More Triplets ?

 

Triplets are always problematic in pasture lambing, there is often a smaller one that doesn't get the attention that it needs.  Generally we bring triplets and the mom back to the barn area for closer observation and often the smallest, weakest one goes off to be an orphan with Jackie.  In the above case, the birth was difficult, I had to help pull the brown one out.  The other new born in the area (with no other moms around) was not cleaned up well and needed attention.  So I rubbed the new brown one and the white one together and put them in front of the mom, who started cleaning them up.  I went off to check on the other ewes in the pasture.  When I returned there were three lambs there.  Also the mom was having trouble standing, presumed hip stress from the difficult birthing.  So, intervention is required.

First step is to ring the mom and lambs with temporary net fence to keep them localized and just as importantly prevent other ewes from coming in and disturbing the group.

As described in the previous post, we get the "circus trailer" and load the lambs and then the ewe into the trailer.  Often the ewe will walk in to get back with the lambs, sometimes the ewe doesn't want to walk the ramp and has to be coerced, and in this case the ewe needed help (it couldn't stand or walk very well at this point).  Jeffrey helps load her in the trailer.

Up goes the trailer ramp.

Down goes the ramp at the barn and Jeffrey has to help the ewe get out.

Since at this point the ewe couldn't stand, we rolled her from side to side and put each lamb to her udder to nurse.  Brown and last white lamb nursed well even though it was a non-standard position. 

The first white lamb would not nurse.  And I now suspect that this lamb belonged to some other ewe.  That ewe abandoned the lamb when it would not nurse.  So we decided the best plan was to make this lamb an orphan and send it home with Jackie.

After a few hours the ewe was able to stand again and has been taking good care of her two lambs.

 

Fall Lambing Underway

Fall lambing is underway with the first lamb arriving on August 26.  This morning ewe-1386, alias Red-Purple-Orange-Purple (RPOP in the spreadsheet) had triplets.   I marked all three lambs with a pink dot to help keep track of them in the pasture with all the other sheep.

Here, guard dogs Hero and Odin (eating) watch over the sheep in the lambing pasture. 

Since one of the triplets was smaller, and to better keep an eye on all of them, I decided to bring them in closer to the house and barns.  So using some temporary electric net fencing I made a ring around them and positioned the circus trailer at the opening.  The newborn lambs are easy to catch, so I grabbed them and put them at the front of the trailer and the ewe walked up the ramp to be with them.

Off we went to the weather station field next to the pole barn and chick barn.

They are relaxing in their new area.  A couple other ewes are in with them (one had twins this morning) so they will have company.   I also feed them some supplemental grain morning and evening to help them out.

Getting Ready for Lambing Season

 

Ewes should be having their lambs in two or three weeks, specific date based on when rams were put in is August 27, 2023.  Today Jackie and I processed through all 130 ewes, checking their eye color and deworming those that needed it, giving the CD-T booster vaccination so the lambs will have some initial protection at birth from clostridia diseases, and applying a unique color barcode to each ewe.  Since we lamb in the pasture, depending on the ewe, it is sometimes difficult to get close enough to identify the ewe without disrupting the new mom and new lambs.  With the barcode, we can identify the ewe at a distance and only come close if we need to help the ewe for some reason.  In the above photo, Odin led the ewes up to the top of the alleyway after they were released from the working facility.  Odin will stay with the ewes during lambing to provide protection against coyotes.  In the following photo, the ewes have moved into the middle field where they will graze for another few days until moving on to a fresh field.

Hairy Vetch

I moved the sheep onto the south field today.  The vetch has grown nicely. 

Odin likes sitting on the hay in the hay feeder.   Sheep don't eat much hay now; I move it around primarily for Odin.

Getting Together

These are our rams that we are inspecting prior to putting them with the ewes so that lambs will start coming out in early September.   

Jackie walks horse Clu and the sire rams up to the inspection area. 

The ewes and rams are getting reacquainted. 

This is their pasture for the next few days.  As they finish an area we rotate them onto a fresh pasture; trying to do this once a week.  It takes a week for the parasites to hatch out and become infective.  Then without a host within a month the parasites die off.  We are trying to minimize the parasite loading by pasture rotation as well as by selection for resistant sheep by Famacha eyelid inspections and fecal egg counts.

Terra Force YJR062 Tiller for Sale

 

Terra Force YJR062 Tiller is for sale.  Price is $2500.

Reason for sale:  I want to get a wider tiller that better matches the width of my tractor.

Contact Robert Lorens at 601-590-1190.  Initial contact preferred via text to avoid spam/robot filter on calls, or call and leave voice message for return call.

There are several photos, way below, showing the unit working.  Immediately below are photos of the cleaned up unit after washing all the dirt off.

Rear view is above.

Right side with closeup of serial number sticker:

Left side:

Top view showing PTO shaft, followed by a close up of the maintenance schedule sticker.

The tiller tines are all there, none broken.  Left and right hand views of underneath:

The unit has been and is stored in a barn.  It is on a pallet that I can lift and load into the back of a pickup truck with my tractor.

The following pictures were taken on March 12, 2023 when I tilled up the front meadow area.

This is a 15-second video from the tractor seat showing the tiller working.

Ewe Lambs for Sale - SOLD OUT - reserve for next year

 

Katahdin ewe lambs, born late September 2022, are available for sale.  Picture above taken on March 14, 2023.

Price:

• $250 per each for 1 to 4 lambs,
• $225 per each for 5 to 9 lambs,
• $200 per each for 10 or more lambs.

Contact Robert Lorens at 601-590-1190.  Initial contact preferred via text to avoid spam/robot filter on calls, or call and leave voice message for return call.

Video on March 13, 2023:

Photo on March 13, 2023:

Winter Chill

Considering the problems that much of the rest of the country faced from the Christmas 2022 winter storm, I suppose I shouldn't complain much about our experience here in south Mississippi. However,  going from nightly temperatures in the 40's and 50's to temperatures in the high teens and low twenties is particularly hard on the plants and animals.  One day temperatures did not get above the freezing mark.  And then, within the week, night temperatures were in the fifties and low sixties again.  Low temperature January 3 was 70 degrees.  We experience temperature swings like this two or three times a winter when the jet stream dips down and brings arctic weather into the country.  This was a particularly bad one.

This is the front field after the freeze.  Planted here is a mixture of spring oats, vetch and radish.  The yellow is mostly oats, not sure if it will come back.  Before the freeze it looked something like this:

Jeffrey and Jackie weaned the lambs just after Christmas;  the 30 - 40 pound lambs are in the foreground.  The 40 - 70 pound lambs are in the background.   Since the fresh forage is now unavailable, they are getting feed twice a day and free choice hay.

The moms are on hay to dry down their udders.  Odin in the foreground.