Breeding Season

It's time to think ahead five months to lambs. But that won't happen if I don't do something about it now. What with events and classes the last few weeks it was hard to get all the rams and ewes sorted into the right places but they are there now.   Faulkner's ewes were first to sort because at least I knew where I would put them. They are staying in Faulkner's pen. He has 7 ewes.     Hendrix, with 18 ewes, tried to get started right away. He didn't choose the right ewe.  Miller, with 9 ewes, had no problem figuring it out. Each ram wears a marking harness so that I know when each ewe is bred. I will change the markers to another color after two weeks. If the ewes are marked again then there may be a problem with ram fertility. Presley is another adult ram but I don't plan to use him because he is closely related to the others. (He is for sale.) He was hopeful when I moved him to another pen, but he gave up after finding that there were only ram lambs.    I wanted to use one of this year's ram lambs for the fourth group of ewes. I had a hard time choosing among the rams I have saved. My first choice was a four-horn ram lamb who I think has promise and also placed well at the summer shows.   Unfortunately, he was very sick with bluetongue (insect transmitted virus common in the fall) a few weeks ago. He pulled through (I lost two others) but with the 106+ temperature I can not be sure that he is fertile. He may have his chance next year, but this year I needed to find another ram.   I chose a two-horn ram whose wool I like. He wasn't happy about the whole thing. The ewes were a little rough on him the first day. I could just hear the comments under their breaths "little pipsqueak", "a lot of gall thinking he can handle us", "take that" (rib-bashing)There were times when I thought that this ram would do OK, but most of the time I found him lying down away from the ewes. I started to wonder if he also had bluetongue because he acted so depressed and showed no interest in food or the ewes. I finally removed him and chose a second ram. Now I think that he just wasn't ready to breed and the ewes knew that and beat him up. Most Jacob rams are ready to breed at six months, but not always. This guy seems to be interested and ready to go.  He weighs less than all these ewes but that doesn't seem to bother him (or the ewes). Hendrix has been with his ewes for a week and seven are marked.Miller has five marked.Poor Amaryllis is exiled for the moment. I don't want the rams fighting through the fence so they are all in areas with no fence-line contact. Besides the four ram groups there are the non-breeding ewes (spring lambs, summer-lambing ewes, cull lambs) and non-breeding rams.  That doesn't leave much space for Amaryllis since she has to be on a grass hay diet without pasture (she broke the grazing muzzle) or alfalfa. So she has her own corral for the moment.

Real life farming is not always pretty

DISCLAIMER: You wanted it real, right? At least that's what I hear from some people who say they want to know what it's like to raise sheep. So this post is real. No pretty pictures; in fact, some down-right yucky ones. A few sad stories. It's the other part of life on the farm. Skip this post if you don't want to know. Over the last couple of months  I have had to deal with several relatively minor veterinary issues. If I had to call a vet for each of these I might as well give up raising sheep. There are some things you just have to do on your own. But also note that if I hadn't dealt with these issues as they arose they would have become much more serious. As it is, they are mostly nuisances, taking time away from other things on the never-ending list of things-to-do.

Problem: Ram horn growing too close to jaw. It doesn't look too bad here but... ...here is how it looked after I cut the horn. There was already an open sore on the skin which is the perfect place for infection and fly strike to start. This ram was never registered and destined for butcher because of his horns and his personality. In fact I had counted on using his very cool striped horns for dozens of fabulous buttons. The sad story is that his horns were lost at the butcher facility and no one seems to know what happened to them. Discouraging.

Problem: Ram horn growing into skull. This is Miller. He started life out with nice looking horns, but after one broke it started to grow in the wrong direction. (Those photos will be another post.) This is looking down and you can see the horn going into the top of his skull behind his ear. This is the kind of saw that you use to cut horns. It's a wire piece with two handles. I can't find mine so this belongs to a friend (thanks, Jackie).   Here is a close up after cutting the horn. It's hard to tell but the horn had already gone into the flesh making an open wound. This is the same view covered with Swat, an product that keeps the flies away. It comes in clear or pink. I like pink because I can see that it is still there. Sorry boys. I took these photos in mid-June. It's early August and this horn needs to be cut again. I just looked up the wire saw on-line because I need to buy one. I read that the wire gets dull with use. No wonder that when I tried to cut this horn again I couldn't get anywhere. I will buy two of these wire saws (with the wire that can be replaced) and give one to Jackie.

Problem: Ewe depressed (not in the psychiatric way), not eating, getting worse quicklyOne morning I found Hattie, an otherwise healthy 3 year old ewe who was in a group of ewes I had recently weaned, not wanting to eat and not responding to much I did. I was teaching a class that morning and couldn't do much other than put her in her own pen and get back to her later.

Do you see Hattie's posture in the photo above? That is known as star-gazing and sometimes is a result of a thiamine deficiency. I didn't think Hattie could see--not a problem with the eyes, but a neurologic problem. From Sheep101:

Polioencephalomalacia 
(PEM, CCN, polio, cerebrocortical necrosis)
Polioencephalomalacia is a disease of the central nervous system, caused by a vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency. Since the rumen manufactures B vitamins, polio is not caused by insufficient thiamine, but rather the inability to utilize it. The most common symptom of polio is blindness and star-gazing. 

