Category: Animal Husbandry
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Lambing Lull
We’re now officially in the lambing lull. It’s the break between when the AI lambs and the secondary lambs are due. It’s been a busy and somewhat difficult lambing so far. Our AI experiment was a rousing success this year! Of the 44 ewes we bred using the AI cervical procedure using frozen semen, 22… Continue reading
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Wider Than They Are Tall!
The ewes aren’t due to lamb until the last week of April. However, they’re already getting quite round. I always tell people that our sheep are wider than they are tall when they’re heavily pregnant. Most folks don’t believe me, though. Here’s the proof! Continue reading
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Sheep AI Work
We are once again doing research with the USDA National Animal Germplasm program. This year, we are collecting blood samples and other data on the ewes to evaluate their ovulation stats. The experiment calls for blood collections every hour, so we have a lot of work to do. We had our vet put catheters in… Continue reading
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Black Welsh Mountain Sheep Characteristics
I use a variety of characteristics to evaluate our flock of Black Welsh Mountain sheep each fall. I also look at their NSIP EBVs for important traits. Every year, I evaluate them to determine who stays, who will be for sale, and who will go to the butcher. We’ve sorted the rams, ewes, and yearlings,… Continue reading
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Lambing Continues
We are still lambing. So far, only eight ewes have lambed, and we have ten live lambs. We did lose an ewe and her twins to a really bad dystocia, but those are the only losses we’ve sustained so far. Our AI girls are looking like they’ll pop if they move too fast. We’re expecting… Continue reading
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Lambing
We actually started lambing yesterday, but today was when I got some pictures. This was a large ram lamb – over eight pounds – that was upside down. He had to be turned before he could come out. Mom and lamb are both fine now. Continue reading
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Finally, Shorn Sheep on Pasture
We finally got all the sheep shorn, and the pregnant ewes are now out on pasture. Just in time! Lambing is due to start on April 25th. Continue reading
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Fat Sheep
It’s warm and dry at the farm again. The pregnant ewes are looking rotund. We still have about six weeks to go before lambing is due to start. It looks like a lot will lamb to the AI, so up to 30 ewes will be due all at once. Continue reading
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CMK Arabians
Our Arabian horses are from old CMK lines, and they represent even-tempered family horses that echo the original Arabian. We started with Arabians in 1970 with two half-Arabian mares. After many years spent working to conserve these rare bloodlines and maintain a variety of sire lines, we’ve decided to stop breeding horses. Our purebred Arabians… Continue reading
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Sterling Is in Jail
Little Sterling is the lamb whose mother died when he was only three weeks old. He’s small and stunted, and he can’t live with the rest of the ram lambs. However, he seems willing to try and breed the ewes, so he’s now in a separate pen in the hay barn. We don’t need any… Continue reading
