Speaking of sheep....

[Yaklady]

.....how can I tell if and when my girls get 'knocked up'?

I did notice some nose-wrinkling and chasing going on for a couple days with my Black Betty. Poor little thing was literally running away from those boys for a couple of days. I didn't see them mount her, but I saw one of the boys almost make it up there. Doesn't mean it didn't happen while I wasn't watching, though. I haven't noticed the other two getting much attention, and I haven't seen Betty getting attention since that time. It's possible that the other two got 'did' while still at the farm I bought them from. Gordita is pretty durn fat, so I wouldn't be surprised. How can I tell for sure, though? In this picture, she's the big white one on the right, looking at the camera.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Cute picture!

 

[FarmerChick]

you can't without vet preggo test

if they ran they might have been totally ready

a goat or sheep in true heat cycle will kill herself to get to the buck or ram, will do everything to be his........and then again it is a crapshoot she took on a breeding at that point.


wait the time and see if there are kids/lambs-----or the til the next heat cycle hits and she goes "wanting some" then-----or get the vet preggo check

 

[Beekissed]

I think mostly that folks just keep the rams with the ewes for at least 45 days which should cover two heat cycles, just to be sure. If they don't get bred in that time, they figure they aren't going to.

One of the old local farmers told me that sheep like to breed more at night, so he doesn't get to see his gals get bred very often.

With the local Suffolk farmers, they usually have the rams wear a marking/breeding harness that leaves some dye on the back of the gals who have been covered. I don't know how in the world they do this with the black sheep, although I guess the red dye would show up on the wool a little if you looked closely.

I don't think there is any outward physical sign that one has been bred except the absence of coming in heat each month.

 

[Yaklady]

Ok, thanks. I intended to keep my ram in with them all the time. I've only got the one ram for breeding and three girls. It doesn't hurt anything to just keep them all together does it?

 

[Beekissed]

Well, that depends on if you want to know when your lambs will be born. Most folks keep the ram with the gals during breeding and up until lambing, but will remove the ram from the flock for awhile after lambing until you wish to breed once more. If not, the ewe doesn't get any time to recover from the lambing/nursing until she is growing another lamb. Most farmers wait at least a month and usually more until breeding again after lambing.

If you want to avoid having lambs during cold weather, then you wouldn't want to be running him with the ewes after a fall (Sept lambing), so you would separate him until Dec. to get an April lambing.

If you intend to wean naturally and keep your ewe lambs but don't want to breed them too early, be aware that sexual maturity starts at around 5 months, while it's not recommended to breed before 7 mo. or when the lamb reaches 70% of her full expected growth. So you wouldn't want to run your ram with them during these times as well.

 

[Yaklady]

Wow, thanks so much for that. Sometimes I feel like such a dummy head. When I read The Sheep Book, Mr. Parker referred many times to the 'twice a year heat cycle'. I just assumed that he was saying that the ewes only go into heat twice a year. I didn't realize that they have a regular cycle and that one should only expose them to breed twice a year. Jeez, I feel 'special'. Like little school bus special.

 

[Beekissed]

Me too, hon, me too! I am finding out so much just by reading and it seems I should have known a lot of this....after all, I've read all of James Herriotts books......

It's so fun learning all this stuff.....that sheep diseases page was a real eye opener, for sure.