Polio most commonly occurs in lambs that are consuming high concentrate diets. Polio can also occur in sheep that consume plants that contain a thiamase inhibitor. Polio symptoms mimic other neurological disease conditions, but a differential diagnosis can be made based on the animals' response to injections of vitamin B1.

  I knew that an injection of thiamine would clear this up if that was the problem so I called my vet (Dr. M) to get some. I gave Hattie the injection and saw no response. I talked to Dr. M and she asked if she could come out and bring some students who were helping her. (She said that if nothing else, I would be adding to the students' experience.) In the long run, we gave Hattie thiamin, calcium, and glucose to no avail. She died within a few hours. I took her to the Food Animal Health and Safety Lab at UC Davis and the necropsy report showed copper toxicity. That could also be the subject of another post someday. There have been a few other deaths associated with Cu toxicity and I don't know the source of the Cu.

Problem: Ram lamb with broken horn (and lots of blood and flies). That is not the normal position of a horn. The lambs often break horns when they play and fight, but they usually break the outer covering off the horn, leaving a bloody core. It's messy, but if you do nothing (except use Swat on the head to keep flies away) it will dry up and heal and the horn will continue to grow. But not this one. This is looking down on the ram's head. The lower horn broke at the base of the core which leaves a hole in the head. In this case you can't just put the horn back and expect it to reattach...and you have to be careful of infection and fly strike. I ended up taking this horn off entirely and then having to cauterize the wound to stop the bleeding.  Swat again. I kept the ram in a pen for a day with a fan blowing to hopefully keep the flies off. The second day I decided he was better off in the field instead of the barn. He is now a 3-horn ram and is in the butcher line-up.

Problem: Ram with swollen jaw. Remember this guy? This is the one from the first photos. I noticed a swollen jaw. My first thought is bottle jaw (caused by worm overload). On closer examination I saw something else. This is a view of the underside of the jaw.  Here is the solution. Cut the horn, take a photo, then apply Swat.

Problem: Ram with gooey eye. This is Miller again. I noticed eye looking gooey and let this one go for a little while. (It's more work to catch the rams.) After I took a closer look I realized that the gooey eye was a result of a wound (probably from rams fighting) and not due to illness. It was not only gooey, but the lids were swollen. Clean up was in order. More clean up and then Swat.

Problem: Ram with swollen jaw.  This ram lamb has no horns to speak of so that is not the problem. At first I thought this one was bottle jaw also and I think I treated him with worm medicine. The swelling never subsided and then started to change from an even swelling to something that felt more like an abcess. I just realized that I have no more photos of this one and that's probably a good thing. This was a big abcess, probably from a foxtail. I treated it and kept the ram away from the others, but I could never get it to clear up well. This ram went with the last batch of rams who were butchered.

Back to pretty pictures next time.

What is wrong with this picture?

I see something wrong here. This may not be obvious to anyone but me. How about in the next photo?Look more closely.I wish that I could draw arrows on the photo but I don't have the right software. See the sheep on the left? How about the sheep in the back with the white horns. And the sheep in the right center with his head down. Yes, those are rams in the pasture with the ewes. And Amaryllis is in the ram pen. OOPS! Someone didn't latch the ram pen gate after she cleaned out the feeder.BUSTED! You guys have to go back in.Sorry, boys.

Camera Shy Rams

I was trying to take ram photos today. It's frustrating because they all stay in one cluster. I think part of that is due to the flies that bother the sheep this time of year. They stand together with their heads down. This isn't exactly the kind of photo I'm looking for.Or this.Rusty helps move them around.I had the best luck getting photos of this ram with the white horns, but he is not one I'm keeping for a couple of reasons. His lower right horn was already cut to keep it from growing into his cheek. The lower left is almost growing into his jaw and will need to be cut.  He also shows no respect for people and as he gets older I think he could become a danger.  Both rams in this photo are a year old, born at last year's State Fair in July. I am keeping Hendrix, the one with the black horns, at least for now. He just recently broke his top horns which is unusual for an adult ram.This is a photo of the same ram taken in February. Do you see those ridges on all the horns a few inches from his head? There must have been some kind of stress (illness, parasites??) at that point in growth that results in a weak place in the horns. Now, as he fights or......rubs on a tree (even with electric fence there...ACHHH!) those horns have broken off where they were weak. (Also notice how far out they have grown since February.) While we're looking closely at ram horns...   ... take a closer look at the ram with the white horns.

