Our ewes

Our sheep are Poll Dorsets (poll means hornless). We started the flock in September 2005. They live all year round in a field, although the ewes and newborn lambs are kept for the first 48 hours in a shelter to make sure all is well. They eat grass, brambles etc. We also feed them ewe nuts a few weeks before and a couple of weeks after lambing. Bottle fed new born lambs are given special milk powder that has to be mixed up and to start with is fed to them every 3 hours.

Gestation period is 5 months. They usually have singles or twins, but in 2007 we had 1 single, 2 x twins, 2 x triplets & a quad. Poll Dorsets can breed all year round (unusual in sheep) and are known for their placid nature. We have two flocks, one with Abraham and one with George. This avoids too much inbreeding from using just one ram. Sometimes, if a ewe has been with Abraham and hasn't produced any lambs in the spring, she runs with George in order (hopefully) to enable her to have lambs in August. George's ewes cannot be passed back to Abraham as they would be too inbred.

Have a look at our new sheep family record sheet - looking back, it makes interesting reading, brings back memories and proves livestock keeping isn't always straightforward!

Abraham's ladies

No 4 - Janet

Janet produced our only female lamb in March 2006. We have called her Caroline and she has joined the flock permanently.

Janet had one live ram lamb in April 2007 called Duncan.

She aborted two lambs a month early in March 2008, and died from fly strike in September 2008.

No 7 - Colleen

Colleen produced a ram lamb in March 2006, called Lanky Bob.

She produced a ram lamb in April 2007 called Gary.

In April 2008 she produced twins - a ewe lamb called Dahlia and a ram lamb named Mozart. Dahlia has joined George's Girls and Mozart hopped in the freezer.

She had triplets in September 2009; two live, one breach birth and dead.

No 32 - Amanda

Amanda is the calmest of the ewes. She is very trusting and has been an excellent mother. She was the first ewe to lamb and produced two male lambs in March 2006, called Esau & Jacob.

She had three ram lambs in April 2007, called Larry, Barry, and Harry.

She was again the first to lamb in 2008, with three ewe lambs named Amaryllis, Bluebell and Crocus. See the pictures in the photo gallery. All her lambs this year have joined George's Girls.

She had two large ram lambs in March 2010. She had no milk so we bottle fed them. We have kept them entire (uncastrated) so we can keep Abraham's line going.

No 39 - Heather

Heather is the most nervous of the sheep but despite a shaky start, she proved to be a very good mother. She gave birth to twin lambs in March 2006, but unfortunately one was born dead. Her remaining lamb, Dopey eventually became the biggest of the lot.

In April 2007, she had two ram lambs called Anthony and Bert, and a ewe lamb called Helen. Helen was rejected at birth and started life in our oven to warm her up. A few hours later we returned her to the pen where her mother head butted her badly cutting the top of her head. She spent the next week in our lounge! She is thriving now but has been left with a horny growth on the top of her head. Helen is now joining our flock.

She produced twin ewe lambs in April 2008 - Elderflower & Fuschia. Unfortunately Fuschia only survived 24 hours. Elderflower has become a strong stocky lamb and will join George's Girls.

She had triplets in March 2010 and for the first time did not reject any of her lambs. Adelaide & Melbourne will join the flock. Sydney will jump into the freezer at a later date.

George's ladies

No 17 - Fiona

Fiona can be easily frightened, but loves her food. She is easily the biggest of the ewes. She lost her first lamb a month early and despite spending the rest of the year with Abraham, did not produce another lamb.

In April 2007 though, she had quadruplets, two ewe lambs and two ram lambs. They were named Carrie, Mary, No 3 & Charlie (we were running out of names by then). Charlie never learnt to suck from his mum so we bottle fed him.

In August 2008, Fiona gave birth to twin ewe lambs - Holly & Ivy.

She had twin ewe lambs in August 2009.

Helen

Helen is one of triplets born to Heather. She had a very eventful start to life, being abandoned in the field by her mother. We stomach tubed her with some colostrum and popped her in a low oven (with the door open!) until she started showing signs of life. After a few hours, we returned her to her mother who rejected her completely, butting her head and cutting her quite badly. She then moved into our house for a week or so until her head healed. She became our third bottle fed lamb and as a result is very tame. She still has a horny growth on her head where her head was cut.

She did not produce any lambs in 2008 as she was still quite small.

She had twin ewe lambs in March 2010.

Florence

Florence is the daughter of Caroline. Caroline did not have enough milk for her two lambs so we bottle fed Florence and so she is very tame. She is now one of George's girls.

She did not produce any lambs in 2008 as she was still quite small.

She had twin ewe lambs in March 2010.

Caroline

Caroline was born in 2006 and is the daughter of Janet. She had her own lambs in 2007 - Edgar and Florence. She is also now one of George's girls.

In August 2008, Caroline gave birth to twin ewe lambs - Juniper & Larch.

She had twin ram lambs in September 2009.

Other ladies

We have also had some other ewes join the flock and you can watch their progress on the Family Tree chart (PDF - 14kB).

Companion wether

Charlie

Charlie was one of quads born to Fiona and never learnt to suck from his mother. As a result he became a bottle fed lamb and now his job description is "Companion Wether". A wether is a castrated ram and so he cannot be a father. He gets on well with both George and Abraham and so we never have to have a ram alone in a field when one of them is visiting the ladies.

Headlines

Recent updates