[Jacob-list] some ideas?

[Cathy Robinson]

Some of you know that we have a ewe here (still) that is now approaching 
her mid-20's.  Yakob-Tson Lady Jane was bred by Edd Bissell in the 
mid-1980's and we actually have a photo of her as a young ewe (about 2 
years of age) taken in 1986-87.  We have owned her since late 1998, and 
at that time she was already an "old" ewe, entering her teens.  She was 
supposedly retired at that point, but she had lambs for us each year 
until 2002, after which we retired her.  Her 2002 daughter remains here, 
as does a granddaughter and this year a great-granddaughter was born! 

In the past few years, Jane has become much thinner, more arthritic, 
more frail,  and has lost some teeth.  Her fleece is isn't much any 
more.  She still handles a grain mix fairly well as long as there is no 
whole corn in it, but can no longer compete at the feeding troughs with 
the others, as she eats much slower now.  We let her into the barn each 
evening before the others are fed.   She is always standing there 
waiting for the gate to open so that she can go to the head of the 
line!  We keep a bale of compressed alfalfa on hand now (mostly just for 
her) and when she finishes her grain, she moves over and grazes from the 
alfalfa block for as long as it takes to feed and water the remainder of 
the sheep.  Each winter or summer we wonder if she will make it through 
the seasonal extremes;  each spring the shearer is amazed to find her 
still here!  Each year he has us take a photo of her and then he 
features her in some of his sheep talks throughout the year as the 
oldest sheep he has seen and sheared!

We think she still enjoys life and we still marvel at her strength and 
fortitude.  She still enjoys basking in the sun, lying with the lambs 
and late last fall there were at least 3 separate instances where she 
spent most of the day flirting with the rams across the fence!

One day we will have to let her go but she hasn't told us that it is 
time yet.

Cathy
Perfect Spot Farm
http://www.patchworkfibers.com/perfectspotfarm.html


> The way we feel now is that it is important not to let the sheep get 

> too thin and to lose their interest in life before you take the 

> decision.  The ones we have sent for slaughter were all full of beans 

> and skipping around the place, even the oldest at 13.  Without the 

> burden of annual lambing they can maintain themselves in good 

> condition for quite some time with no front teeth at all.

> On the other hand it would be a shame to kill off your good ewes just 

> because they have reached a certain age. For a long-lived breed, we 

> should be breeding from older ewes who have kept their teeth, 

> condition and conformation.  We have just had a healthy ewe lamb 

> tonight from a 14 year old ewe - she is a Hebridean, but the breed is 

> very similar to the Jacob.  She still has all her teeth and has been 

> frisky and very excited throughout her pregnancy, and is now over the 

> moon with her new daughter - who we shall keep and hope she is as 

> long-lived as her dam.

>  

> As responsible stock keepers we all know we have to take the difficult 

> decisions along with the routine, and to take them with the welfare of 

> the animals in mind.  I think that once you begin to wonder if the 

> time has come, then it probably has.

>  

> Congrats to all on your lovely lambs

>  

> Juliet in Scotland UK

>  


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.pairlist.net/pipermail/jacob-list/attachments/20090414/250fb143/attachment.htm>