So after dozens of photos this morning I didn't end up with the full body shots I had hoped for. I have a few head portraits.  Hendrix (Mud Ranch's Hudson x Meridian Shelby)Miller (M. Clapton x M. Mable)Presley (Sweetgrass Clint x M. Vicki)   Larry (Ruby Peak Linden x M. Spring)

Ultrasounds and other veterinary observations

The veterinarians from UC Davis VMTH were here on Monday. The VMTH sponsors the State Fair Nursery so they will come here to ultrasound ewes. I will be breeding 3 or 4  ewes at the same time as all the others are lambing. This fall, while I was breeding ewes to 6 different rams I also had a non-breeding group. Unfortunately, one of the rams got in with that group on the last day of my breeding season. I gave the 2 ewes he bred the sheep equivalent of the morning-after pill, so Monday was the day to see if it had worked.

No! Shelby is pregnant with a single and Mary has triplets. I think this is the photo of triplets. (If you must know, I can't always tell what I'm seeing in these.) By the way, a lamb at 42 days gestation is about the size of a gummy bear. That's not something that you find in a veterinary text, but vet students have pointed out the relationship to their teachers.

Here is one that I could see. There is a large (relatively) single lamb here in the middle just under that dark line. (It doesn't show up in this photo as well as it did seeing it on the screen.)

While the vets were here I showed them a wool sample from the fleece of a ram lamb, Presley.

It isn't all that obvious in this photo, but can you see that distinct change in color and texture at the bottom of the locks? It is not weak at that point, but the fleece definitely changes color. That is the cut end, so the change occurred a couple of months before shearing. I thought that maybe this related to selenium deficiency or some other mineral issue. We looked at the ram.

This is Presley, taken in mid-September. One observation of mine is that he won't register as a lilac ram, but his fleece is the brown/gray of a lilac and definitely not black and white. (In this photo the dark wool just shows sun-bleaching, but when you look at the fleece sample you can see that is is not black.) However his facial markings look black. I think this is what some people are calling a chocolate lilac. This is Presley now. Take a look at his horns.

I hadn't noticed before, but all 4 horns have a ridge in the same place and the vets wondered if this related to the same conditions that caused the change in the fleece sample. When you look back at the first photo of Presley from September 17 you see that his horns are smooth. I posted a video of Presley taken September 24 that shows what I think is one of the many possible symptoms of bluetongue. The last two photos were taken 3 months after that. Did the illness result in the change in horn growth and the fleece observations? It is not any matter of earth-shaking importance, but I find it an interesting idea. My simple question about the fleece has led to a lot of other inquiries.

We looked at the rest of the rams while the vets were here.

 This is Larry, who was breeding a friend's flock and just came home. The friend told me that she thought Larry had blue tongue also. Note the ridges on his horns.

The reason that I asked the vets about Presley's fleece is that I had remembered seeing another fleece with the same discoloration. I had taken a photo of it at the time.

 Ginseng is also a lilac lamb and her fleece shows the color change at the same place as does Presley's.

I have no answers yet (except that Mary and Shelby won't be going to the fair), but I'm going to examine the rest of the fleeces as I sort through them and I think I'll pay more attention to horn growth after this. I'll report back if the vets give me any answers.

A Riot of Rams

You've heard of a Flock of Sheep, a Herd of Horses, a Gaggle of Geese. How about a Riot of Rams as a subset of the Flock? Larry came home yesterday. He is a ram born last February (still called a lamb up to his first birthday) and was with a nearby flock of ewes. Whenever rams that have reached sexual maturity (and that could be 5 to 6 months) are to be reunited there are apt to be fights until they have figured out the pecking order. The shepherd's job is to prevent injury, death, and property damage. Most of the time that means putting all the rams together in a pen that is small enough that they can't back up and put their whole body force into the inevitable ramming that occurs.

This is Larry. He is a nice looking ram lamb. Since I was going to be moving all the rams I took the opportunity to trim all their feet.

This is one of the ram lambs born at the State Fair in July.

 He has nice wool, doesn't he?

Here is Sullivan, a yearling ram. He was shorn along with the rest of the flock last month. Larry missed shearing so I'll have to shear him by hand, and I didn't shear those lambs that are going to be sold. Do you notice a swelling just under and behind the two spots on his shoulders?

 Here is what it is like close-up. I noticed it a few days ago and I think it is a hematoma, probably a result of rams tussling.

How do I put the rams in close quarters? I don't want them near the ewes because that would be asking for trouble. I particularly don't want any of these rams trying to get over or through the fence to get in with the ewes. So I use one of the stalls, but a 12' x 12' stall is way too big. I use panels to make a pen in the corner of a stall.

There is a feeder just out of this photo at the bottom of this photo. The two shorn rams at the feeder are the February lambs. The two rams with wool at the feeder and the one in the top corner are the July lambs. Sullivan is the 2-horn ram in the center and Larry is the 4-horn ram next to Sullivan. Small enough pen?

Evidently not. I tried to take video so I could share the real impact (pun intended) of this, but it was too dark in here. In this photo Larry goes for Sullivan.

Now it's Sullivan's turn. You can't tell in these photos but there is real power behind these hits.

Larry's turn again.

Another view. They are still fighting.

I collapsed the pen a bit more and they gave it up. Or maybe it took the fun out of the fight when they couldn't back up to bash each other.

This morning all the rams were behaving so I gave them more space. Tomorrow they will go out to the ram pen and live happily ever after...