders to disallow so much waste. I usually just dump barn cleanings back out into the grasses to compost.
June 22, 2023 at 7:09 am
I’m very interested in this kind of feeders I hope they can also do well with goats
June 22, 2023 at 7:33 am
Mpoki here are the plans on Premier’s website and yes they do also work for goats! I put hinged, split roofs on mine so they could be used outdoors. I use 2×2″ wood “props” with a wood cleat to hold them open when I’m feeding, similar to holding open a car hood. Use care in wind, as the lids can be caught and ripped off.
Click to access BYO-Feeders-2012.pdf