Raise Sheep?

[equusvilla]

This is our second year owning minature Chevoit sheep. We purchased 1 ram and 3 ewes. 2 of the ewes were a year old at purchase and 1 ewe and the ram were just babies...so we knew not to expect any lambs last year. We got the sheep from 2 different herds. I know they breed in the cool months and that gestation is about 5 months. Right now they are in full wool and look like huge fluff balls. My question is something I have combed all my sheep books for and have not found... Is there a way (other than hauling them to the vet) to tell if the ewes are pregnant?

Here is a picture taken last year:

http://equusvilla.blogspot.com/2007/06/cheviot-lambs.html

[GoshenNY]

Oh man do you have your work cut out for you...
I had three ewes and one ram,,, they all decided to lamb in Late Feb. One had a hard time,,pulled the baby out all was fine.
Second ewe had triplets and was a terrible mother, Had two lambs living in my kitchen on the bottle.
I LOVE sheep, but they are so much work, and they would get into panic mode when they could see me.
I would call your local 4h office and find out who does sheep locally, make them dinner and have them come by and check your woolies out.
Send me pics,,
J

[Iluvgoldies]

Cheviots ! I call them jumping sheep. If frightened (which is often, they are extremely skittish even for sheep), they will clear anything. I saw mine jump the bottom dutch door of the barn more than once. Have you witnessed this behavior?

Hmm, well would a vet come to you to u/s them? Thats the best way to confirm pregnancy.

[Thomas_1]

I've 2,000 sheep - well a bit more than that now because we're well into lambing.

A heck of a lot of them are Cheviots or Cheviot Cross. I live in the Cheviot Hills ;) So it makes sense to have our native breed.

You can either get a pregnancy test for them or have them ultrasounded. The vet will come to you if needed.

When were they put to the ram?

Here's some of mine:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v258/flodden_edge/Scenery/DSCF0017.jpg
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa178/classic-carriages/scenery/DSCF0024.jpg
http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa178/classic-carriages/scenery/DSCF0018.jpg

[equusvilla]

Oh man do you have your work cut out for you...
I had three ewes and one ram,,, they all decided to lamb in Late Feb. One had a hard time,,pulled the baby out all was fine.
Second ewe had triplets and was a terrible mother, Had two lambs living in my kitchen on the bottle.
I LOVE sheep, but they are so much work, and they would get into panic mode when they could see me.
I would call your local 4h office and find out who does sheep locally, make them dinner and have them come by and check your woolies out.
Send me pics,,
J

WEll - they LOVE to see me ...because I bringith food!! ha ha .. but the ewes are a bit skiddish. The Ram would curl up in my lap if I let him.. such a sweetie. We named him...what else... RAMSES!

[equusvilla]

Cheviots ! I call them jumping sheep. If frightened (which is often, they are extremely skittish even for sheep), they will clear anything. I saw mine jump the bottom dutch door of the barn more than once. Have you witnessed this behavior?

Hmm, well would a vet come to you to u/s them? Thats the best way to confirm pregnancy.

The 2 from up North are jumpers. and the colder it is the higher they jump! The 2 ewes I bought here in Texas are not quite as fiesty.

[equusvilla]

I've 2,000 sheep - well a bit more than that now because we're well into lambing.

A heck of a lot of them are Cheviots or Cheviot Cross. I live in the Cheviot Hills ;) So it makes sense to have our native breed.

You can either get a pregnancy test for them or have them ultrasounded. The vet will come to you if needed.

When were they put to the ram?

Here's some of mine:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v258/flodden_edge/Scenery/DSCF0017.jpg

I was hoping you would answer. I have seen some of your pictures and I thought they looked like Chevoits!

Since I only have 4 total, the ram lives with the ewes 24/7.

[equusvilla]

Ohh - almost forgot.. from what I have been told ..it is rare for minature Chevoit's to twin.

Here is another picture of them from last year. You can see the 2 in the front are the older ones.

http://equusvilla.blogspot.com/2007/07/all-4-lambs-now-call-equus-villa-home.html

[equusvilla]

If I do not want to buy those HUGE clippers (about $400.00) to clip 4 sheep once a year - is there a cheaper alternative?? Also - don't even think of suggesting those horrid labor intensive and very dangerous scissors!!! ha ha

[goodhors]

If you already own a pair of the big Sunbeam/Oster clippers, you can buy a shearing head to put on. The silver part, horse clipper, comes off the motor, then you put on the shearing head. I have NOT been able to get horse clipper blades to work on our sheep, have to buy sheep or goat blades. We have found the more teeth on blade, the better the cut is for closeness. You probably will need a couple sets of blades. Dirty sheep dull the blades faster.

