> Blackbelly sheep routinely have twins. Sometimes a first-time ewe will birth > a single lamb, but from then on twins are the norm. Some ewes have triplets, > but it is not common.
It is interesting learning about the different sheep breeds. I can't imagine a Finn sheep giving birth to so many multiples! Do you run into problems if the ewe only has a single - for example, the lamb being too big? > The failure of your "little ram lamb" to impregnate the "older ewe lambs" > could be caused by a number of things. It is not too late for them, I am waiting to see if those ewes have lambs - they wouldn't deliver until April - June. Fingers crossed :) > ~He might have been too young and had not developed full fertility. My friend had a very young ram lamb (less than 4 months of age) impregnate one of the yearling lambs. I did put a 6 month young ram with the girls this November. I guess I just start pacing again! I hope this fella is fertile, I imagine each is an individual. > ~He might have been too young and the ewes would not stand for him or he > could not reach them Good point. I put the young ram with the young ewes specifically so that he wouldn't hurt them with too large a size. The ewes were already 8 months of age. He was with them for a full two months. After reading your thoughts, I actually put him back in with them. Why risk not having any lambs at all due to age, missed heats, or immaturity. Someone recently said they kept their rams and ewes together all year round. The person who helps mentor me doesn't do that - I guess so they know when to expect lambs. I know someone else who staggers their breedings so that they aren't overwhelmed with too many babies at once. > ~The ewe lambs might not have been fertile yet; generally they become fertile > between 4-6 months but I like to wait until they are 8-9 months old to breed > them) I guess we will see! It is so hard being patient. > As for the "other ram who was with the ewes from mid-May until September" I > have no idea what the problem could be. Depending on where you are, it could > have been too hot, causing temporary sterility in the ram. That definitely wasn't the problem this summer! It rained a heck of a lot and was very cool. I do not have a sophisticated operation - I have a large yard with a lot of clover and mixed grasses. I thought maybe I didn't have enough protein. I didn't do a lot of mineral supplementation this summer maybe that was a mistake? They did have access to the blue blocks just not the winter mineral. My mentor had many problems with ill sheep and goats for a variety of reasons. She suggested that I deworm. I was going to deworm but the vet recommended that I do a fecal count first. I was so pleased to see that my numbers were so low as to be almost non existent! Are any of you good at determining if your ewes are in heat? I've been spending way too much time watching my sheep (and avoiding housework). I have noticed that sometimes everyone of them has a really itchy bum - not just your regular butt scratching. This was one of the reasons I wanted to deworm. As I was watching this prolonged scratching I noticed one of the girls had a slight clear yellowish discharge. So I wiped it with my finger and put it to the rams nose but he didn't do anything. I only have one sheep with a docked tail so I can see her vulva easily. However, with the ram not making faces that extreme butt scratching has gotten rid of my hypothesis of how to tell when a ewe is in heat. > That's all I can think of at the moment. I appreciate your comments. Thank you, Natasha _______________________________________________ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
