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Right here at MyLamb.com, you can create a Shepherd's calendar based on the actual or intended breeding date. Then, once you have created your calendar, print it out. The great folks at Mill Canyon Club Lambs have provided us with a great list of things to look for during the Shepherd's year.

Please take some time to send thank you to mcclambs@yahoo.com and visit their site. It was alot of hard work pulling this information together.

So, say you want to see when your lamb will be born. First set the calendar to the breeding date. Then press "Update Calendar".

Select a Breeding Date:

Date:

Breeding Date:

February 2012
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Lambing Date:

July 2012
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Complete Calendar from Breeding through the show.

December 2011
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Rams condition 60 days prior to breeding, rams need to be shorn and tested for fertility. Rams need to be housed in an area where they can get in the shade and stay out of hot areas. We also start them on 1 lb of grain per day at this time. Worm rams at this time.
January 2012
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Flush Ewes 30 days prior to breeding ewes need to be flushed with 1 to 2 lbs of grain per day. We determine the amount of grain based on the condition of the pasture. Lush and green, less grain. Dry and sparse, more grain. Worm Ewes at this time.
January 2012
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Teaser Ram Two weeks prior to breeding turn teaser ram in with ewes.
February 2012
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Breeding time We have been using a method of only turning the ram in at night while the temps are cool. During the day the ram is put back into his pen and allowed to rest. The ewes are turned out to pasture during the day. In the evening, we grain the ewes before the ram is turned in. Every other night we “paint” the ram with a marking paint so that we can tell in the AM who he has bred. (We don’t use a marking harness because of the risk of injury.) We change the color every 16 days. Check ewes in the AM to see who has been bred.
February 2012
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March 2012
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Breeding Time 48 days This allows the ewes to cycle 3 times during the time the ram is in with them. At this point we stop graining the ewes and they are on pasture only. Rams go back to normal feeding of hay only.
March 2012
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Pull the Ewes
May 2012
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Ultrasound At 90 days after breeding (on average) we ultrasound all the ewes. At this time we cull open ewes that we do not want to keep and rebreed those we do. The ram is put in again for 30 days. (24 hours a day due to the time of year and a reduced number of ewes) at this time we put ewe lambs in with the rams. We breed ewe lambs at this time. We like to have ewe lambs lamb later as they are somewhat of a challenge to lamb and we can focus on a smaller group of ewes.
May 2012
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June 2012
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Watch Between 90-120 days bred, we watch ewes for signs of any illness, not gaining weight or other signs of complications. Ewes are maintained on good quality hard grass pasture with plenty of exercise (they generally travel 2-3 miles/day). During the last trimester of pregnancy, if ewes appear thin we may supplement with extra good quality alfalfa (16-18% protein) as lambs are really growing at this stage and the extra protein is an issue with thin ewes. We also put out 16% protein tubs now, these are molasses based with minerals and formulated for sheep. NO COPPER IN THIS MIX!!!
June 2012
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Get Ready At two weeks before lambing, sometimes earlier if ewes appear to be thin or grass dries up to early, we start to feed ewe’s ¾ - 1 lb. mixture of ½ and ½ rolled barley and rolled corn. All ewes are vaccinated two to four weeks prior to lambing with overeating C, D & T (2cc/hd) and wormed.
June 2012
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Crutch Ewe We don’t sheer ewes, but we do crutch ewes with a lot of belly and crotch wool.
June 2012
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Time to clean the lambing barn We bottom out the lambing barn and apply a good heavy layer of lime to the dirt floor. Clean, using bleach and water, the walls and solid surfaces of the barn. Check to be sure you have all of your equipment on hand and ready to use. The following is a list of some of the things we like to keep at the ready when we prepare for lambing:
  • 7% Iodine - dip navels
  • Frozen colostrum - we save some from last year and then replace it with colostrum from one of the first ewes to lamb.
  • 60 cc syringe w/feeding tube - first feeding of lambs that are slow to suck
  • Syringes & needles - general medication
  • Oxytocin - obtain from your Veterinarian, critical when ewes won’t let milk down, or won’t clean
  • “go juice” - we use “sheep nutri-drench” electrolytes, vitamins, etc. for stressed newborns.
  • Water buckets
  • Hay baskets
  • Towels
  • Penicillin
  • Bo-Se - each lamb is given .25 cc 12 hours after they are born
  • Scale - every lamb is weighed within the first 24 hours of birth
  • Bander - we band tails at 2-3 days
July 2012
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August 2012
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Lambing During lambing we check ewes every two hours. When lambs are born we follow this procedure:
  1. ASAP - dip navels in 7% iodine, and strip ewes out.
  2. Bo-Se - each lamb .25 cc 12 hours after birth
  3. Scale - weigh lambs 12 to 24 hours after birth for birth weight
  4. Band - Band all tales at 48 hrs. (note: bander, bands, and tail region are cleaned with novasan disinfectant)
July 2012
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Creep At two days old lambs are put into large pen with ewes so they can access creep feed area and feeding of ewes is more manageable for us. Ewes are fed 1lb. Per day of corn and barley mix, and 4 to 6 lbs of good quality alfalfa (16% protein +).

Creep feed (17% lamb starter) and hay are available to lambs from this point on.

July 2012
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Records Keep good records so you know when lambs were born so that you can keep vaccination records up-to-date.
August 2012
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At 30 Days We do the following;
  • Weigh lambs for 30 day weights
  • 2 cc overeating CD+T
  • 2 cc Vit. B
  • Worm according to weight
  • Ear tag for permanent Identification
September 2012
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60 days old We do the following:
  • Weigh lambs for 30 day weights
  • 2 cc overeating CD+T
  • 2 cc Vit. B
  • Worm according to weight
  • Wean lambs
September 2012
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Turn ewes out Turn ewes out on pasture and leave lambs on free choice feed. Worm ewes and cull any with problems. (i.e. Bad bags, tried to kill the Shepard, or just plain rotten!)
November 2012
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Worm ewes and rams Every 60 days during the summer months.
February 2013
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Win County Fair Job Well Done!

 
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