Problems

catchall for all lambing “issues”

How often do Soay ewes produce twins?  Some thoughts and some data

How often do Soay ewes produce twins? Some thoughts and some data

For those of you interested in twinning rates, we have some data, but first a couple of comments and several caveats. We do not have any way to analyze the effect of nutrition on whether a ewe has twins. The commercial breeders use a system called “flushing” to get their ewes to twin. It involves […]

Read More →

Read More →

Never underestimate your Soay runts

Never underestimate your Soay runts

Every few years we end up with an unexplained runt in our flock, not the one who is slowed down by a touch of coccidia or the littler twin who has trouble competing for its mother’s milk supply, but an unusually small animal who for some unknown reason simply falls behind. We had one of […]

Read More →

Read More →

Soay Lamb Camp 2015: setting the stage

Soay Lamb Camp 2015: setting the stage

I have an unlikely Soay sheep tale to share with you about a magical three days we just experienced when three utterly delightful women — one from Cleveland, one from Cincinnati, and one from St. Louis — came all the way out to Oregon to share lambing with us for just three days — almost […]

Read More →

Read More →

Real-life Soay lambing stories: jugging sure beats bottle feeding bummer lambs

Real-life Soay lambing stories: jugging sure beats bottle feeding bummer lambs

Apart from lambing itself, the best part of raising Soay sheep is communicating about them with other breeders, folks interested in starting a flock, researchers looking for various kinds of data, the anonymous readers of our website and this blog, and especially anyone with questions about lambing issues. Most of the time the questions come […]

Read More →

Read More →

Tiny Tim Leaves His Adoptive Soay Home for Greener Pastures

Tiny Tim Leaves His Adoptive Soay Home for Greener Pastures

When Tiny Tim arrived on April 17, 2013, weighing in at just one pound 13 ounces, we despaired that he would survive, much less catch up to his greedy twin sister. Loyal readers know we were lucky to be able to place him with an adoptive mother at the ripe old age of one day, […]

Read More →

Read More →

Tired of shearing your sheep?  Get Soay!

Tired of shearing your sheep? Get Soay!

Now that the summer temperatures are approaching the 100 degree mark, the thought of having to shear our sheep and wrestle with all that hot wool gives me the willies – yuk! Thankfully, the lore about Soay shedding their own fleece is true; with one notable exception, Soay sheep really do cast off their fleece […]

Read More →

Read More →

Top