You might want to put a shearing stand together, they are very handy at containing the sheep while you, the SLOW ammie shearer, work on them. Some sheep never heard that story about being quiet to clip if you sit them up. They can still kick and struggle, makes the job much harder.

If you don't know when ram got them covered, you probably will want to crotch/crutch them out for lambing pretty soon. Exposes their rear and teats to prevent matting with birth fluids getting into deep wool. Left long, the messy wool is stinking shortly after, can cause infection, flies and maggots get into it. Lambs can find the nipples to nurse after clipping.

Do they still have tails? Tails can collect a lot of seeds, poop and body fluids, takes more time to clip. We dock our lambs, just not really short. Your sheep certainly will need shearing before summer heat comes. Do you have a use for the wool? Planning ahead is going to make things easier.

I would stongly suggest that you separate the ram so ewes are not constantly bred. You will be having lambs all the time, won't know when to even be prepared for them! Not good for their health.

You could keep one of the boy lambs, castrate him, let him stay with ram in a pen away from the ewes, until you WANT them bred. If you get no ram lambs, maybe someone has a wether sheep, wool breed, they no longer want. A number of spinners keep wethers for colored wool, special texture wools, on special breed sheep for their craft. They don't want lambs. Around here such sheep become available on a regular basis. Or you could buy a lamb to use as a wether with older ram.

I would hop the sheep in the horse trailer, shut ALL DOORS so they can't jump out. Neighbor found a dead sheep in his ditch that had evidently jumped while being transported to the Fair. Lots of livestock movement that couple days. No other sheep flocks around except his colored ones and our market lambs. Ours were already gone by that week.

Thomas, those are lovely photos. Sheep look like little boxes on legs, nice looking animals. Are they raised for wool there? Lambs are so small here, they don't make good meat sheep. We looked at them for ourselves, but they were too small and wild. Not a good reputation around here because they jump so well and stay flighty. No wool market, so meat sheep are the normal choices in our area. Hope the lambing is going well, snow does NOT look inviting for lambing time. Do you regularly have snow for lambing?

[equusvilla]

Thanks for the clipper info. I did not know you could do that. YEAH - I sure am a ammy..If I remember correctly - it took me 6 days to sheer 4 sheep last year and I had a very distinct hoof print on my boob!

2 of my sheep have docked tails and 2 do not6. I prefer the docked ones as well...but maybe that comes from years and years of raising Pembroke Welsh Corgi dogs!!!

Great idea about the 2nd castrated ram. With only 4, I could not take Ramses away without everyone going into hyper worry!

As for our trailer, thankfully it is completely enclosed. That was a really sad story - and since I have indeed seen my sheep jump quite high - I can imagine that is exactly what happened.

Something I think is funny is when they are scared - the hair on the back of their necks stands straight up - like a dog! In full wool - that is really funny looking.

[Hampton Bay]

Just as an aside, are they raised for wool, or just as pets? Is there a market for a small breeder to sell the wool? I have always loved sheep, but I don't need any more mouthes to feed unless they make some money back.

[equusvilla]

I have heard their wool is desireable ...but sadly I do such a pi** poor job sheering them, what I am left with could only be used to stuff a pillow!

[Frank B]

OK, you now raise sheep. Can we assume you've seen Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs) and the sheep? If not, click here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QErgjt_GYBk). Oh, and swallow your coffee first!

[LCR]

I raised sheep for many years and they co-existed with the horses. There is a wonderful breed called the CLUN FOREST that originates in England and in 12 years old breeding them, I never had any lambing or mothering problems. They are almost non-existent with this breed!
Plus easier to sell breeding stock as they are a rare breed. Start with OPP free stock.
Have nice wool and the lambs mature well and fast without grain.

[equusvilla]

OK, you now raise sheep. Can we assume you've seen Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs) and the sheep? If not, click here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QErgjt_GYBk). Oh, and swallow your coffee first!

Swallow my coffee first....?? don't you mean this video is an excellent dieting tool?...and that I might throw up?? I don't ever want to eat again! I could only get through the first 30 seconds or so of that video before I had permanent wrinkles on my face from my looks of disgust!

[Frank B]

Swallow my coffee first....??
In case you've just taken a mouthful, so it doesn't wind up on the screen & keyboard!

[equusvilla]

In case you've just taken a mouthful, so it doesn't wind up on the screen & keyboard!

ha ha - what you should have advised me was to watch it only if I had not eaten in 8 hours. That video made me gag.

[carolprudm]

Just as an aside, are they raised for wool, or just as pets? Is there a market for a small breeder to sell the wool? I have always loved sheep, but I don't need any more mouthes to feed unless they make some money back.

