[Blackbelly] Breeding Comedy Show
So, I have 4 acres with many many separate pastures with gates and enclosures. I spent the morning first separating out the two ewes, pasture by pasture (I don't have a chute system yet). I wanted to pair these girls with Harpo an inexperienced but beautiful ram. They went into a pasture right next door to the rams, which were already fighting over them, and the girls were demonstrating the fact they appeared to be in heat. Mind you, I am doing this all by myself this morning. I have 5 intact rams, but they are actually not too difficult to separate out. There was a narrow 8' wide by about 30' long run between the ewe's pasture and the ram's pasture, and it had some fresh green grass in it that looked real good to eat. I set up the gate to allow all the rams into the run, through the gate, one at a time, and simply not allowing Harpo in. It worked-- since he's timid-- and was the last one trying to follow in. I then lazily threw a chain around a post, thinking the gate would stay closed juust long enough to chase Harpo in through a small shaded gate under a shed roof, and he'd go in with the girls. I forgot the famous findings of Temple Grandin and how herd animals don't like to enter shaded, scary looking places. Then things went wrong and I wish I had a camera, since it would have a good Darwin Award Video, with me starring as the Village Idiot. Harpo is being scared of where I am trying to force him to go, so he's running everywhere through a pasture but not through the dark opening to the girl's pasture. Meanwhile, the other rams start banging against the run gate, and two other rams bang the gate loose, they're no fools, and instantly run in through the shaded opening, in with the ewes. They start mounting away, as I have to secure the run gate to keep the rest of the rams from escaping... I am cussing my head off, realizing my selective breeding program has probably just been spoiled, if the girls are really fully in heat. It takes about a minute to really chain the gate well, and these guys are wasting no time. I manage to grab a more tame one, Ziggy, almost instantly, and drag him back with the rest of the guys, cussing all the while. The other, Verne, is working the girls over and staying with them as they run all over the place, mounting them every time they will stay still in between chases by me. I could only imagine he knew he was on borrowed time :-) I end up having to close everything, let the rams back out of the long run into their pasture, and re-set the gates to use the long run as a trap on my side instead, and run Verne and the girls into the long narrow run so I can separate them. It works fairly easily. At this point, I am glad I have experience with a crook. Since he little place to run, I crook him handily and end up picking him up and just dumping him over the fence into the ram pasture again. Good thing he's the smaller of the rams! Chase the girls out of the run, start the whole process over. Close off the gates to favor the ram side again. Rams still easily walk into the long run one by one, cut off Harpo again, but this time, I use BrainPower and bother to stop and chain everything up well. I guess if they lamb in 150 days to the day, I'll know there's no idea who the father is, but if they take a week or more than the normal period, it's a good chance Harpo is the father. The other two are plenty good sires, but they are not Harpo. The learning question here is: besides me being daft and underestimating Harpo's reluctance to go into a shaded, strange area--and not chaining things up safely, what sort of chute can one use for rams with large horn racks? I imagine if you measured Marley, the largest rack-ed ram, he's have 35-40 inches or so. -Michael, Perino Ranch Blackbellies ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [Blackbelly] Breeding Comedy Show
Hi Mike, I can't help with the chute question but I suggest for accidental breeding, use Lutalyse, which causes the ewe to expel the fertilized egg. Use 3cc of Lutalyse at least 11 days after breeding. Less than 8 days doesn't work. I had a similar breakout when I first started in sheep and this was a very good option. I didn't waste a year of the ewes' lives creating lambs that I could not register because I didn't know their sire. Carol At 03:36 PM 12/4/2013, you wrote: what sort of chute can one use for rams with large horn racks? I imagine if you measured Marley, the largest rack-ed ram, he's have 35-40 inches or so. -Michael, Perino Ranch Blackbellies Carol Elkins Critterhaven--Registered Barbados Blackbelly Hair Sheep (no shear, no dock, no fuss) Pueblo, Colorado http://www.critterhaven.biz ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [Blackbelly] Breeding Comedy Show
