Many Shetland breeders have dearly cherished opinions on the husbandry of their favored breed, and I am no different. In the past, I bred ewe lambs I thought were "big enough" each fall. I believed it was an important facet of keeping the Shetlands' famed hardiness and good mothering ability in my flock. I have had 3 breeding seasons to compare the outcomes of breeding large ewe lambs versus the outcomes of holding smaller ewe lambs out of breeding until their second year. I have concluded that there is no difference in lambing ease, mothering ability, lamb survival or weaning weights  between yearling and two-year old ewes.

Despite these observations, I shall cease to breed ewe lambs.

Our upcoming move and lack of secure pasture and comfortable lambing facilities certainly factor into this, as I don't expect to breed any ewes this fall. (Oh, how jealous I will be of everyone else's lambs next spring!) In addition, our anticipated increase in pasture acreage (from 6 acres to >20!!!) means I can hold more lambs over winter for evaluation at eighteen months, instead of sending all "extra" sheep to slaughter immediately before I combine breeding groups.

I think overwintering more lambs will help me reach my flock goals more easily and quickly than my current practice. I have noted some surprising changes in tails, fleeces and hocks as lambs matured, and will enjoy the luxury of waiting to see how more lambs look as young adult sheep. I have also noted that the adult size of ewes is negatively affected by the metabolic demand of nursing greedy lambs during their yearling summer. Since I want to keep my
Shetlands in the medium to small range, allowing the ewes another year's growth will help me keep my flock small-framed due to their genetics, rather than small due to near-starvation.

I think that holding ewe lambs out of production their first year will make my life easier be more compatible with the low-input shepherding style I admire. I anticipate a little less anxiety during lambing season when all of my new mothers are fully grown and have at least watched other ewes raise their lambs the previous year. I anticipate a lot less anxiety in managing the ewes' condition scores during lactation.

I think that delaying lambs' "final" evaluation will also improve my flock's financial performance. I can't accurately estimate the cost of feeding a lamb through the winter in my future set-up, but I will have the bonus of additonal delectable Shetland lamb fleeces to sell, as well as a larger carcass to sell to my meat customers. (Lest you dismiss the meat customers, I have been most successful selling culls to lovers of mild-flavored lamb.)

For all these reasons, I shall cease to breed ewe lambs.

Wow, I didn't realize it had been 4 months since I have blogged!!!

I don't think anything exciting happened in May, but June was another story. Robert was tending the ram lambs in their pen, when he and they found a bat too sick to fly, in broad daylight, where a bat had never been seen before. Robert and all the promising lambs got rabies shots, and we have been waiting to see if any of the sheep develop symptoms. Robert is doing well, and so are the sheep at this time.

  Robert and I decided that I should look for a similar job in another town, and the search consumed all my spare time and thoughts. Obviously, I did not want to publicize that fact to my current employers, so did not blog at all. We found Hannibal, MO much to our liking in July, and I have secured employment at the local hospital. I begin working there in January. My last day of work in West Plains is December 5th, and I will move after that. Hopefully, Robert and the animals will move in November.

We have a parcel of land in the Hannibal region under contract. It consists of ~25 acres of land, mostly a cornfield now, with a spring-fed pond. Electricity and public water are readily available. It also has an excellent paved road along one side of the property and a well-maintained county gravel road along another boundary line. It is ~ 15 miles from my new job. When the corn is harvested, I hope and plan to get a better look at the topography, and start choosing barn/home/orchard/pasture/hayfield sites.

One of the future neighbors told my husband that the area has some problems with coyotes. yippee. Since I don't expect to have secure fencing or barns this spring, I probably will not breed any ewes unless that changes. I also have a lead on a pair of Great Pyrs that are currently with a friend's goat herd. They may switch to donkeys as guardians and so would need a new home for the dogs.

Since I will have what amounts to a sheep feedlot  for 6-12 months, I have decided it would be prudent to thin the flock to its bare minumum. Unfortunately, I can think of at least 3 good reasons to keep every individual in the flock! While I have been planning to test my animals for infectious diseases "someday",  I believe that day is upon me. (Thank you Garrett R.  and Carol B. for prompting me to get in gear.) So I will test the adult sheep for OPP and Johnes, and the adult goats for CAE, TB and Johnes. I will slaughter individuals that test positive, and their progeny. I don't expect any positives as all my animals are easy keepers, but objective evidence is better than hunches or wishful thinking when it comes to telling your customers your animals are disease-free.  In addition, I am only keeping one ram lamb (Sam) and 5 ewe lambs (Madge, Ariella, Madeline, Fiona and Anne) for evaluation. All other lambss will go to slaughter before we move. If all individuals test negative, I will be relocating 4 goats and 30 sheep.  I will also triple-worm all the livestock a few days before we move.

Whew! It sounds like a LOT of work when I put it all down in text! Hopefully, I will post shorter, more frequent blogs now that I can write freely.