[Blackbelly] Ram lambs for sale
HI everyone, I sent this once but am not sure it got posted so will send again. Have 3 7 month old ram lambs for sale. One is American Blackbelly and 2 are painted desert colored. All are intact and ready to breed. Asking $75 each - they have not had any antibiotics used on them. 2 have nice horns forming with good sized bases on them. 1 of the 3 will be a big sized ram as his mother is a large ewe and the genetics is there for size. If interested, contact us at 605-934-2453 or at belair...@hotmail.com. Ted and Sue Miller Alcester, SD _ Hotmail® has a new way to see what's up with your friends. http://windowslive.com/Tutorial/Hotmail/WhatsNew?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_Tutorial_WhatsNew1_052009 ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
[Blackbelly] Ram lambs for sale
Hi everyone, Been a while since I've posted anything here. We have 2 6 month old ram lambs for sale. One is tan in color and all the blackbelly markings, has a nice beard started but not much for horns. The other is painted desert markings and has some good horns started. We are asking $75 per ram lamb. Will be ready to breed. Their sire is Romeo, who has fathered lots of triplets for us this past year. We are located in the southeastern tip of South Dakota. Email us at belair...@hotmail.com or call 605-934-2453 after 6 Pm. Ted and Sue Miller _ Rediscover Hotmail®: Get e-mail storage that grows with you. http://windowslive.com/RediscoverHotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_Rediscover_Storage2_042009 ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
[blackbelly] Need new ram
Hi everyone, I was catching up on all the posts to the list serve. Lots going on. We are looking to trade a 9 month old ram for another ram of a different blood line. We are looking for an American Blackbelly ram and possibly a ewe lamb also. The ram we have to trade is 9 months old and has already bred some of our ewes. He is a big fella already, with a huge beard. I'm going to put Wintermute's on the spot here cause they had gotten a ram called Spice from us and he was big also. This ram is out of the same parentage as Spice was. He doesn't really have horns - just scurs but does possess some horned genetics. If there is any one in the Midwest looking for some different stock, especially if they want to put some size into theri flock- this would be the ram for it. Also on the question of preparing a skull - Ted is a taxidermist and the skulls have to be boiled with a special chemical to erode the meat fromthe skull. Believe me - you don't want to do this in an enclosed area as the smell is horrid Then there is another chemical that is used to bleach it out. We have done several what they call "european " mounts for people and this is the process. Also as far as tanning companies, we have used New Method in California but they only work with taxidermists. Lately we have been using Wildlife Fur Dressing out of Ceres, Ca. and they are great. There web site is www.wildlifefur.com. We always get our own hides back. Carol gave great instructions on preparing a hide to send for tanning. We have had some beautiful hides from Blackbelly sheep and they seem to go pretty fast when people see them. Thanks for all the great reading and info. Sorry to hear about those having difficulties with coyotes - that would be so dissappointing. Hope you get the problem under control. Sue Miller _ Interest Rates near 39yr lows! $430,000 Mortgage for $1,399/mo - Calculate new payment http://www.lowermybills.com/lre/index.jsp?sourceid=lmb-9632-18466&moid=7581 ___ This message is from the blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [blackbelly] Question
Thanks for the input. We did put baking soda in the feed for the cow but we were told to have the elevator who makes up our feed to put in the calcium bicarbonate. I wanted to know if the calcium would harm the sheep. Sue Miller _ Search for grocery stores. Find gratitude. Turn a simple search into something more. http://click4thecause.live.com/search/charity/default.aspx?source=hmemtagline_gratitude&FORM=WLMTAG ___ This message is from the blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
[blackbelly] Question
Hi there to all, After not having a computer for the past 3 months, I am finally able to catch up again with all on the list serve. Luckily, my computer has been upgraded and I'm glad to have it back, needless to say. I have a question and would some feed back about this. We have a cow in with our sheep in our north pen. Dusty will be a year old this spring and has adapted nicely to the sheep. He let the new lambs use him as a climbing toy and shares food with them. I was really amazed that they got along so well. 2 weeks ago Dusty bloated up on us. A neighbor who riases cattle came over and tubed him to relieve the excess gas build up in his stomach. He suggested that we have calcium bicarbonate added to the feed like he does to keep this from happening. I'm NOT adding anything to our feed til I know if the sheep can tolerate this cause they