Hi Michael, I have seen lambs delivered nearly a week early to over a week late from actual date of service. Basically the lambs are born when mother nature says they are ready (in a perfect world). We are lambing right now and it started with several ewes apparently conceiving the same day they were put with the rams. There is a silent estrus brought on by sudden exposure to rams (google ram effect) and the ewe can conceive within the first 48 hours. Then around 5 days later they will have full estrus which the rams are more reliable with (one week from first exposure to the ewes). Then you start the normal 17 day estrus cycle of the ewes.
So if the wrong rams were not with the ewes but for a brief time and they go over a week on the possible gestation date you are probably getting lambs off your desired sire. Good luck! Mark As per my comedy of errors story below: April 30th was 150 days, and one of the ewes, Beatrice was starting to bag up around day 145 or 148 or so. Still no lambs. The other, Jules is probably pregnant, but no where near as huge as Beatrice. Jules may not lamb for another couple of weeks. Beatrice appears to be ready to drop at any time. At least twins, I suspect. is 150 days pretty accurate for ABs? The two rogue rams got to the ewes 150 days before April 30th. I am hoping the girls might not have been in full estrus and that when the two rogue rams got to them, nothing happened. Since April 30 has came and gone, the more days we get into May, the less chance the sire is one of the rogue rams. On the same day back in December, the ewes were then with the ram I DID want as sire for the next 30 days or so, I am hoping he is the sire, and maybe got Beatrice pregnant a few days later. -Michael, Perino Ranch Blackbellies. _______________________________________________ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
