Messages

1

All Sheep and Lamb Discussion / Re: Viking genetics Fuzz Ball Ram

« on: December 19, 2018, 03:53:03 am »

Love my Fuzzball babies.  Just beautiful!  Big rumps, level tops.  Lots of bone.  No eye lid problems.  Plan to breed to him again!

2

All Sheep and Lamb Discussion / Re: Best Rams for Lai that dominantly throw balance and correctness

« on: December 19, 2018, 03:47:17 am »

My lambs by Fuzzball are the best LAI babies that I've had.  Balanced, correct and extremely muscular.  He put bone on every lamb.  I'll definitely breed to him again this spring.   

3

All Sheep and Lamb Discussion / Re: Recurring Choke

« on: December 08, 2018, 03:57:27 pm »

I haven't had a problem for the last couple of weeks.  She isn't getting any grain and doesn't seem to bolt her hay.  Of course now that I've commented on her status she'll choke tonight!

I've heard the vagus nerve is a problem with sheep that have pneumonia.  Does the nerve recover after the pneumonia is gone? 

4

All Sheep and Lamb Discussion / Recurring Choke

« on: October 28, 2018, 01:41:29 am »

I have been having choke issues with several of my ewes.  I didn't have a problem when I was feeding alfalfa cubes but now that I'm feeding alfalfa hay choke seems to be a recurring issue.  The one that seems to have the most trouble never bloats up so I know she's not blocked.  You just hear a lot of hard swallowing.  The last feeding went untouched.  Has anyone else had this type of experience?  If so, did you find a way to resolve it?

5

All Sheep and Lamb Discussion / Re: Viking genetics Fuzz Ball Ram

« on: August 12, 2018, 06:32:00 pm »

I bred 10 ewes to Fuzz Ball in May.  I'm not sure how many conceived as I haven't had the time to draw blood.  I'm looking forward to see what I get.  I had wanted to breed some ewes to Steel Banana but there was an issue, I don't recall what, so I bred all to Fuzz Ball.  Next May I'll use Steel Banana.

6

All Sheep and Lamb Discussion / Re: Viking genetics Fuzz Ball Ram

« on: February 03, 2018, 03:41:34 am »

I'm looking forward to seeing them!

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All Sheep and Lamb Discussion / Re: Viking genetics Fuzz Ball Ram

« on: January 28, 2018, 03:18:07 am »

I did a search and found it.  They look good!  Thanks for your help!

8

All Sheep and Lamb Discussion / Re: Viking genetics Fuzz Ball Ram

« on: January 25, 2018, 09:56:11 am »

I never received a reply so I haven't seen the Fuzzball babies.  Sure would like to see photos posted of Fuzzball and Steel Banana babies.

9

All Sheep and Lamb Discussion / Re: How Do You Stop Wood Chewing?

« on: January 14, 2018, 06:39:01 pm »

Thank you for your suggestion.  I'll try adding some long hay to their current diet.  I do feed long hay when I run out of cubes and can't connect with our cube supplier.  Our cubes have a much longer hay fiber than the bagged variety.  Our supplier chops and cubes in the field so they don't need to grind the hay and add clay as a binder.   

The girls are out on light pasture during the day but I lock them in the paddock at night to feed and also because there are coyotes nearby.  There are a number of boards laying on the ground for them to chew on but they seem to have a preference for wood that serves a purpose.

Thanks so much!

10

All Sheep and Lamb Discussion / Re: How Do You Stop Wood Chewing?

« on: January 09, 2018, 09:34:01 pm »

The loose trace minerals are primarily salt.  I didn't know if anyone knew of something that I could apply to the wood as a deterrent.  Darn beavers!

11

All Sheep and Lamb Discussion / Re: How Do You Stop Wood Chewing?

« on: January 09, 2018, 03:05:25 am »

Pretty sure they have enough fiber.  They get alfalfa cubes and almond hulls.  With the hulls comes some shell.  You'd think they'd like to eat the nice woody shells but apparently they think the sheds taste better.

12

All Sheep and Lamb Discussion / How Do You Stop Wood Chewing?

« on: January 05, 2018, 02:35:02 am »

I have a number of sheep that have decided wood chewing is a great past time.  They chewed a huge whole in the side of the feed shed and ate half a bale of hay.  They started on my tack room wall.  I nailed a tarp on the wall to stop that.  Now they've started on every shed they have access to.  Short of nailing tarps on every building on my property, is there a product that will deter these beavers?

They have loose trace minerals available.

13

All Sheep and Lamb Discussion / Re: I figured out, i cant make any money on raising sheep

« on: January 02, 2018, 12:41:48 am »

We've had a number of microbreweries open around here recently.  I'll have to check around to see if they need an outlet for their grain.  I expect my girls will be thrilled to indulge in it.  If I find a source for it I'd like to check back with you to find out what I need to do to be sure that they have sufficient calcium in their diet.

14

All Sheep and Lamb Discussion / Re: I figured out, i cant make any money on raising sheep

« on: December 30, 2017, 05:29:30 pm »

How much do you feed?  Does it need to be mixed with other grains or can it be fed alone?  Can you feed it to the lambs as well as the ewes?

15

All Sheep and Lamb Discussion / Re: I figured out, i cant make any money on raising sheep

« on: December 28, 2017, 01:02:28 pm »

Crystal, where do you find brewers grain and how do you feed it? 

I feed a lot of almond hulls but they'll run out in a few short months so perhaps brewers grain could fill in the gap.  Hulls are cheap right now and the sheep love them.  They run around $67/ton.  Back in May, when the supply dried up, the price jumped up to about $120/t if you could find them at all.  Jim, check to see if they have hulls anywhere near you.  You can substitute them for about 50% of your hay.

Anyway to cut costs, including flock reduction, is a great way to help to help your bottom line.  The best thing for me has been fall lambing particularly thru LAI.  We've improved our flock and the price that we can get for our lambs.

It costs the same amount to feed a high quality ewe as it does a poor quality ewe.  The difference is in the marketability of the resulting lambs.  Fall lambs seem to be in higher demand and command a better price.  If you are using your own ram, Jim, maybe consider using cidrs and breed for fall lambs.

Now I just need to do a better job of taking my own advice.