eat the same feed. My sheep come 1st!!! We did put some baking soda in the feed to help him but cows seem to 'pick up' on things like that added to the feed where the sheep don't mind. If anyone has any info on this I would appreciate it. I read and saw the pictures from the Tulsa article. HOW TERRIBLE! Ted and I have said many times that if we couldn't afford to feed them, we'd sell them. I could never let an animal starve - and if it was more not being prepared for the weather, then it's still shame on him for not finding them proper shelter and making hure he was preapered. We built a wall in between the two sheds we have by our north pen just so the sheep and cow would have more protection this winter from the north wind and it has really helped. Up until last year, we never had sheep in the north pen during the winter time. We are hoping that in a few years we can build a small lean-to with an east entrance to block the north wind even more for them in the winter and to store hay in. I still am so glad that we 'accidentally discovered' these animals. They amaze me all the time. I will share a story of hardiness that we experienced this fall. My 'bottle' ewe Tessa had twins late in October - 2 little boys. The one lamb was beautifully marked with a dark reddish brown coat. We determined after just a few weeks that we were going to hold on to him for breeding. We had acquired some ewe lambs that had a different sire than ours and thought he would be great to breed these ewes. We have a hay feeder attached in the corner of the shelter that we built to place hay in. At 4 weeks, Ted went out one morning to do chores. He fed them as he usually does but thought he heard a scuffling noise coming from the other side of the wall. So he went to the shed and turned on the outside light to see what the noise was. Here was this lamb stuck between the rods of the feeder - his back side on one side of the rods and his head on the other- he was in a U shape. Ted got him out and we have no idea how long he was like that. HE colapsed in Ted's arms but eventually wanted down. His head was cocked sideways. He looked up with one side of his head and down with the other. Ted said he couldn't feel that anything was broken in his neck but he had a big bulge on 1 side. We just watched and waited. Little 'Crookie Neck', as we call him, made it. He still can't straighten out his neck and the bulge is still there but he runs, eats, plays, etc just like the others. He isn't growing at the rate of the others but he's coming along. If he wants to eat something like hay that's fallen on the ground, he just gets down on his knees and eats. Dusty the cow will share his food with Crookie Neck more than any of the other lambs. Tessa keeps him close to her most of the time, almost as if shes knows he's 'special'. Our dreams of him being a breeding ram are gone but it seems a great statement about the urge to survive and the resiliency that this breed has. He will probably be around awhile and then he'll probably be freezer meat, but that's ok. Just thought I would share that with everyone. Makes me proud to raise this breed. Well I will sign off for now. The next cold wave will be coming soon to the upper Midwest and I know I'm sure thinking 'spring' already!!! Sue Miller _ Check out all that glitters with the MSN Entertainment Guide to the Academy Awards® http://movies.msn.com/movies/oscars2007/?icid=ncoscartagline2 ___ This message is from the blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [blackbelly] price discussion
Cecil, 1st of all don't call yourself gutless cause you can't quote" bring them in and then take them out." I struggle with that too but I love the taste of the meat There isn't anything 'gutless' about being attached to these wonderful Creatures!! We had been taking our sheep to a sale that is twice a year in Madison, Ne. The prices kept getting worse and worse. We finally took our last 2 groups to the Sioux FAlls stockyards. We did well on the 1st group ( young ones) and got roughly $1.05 per lb. The 2nd group were older lambs (5 - 9 mos) but they brought less, which I don't understand. The food co-op is a good place to look into. The nearest one to us is 45 miles away but they wanted us to have it processed and inspected etc and then they would take a certain cut - we didn't see where that would be real profitable for us so we didn't do it. We make our best money from individuals purchasing the animals directly from us. Keep your chin up, so to speak, there is a place for these animals - not everyone has discovered their worth yet Sue Miller ___ This message is from the blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [blackbelly] DE
Chris, Where can you purchase this DE? Sounds like something that we would be interested in using. Sounds like it is safe and easy to mix with the feed. Will it work with calves also? Sue Miller ___ This message is from the blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [blackbelly] Mineral Mix
