[Jacob-list] Ewes Breeding Out of Season

[Leigh Nelson]

This year I had four yearling lambs that I did not want bred due to age,
so I had them isolated from my ram.  I had five ewes exposed to the ram
in late October and started lambing in late March.  When the pregnant
ewes started lambing I moved the ram in with the yearlings figuring it
was okay since breeding season was  done.  I live in Northern Ontario
(Canada), so our days start to lengthen in early January.

Once the five ewes finished lambing I put everybody, ewes, lambs,
yearlings, and ram, together for about three months.  I moved the ram and
ram lambs into a second pen a couple of weeks ago and kept all the ewes
and ewe lambs together.  So I figured all was good, then today I noticed
that my four yearling ewes are starting to bag up, putting them due
mid-August and bred end of March.  Is this to be expected since they were
exposed to the ram in March?  I thought they would only breed from June
to January! 

Do other people mix the flock together after lambing is done or is this a
recipe for trouble?  I would be interested to hear what other peoples
routines and experiences.

Thanks,
Leigh

-- 
We've Got Your Name at http://www.mail.com!
Get a FREE E-mail Account Today - Choose From 100+ Domains

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.pairlist.net/pipermail/jacob-list/attachments/20070701/af62657a/attachment.html>