[Jacob-list] breeding ewe lambs

[Debbie Bennett]

I've been trying for 7 years NOT to breed ewes as lambs, but every year 
it happens one way or another (through the fence, ram jumps over the 
fence, or one of those "smart" Jacobs figures out how to open a gate). 
I've never noticed any size difference in my ewes that have been bred 
as lambs, they seem to nurse their lamb and continue to grow to normal 
size. The few lambing "problems" I have each year are usually with the 
first timers (last year, one stillborn from a ewe bred as a lamb and 
one stillborn from a ewe bred as a yearling). I've pulled a few large 
lambs from first timers, more often they were ewes bred as yearlings - 
ewes bred as lambs seem to have smaller babies (hence the higher infant 
mortality rate?). I give up.. if they breed the first year, fine, if 
they don't, that's fine, too.
  I've never had a Jacob ewe reject a lamb. I have grafted other lambs 
onto Jacob ewes (once a first timer with a stillborn lamb took a 
neighbor's romney cross, another time, a Jacob ewe lost her lamb to a 
coyote and raised a much older churro lamb for me. I chose to 
supplement a twin born to an old ewe who didn't seem to have enough 
milk for both (the lamb stayed with her and did get some nourishment 
from her).
Just my two cents,
Debbie Bennett
Feral Fibre Farm
Oakland, Oregon


On Mar 9, 2005, at 3:52 AM, Betty Berlenbach wrote:

> I don't breed ewe lambs because I am convinced that breeding anything 
> before their frames are  fully developed is not a good thing.  Also, 
> it seems that nine out of ten times that people on the list talk about 
> problems, they are with ewe lambs having babies...a thirteen year old 
> can have a baby, but it really isn't the best course of action for 
> her.  I don't breed ewe lambs, don't have problems lambing (two 
> interventions in 10 years) and haven't lost a lamb in 8 years.  That, 
> to me, is the kind of track record that suggests that maybe breeding 
> ewe lambs, at least with this flock and in this place, is not a good 
> idea.  I have only had one mother reject a lamb, and she was 14 and 
> had only one working teat.  She wanted both boys with her, but 
> apparently decided she only had enough milk to feed one, so I fed the 
> other who stayed with her, but she nudged him to me for the bottle.  
> That was six years ago.
>  
> Is there anyone out there who breeds ewe lambs who has had only one 
> rejection in ten years and hasn't lost a lamb in 8 years?  If so, I 
> will consider my evidence as not related to ewe lambs, but just some 
> other practices or the particular lines I have.
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