[loosey]

Here are lots of very basic sheepy questions for anyone who finds themselves a little bored this evening!

When I was young I spent a lot of time helping with lambing so am comfortable with this along with foot trimming and even shearing but I'm still lacking in very basic knowledge ... so if anyone can help!!


What is the gestation period in sheep?
At what age should you think about starting to breed your ewes?
When do lambs become sexually mature? ... will boys and girls need to be seperated at any point if they're for the freezer?
At what age are they weaned or do they wean themselves?
From personal experience, what age do you send them to the abbotoir for the best meat?

I think that's it for now, but I'm sure I'll think of lots more!!

[CameronS]

gestation takes about 5 months (correct me if I'm wrong)
About 7 months for lambs to become sexually mature, give or take depending on breed/gender etc

Thats all i can answer 
I myself will cross the butcher step when my babies are big enough     

[Fleecewife]

Hi Loosey
To calculate gestation, tupped on Nov 5th gives lambs on April Fools Day, give or take a couple of days either way.  When you actually put the tup in depends on the breed.  Our Primitives lamb in April here in southern Scotland, later further north, earlier further south and this depends on when the grass will be available for new lambs and milking mums. Commercials have a greater range.
The age to breed again depends on breed.  Primitives usually are not bred until their second autumn, so they lamb on their second birthday ie lambs/hoggs are not put to the tup. Bigger breeds lamb in their first year.
Tup lambs can be sexually mature at 4 months, so separate them then to be on the safe side (not for their sisters but for their mums).  If this is going to be a problem, then castrate the males in the first week after birth.
The ewes usually wean the lambs gradually themselves (by kicking the lambs in the head when they don't want them, feeding - nice !) but each one will do it at a different time.  Rule of thumb is that if you want to breed the ewe in the autumn, then give her 2 months lamb-free to get her condition back before running with the tup. We usually take the males out at 4 months then leave the ewes to wean their daughters themselves and only separate them at tupping time, as that is far less stressful all round.
When to kill depends on breed, again.  Primitives are usually not ready until the June following their birth, so at 14-15 months ie hogget. Commercials can be ready at 4 months, Jacobs and so on by November ie 7 months.  If you want the skin back for tanning, Nov is as late as you can leave it or the wool slips from the skin during tanning.  Don't forget mutton which is 2-3 yrs old and totally delicious !

[kanisha]

would agree with pretty much all of what fleece wife said but did have a question re age of breeding for primitive ewes.
Do hebredians usually twin?
I have read so much about leaving ewe lambs until their second year to be bred but here culture is a little different and the ewe lambs are bred ( if they take ) in their first year. Having  asked around the local ( french ) breed enthusiasts their reasoning is  if they are mature enough they will get pregnant. Ouessants only have single lambs if they twin its generally because they are large enough ie outside the breed standard to be able to carry twins. I wondered if having only a single lamb made a difference. my smallest lamb this year weighed in at 400gms  at birth she was in the field within three days with everyone else it was to  a two year old ewe as she was so small I was not at all certain about letting her get bred  in her first season. .

[Freddiesfarm]

Ewe lambs of any breed will take to the ram in their first year but the problems comes at lambing time.  When the ewe lambs reach about a year old they lose thier two front teeth and grow the adult ones - if this happens to coincide with their need to intake massive amounts of energy for their lambs or when their could be a grass shortage then they can lose condition and this can reflect in the lambs. 

The general rule of thumb is that if a ewe lamb weighs 2/3rd of the adult ewe weight then it should have sufficient reserves to be put to the ram.  Most big sheep farmers will leave ewe lambs with only a single lamb and try to adopt any multiples onto more mature sheep, again to alleviate the stress.

As for gestation period - 21 weeks give of take a week either side.

There is a really good info booklet from EBLEX called Target Ewe Management for better returns and it has all the dates etc you need to know - it is a freebie from www.eblex.org.uk

[kanisha]

The general rule of thumb is that if a ewe lamb weighs 2/3rd of the adult ewe weight then it should have sufficient reserves to be put to the ram

ah ok. ouessant lambs are often at about that as they mature very quickly.

[loosey]

Thank you everyone. I was worried that I may have to sperate the boys from the girls (they will all be for the freezer). So would it be an idea to take away the boys at 4 months and once the ewe's have weaned the girls, keep all the lambs together and give the ewes chance to have some baby free time?!

We would be looking to tan our skins so would be be looking at 6-7 months for slaughter?

[Fleecewife]

Yes, Hebrideans twin more often than not, although it depends a lot on the pasture quality.  Occasionally they have triplets too, but not here !
As well as the tooth thing, a further concern about running ewe lambs with the tup is that they tend to have singles in the first year.  Single lambs are usually bigger than twins which can lead to lambing problems caused by too large a lamb for an immature ewe. So the opposite of too-small lambs from the dam changing her teeth.

Loosey, yes it's a good idea to give the ewes a lamb-free period, but if you run the male and female hoggs together you run the risk of pregnancy - the abattoir workers get very sad when they kill in-lamb hoggs. Do you have somewhere you can keep them in two groups?

Kanisha, what a tiny lamb !!  We had minute Soay twins, but one died - don't know what they weighed. The other is now as big as the other Soays and leader of the pack.  What is the average weight of a Ouessant ewe?  Soays are about 25kgs and usually twin, although we sometimes loose one twin as this year, which rarely happens with Hebrideans.

[loosey]

Yes absolutely, I wasn't sure if they'd be sexually active early enough to need seperating but my wuestion has been answered!

So just to clarify ... the boys must be taken away by 4 months old to prevent any "accidents". They go in one paddock, the the ewe's will wean the girls themselves and they will be moved to a nother paddock while the ewe's have a rest for at least a  couple of months before they are put back to a ram? In reality it's likely to be much longer than that but I'm sure they'll enjoy the time off!

[kanisha]

Hi Fleecewife. a ouessant ewe  would probably average out at around 12kgs, I must admit this lamb is tiny, looking at her this morning ( shes now two weeks) I reckon shes about the size of my average newborns that said I know of a number of breeders who have lambs of around that weight most years.   

[Freddiesfarm]

Hi Fleecewife. a ouessant ewe  would probably average out at around 12kgs,

Is that live weight or dead weight?  Which ever it is that is tiny!

[dixie]

Hers my answers!!
Gestation is 145 days!
I first put ewes to the tup the year after they were born, so first timers this year were born spring 09.
Lambs can be sexually mature from 4 months, I would separate uncastrated ram lambs at that time.
I wean at 12 weeks, that gives the ewe enough time to get condition back before the tup goes in.
Abattoir from 10 months, depending on size. Plus they are so busy just before christmas I wait until january time.

[kanisha]

Hi Fleecewife. a ouessant ewe  would probably average out at around 12kgs,

Is that live weight or dead weight?  Which ever it is that is tiny!

err thats liveweight. I usually carry them under one arm I can do with this with some of the rams too although my heaviest adult rams are probably around 20 kgs.

[Freddiesfarm]

That is so tiny!  I want some play sheep!  They must be like little barbie dolls!

Off now to help friend with shearing 400 dorsets!  Am I a lucky girl or what?!  Atleast I will sleep well tonight!

[kanisha]

They must be like little barbie dolls!

  yep in many cases smaller than a cocker spaniel not a miniaturised breed but reputedly the worlds smallest breed of sheep fun fun fun!  enjoy the dorsets .....400

ps I still eat them