The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: OhLaLa on January 23, 2011, 12:17:50 pm
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Well, the prospective mums have arrived. First thing they did was run out of the trailer and head for the grass like they'd never seen any.
Shortly afterwards they nearly knocked us over and tipped the food out of the feed bucket before I could even reach the trough in their desperation to get their noses in (this morning much calmer for breakfast).
My ewes gave them a belly sniff and a bum sniff and were taken aback by their barginess at the grub but other than that, none too bothered by their arrival.
When next to mine I noticed that the wool of the new arrivals is nothing like the texture of that of the wool of my other sheep, mine never shorn - would that be why? Same breed. Also, although pregnant, the new girls are thinner than mine (which I thought I was careful not to overfeed).
:sheep:
PS: I should add, their wool isn't as long either, and more 'tight'.
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Yours have not been sheared I assume because they are shearlings?......I would be worried if they are over a year old and not been sheared :o
If that is the case....the fleece of a shearling is the first and best fleece as the sheep has not had any stress such as from being in lamb so it puts all its efforts into wool!
Re the condition....
Condition score them...v easy.....can you feel bony bits sticking up if you give them a good feel around the loin area? If not or you can just feel well fleshed bony bits they are ok to plump but if you can feel sticky outy sharp bony bits they are thin!
Also give em a good poke and feel where their ribs are.....
Word of caution....I do hope you wormed them with a suitable wormer BRFORE mixing them in with your other sheep! New sheep, esp from a dodgy background often bring little visitors with them in the way of worms etc! ::)
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Thanks for reply. Owner appeared to have pretty good records and they were wormed a fortnight ago (all other meds etc up to date), and yes mine shearlings (born 2010, knew someone would ask that as soon as I spotted I didn't mention it).
Another question which will seem pretty dumb to all you experienced shepherds - one of the new ones keeps having a couple of lengths of wool draping from her each day, anything I should be concerned about? I haven't seen her rubbing etc.
:sheep:
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Hi OhLala
It would be nice to see some photo`s of your sheep.
---- there is nothing dumb, infact vice versa --- in questioning why one of your new sheep seems to be pulling wool out --- being observant is a large part of stockmanship and I would commend you on that.
You mentioned in your earlier post that the wool is differant to your original sheep--- wool can tell you a lot about the sheep health.
The fleece of an animal that has been" poorly done" or deficient of some thing in the past will be noticeably inferior.
-- be alert that the sheep may be carrying sheep scab which can easily be pasted onto your other sheep-- I recommend Dectomax which is an injection to keep itchy sheep healthy.
Tilly :wave:
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Thanks Tilly, I'll look into that. Have never taken any pics of the sheep, will get some sorted on the next sunny day (right now it's :gloomy:)
I'm assuming the nice wool on my original girls is because they are shearlings - their wool is a bit longer and much nicer to my eye - slightly turned, I can only describe it as being like well tressed dreadlocks, not knotty but conditioned. The new arrivals wool is like a woolly jumper that has been in the wash with a grey sock.
Tried to do a condition score this morning. Tricky under all that wool but to me they just feel like firm sheep. I suspect now my girls a bit podgey as they have had access to ok grass (for the time of year) and the new girls have overwintered inside with others. That could be why they dive on the food bucket too - they are used to first come first served.
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Have looked at some sheep scab photos, my wool loss nothing so severe, merely a couple of 'pulls' but will certainly keep an eye on them. There was no sign of anything similar in the other sheep I saw when I picked them up either. I found this info about it in my search too, so thanks again:
http://www.sac.ac.uk/mainrep/pdfs/infonote82sheepscab.pdf (http://www.sac.ac.uk/mainrep/pdfs/infonote82sheepscab.pdf)
I'll have to look up to see if a preventative jab can be given to in-lamb ewes (did you do the injection yourself?).
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OhLaLa---- It`s been a grey old day in Norfolk too with drizzle today
----- yes done the injections myself, the product also works as a wormer-- bought from local agricultural merchant.
Tilly
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If your new arrivals have been inside they could just have lice, spread very fast if lots of sheep close together. Just had to treat my goats with Spot-on (quite dear though), I think there are others that would do the job too, like Crovect.
They could have also just slept close to the fence, bashed themselves a bit on the side of the trailer/thorny bushes etc. Could be something simple like that.
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Yes , Ive noticed a few pulls on a couple of my sheep, but to date has come to nothing at all, fingers x
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Thanks guys. They are up to date with their treatments so hopefully all ok.
Dreamt last night I was washing sheep bums.....
:sheep: :-\
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So come on get your camera out for us and take some photos? so we can see what they are like....
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Photo of 2 in lamb ewes and 2 shearlings, taken this morning.
:sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep:
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very nice:-)
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Hi OhLaLa
-- your Suffolk's look smashing ---thanks for the photo.
Tilly :wave:
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They look great, nice condition...... thanks for letting us see
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Thanks. As a new shepherd it's good to get a bit of feedback. Even in that photo I can tell which two are the new in lamb girls.
Andywalt - you doing your own shearing this year?
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ohhlala
well thats a good question.... first of all I was going to do the shearing course at Hadlow collage, just down the road, then I thought that I would offer one of my clients the same money as the course for them to show me how, my client has offices on the farm that we do all the flooring for but they still have 200 sheep.
I have mainly suffolks...the big ones lol...not sure if my back will hold out
why do you ask?
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Just wondered if you were considering doing it yourself when the time comes and if you or any others would post on site how you/they get on.
:sheep: :farmer:
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We have been shearing ours for the last two years. They are small but not too tame. My husband holds them & I shear them. I have not managed more than 9 at a time as the shears are really heavy & make my hands vibrate. As you can see we are not very good but we are shearing for welfare. I would say ahve a go carefully & slowly
Rose
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getting the fleece off is the main principal nothing wrong with that robate 55.
what breed ? hebredian?
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Yes they are Hebrideans and that is Gran who is probably not my oldest but behaves most sensibly & calms the others
Rose