Category: Animal Husbandry
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The Backup Rams Are In
Yesterday, we got the two backup rams in with the ewes. Desert Weyr Kevyn is in with the live cover ewes. He immediately started sniffing and chasing them, and even tried to mount a few, but none of the ewes were in heat. Desert Weyr Kirk is the backup for the AI ewes. He went… Continue reading
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The Primary Ram Is Out
We got the primary ram, Desert Weyr Kai, out from the ewe pen late today. He’s the first ram for the control group of ewes. There will be no rams with them for the next two weeks, then we’ll put two backup rams in – one with the control group, and one with the AI… Continue reading
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The Winter Solstice
Farms mark the year by the solar calendar. The solstice is the traditional mid-winter festival that marks the return of the sun. For us, too, the solstice is turnaround time. The days when the sun seems to stand still are our time to reflect on the past year. We evaluate our accomplished goals and plan… Continue reading
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Sheep AI Experiment, 2009, Part Four: Inseminating the Ewe
It’s ewe insemination day. This is the insemination pipette. It’s a modified pig insemination device. It is carefully threaded into the ewe. Ken had to hold all of the ewes in the chute. Without a squeeze, this was the only way to control them. It worked fairly well, all things considered. Insemination is simple. We… Continue reading
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Sheep AI Experiment, 2009, Part Three: More Ram Collections
With the USDA folks back, it was time to collect semen again. This time, it will be a slightly different freezing protocol. Here you can see the rams in the sweep, ready to go. They are not happy – they know what’s coming. One ram, Desert Weyr Kai, got to go in with the ewes.… Continue reading
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Sheep AI Experiment, 2009, Part Two: Syncing the Ewes
Our next step in the AI project is syncing the ewes’ heat cycles. We put CIDRs in all of the ewes today. The first group will be the AI girls. The second batch is a control group, and they’ll be bred via a live cover ram. He’ll be testing the sync procedure. Here you can… Continue reading
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Ewe Sorting and Lamb Vaccinations
We got one batch of ewes sorted out today. This group will go to the live cover ram as a control for the AI procedure. They’re now all sorted into breeding pens, and they’ve had their fall dewormer to kill nose bots. The potential AI girls are now in the other pen, closest to the… Continue reading
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Sheep AI Experiment, 2009, Part One
Today was the start of another sheep AI experiment. We started our 2009 trials with the USDA-NAGP people. We collected semen from 14 adult Black Welsh Mountain rams. Each ram had its picture taken in front of a size-marked tarp for future reference. While I managed to get pictures of the picture-taking process, I didn’t… Continue reading
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Lamb Scoreboard
Here you can see the 2009 lamb scoreboard, which shows all of the rams and the lambs they sired this year. Continue reading
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Lambing Is Officially Over for 2009
We have officially finished lambing for 2009. We’re now at 152 days from when we took the rams out. While we technically could have lambs up until 155 days, none of the remaining ewes look pregnant, nor do they have any udders. I’ve declared us finished. This year, we bred 56 ewes. 48 of them… Continue reading