Sheep Farming: To Breed Or Not To Breed...That Is The Question!
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- Опубликовано: 21 сен 2024
- Today at Ewetopia Farms, as per request, we talk about why we choose not to breed ewe lambs. All farmers choose to do things slightly different on their farms, and this discussion is not meant as a criticism but as the way we have decided to do things on our farm to suit our own requirements and ideas on raising sheep. We acknowledge that on this topic, there is no wrong or right way to breed sheep and that everyone has their own views on this topic. These are ours.
Sheep and sheep farming is our passion and we hope that the love we have for what we do is obvious to you the viewers. Our operation is a large scale, registered Suffolk and Poll Dorset sheep farm combining the best of pasture and confinement to manage the flock for maximum comfort, minimal stress, and producing a consistent, very high quality product. Our focus is on providing breeding stock for sale to other sheep producers. All our sheep are treated with the utmost compassion which I think will become evident as you join us on our daily rounds on our working sheep farm in eastern Ontario, Canada.
I hope you enjoy this video. If you would like to follow along with us and experience life on a real live sheep farm on a daily basis, please subscribe so that you don't miss a single episode!
Thank you for taking the time to watch! We love to hear from you so be sure to leave a comment as well.
Thank you!
Lynn & Arnie
Contact Information:
Website: Https://www.ewetopia.ca/
Lynn McKay and Arnie Droogh
3606 6th Concession Road
Kingston, Ontario
Canada
K0H 1Y0
ewetopiafarms@gmail.com
Follow us on:
Instagram: / ewetopiafarms
Facebook: / ewetopiafarms
RUclips: / @ewetopiafarms
Lynn I am a retired dairyman that has gotten into sheep. My operation mirrors yours closely. Right down to some purebred Suffolk Dorsets and crosses. I have picked up more information from you and Arnie than any other sheep channel I watch. Just wanted to say Thank You. I hit the like and am subscribed. Have a safe and great year, from fellow farmer in Pennsylvania
Welcome, fellow farmer, and thanks for joining us at Ewetopia Farms! As an ex-dairyman, I imagine that you know most of this stuff already, but thanks for the compliment anyway!😊 You can't get enough of those these days!😆
Sooo neat! That’s the cool thing about RUclips channels like Ewetopia Farms.
He’s a beauty! ❤😊😊
He is one lovely lamb there is something special about him the weather will do the paddock good
Yes, he does look quite special for sure! And yes the rain will help but as I write this, we are getting a deluge and it may have the opposite effect of drowning the new seedlings!
The Suffolk mama is such a sweetheart. A good mama doesn't like to hear babies crying even babies that don't belong to them! I would expect a temperament like that would make a good foster mom if the circumstances were right. The Dorset baby is a fine looking fellow!! It will be interesting to see him develop!
I agree with your views of not breeding too young. To me breeding too young has many more negatives that positives. Quality is much more important than quantity!
Thanks once again for a video filled with helpful information!! Stay safe guys and enjoy your Sunday!!!
Yes, I think she would foster a lamb, too. She is so worried when she hears any lamb in distress! To me, quality is more important too, but to some quantity spells success. You have to be happy with your choices so to each his own!🙂
Good Morning Lynn and Arnie 😊
Hello!
Your new little baby is a real cutie. Nice Dorset features. Considering how he was born at the end of April you might just call him Late. 😂 I completely agree with your philosophy on not breeding too young. You were very diplomatic not wanting to offend any other farmers.
Lol! I guess it is better to call him Late than Never! Lol!
Very interesting topic. I totally agree with you about not breeding lambs however your product and end goals are different than a lot of commercial producers. Most of them have the goal of as many lambs as possible as soon as possible. They are mostly concerned about rapid weight gain and early marketing. That being said, a lot if their ewes burn out at 5 to 6 years of age due largely in part to the early stress placed upon them at an early age. Many of your ewes are productive into 8,9, 10 years which is a compliment to both your flock genetics AND your management. Congratulations to you both and continued success!
For rapid weight gain, they need to use terminal sires or a meat breed rather than a maternal breed. But I do agree they want lots of lambs and as soon as possible 🙂
Clever 🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑
Oh my goodness - Big Betty is such a sweet heart and so cute! Perfect farm mascot.
Makes a lot of sense to wait on the lambs to breed. If anyone disputes this just show them the giant wall of ribbons - lol. I also find it funny thinking that people were wondering what kind of sheep "performance enhancers" you were giving them. 😂
Big Betty is the sweetest thing!
