[Jacob-list] Multiple Breedings

[latwell1 at cox.net]

So I am having a very weird year. When I started with Jacobs 6 years ago, one of the things that attracted me to the breed was that they were short-day breeders. Having lambs once a year suited my operation great. I had one ewe get 'out of sync' after losing her lambs in a bad birth, but otherwise the herd had been trucking along great. This year - whoa Nelly! Half my herd gave birth in December, with the rest staggered through the normal months of February through April. However, with almost everyone, I am now on my 2nd round of births. Some ewes are giving birth to twins (again) while their first set are still not completely weaned (yes colostrum is one of many issues). So my question is this, does anyone know why this year is specifically out of whack? I have no real way to separate my ram out of my herd, so this year I am going with a young ram in the hopes that 'normal' mating will happen later in the 'season'. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Lorri Atwell