The ram lambs were born in May through June of 2014. These seven little boys were weaned in October and were still very small, so they went in with the little goats kids and the two Nubian does for company and warmth. The Nubians and kids have a round granary as their barn and it does keep them totally out of the wind. With the 14 bodies in the barn, the temperature can be twenty degrees warmer than the outside. For night that have been especially cold this winter, the extra warmth provided by the sheep has been good for the goats and the lambs too.
But goats and sheep do have different nutritional requirements. Goats are browsers and eat from the top down given their choice, whereas sheep are grazers and like short grass the best. They both eat weeds and the goats prefer tree leaves to grass. Good hay for the sheep and goats will have lots of natural weeds in it. But the does benefit from the extra protein and minerals in alfalfa, though for rams, it is too rich and sometimes the extra calcium can cause urinary calcuali, little calcium stones that must pass the urethra, a painful condition. Baking soda helps with that, but prevention is better, so now that the lambs are older, it was necessary to separate them. Goats require greater amounts of copper in their diets, but too much copper is harmful to some breeds of sheep, so the concern for feeding minerals and mineral salts is also there.
Moving the ram lambs is always a process. They are not tame and friendly, but not wild. They have not been haltered, nor ever fed grain, so leading them with the lure of a grain bucket means nothing to them and haltering one is a process. The term "jumbuck" is a young lamb on a tether, likely originating from the jumping and bucking they do. My poor arm and shoulder muscles will never be the same. I moved the first that way and then my son devised a plan. I had already thought that plan through, but felt I could not execute it on my own. Since he was there to help, we put the ewes in the barn, then opened and closed several gates, and along with the border collie, Robbie, got the rest of the ram lambs into the other goat pen. The goats were then easy to lure out with a bucket of grain, since they all knew what that was and they followed me to the pen where the lambs left from, to be with the rest of the goats.
Then war broke out. The two herd bosses, Cecelia, the Nygerian doe and Mattie, the Nubian doe, had words. Cecelia has horns and knows how to use them. She won. The herd is still divided and I have been feeding them separately and will continue to do so for the next while until they sort things out between themselves. I noticed the Nygerians were sleeping in the shelter, while the Nubians still had their barn. What I would like to see is all the goats in the barn. The Nygerians are pregnant, but the Nubians are not bred this year.
And poor Raven, the lone little buck was left with the ram lambs and has gone hoarse crying for his girls. I will move him along with the two little bucklings when the weather warms up somewhat. Oh the fun with the critters never does end!
But goats and sheep do have different nutritional requirements. Goats are browsers and eat from the top down given their choice, whereas sheep are grazers and like short grass the best. They both eat weeds and the goats prefer tree leaves to grass. Good hay for the sheep and goats will have lots of natural weeds in it. But the does benefit from the extra protein and minerals in alfalfa, though for rams, it is too rich and sometimes the extra calcium can cause urinary calcuali, little calcium stones that must pass the urethra, a painful condition. Baking soda helps with that, but prevention is better, so now that the lambs are older, it was necessary to separate them. Goats require greater amounts of copper in their diets, but too much copper is harmful to some breeds of sheep, so the concern for feeding minerals and mineral salts is also there.
Moving the ram lambs is always a process. They are not tame and friendly, but not wild. They have not been haltered, nor ever fed grain, so leading them with the lure of a grain bucket means nothing to them and haltering one is a process. The term "jumbuck" is a young lamb on a tether, likely originating from the jumping and bucking they do. My poor arm and shoulder muscles will never be the same. I moved the first that way and then my son devised a plan. I had already thought that plan through, but felt I could not execute it on my own. Since he was there to help, we put the ewes in the barn, then opened and closed several gates, and along with the border collie, Robbie, got the rest of the ram lambs into the other goat pen. The goats were then easy to lure out with a bucket of grain, since they all knew what that was and they followed me to the pen where the lambs left from, to be with the rest of the goats.
Then war broke out. The two herd bosses, Cecelia, the Nygerian doe and Mattie, the Nubian doe, had words. Cecelia has horns and knows how to use them. She won. The herd is still divided and I have been feeding them separately and will continue to do so for the next while until they sort things out between themselves. I noticed the Nygerians were sleeping in the shelter, while the Nubians still had their barn. What I would like to see is all the goats in the barn. The Nygerians are pregnant, but the Nubians are not bred this year.
And poor Raven, the lone little buck was left with the ram lambs and has gone hoarse crying for his girls. I will move him along with the two little bucklings when the weather warms up somewhat. Oh the fun with the critters never does end!
The ram lamb with the horns is in front of the litltle doeling, the white one and the cashmere doeling behind her, while Dori's spotted legs are to the right of him. Now the sheep are separated from the goats. Whew!
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