Proud of my yearlings

This year's yearling ewes have done an exceptional job. It think it's the best year yet for yearlings. My six yearling ewes gave birth to 13 lambs. I removed a triplet lamb for hand rearing. They are all raising twins:  11 ewe lambs and 1 ram lamb. The sire of the lambs is a "left over" ram lamb I call  Wilson.  He is a big (tall) ram, but his shedding is suspect. Time will tell.

406's twin ewe lambs:  92% Katahdin x 8% Lacaune

My two black ewes are purebred registered Katahdin. They are sisters to each other. They gave birth to three colored lambs (two black, one red) and one white lamb. Two of the yearling ewes are 31% Lacaune (dairy). One ewe is 16% Lacaune and the sixth ewe is about 85% Katahdin. The other 15% is Hampshire, Suffolk, and Dorper.

#442's twin ewe lambs:  100% registered Katahdin

It will soon be time to wean the yearlings' lambs though one set of lambs is several weeks younger than the rest. I may put her with the ewe that had lambs in June. I have maintained the yearling ewes as a separate production unit all along. This further ensures their success in the flock.

The only ram lamb: 100% RR Katahdin

All of the yearlings has shed well, though one of the 31% Lacaune still retains some wool on her rump. I'll probably have to shear it off. My original crossbred Lacaune ram was woolier than I preferred.

If your yearling ewes are not the best ewes in your flock, you are doing something wrong. They should represent the best genetics in your flock. When you compare the adjusted weaning weights of their lambs to those of your mature ewes, they should be near the top, exceeded only by good-growing triplet lambs.

The youngest lambs:  84% Katahdin x 16% Lacaune (ewe lambs)