Or more specifically,
lamb stats. Today I decided it was high time to worm my flock, a necessity here since I don't have year-round pasture or enough space to rotate. I don't have a livestock scale so I guesstimate weights on the adults, but the lambs I picked up and weighed on my digital bathroom scale. The older boys surprised me; they were heavier than I expected. Banjo, the littlest of the four, was 47 pounds; his twin Bodhran was 52 pounds (at exactly 15 weeks old). Barry, at 15 weeks and one day, was 56 pounds. He has always looked like the biggest, but Blake came in at 57 pounds. Sure, he's four days older, but he's also an orphan - not bad; not bad at all! Oh, and I wish I'd had my camera with me, because Blake's fleece is just breathtaking under his coat. It is the same gorgeous taupe that his dam Brava's was her first year (I'm thinking he's fawn or possibly rose mioget because of the color of his tongue), with a loose crimp, luster and an incredibly soft hand. He's still smooth-polled, with a good bite, excellent wool coverage and correct conformation; so far I am
very pleased with this homegrown ram prospect!
A lousy photo of Blake, but the only recent one I haveKatie's twins are just shy of seven weeks old; Bardas weighs in at 22 pounds (after a brief bout with diarrhea) and Byzantine at 27 pounds. I've held off banding Bardas, because someone is interested in him as a potential flock sire. I love everything about that little guy except that he's horned, so I hope it works out. He's showing no signs of Ag, so I think he'll stay a rich, dark moorit.
There was gratuitous fleece feeling all around, and chin rubs for those interested. I am thankful for oral wormer (Valbazen) so I don't have to poke them. (I'm sure the sheep are thankful, too!) I probably
shouldn't have wormed Dinah, Browning and Bronwen; Dinah and her offspring are aggressive feeders and easy keepers and certainly have no problem keeping on weight. I'm thinking of putting them in a separate "diet pen," at least at night, so that Inky, Bramble, Katie and her lambs don't have to compete with the piggies.
That's it for now at . . .
A lousy photo of Blake, but the only recent one I have
6 comments:
I use Valbazen on the goats too. Which reminds me.....
Beautiful color on Blake.
I don't know about the worming, but I imagine the holding, nuzzling, scritching and rubbing parts of being a sheep herder are the best parts of the job!
Nancy in Iowa
I am glad Blake is doing so well. He's such a handsome guy. And good news for Bardas too :)
A few years ago, when Jari was still in 4H I bought a deer scale from Cabellas, it goes to 350 lbs, and a sling so we could keep track of her lambs weight gain. I still use it to determine when the lambs are ready to go.
I've been using Molly's Herbal Wormer on my goats. I suppose time will tell on that.
Have you ever tried those tape measures that indicate approximate weight by girth? I'm curious as to how close to accurate those really are.
Leigh, I know those tapes work pretty well on horses, but I would think that the fleece on a sheep (unless recently shorn) would definitely affect accuracy.
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