In a message dated 12/27/2004 9:46:59 AM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: My opinion (sorry if it sounds harsh) is that ewes who don't have enough milk to feed their lambs should be butchered. Blackbelly sheep are hardy and good mothers. To permit inferior animals to breed and pass those inferior genetics to their lambs just weakens the breed in general.
Carol I will take issue on this, and for this reason alone. I purchased my flock about 5 years ago from a co-worker who I though was knowledgeable about these animals. He had raised them for about 10 years. I bought the flock of 15 head from him. He told me that he had had more than 20 at one time on his 5 acres of bermuda grassa and the most hay he had ever bought had been 13 bales of alfalfa for the entire winter!!! I believed this crap! The first winter, I had 3 sets of twins and one set of triplets and had more trouble with them that I thought they were worth. I fed them alfalfa hay ( good quality) available at all times, and sheep pellets. They had wheat pasture to graze on. For the first 3 to 4 days the mothers just did not have enough milk. I bottle fed lambs, tube fed them and generally lived with them.... The next year the entire flock was on good pasture and when wheat pasture was available, they grazed on it. I had twins with all my ewes and one set of triplets. I kept the lambs u p with the mothers for about 2 days before turning them out. The last 3 years, I have only penned the lambs up with the mothers when the weather is very cold. I havehad no problems with birthing or milk production. My point in this ramble is NUTRITION, NUTRITION, NUTRITION!!!!!!!!! These sheep are more like a deer than sheep, and they are as tough as boot leather. But they have to have nutrition to be that way. They are some of the easiest animals to care for if you feed them. They cannot be expected to produce meat, fiber, and milk from dirt, they have to have forage, and the forage needs to have minerals. I keep mineral blocks and suplement out at all times. Lat season grass has all the minerals leached out. That is why fall lambs don't get the milk they really need. If you can provide some green forage in the winter, then you will be amazed at how they will respond.. Also provide salt to help digestion of the green forage... I would give the ewes at least 2 lambing with good forage to make sure that this is not a nutrition problem. Then if they cannot produce enough milk, then they should be removed from tghe flock. I agree wholeheartedly on culling to preserve the good characteristics of these animals... Just my $0.02 Cecil Bearden Piedmont, OK =============================================== This message is from the Blackbelly Sheep mailing list (http://www.awrittenword.com/listserv/index.html). To respond to this message, send e-mail to [email protected] To unsubscribe or change your membership options, go to http://lists.coyotenet.net/mailman/listinfo/blackbelly To search the archives, go to http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/
