Pros and Cons of breeding ewe lambs

I've been thinking about the pros and cons of breeding ewe lambs.


Pros for breeding as lambs:

*Get improvements faster by turning over a new generation.

*Get a lamb as well as a fleece for feeding over winter.

*Animals bred as lambs or kids are supposed to have more milk over thier life than those that are bred as yearlings or 2yr olds.


Cons for breeding as lambs:

*The ewe or doe may not get as big as they would they waited until they are a yearling to be bred.

*If I did not breed them as lambs I could keep a few extra ewe lambs and then cull the ones with the smallest and lowest quality fleeces after shearing. (They would still get a better price than an older animal because they would still be lambs.)

*I would not have to grain the ewe lambs if they were not bred (I'm graining them now to make sure they can grow enough before lambing.)

*While I've never had problems lambing them out ewes bred as lambs are more likely to have trouble than older ewes (I think this depends on the breed somewhat as well as management.)




The shepherds in the UK tend to wait until the ewes are a year to breed them, while many US shepherds breed the ewes as lambs.

Shetlands

Here is a poem I wrote last year:

Shetlands

Soft wool
Horned or polled rams (and ewes)
Easy lambers
Tiny sheep
Longevity
Ancient breed
Numerous colors and markings
Delightful on pastures
Short tails

Goat goals

Goat goals:

1. Buy or rent a AAGBA reg. white buck to use for breeding (I did have a buck kid that I bought, but unfortunately he died. )

2. Get 2-3 AAGBA reg. white does from Texas (depends on several factors)

3.If I get the does, then I may AI them next time Carol and Paul do AI (which would probably be in 2011)

4.Figure out what do do with extra Angora kids (There is not much of a market for them and selling them for meat as kids is not profitable. I may keep them and sell them as yearlings for meat, or cross breed some of my does to a meat buck and sell as kids. Or not breed the extra does. Both people that I got goats from do the third option-not breeding.)

5. My max for numbers on the goats will be around 20-30 for over wintering and half colored and half whites.


To see my sheep goals go to: culling/breeding

I do have a few more sheep goals:

1. keep 6 more Shetland mule lambs and 2 Shetland /Cheviots (if I don't like the Shetland/Cheviots I may keep 8 mules instead)

2. Find/get a Texal ram next year for breeding in 2011

3. I'm thinking about buying or renting a CVM ram and if I do I'd breed him to about 5 or 6 Shetland ewes and maybe a mule or two. (I probably won't)

4. If I do I'll breed the lambs to a Texal as if they were mules.

Yarn

This med. weight yarn is space dyed 80% Shetland 20% mohair. It is $4 an oz. the skeins are 2-3 oz.
This med. weight yarn is space dyed 80% Shetland 20% mohair. It is $4 an oz. the skeins are 2-3 oz.
This super bulky yarn is 100% Shetland. It is $3 an oz and the skeins are 3-5 oz.

This super bulky yarn is 100% Shetland. It is $3 an oz and the skeins are 3-5 oz.


For more info e-mail me at http://ps23farm@yahoo.com

Sunrise

Chickens and turkeys!!!

Banti Americaunas
chickens and turkeys in the day
Bourbon Red hen
Bourbon Red Tom
Americana hen
Black Australorp hens
more Black Australorp hens

Sheep in the dark

These pictures were taken with different settings on my camera.

More mule pictures

Eve
Eve's fleece mid-side
Eve's fleece on her back
Eve's fleece near the britch
Eco
Eco
Eco's fleece on her back
Eco's fleece mid-side

I took their jackets off for these pictures. (Eco was hard to photograph as she kept "hiding behind the other lambs.)

Lamb/kid names

Every year before lambing/kidding I think of a list of name to name my babies! This year is the "F" year (I'm doing the alphabet.) I need more girl names as I'm only naming lambs/kids that are for breeding stock. (I don't name cull lambs/kids or market lambs.) If you think of any "F" names feel free to post them in comments.


It doesn't feel like spring when it is -20 ,but spring WILL come! I can't wait! Spring-lambs, kids, chicks, new fleeces, fresh veggies, GRASS, Easter, Easter candy, warm weather and more!!!

