Topics

46

All Sheep and Lamb Discussion / Pregnancy Test

« on: August 27, 2015, 01:26:04 pm »

I just found out recently (thank you Karin!) that you can send blood off to a lab to find out if your ewes are pregnant.  I received confirmation that all four of the ewes we bred to Viking Genetics ram Tomcat are pregnant!!  Hooray!!!!

I believe the lab that I used is the least expensive around.  The cost of the test is $2.75.  The icing on the cake is that the lab is less than 20 minutes from my home so I don't have to fiddle around with packing and shipping.

47

All Sheep and Lamb Discussion / Watermelon for Sheep

« on: August 16, 2015, 02:41:32 pm »

Does anyone know if sheep like watermelon?  If they do, is there any nutritional value in it?  A friend just offered me as many watermelons as I want.  They lease out their land and watermelons are grown on it.  The seedless melons need the seeded variety to cross pollinate.  They have no use for the seeded variety and are left to rot in the field.

48

All Sheep and Lamb Discussion / Putting Pregnant Ewes Together

« on: August 14, 2015, 06:05:44 pm »

I have four ewes that hopefully are pregnant (due mid October).  They are in two different pens.   Their current pens are rather small and I want them to have more exercise.  Putting the four together in a larger pen would give them more room to roam, minimize feeding chores and free up the two smaller pens.  What I worry about is the fighter, the pusher and the shover.  Any suggestions as to how I can keep them from beating each other up and injuring the little lambs within?

49

All Sheep and Lamb Discussion / Feed Composition Table

« on: August 08, 2015, 03:51:13 pm »

While scouring the internet trying to find out the nutritional composition of almond hulls, I ran across this great Feed Composition Table.  It lists the values of 300 different feeds commonly fed to cattle and sheep.

http://beefmagazine.com/nutrition/feed-composition-tables/feed-composition-value-cattle--0301

50

All Sheep and Lamb Discussion / Cud

« on: July 29, 2015, 07:34:27 pm »

Okay, this is gross.  I was finding what I thought was diarrhea on the fleeces of most of my lambs, over their backs or on their shoulders, turns out it was cud.   While exercising my observation skills, I noticed that one lamb slobbers cud and another slobbers and spritzes his cud.  Additionally, the spritzer has it coming out his nose!  When he's laying down he juices everything near him!  Both these boys are healthy and in very good condition. 

I had the brother to spritzer do this last year and had forgotten all about it.  They have different sires.  The two doing it this year are half brothers that share a sire but have no relationship thru the dams side.

Anyone have any clues as to why?

51

All Sheep and Lamb Discussion / Chlamydia and Campylobacter Vaccines

« on: July 23, 2015, 06:14:42 pm »

I spoke with my vet two days ago and was told that I should vaccinate with both Chlamydia Bacterin & Campylobacter Fetus Bacterin (Colorado) and that I should vaccinate 30 days prior to breeding. 

Last season we had a couple sets of twins with a significant birth weight difference and also lost several lambs to still birth and abortion.

My new ram should arrive in about a week and I had planned on putting him out with the ewes when he arrived.  Now I question whether I should put him in without vaccinating, vaccinate and wait 30 days to put him out or vaccinate and put him out with the ewes.  I would appreciate any input on vaccinating and then breeding with less than a 30 day window.

52

All Sheep and Lamb Discussion / New Blower For Sale

« on: June 15, 2015, 02:00:18 pm »

I have a Metro Vac 'N' Blo PRO-3AG that I need to sell.  It's a 4 hp blower.  Seems I have more month left than money and I need the money more than I need the blower.  I bought it last year and never opened the box.  We have a small blower that is adequate so I can part with this one. 

Metro sells it online for $417.50, the price at Nasco where I purchased it was $313.  Please make an offer.

 From Metrovac's website:

The Metro® Large Animal Vac N’ Blo® on Wheels does all the work and cuts grooming time in half.

Use it as a vacuum and its super suction gets down deep to remove parasites, dirt, dandruff, and loose hair.
Use it as a blower and it dries coats evenly completely- leaves hair smooth and lustrous.
It can also be used to blow dust off animals.
Portable and lightweight, the Large Animal Vac N’ Blo® can be used anywhere.
It works great on horses, donkeys, cows, etc. even llamas love it.
The adjustable shoulder strap frees hands for easy use.
The Large Animal Vac N’ Blo® is built for continuous heavy duty operation.

Product Specifications

Large Animal Vac 'N' Blo® on Wheels PRO-3AG
Construction: Sturdy All Steel
Motor: 4.0 HP Motor
Amps: 11.25 Amps
Filtration: Paper bag, permanent cloth, filter
Water Lift: 95" of Water Lift
CFM/FPM: 130/28,000
Cord: Grounded Cord
Hose:Two 6.5 ft. flexible with air control
Tools:Air Concentrator, Air Flare, Groomer Rake
Brushes: 3 piece combo (grooming, curry comb and pin comb)
Extras: 3 Disposable Bags
Accessories: Shoulder Strap
Weight: 9.5 lb

Shipping wt 19lbs