Barb, Thanks for the heads up on this. I guess for the most part we have a thriving herd. We haven't had a whole lot of those kinds of problems that you listed. We do have mineral block for sheep available at all times along with salt and now and then some baking soda. I know that the feed company we use puts some salt and minerals in the feed also. Guess I will leave them alone. I do have a question though. When we 1st got these sheep, we were told that the ewes would lamb 5 times in a 3 year period and then seem to 'take a break' in lambing( we figured when the 6th lambing should occur). These girls haven't taken any breaks at all. Should we as herders give them that break and remove the ram from them? Of is this just an 'old wives tale' so to speak? I would like to hear what you and others think about this. Sue Miller ___ This message is from the blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
[blackbelly] Mineral Mix
Barb, What is the mineral mix recipe that was from Pat Coleby? Maybe we aren't giving our sheep enough of what they need. We noticed that we had pretty small lambs this spring and a lot of singles - I was thinking that it was just the ewes taking a break from multiples Sure would appreciate the info or where to find it - it is on the net? Sue Miller ___ This message is from the blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [blackbelly] butchering
Barb, Yes! Ted handles the knife - I hold the carcass That is my job. He uses an old hunting knife and then ( since he is a taxidermist) he will also use a scalpel for close/small areas. I can't be there for the shot either I wait til its all done and over with before I appear! Glad to hear your freezer worked well for you. I have a question though. We have an older upright freezer that just wasn't keeping his 'animals' that needed to be mounted frozen enough. It would still cool but not keep them froze. Would that 'freezer tamer' gadget work in an upright like that or not? HAppy eating! Sue ___ This message is from the blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [blackbelly] Reluctant Butcher
Barb, Julian is right about what he said. We do ours all the time ourselves. Ted is constantly sharpening that knife!We have 2 posts in the ground and a board across the top. We use Rachet tie downs to hoist the carcass up so we can do the skinning and necessary preparation outside. We use the hose to clean off the carcass ( Julian - a power washer would be excellent to have for that!!). Then we have a chain with a hook in our shop which we can hoist up again to do the actual butchering. We usually start in the early morning when it is cool out. We usually take out the loins and then just quarter the carcass and lay it in a freezer to cool it down so we can do the rest of the butchering. It does take time but it is well worth it. We grind up our own ground lamb and cut our roasts, etc. The only thing Ted says we really need to invest in is a new meat saw Good luck in your endeavor - it's well worht it. Sue ___ This message is from the blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [blackbelly] Age of Sheep
Cecil and Onalee, Thanks for the input. We will look into the Biotin, Cecil. Onalee, we try to feed her away from the herd when we can but the stronger ones usually come and take it away from her. My husband also thought about her teeth being bad. We have been discussing this past week about moving her. We have to remove two lambs here next week into the weaning pen which is on the other side of our property. We have been discussing moving this ewe at the same time so she doesn't have the stronger ewes nor as many to fight with to get her share of the feed. We haven't totally decided yet but have been thinking of that as an option to try at least til she gets stronger. If she doesn't put some weight on soon, I fear she won't make it through the winter. Again thanks for your response to our question. Sue Miller ___ This message is from the blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info http://lists.blackbellysheep.info/listinfo.cgi/blackbelly-blackbellysheep.info
[blackbelly] Age of sheep
We have a question. What are the age of sheep compared to human age? Does any one know? I know dogs age 25 years the 1st year and then 7 every year after that compared to human years. We were just curious when ewes are too old. Our beginning flock of ewes is pushing the 5 year mark. We have one that got pulled down really bad after spring lambing. If someone wandered on to the property and saw her,they would probably turn us in for animal abuse. We have been treating the problem ( tried several things) before she finally started to regain some weight. She is getting weight back in her middle section and belly but not in her back haunches as of yet. She eats constantly and salt and mineral are always available. We just wondered if age has anything to do with this. Would appreciate any one's thoughts. Ted and Sue Miller ___ This message is from the blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at blackbelly@lists.blackbellysheep.info http://lists.blackbellysheep.info/listinfo.cgi/blackbelly-blackbellysheep.info
