The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Dans on March 09, 2017, 10:14:40 pm
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Was out with our girls today and noticed one looked a whole lot bigger than the others. It's the one that was scanned as having twins but I didn't think they would be 'showing' yet as they are due to lamb in May. Is she just fatter? We do have another one who looks a similar size and only scanned as singles, but she has always looked fatter (condition scores have all been pretty similar but I haven't done them in a while).
Dans
PS the feed was so we could catch another ewe that had somehow managed to get a bungee cord over her shoulders like a scarf *sigh*
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They're quite individual in terms of when and how much they show, I find. But that is really quite round for two months to go!
My one girl, Buffy, always gets absolutely ginormous, whether she's producing 2, 3 or a singleton. And Anya always looked ready to pop early on then held on to be the very last to lamb ::).
The Zwarties here apparently don't show much at all until very close to lambing. My 7 fleece girls are all nicely round (well, apart from the two earlies who lambed today), but the Zwartbles, who are due 10-14 days earlier, are barely showing anything.
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The Zwarties here apparently don't show much at all until very close to lambing.
Wow. Er, ours do! We call them the hungry hippos! ;D
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You don't say when in May but I would think that was OK is she was one of mine. I take it her belly line had dropped, too?
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Ours haven't been scanned but I think they're definitely showing with 2 weeks to go ....... Any guesses how many this one is carrying ? ? ? :)
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Every sheep is different, I have some that will look like a whisky barrel and then some that will barely show. Currently in the field wit 4 week to the day until lambing starts I have some that look like they are going to explode and some you would maybe think are just a wee bit fat. It is generally the same sheep that get big and the same ones that don't, you just have to get to know your flock and you will develop an eye for when something is out of the ordinary. You will soon notice that the ewes will start to lie down a lot more and will become more timid (mainly because they are too big to run away). If the ewe seems happy then chances are everything is fine, if you are really unsure then you should always call out the vet or show them a photo (after all they are trained to do this ;) ;) ) Have you condition scored her? She could just be fat or she might just be naturally big as mentioned above
good luck
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Ours haven't been scanned but I think they're definitely showing with 2 weeks to go ....... Any guesses how many this one is carrying ? ? ? :)
I would say one of them is carrying twins, but one could be carrying a big single? Just guessing here lol
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As ThomasR says, they vary enormously. Any chance the ram might have got in early, though?
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It's impossible to tell....hence the reason for scanning!
Could be big single, thin ewe
Little single, fat ewe
Normal twins, perfect ewe...etc etc
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Bit like with people, seem to vary a lot.
Though a farmers wife that we know (with many,many years experience) looked at our ewes and told us exactly who was expecting singles and who would have twins. She was spot on!!!!
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My 5 Zwartbles have scanned 4 with triplets and 1 with twins, they have about 3-4 weeks to go and are huge!!!
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I think her belly has dropped but I'm not certain. All the ones that scanned pregnant are certainly acting different to the ones that scanned empty. My empty space are jumping and leaping around and butting each other while the pregnant ones look mildly annoyed at them.
Dans
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I suppose it's a case of wait and see. Ours are looking huge, so i think there maybe some trips in there ::) still i think a good crop maybe in order next month, at least i am hoping by the 7th and not before lol
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The thing is that logically what are you going to do?
If everyone on here said they reckoned she was going to lamb in the next week, bearing in mind the scanned date is May, would you treat her any differently?
The only official info you have is from the scanner, so least risk option is to go with that.
As it happens, the concensus of opinion is wait and see, and I'd go with that.
Chill out and stop worrying!
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The thing is that logically what are you going to do?
Oh absolutely nothing. We know she is expecting twins and know her due date (hired tup so no chance she got a quickie in early). It was just, as a complete novice, I was wondering if what I was seeing was pregnancy or fat. I've read that lambs do most of the growing in the last 6 weeks but wasn't sure when they start to show. Sorry maybe I should have been clearer in the OP.
As for worrying I am a bit of a terminal worrier but wasn't in fact worried in this case for once lol
Dans
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Well I'm sure you've known women who look ready to give birth at 6 months pregnant and some that still have a wee bump at 9 months. Babies are probably very similar weight - its down to how much water is carried. Same with sheep :-)