I used to raise Icelandics. Sorry, there is not much of a market for wool. I hired a shearer. I spin so it didn't matter. There is a decent market for meat

[equusvilla]

Okay - so one of my ewes is really 'lumpy' looking around the middle...and although the advice to shave them around the back end to keep things clean sounds like perfect sense..wouldn't that be traumatic for a pregnant ewe?

[goodhors]

Okay - so one of my ewes is really 'lumpy' looking around the middle...and although the advice to shave them around the back end to keep things clean sounds like perfect sense..wouldn't that be traumatic for a pregnant ewe?

This is where that sheep stand I told you to make, comes in real handy. You are not needing to wrestle them around much, trying to hold and clip at the same time. Sheep are safely restrained, you can use both hands to control wool and clippers as you shear them.

You can make or buy a sheep stand. Looks pretty much like a goat stand for milking. Sheep stand has a chin brace with locking chain going behind the head. Most chin rests will be adjustable, to suit the animal being worked on. Needs to be big enough to hold MATURE ram. Year old, is not fully mature though he did breed the ewes. Solid for restraining the animal on platform, so you can work without leaning over so much. I have seen homemade stands work perfectly well, made of boards and 4x4 inch. wood legs.

Get the stand, hop the sheep up, fasten the collar, give them some snacks, so they learn to stand on it. Should only take a couple times. Guide them on and off for safety, no slipping. We use flat nylon dog collars or sheep halters, to control animals. You can't usually hold sheep with wool, if they choose to leave!

Stands are the best choice, especially if you are awkward, alone or slow. If the ewes look or feel lumpy, you NEED to get the job done. Could you call the breeder, any other local sheep keepers, to find a shearer?

Sydell Products for sheep has a site. Can't seem to print the link.

Something else, you need to get registered as a sheep breeder in your state to get farm tags for the lambs. They need to have farm tags in ears if you sell or move them off the property. Birth to death tracking. Your sheep should have been tagged with these before you brought them home. If not, call the breeders and ask for tags from their farms. Scapies is a huge item of interest with sheep and Federal folks. You also might want to get number tags, tag tool at TSC, to keep track of which lamb came from which ewe as they age. Record keeping is important with tracking of sheep, registrations, in their future lives. May not be pets forever. Even meat lambs need a scapies tag.

The other thing is to check with your Vet, get your shots on hand for lambs. Around here, new lambs get Selenium and Vit E, tetnus shots, and over-eating shots, to prevent deaths. No selenium in our soil means they get white muscle disease, can't walk, then they die. Market lambs get creep feed right off, will stuff themselves and die without the shot. We didn't creep feed our homegrown lambs, but gave the shot anyway. Better safe than sorry, and sheep are very silly. Overeating is likely something they would do to spite us. Your area may have special shots lambs need. You will need a tool for docking tails after they get a little larger, castration too. Get some iodine around for doing the navel stumps after birth. We do our lambs a couple times, to get cord dried up and closed fast. Spare lamb nipples and formula for orphans.

Just like foaling, the human keeper needs to have things ready, on hand for surprises. I would be getting those ewes crotched/crutched out right away. Maybe you can borrow a stand for this time, get them cleaned up fast. Want it done before lambs make a surprise appearance. Have pens ready, so mother and lambs can be alone together to mother up. Nature takes time to work.

[equusvilla]

Thank you for all the advice!! I was told that lambs are born looking for a way to die...YIKES!!!

[Benson]

Thank you for all the advice!! I was told that lambs are born looking for a way to die...YIKES!!!


WE too have just a couple of Cheviot sheep. They live with the 27 y.o. pony. Once our ram has presumably bred everyone, which is around Christmas, he heads to the abatoir and comes home in nice cryowrap. The ewes are then crutched and we prepare for lambing. We have a lambing kit of electrolytes, lamb bottle, 7% iodine, birthing chains for pulling and a nice bucket.

Our Cheviots are very jumpy!

[equusvilla]

2 out of 4 of mine are "jumpy". I lOVE that about them too!. Makes me feel wanted when I go and feed that they get so excited that they jump and flip around like acrobats!

Now for a vent....I HATE TRACTOR SUPPLY!!! 9 out of 10 times when I go there they do not have what I am looking for! GRRRRR!

Last night I wanted to buy:
sheep clippers - NOT
clipper blades for another clipper - NOT
Lamb milk replacer - Yes
bottle for milk replacer - Not
Table to groom the sheep on - Not

...so now this is what I have for lambing so far...milk replacer and iodine solution.