preparing ewes for lambing, feeding, etc.
This post serves two purposes: to provide an example of trying to time the start of breeding in order to enhance the odds of having at least a couple, and hopefully several, lambings in a very narrow window of time the next spring, and as a fitting ending to the saga of Lamb Camp 2015 […]
As we were waiting around this week for our ewes to swing into action, it occurred to us that it really is not fair for the lambs to get all the attention. They do the all the work, after all. So we decided to put together an introduction to lambing that features some of our […]
Of the many ways shepherds can fritter away hours waiting for their Soay lambs to arrive, none is more useless than trying to figure out how many lambs we’ll get in total, i.e., which ewes will have twins and which will have just one lamb. We kid ourselves into thinking the exercise is useful for “planning.” […]
After a prolonged work stoppage, the ewes at Saltmarsh Ranch agreed to assume their assigned tasks (lambing and nursing) on Day 166 after breeding began. Sources indicate the onset of lambing ends several weeks of tense negotiations and picketing. For its part, management have withdrawn their threat to withhold compensation (a.k.a. hay) and have turned […]
Here we are in the dead of winter, minding our own business, whittling away at the projects that we put off all spring and summer and fall, and our pregnant ewes have gone totally ditzy. About 6-8 weeks out from lambing, they should be settling in to a nice matronly, placid late gestation, like ovine […]
Anyone learning about Soay sheep for the first time and who embarks on a literature search commonly will encounter numerous references to the Soay ewes’ legendary ability to lamb easily. In fact, if you find an article about Soay sheep that does not remark about how easy lambing is, I would be surprised. The good news: it’s not just easy at […]