Sounds like you had quite an adventure. I am discovering that catch pens and funneling chutes are extremely helpful :-) Jann Sent from my iPhone On Dec 4, 2013, at 3:36 PM, Michael Smith mwsmotorspo...@gmail.com wrote: So, I have 4 acres with many many separate pastures with gates and enclosures. I spent the morning first separating out the two ewes, pasture by pasture (I don't have a chute system yet). I wanted to pair these girls with Harpo an inexperienced but beautiful ram. They went into a pasture right next door to the rams, which were already fighting over them, and the girls were demonstrating the fact they appeared to be in heat. Mind you, I am doing this all by myself this morning. I have 5 intact rams, but they are actually not too difficult to separate out. There was a narrow 8' wide by about 30' long run between the ewe's pasture and the ram's pasture, and it had some fresh green grass in it that looked real good to eat. I set up the gate to allow all the rams into the run, through the gate, one at a time, and simply not allowing Harpo in. It worked-- since he's timid-- and was the last one trying to follow in. I then lazily threw a chain around a post, thinking the gate would stay closed juust long enough to chase Harpo in through a small shaded gate under a shed roof, and he'd go in with the girls. I forgot the famous findings of Temple Grandin and how herd animals don't like to enter shaded, scary looking places. Then things went wrong and I wish I had a camera, since it would have a good Darwin Award Video, with me starring as the Village Idiot. Harpo is being scared of where I am trying to force him to go, so he's running everywhere through a pasture but not through the dark opening to the girl's pasture. Meanwhile, the other rams start banging against the run gate, and two other rams bang the gate loose, they're no fools, and instantly run in through the shaded opening, in with the ewes. They start mounting away, as I have to secure the run gate to keep the rest of the rams from escaping... I am cussing my head off, realizing my selective breeding program has probably just been spoiled, if the girls are really fully in heat. It takes about a minute to really chain the gate well, and these guys are wasting no time. I manage to grab a more tame one, Ziggy, almost instantly, and drag him back with the rest of the guys, cussing all the while. The other, Verne, is working the girls over and staying with them as they run all over the place, mounting them every time they will stay still in between chases by me. I could only imagine he knew he was on borrowed time :-) I end up having to close everything, let the rams back out of the long run into their pasture, and re-set the gates to use the long run as a trap on my side instead, and run Verne and the girls into the long narrow run so I can separate them. It works fairly easily. At this point, I am glad I have experience with a crook. Since he little place to run, I crook him handily and end up picking him up and just dumping him over the fence into the ram pasture again. Good thing he's the smaller of the rams! Chase the girls out of the run, start the whole process over. Close off the gates to favor the ram side again. Rams still easily walk into the long run one by one, cut off Harpo again, but this time, I use BrainPower and bother to stop and chain everything up well. I guess if they lamb in 150 days to the day, I'll know there's no idea who the father is, but if they take a week or more than the normal period, it's a good chance Harpo is the father. The other two are plenty good sires, but they are not Harpo. The learning question here is: besides me being daft and underestimating Harpo's reluctance to go into a shaded, strange area--and not chaining things up safely, what sort of chute can one use for rams with large horn racks? I imagine if you measured Marley, the largest rack-ed ram, he's have 35-40 inches or so. -Michael, Perino Ranch Blackbellies ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
Re: [Blackbelly] Breeding Comedy Show
I have a small corral, about 15' x 15', where I feed the rams, this is also where the water trough is. Even in the summer when they're on pasture I dump some grain in the feeder about once a week. All I have to do is dump a little grain in the feeder and they all come running. Once they're in the corral I just close the gate to the pasture and use the crook to catch the one I want. If necessary I open the doors into the barn and run them into the smaller stall inside. This works really well 99% of the time but there has also been a couple of comedy shows. I have the Billy Buster chute also but just got it set up and haven't used it yet. Dan -- ___ This daily digest is from the Blackbelly mailing list. Visit this list's home page at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info/ End of Blackbelly Digest, Vol 9, Issue 66 * ___ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