Very good information Lynn. Thank you so much for the wonderful vlog.
Thanks Karla!
Good morning Arnie and Lynn. That new mama spitting at you. She is certainly being a protective mom and putting her head under the feeder. Such a silly girl. Day two of school. Great. Not breeding lambs makes such good sense. From watching your videos giving the lambs a chance to be babies is the perfect combo. They have the joy of playing outside and be happy lambies and as a result they are happy ewes. This we have seen when the mamas have enjoyed the mad half hour like their lambs. They became adults but never lost the feeling of being a lamb. And as Arnie said they have room for those lambs as they have king size beds 🤣🤣. Again thank you for all the information and reasons to raise your flock like you do. And a sweet ending with the new mama and her lamb going out. That Suffolk mom really paid attention to the crying lamb. She showed a lot of concern. Now they all have company. Have a nice evening. Big hugs to you both. 🥰🥰🥰
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So sad about Buddy. My male is an adventurous one who has taken lots of risks, and I’ve had to hunt for him a few times when he’s been injured and didn’t make it home. I walked the alley he’d use to access different yards and call him, and found him laying in a ball in tall grass injured, and was able to carry him home. Another time he was under a vehicle.
Yes, it is scary!
Oh what great video and why not to breed the lambs young, 🙏
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Well that was very interesting Lynn. Some of what you talked about filled in a lot of what l didn't know about all the different breeding practices around the globe. I would wait a year also for young ewes, that way they are mostly done growing.❣🌴
Hope it made sense why we do it this way 🙂
I hope Buddy comes back!
We are enjoying all the pro tips. We got sheep a couple months ago and have been doing sheep school. We ordered all the sheep books and they say you can breed before 1 at the right weight. So I am glad to hear the reasonings why & I totally agree with you! We bought 2 ewes with their 3 ewe lambs and the moms were bred before 1 and they truly look awful. Stunted and under weight. We will skip a breeding season with them in hopes they can recover but you are right. Stunted.
I think it is true. I know many disagree but I am not lying when I say that the first comments we get when people come to visit is how do we get our sheep to look so good. I swear the answer is breeding them later and having hay in the trough 24/7
Hope Buddy comes back soon. Have you checked with your neighbors? I have never seen a sheep or a goat spit? Would love to see that on video. Great video today
I've checked everywhere 😔 I wish I captured her spitting! I have never seen it before. She did it twice but I didn't have the camera rolling!
Thank you so much for sharing your lambs-having-lambs rationale. I guess I felt it acutely because I have only my tiny flock, and I don't really have large enough numbers to separate out into multiple flocks (for example, last year I had 4 mature ewes having their 2nd or 3rd lambing, and 3 first-timers) so I decided to run my flock together as one group, knowing that some of last year's ewe lambs would end up being bred (if the new Ram had the ability to do the job).
This year I kept my three who were first timers last year, and four of the ewe lambs. Interestingly enough, two of the ewe lambs were the offspring of the yearlings from last year, and two were from the mature ewes, and the two from the mature ewes are much heartier seeming animals. One already gave birth to her single lamb, Like a pro, at 13 months. The other who had twins was a first-timer last year -- and she's the one I had so much trouble with. She had no issues giving birth, but rejected one of the lambs and the other had, most likely, congenital issues.
It will be interesting to see how my girls do (because YES, I'm still waiting for them to have their lambs!). Moo, who seems likely to be next, looks like one of those oversized fluffy ottomans. I accidentally spilled some corn on her back, and all the other sheep treated her like she was a food trough. (She got special rations while they ate the food off her back.) She's been bagging up for some time, but her udder is still quite flaccid which has me hoping she'll wait one more week. Today my dad, my hubby, and I have decided to get the tractor out to clear out the barn, even if it does put some ruts in the field. Once I have the barn cleaned out, I'm going to separate my ewe who lost her lambs and my ram, and put them in a separate area, and that way the girls can get some higher quality food.
I did let my sheep out of their paddock, outside my maturing pasture, and had them "mow the lawn" for a couple of 20 minute stints. I was thinking about how you said it's best to have them transition into green grass slowly. That plus needing the lawn mowed (literally) made me realize that I could take them for a walk every day when I get home from work. I have a neighbor who has a 5 acre parcel and they might allow my girls to mow their lawn too. I did notice that my only lamb was mimicking mom and nibbling at the grass, and then had a very little bit of green watery diarrhea within 20 minutes. I'm thinking that's mostly because she doesn't have a fully functioning rumen yet, so what she eats can't get digested properly and passes through.
