The Baalands
My place to write about my farm, pets, retirement, and travels -- and share pictures.
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Threes
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Looking for trouble
The goat kids are about two weeks old. They're fun to watch. They're always getting out of their pen and going exploring. Wherever they can go, they go. At the same time, they never venture too far from their home in the back bay of the garage. Stretch doesn't like them to leave the garage. He always herds them back in. Of course, they come back out. Sometimes they get into the pen with the orphan lambs.
Who's your Momma?
This year, I had seven lambs that I raised artificially. Six of the lambs I separated from the flock. The other one, I kept with its mom. Four of the lambs were from the two sets of quads. In total, there were four males (all quads) and three females (all triplets). I always name the bottle babies. This year's names are Niner, Decker, Darlene, Eddie, Toby, Timmy, and Katie.
I decided to bottle feed instead of bucket feed. It uses less milk. I'm not sure bucket feeding saves much time, since it takes longer to clean the equipment. To me, the labor is in making milk. I can more closely monitor the lambs with bottle feeding. They drink very fast. I feed two at a time.
The first ewe that had quads was a 4-year old Weeks ewe. I thought she would be able to raise at least 3 of the lambs, but after a day or so it didn't look like all of the lambs were getting enough milk, so I pulled two. The other ewe that had quads was a ewe I would have least wanted to have quads. I had to help her raise her first set of twins (as a yearling). Last year, she did better. I removed two of her quads for feeding. The artificially reared ones are bigger than the dam-reared ones. I probably cull the mom.
1911 is a ewe that has only milked one side for several years. She has been raising two good lambs on one side; so I keep her. She's an excellent milk producer. Last year, she only had a single, a big ram lamb that was first to sell for breeding. This year she had triplets. I immediately took one of the lambs, tube fed it colostrum, and began bottle feeding it. I figured she'd raise the other two. But either she didn't have enough milk (this time) or the second lamb couldn't figure out that only one side had milk. Regardless, I began bottle feeding a second of her lambs. 1911's tenure has probably come to an end. I'll likely cull her after she weans the lamb she is raising.
1621 has been one of my best ewes, but she is 9 years old now. Last year, she raised a beautiful set of twins. I kept the ewe and used the ram as a clean-up. The previous year, I pulled one of her triplets for artificial rearing (it had gotten sick). I had to rear one of her triplets this year. It would have survived on its mother, but bottle feeding has made it do much better. In fact, it's probably the heaviest bottle lamb. I named the lamb Eddie after her grand sire.
All of the orphans are doing well. Two are weaned. Three will be weaned in a day or so, and the other two will be weaned next week. I have used five bags of milk replacer for the 7 lambs. Hopefully, I'll have a little left over from the last bag (for next year). I wean orphan lambs at around 35 days. I could probably wean them earlier, and should. After weaning, they stay together as a group for awhile, before being merged with the younger ewes' lambs (in the back).
Orphans are inevitable with the prolificacy of my flock. Most of the ewes raise their triplets. Unfortunately, neither of the ewes that had quads this year was able to raise all of their lambs. I've had ewes raise four lambs in the past. One of my ewes (#1773) has raised two sets of quads. I'd rather have a ewe that has triplets and raises twins than one that only births and raised two lambs. The third and fourth lambs are bonuses: gifts. They are free. Plus, I can only identify ewes that can raise triplets if I have lots of triplets and occasionally quads born. Besides who doesn't love bottle babies, a.k.a. bummers?
Saturday, April 19, 2025
2025 Lambing Summary
The 2025 lambing season is finished. One ewe lambed early, the result of a wayward ram. One ewe did not lamb. She is either open or will lamb late, hopefully the latter. The 1 and 2-year-old ewes were bred to lamb three weeks later than the mature ewes. This is the summary:
38 births
1 ewe late or open
3 births assisted: 8 percent of ewes, 9 percent of lambs
First lambs born: (February 18) March 11
Last lambs born: April 18
34 mature ewes
5 yearling ewes
Age range: 1 to 9 years
Average age: 4.6 years
Median age: 4 years
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38 ewes lambed in 2025 |
90 lambs born: 88 live
2 dead (2.2 percent)
47 male (53 percent)
41 female (47 percent)
89 percent multiple births
2 sets of quads (5.3 percent): 8 lambs
14 sets of triplets (36.8 percent): 42 lambs (1 dead)
18 sets of twins (47.4 percent): 36 lambs
4 single births (10.5 percent): 4 lambs (1 dead)
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14 sets of triplets |
Lambs born per ewe: 2.37
Live lambs per ewe: 2.32
Lambs raised per ewe lambing (n=38): 2.13
Lambs raised per ewe exposed (n=39): 2.08
7 artificially reared
Lambs born per mature ewe (n=34): 2.48
Live lambs per mature ewe: 2.42
Lambs raised per mature ewe: 2.24
Percent triplet moms raising three lambs: 85 percent
Lambs born per yearling (n=5): 1.6
Live lambs per yearling ewe: 1.4
Lambs raised per yearling: 1.4
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Yearling ewe with twin ewes |
Average birth weight of quads: 7.6 lbs.
Average birth weight of triplets: 8.7 lbs.
Average birth weight of twins: 10.1 lbs.
Average birth weight of singles: 14.0 lbs.
Average birth weight of ram lambs: 10.1 lbs.
Average birth weight of ewe lambs: 8.8 lbs.
The sires of the lambs were the two new North Carolina State University rams (named Munchkin and Thunder) and Falkirk, a homegrown ram out of a Weeks ewe and USDA ram (both NSIP). Sterling was a clean-up ram, also sired by the USDA ram.
Munchkin: 46 lambs
Thunder: 22 lambs
Falkirk: 19 lambs
Sterling: 1 lamb
Wednesday, April 09, 2025
Born Outside
Almost all of the lambs are born inside the barn: hoop house or carport. This ewe decided to have her lambs out in the field. I waited until she was done to put her in a jug in the carport. It was a split set of twins. The red ewe is a 2 year old, with her second set of twins.
The Baby Goats Have Arrived
Friday, March 28, 2025
Two thirds of the way
Twenty-six ewes have lambed. Thirteen more to go. One third. I have 67 lambs, a few more females than males. Two sets of quads. Lots of triplets. Twins. No single births except a dead lamb delivered by a yearling ewe.
Three ewes had pairs of backward lambs (hind legs first). I pulled all of them. Two of the ewes had third lambs that were in proper position, but I pulled them anyhow. Backwards can be a normal delivery, but there is always a risk. None of the ewes showed a water bag. They weren't making progress so I intervened.