Fern
Flower
Fir
Fire Poppy
Five-Spot
Flame Azalea
Forsythia
Fiddleneck
Fringed Gentian
Forest
Flora


France
Fiji
Filipinos
Finland
Florida


Finch
Falcon


Frazer
Fletcher
Fife
Forsyth
Ferguson
Faguharson


Fermium
Fluorine
Francium
Flint

Felix
Festus
Felicity
Forunatus
Febee
Fillmore
Florence
Ford
Frank
Faragot
Fronzie


Fountain
Folly
Fizz
Fuzz
Fluff
Fawn
Fudge
Frozo
Fish
Flounder
Fleur
Frisbee
Froto
Fairy


Fandango
Forte


Fairlie
Fetlar
Fairlight
Ferryhill
Foula
Falkirk
Farnworth
Funzie
Ferndale



That's all for now.

Horses

"Sonata" is an 21 year old Arabian mare.
"Minuet" is a 10 year old Saddlebred X Arabian aka a National show horse.


These are my sister, Lydia's, horses. She is 12 years old-the age where girls love horses! (Her bed room wall is covered in horse pics!) She goes riding, takes care of them and pays for all their hay, and hoof trimming by doing paper routs.

Falling Snow

I took these pictures last night when it was snowing. They don't look like snow, but they are kind of cool-they look like stars.

If you look closely at the non-blurry pictures you can see lots of colors-purple, green, blue,ect.

Lock yarn

This lock yarn has a Shetland lamb yarn warped in mohair and then plied with cotton thread.

This lock yarn has a Shetland lamb yarn warped in mohair and then plied with cotton thread.

This lock yarn is 100% mohair. It is very soft and very shiny! It has a cotton binding thread.

This lock yarn is 100% natural colored mohair it is soft and shiny. It has a cotton binding tread.


These skeins are 2-3 oz. and are $14-21 ea. (depending on weight.)

e-mail me with an questions ps23farm@yahoo.com .

Fleece pictures

This fleece is Eco the grey katmoget mule's fleece

These 2 pics are Eve the white mule's fleece. I LOVE her fleece!!!
This is PS23 Elsie-(PS23 Craigrothie X PS23 Dancer) she is a fine single coated white. She is actually an accident that turned out nice! She is Craigrothie's daughter and grand daughter. Her dam was 10 months old when she gave birth. (I had even given her dam Lutalyse.)She was too small to be bred this year.
This is Everest- who is the teaser ram. (He was sterilized by my vet) so hopefully all my ewes were synchronized by him and lamb in a smaller period of time.(1 month instead of 1 1/2 or 2 months)

Douglas the NCC's group

Sonsie 108 "Douglas"-(a Reg. North Country Cheviot) is a muscular ram with down type wool. I don't believe that he carries color so all his lambs will be white.
Eve-(PS23 Carmicheal a Shetland X Potter the NCC) is a white Shetland mule with very fine longwool type fleece.
Eco-(Anastasia a Shetland X Potter the BFL) is a grey katmoget Shetland mule with fine longwooltype fleece.
Meatball(my sister named her) is a 3/4 Coriedale X 1/4Dorset. Her lambs are just for market. She has down type wool-good for Q-batts.
Windswept Lime-(Windswept Great White Shark X Windswept Ladybug) has a very large white intermediate fleece.
PS23 Bluebell-(Justalit'l Joshua X MacEwen Kelly) is a coarser double coated black iset ewe.
PS23 Ariel-(Glennsdale Jedidiah X Bramble Jocelyn) is a coarser double coated med. grey ewe.(Ariel has had very nice fleeced pure bred lambs and some that were not nice at all)
MacEwen Kelly-(Glennsdale Jedidiah X Glennsdale Hyacinth) is a coareser double coated lt.grey ewe
PS23 Almond-(Maplewood North Licorice X Holy Hills Onyx) is a double coated black iset ewe.
Minwawe Milky Way(Minwawe Captain X Minwawe Galaxy) is a fine double coated ewe. Milky Way is a smaller ewe.
Clarice-(Unreg. Shetland) is a lt. grey coareser double coated ewe.
PS23 Diamond-(Windy Acres Golden Eagle X PS23 Bluebell) is a double coated shaela ewe.
Bramble Jocelyn-(Great Plains Joey X Bramble Ginny) is an intermediate-double coated moorit iset.
PS23 Buttercup-(MacEwen Kirkwall X Holy Hills Onyx) is a double coated black iset ewe.

Most of Douglas'es lambs are for market but a few Shetland-Cheviots may go for breeding stock (and I may keep two to compare to the mules.)