So good to hear someone allow the ewe’s to deliver naturally rather than immediately intervene. I have seen a number of relatively new homesteaders who immediately assist pulling the lamb out even if no indication of issues. They will frequently jump in and start drying them off and one time recently I watched a family do that with a baby goat and then handed the baby to their daughter so she could cuddle with it before the mother had an opportunity to do anything with her baby or the kid was able to start walking around. Then they were concerned because the kid wasn’t trying to nurse and the mother wasn’t nurturing.
Thank you! I have seen what you are talking about as well on some other channels. In my herd I select for ewes specifically that are good mothers and can birth unassisted. I want my animals to live as natural lives as possible.
I love how you covered all the bases and also shared your preferences in lambing. We are in Ontario, Canada so we plan our lambing for spring grass which starts much later here. It’s cool to see what different regions can do in terms of timing too!
I love your videos and grateful I found your channel. Being new to sheep I’m able to obtain a wide variety of valuable information to apply to my very small flock. Thank you for your time and efforts.
Great video! Thanks for teaching us what you know :) I especially like your list of things to have on hand. And I like that you don't intervene unless you need to. You are great at doing these videos, keep it up :)) Jane in Ireland
I love your video so much. I raise sheep as well and am learning so many new tips from you!!❤ I would absolutely love a list of everything you have in your emergency kit if possible? Thanks for the molasses tip! I had a mom that lost her babies just yesterday so I will be using that tip today👌
I love this kind of info. I am thinking about maybe a retirement homestead and raising our own protein. So I am very interested in very small scale natural animal husbandry. Some videos on small scale self sufficient operations would be delightful as I suspect that there would be differences in approach v.s. larger operations.
This was a great video with a ton of information, thank you so much...! We are in SW Washington with a very similar climate and will very soon have our first sheep; 5 Gotlands...oh boy...
Thanks for sharing. I couldn't help but watch since the name of your ranch is Red Tail. That was my first successful hunting bird - for bunnies - normally early before school. I was in 8th grade and have flown lots of birds of prey since then, but 'you always remember your first' (bird). I am about to begin with sheep - Australian Whites - on my ranch in Ecuador.
That's awesome! I'm obsessed with birds of prey, and we have many Red-Tailed hawks on our property. I'm jealous, I would love to learn falconry. I'd also love to get my hands on some Australian whites, they seem like an ideal breed.
@@YouCanFarm I am anxious to head to Australia and meet the breeders, see some of their sheep, taste some of the meat and determine if it is as delicious as everyone says... then, I'll purchase some and ship them back to Ecuador. The particular traits, calm demeanor, parasite resistant, etc. are all great qualities and it their meat tastes (almost) as good as Wagyu Beef, then I'm IN! As far as Red-tailed hawks, I think they are among the easiest birds of prey to train and start your falconry experience. They're great birds, whether you start which a passage bird or one about to fledge the nest.
Thank you for the videos, it was very informative. I have a question, I'm adopting 2 ewes and 2 ram (all are 3 mos old). Trying to get their housing build for the ewes and the ram. Can I build their shelter with 15 feet from each other? I don't plan on breeding them til next fall.
The more space between ewes and rams when not breeding the better. You will reduce stress and the temptation to break out of fences by moving them further apart.
I move the ewe and her babies to their pen as soon as she is done delivering. I keep them there for between 12 hours and 3 days, depending on how well they are doing. Some ewes need more time to recover, and some lambs need a few days to learn to nurse well. If she has multiple lambs they usually stay longer than if she just has one. I let them back out into the flock once I'm confident they are strong and bonded.
Is it stressful trying to keep up with multiple lambs all arriving at the same time? Looks like there is only you and a lot of lambs. Very good breakdown of lambing requirements. You are on top of your game.
We love your youtube channel and are located in western NC we are looking to breed sheep and are looking to get a couple females and a ram do you sale and of your sheep?
Hi and thank you! Yes, we sometimes have some sheep for sale. We have one ram and a few young ewes available now, but they are all daughters of the ram.
Question, do you sell the lambs for meat processing at around 8 months old? My daughter raised one in the FFA and that was the case, was wondering if that’s the rule, that sheep are sold as lambs for meat. Or can they being sold for the slaughter older? Like 2 years old sheep? Or just lambs?
We process lambs when they have reached a good weight, and not based on age. I have processed them from 6 months old up to 6 years old. For the meat to be labeled as "Lamb" they should be under one year old, otherwise it is considered mutton, but they are still good to eat at any age.
@@YouCanFarm I’ve been trying to find that answer for weeks! Thank you so much for taking the time to make great videos AND answer me back. God bless, from Nova Scotia
I will also upload some of my sheeps videos in coming months .I hope you will like it .we have different kinds of sheep as compared to your country.add me in your subscribers that You can see my videos too.
