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Announcement!

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Clyde is male.

I had thought we were given two ewes. I was mistaken. I had thought they were just playing when they were butting each other the other week. Again, I was mistaken. But there was no mistaking Clyde’s behavior this morning, and certainly no mistaking his… anatomy & physiology when I got to looking.

About 147 days, in case you’re wondering.

14 Responses

  1. I usually just figure 5 months…
    Goats are the same….maybe not in days, but in months. Differences are probably individual.
    Those numbers are always averages…and as you know…averages can be a mix of all sorts of numbers!
    I carried all my kids for 9.5 months. My mom carried me the same. In dairy cows, the gestation length is hereditary – and I suspect it is in humans as well. Doctors always figure on the average – as if we were _all_ average!

    1. Right. “The average American.” I am so distraught over this. Bonnie is very small. I’m reading that there were all sorts of things I should have done before she & he frolicked. Ah well. I’ll trust mother nature.

  2. Ummm…what “sorts of things”?
    Age? How old are they? (approximately) If they’re over 6 months, then it shouldn’t be a problem. And if she was a willing participant, it’s most likely that she’s old enough. Other than that??
    You’re looking at lambing about Sept. Definitely out of season…it’s supposed to be lambing time _now_…not in the fall!
    Although…the interesting thing is that as near as I can figure, while the European dairy goats have a breeding season of Sept to Jan, the South African meat breeds – Boers – have year round breeding. I don’t know anything about SA dairy breeds in that regard. Why are they different? selection + local climate conditions? I have no idea. I _do_ know though, that for dairy breeds, kids are just a by-product. If they could have perpetual milk without the kids, they’d be just as happy. For the meat goats, on the other hand, milk is the by-product, and if they could get 3 sets of kids a year they’d be delighted. So selection could definitely be a factor.
    Don’t know much about differences in the sheep. Do you know what breed they are?

    1. They are hair sheep. Everything I’ve read so far says hair sheep have long breeding seasons and it’s not unusual to have lambs born in the fall. In fact, these two were born in August I think. Oh crap. I just realized they must have the same father. Geeze. Different mothers, though.

      And yes– a couple of weeks ago I saw Bonnie butting Clyde so I assume– in hindsight– she was … signaling to him, right?

      As I said, I was not expecting this!

  3. Aahhh yes. Parents always forget that the children _do_ grow up!

    You better start planning for Clyde to find new accommodations next year though. Half brother/sister mating isn’t outrageous, but father/daughter??? That could be a problem! Especially given the brother/sister relationship!

  4. Wellll … there could be another option. Sell the babies, and send mom out to visit another male. Once she’s bred, bring her home. I’m not sure about the time frame between birth and breeding though.
    Of course, then there’s always fencing… Clyde and male offspring in one field, mom and females in another. Then you have the decision power over who’s doing what with whom…!

    Kinda depends on what your plans are for your “flock”.

    Also forgot the other option…call the vet. Snip snip and your flock will be limited to Bonnie, Clyde and whatever lambs you decide to keep. Or sell.
    But….they’re _really_ cute…just a warning! Prepare for it!

    If you sort of think you might end up keep said lambs, keep in mind that males can be “banded” when they’re a couple of weeks old. They have a very short period of real discomfort before numbness sets in, and within about a week or 10 days, the troublesome parts of their anatomy falls off, never to be seen again. And then you can keep them or sell them. They’re good for dinner if you sell them, and no trouble if you keep them. Well…no more than any critter is…

    1. You want to hear the funny part? Last summer a guy who bushhogs for us asked if he could run about 30 or so in the pasture and we said sure. Later he came and culled the young males, and then later he came to collect them all– our sheep shed wasn’t big enough for all of them to over winter. UNKNOWN to us before hand, he gifted Bonnie & Clyde to us. We weren’t home but Caroline & Jordan were. I think he just told them he was leaving two. So it’s not as if we asked for them, or he asked if we wanted them. Poof! We have sheep. And NOW b/c of the stupid neighbor dog who keeps chasing them across the pond if they are in the better pasture, we have an order in for a DONKEY to protect them.

      So– we had no plans for a flock of sheep to start with!! Sheeze. Life on a farm.

      Good suggestions, though. I’d feel bad about separating Bonnie & Clyde. They seem sort of attached to one another.

    1. We got a discount on the bush hogging. Lots of stuff works that way out here. $$ is just a vehicle by which goods and services are traded. You can bypass $$ !! And it’s funny, I listen to John barter with the guys and it’s always, “Whatever you think is fair.”

    2. I have no idea what variety of hair sheep these are. If I had to guess, I’d say Clyde is maybe 120-150 pounds (at most Missy’s size) and Bonnie maybe 100 ?? The former owner of the Farm had sheep and goats. There was once electricity in on of the sheds for shearing. The other shed was littered with skulls when we got here. I don’t think he was too successful!

  6. Hmmm…well…maybe. But I have to say…I’ve never seen any recipes for sheepshead stew…
    so…maybe the skulls are just the remnants of a home food supply chain.

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