The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: raygezer on January 29, 2011, 07:37:59 pm

Title: new lambs overnight
Post by: raygezer on January 29, 2011, 07:37:59 pm
Hi all being a newbie to keeping sheep had a surprise first thing this morning doing my rounds feeding the animals heard a different sound coming from the sheep barn 2 lambs had arrived overnight ,great then this afternoon i saw a ewe on her own pawing the ground so i thought i wud stick around for a while glad i did the lamb was so big the head wouldn't come out so after a while i helped it mother ewe and lamb doing well not bad for a first time really pleased and all this with not knowing when they were going to lamb 1 more ewe to go i think   :farmer:
Title: Re: new lambs overnight
Post by: andywalt on January 29, 2011, 07:42:08 pm
well done, congrats, but where are the photos we all like to see you know !!

hope to see the pics soon


andy
Title: Re: new lambs overnight
Post by: dyedinthewool on January 29, 2011, 07:42:56 pm
Well done you - must be great surprise.

Post some piccies of the babies and their mums.
Title: Re: new lambs overnight
Post by: faith0504 on January 29, 2011, 08:10:19 pm
i bet its a lovely feeling, well done, photos please  :wave:
Title: Re: new lambs overnight
Post by: Fleecewife on January 30, 2011, 01:29:35 am
It's a wonderful moment isn't it when you hear that little sound and you realise you have lambs - one of the best joys of spring  :).
Title: Re: new lambs overnight
Post by: VSS on January 30, 2011, 10:28:16 am
Spring won't be here for another two months yet. Sub Zero here.

Title: Re: new lambs overnight
Post by: Fleecewife on January 30, 2011, 11:35:22 am
Same here, but you know what I mean  :D  A harbinger of spring then?
Title: Re: new lambs overnight
Post by: OhLaLa on January 30, 2011, 11:40:07 am
Photo's photo's!!

 :sheep:

And what breed are they?

 :wave:

Title: Re: new lambs overnight
Post by: raygezer on January 31, 2011, 06:01:08 pm
  Well Ive done the tails and the boys bits it made me go cold but its got to be done , not sure why the forum wont let me down load pics but still
trying not my forte in life
Title: Re: new lambs overnight
Post by: TheCaptain on January 31, 2011, 10:53:18 pm
In the additional options tab down the bottom when you're posting a reply there is the 'attachments' option.  Click browse, find your photo, click open.  If you want to add more click on the 'more attachments' bit.  Just make sure your phots have been compressed/resized otherwise they won't upload!
Title: Re: new lambs overnight
Post by: morri2 on February 01, 2011, 11:12:04 am
Well done with your new arrivals!!  I have trouble getting  pics on the forum too - hopefully The Captain's tips will help me too.  Look forward to seeing your pics. :wave:
Title: Re: new lambs overnight
Post by: raygezer on February 01, 2011, 05:48:19 pm
 the Captain
 thats helped but now the pics need to be a smller size help if you can sorry for being a pain im all right with an abacas!!
Title: Re: new lambs overnight
Post by: OhLaLa on February 01, 2011, 10:48:10 pm
Can you resize them? About 500 x 500 (the second 500 is appx) is an ok size.
Title: Re: new lambs overnight
Post by: waterhouse on February 03, 2011, 11:29:30 pm
Matty has just had her twins, one of each, outdoors in the paddock but at a helpful 6pm.  She is a much better mother than Jill, much more diligent with licking and making a deep gruntling noise at them.  Jill had more of the "oh not again, well if you must" attitude.  The lambs are lighter at around 1.7kg though she looked like a tank for the last few weeks.  Both suckling happily under the heat lamp now.

When the second started coming we thought we'd have trouble because the head appeared, then one front leg but a damn great push and out he came only a few minutes after the first.  These Dartmoors seem to be good at lambing, perhaps because the lamb is small?
Title: Re: new lambs overnight
Post by: raygezer on February 06, 2011, 06:14:00 pm
 when I took on the sheep I really wasn't sure if I would take to them but hey I think they are great animals love being around them and now I reckon they have taken to me well at feeding times anyway,Still doing things for the first time today we put the eartags in and trimmed the ewes feet which were over grown ,one question if somebody could help me with does electric fencing work with sheep if it does any tip please it works well with my horses ,sheep ?????
Title: Re: new lambs overnight
Post by: waterhouse on February 06, 2011, 07:09:41 pm
We stock fenced the perimeter of our holding and have divided it into paddocks with electric fencing.  We use 40mm tape high level for the horses and 3 lines of rope lower down for the sheep, all tensioned between wooden posts and supported with poly posts.  This keeps the fence tight but is easy to take down and move. 

Our sheep are mostly Greyfaced Dartmoors which have a very thick fleece so we upgraded the energiser to produce around 8kV which is definitely enough for a sheep to notice.  They know exactly where the lines are and avoid them.  I think keeping good tension in the ropes and tapes is important cos I've seen a ewe lean on one for several seconds before getting a shock.  You also don't want an animal to able to get caught in the fence either.

If lambs can get through then mum is likely to try to follow, so it's best for the lambs to learn about the fence quickly and avoid it.
Title: Re: new lambs overnight
Post by: TheCaptain on February 07, 2011, 05:46:55 pm
We stock fenced the perimeter of our holding and have divided it into paddocks with electric fencing.  We use 40mm tape high level for the horses and 3 lines of rope lower down for the sheep, all tensioned between wooden posts and supported with poly posts.  This keeps the fence tight but is easy to take down and move. 

Our sheep are mostly Greyfaced Dartmoors which have a very thick fleece so we upgraded the energiser to produce around 8kV which is definitely enough for a sheep to notice.  They know exactly where the lines are and avoid them.  I think keeping good tension in the ropes and tapes is important cos I've seen a ewe lean on one for several seconds before getting a shock.  You also don't want an animal to able to get caught in the fence either.

If lambs can get through then mum is likely to try to follow, so it's best for the lambs to learn about the fence quickly and avoid it.

What he said!
Title: Re: new lambs overnight
Post by: raygezer on February 12, 2011, 08:50:07 pm
Well at last i think its all over but not really sure out of the four ewes i have four lambs but one thing puzzles me not long after the ewes arrived at our place one ewe aborted twins they were dead my neighbour who breeds sheep said he thought they were about 3 months old but to my untrained eye she looks as if she is still carring the other three have sort of regained there shape she hasn't would it be possible for her to still be in lamb ? oh the last lamb was born dinner time today and she is a big black girl i still cant get my pics smaller  >:( :sheep: :sheep: