BAYMULE FINALLY HAS SHEEP!!!

[Beekissed]

Bay, very good size on those lambs for being twins. Does my heart good to see them! Those milky Kats will put fat on those lambs lightning quick and you'll see little butterballs out there before you know it.

 

[Nyboy]

Bay are you going to keep any for breeding?

 

[baymule]

The lambs haven't started bouncing around yet. I know when they do, all I will want to do is sit out there and watch them. The white ewe and the brown ram lambs are bigger than the black ones. The black ram is the smallest and I stayed with him the first day to make sure he was eating. I rubbed him with a towel and held him for a bit to warm him up. He sure doesn't have any problem eating now!

I will keep the white ewe and the black ewe with the white leg. The ram lambs will be banded (castrated) and raised for meat. I will probably sell them so I can develop some customers for the farm.

 

[Smart Red]

Yea! Great news, Bay!

 

[Nyboy]

Great Bay will they be the first sale from the farm? Or do you sell eggs yet?

 

[Carol Dee]

Well we had our first lamb last night-dead. I found her this morning, a tiny black ewe with a patch of white on the top of her head. I quickly looked at the ewes to see whose it was and it was Ewe-nique. Ewe-nique was the least likely one to lamb, she barely even looked pregnant. I have two others that look like they will explode, they are so big and their udders are getting full too.

I think maybe Ewe-nique might have miscarried, had her lamb too early. The lamb was tiny. Ewe-nique had passed the placenta, so that was good. I watched her carefully, she was eating and drinking, so that was good. I contacted the breeder we bought them from and she was heartbroken for me. I buried the lamb and placenta, covered them with lime so odor won't bring in scavengers and so my own dogs won't dig it up.

I've been down in the dumps today. I know all too well that when you have livestock, you get dead stock, but did it have to be my first lamb? I got my smile back though. I wanted to move them to another pasture, so I got a can of feed and shook it. Instantly I had 4 ewes for best friends. I opened the gate and they followed me closely to the other pasture and I opened that gate. I poured some feed on a board for them, but they were so excited to have fresh grass, they barely noticed. When it was time to move them back for the night, I just repeated the process. It made me smile to have them following me like a pack of dogs. I love them.

 

[baymule]

@Nyboy I am not selling eggs yet, with only 6 layers it is hard to get up enough to sell. I give our daughter and family, eggs and several of the neighbors. plus what we use. I plan on ordering chicks in the early spring to start my laying flock.

Ummm..... first "sale" I suppose could go to the pigs. Technically speaking, I am raising three, one for us, two for friends. They are paying for their piglet and feed and a little extra for caring for their pig. It won't be a blockbuster sale, but it gets the ball rolling. We will haul the pigs to slaughter, our friends will pick up their meat and pay for slaughter.

It will be 9-10 months for the 2 ram lambs to be ready for slaughter.

 

[Nyboy]

Your well started on your way to being a farmer, just like seedcorn!

 

[aftermidnight]

@baymule I love rack of lamb and lamb chops and have them quite often but never had it at home, dad ate a lot of mutton when he was growing up, hated it so it was never on the menu.
Those look like beautiful animals, I would so NOT make a farmer too soft hearted, I'd make a pet of everything .

Annette

 

[ducks4you]

I know all too well that when you have livestock, you get dead stock, but did it have to be my first lamb?

So sorry. I bought Dark Cornish chicks, and I have lost 1/2 of the flock. I had problems with enough heat--bought in September--space, didn't have the enclosure ready in time, so they were cramped. I know a lot of the loss was my own fault. Still, 14 survived and got big. I need to move only 5/10 (left) of them tomorrow, before the real cold sets in, to live with the 7 layers. This was the hardest butchering I've done yet. I butchered 4 earlier in the week, and I will be butchering 5 more tomorrow, moving 5 and then taking the last two sometime this winter. I felt like I had betrayed these (now 4mo) chicks, and then, to send them to "freezer camp". So..three will live to breed in 2016.
Neither of us has been intentionally cruel. Comfort yourself with this. Love the pictures!