Anyway, I've missed your videos over the last week. My dad cut a lamb-sized hole in my paddock fence, and I had to go fix it, and tripped and bashed my head on a rock, so I've been taking it easy on the internet while recuperating from my concussion.
Usually, things are so much easier with less sheep, but I guess that is not always the case!
My Father would totally agree with you he never put his lambs in lamb our sheep were 18 months old before they were bred. For exactly the same reason as you they are not mature enough and they do not grow into good strong ewes producing strong offspring. In my mind babies should not be having babies. I so admire your principles.
Thanks Ellen. Your dad was obviously a highly intelligent man!🤣🤣🥰🥰
Goodafternoon. Here the sun is shining. But rain is still on its way.
Hopefully buddy will soon comes back.
That new baby is so beautiful. Its like a postcardlamb... And such a good mom for being a first time lamb.
That was a very interesting video. My sheep were over a year and my goats to. Befire we breed them. Apart from an accident. When we let the male stay with the girls and made a young ine pregnant. That didnt turn out right. That was learningmoney... the twinmom is so gorgeous and i hope they go along just fine. She almost wanyed to adop the white one.
I hope the shearer comes this time...
See you tomorrow you both... live you boyh and have a nice sunday. ❤❤❤
They are getting along perfectly 🙂 I am hoping he makes it this time too! 🤞
Oh well, hello Wendy, I just put my glasses on! Hey Wendy, what have you done with Lynn?😂😂😂
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Agree completely on the breeding age! Grow them gals they will produce much longer as well IMO
Maybe, She IS a Goat Or A Lama HaHa, JK 🤣😆🤣 She's so protective so cute good mom good Sheep mother, Another great topic on the case of Sheep Lynn 💕
She sure surprised me anyway!🤣🤣
Good morning Lynn and Arnie, Lynn stop worrying about Buddy, he is having a blast with his new found Girl, he’ll show up one day with his Girl and kittens in tow,😝😝😝
I hope so!
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People she knows her stuff if you take all her info you will have a great flock I dont have sheep but if I did with her info. I would have a wonderful flock.
Thanks Rhonda 🤣❤️❤️
Buddy… 😢 we miss you. Come home.
The decision to delay breeding is similar to the move to delay neutering male dogs. Our new pup is a middle/large breed and new recommendations are to wait till one year when their bone structure is fully develop to help them later in life. We’re getting pressure from our rescue to do it earlier and our local dog park won’t let him in till he’s neutered but we’re gonna wait. Let them grow up! 😂
My daughter is 13 and just talking about teens and pregnancy made my heart race! 😅
A major reason to delay neutering/spaying until after puberty in dogs is that it reduces the incidence of bone and spleenic cancers and ruptured anterior cruciate ligaments. . You're right, most ASPCA and fosters pressure early spay/neuter and many do it at 8 weeks!! This is detrimental to the animals long term health. Stick to your guns and delay until he is lifting his leg to pee😊. If they check on you, remember th Benedictine rule, "It is more blessed to ask for forgiveness than to seek permission!" It works 99% of the time. Good luck!
Yes, same idea!
Can’t find boots video. Maybe I rested and missed that video.
I tagged you on the video to watch and leave a comment on Belinda!
we breed our hair ewe and wool ewes so they have their first lamb on their 2 birthday
That's basically like us 🙂
That was a question I was going to ask, is what age do you think you should breed them, because I watched a video on RUclips & I’m not going to say who but I was so shocked at the age they breed their sheep & I’m glad you wait until they are older
I prefer not to breed under a year old but I know lots breed younger.
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What’s the sheep’s name that spat on you
Tattoo!😁
Think about the calcium and nutrients that ewe's body has to give up to produce a lamb, i say if she isn't done growing herself, why would you ask her to give up her own bodys nutrients just to produce a lamb? My thoughts, you can yell at me if you want.........
No yelling allowed on this channel and everyone has a voice!😁
@@EwetopiaFarms what’s the sheeps name that spat at you
@shepherdewan she doesn't have a name just a tattoo
@@EwetopiaFarms why dosent she have a name is she ever a good 😊 girl 👧
@@shepherdewan we just have too many sheep to name them all
I would like to Betty getting sheared
She is getting sheared Tuesday!🙂
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