Raising Pet Sheep - My Sheep Obsession

Ramsey

Image by Courtney Kolander

I must admit that nearly 2 years ago, I didn't know anything about sheep! My grandparents raised cows and pigs when I was younger so I wasn't oblivious to farm life. When I was a kid, I would help my grandpa "pick rock" (For those of you who don't know, to pick rock, you actually go up and down the rows in the field and throw all the rocks you find in the field on a flat bed trailer behind the tractor so the rocks don't damage the expensive farm machinery) and "spray beans" (typically used to sit in chairs attached to the front of a tractor, and spray the weeds growing in the bean fields). I must say, "Now that is work!"

In 2010, we moved from a hot and humid suburb of Houston, Texas, to a farm house on the outskirts of a very small town, in the area I grew up, in southern Minnesota. It took a while to re-adjust to living in a small town again after living in larger cities off and on for nearly 10 years, but other than the cold Minnesota winters, I love it here!

My daughter & Ramsey

Image by Courtney Kolander

We moved back just before the end of the lambing season that year, my husband's cousin (to protect his privacy, I'll call him Kyle) who raises sheep as a side job, moved some of his pregnant sheep to one of our barns (we were renting the farm place from his parents) since he needed more space for lambing.

Before long, the lambs were a couple weeks old and running everywhere throughout the barn! I quickly fell in love with them; I never realized how playful lambs could be! The lambs would all run together hop, skip, and jumping from one end of the barn to the other.

The Kids with Ramsey...somebody is a little grumpy!

Image by Courtney Kolander

A Little Happier Now!

Image by Courtney Kolander

One April morning, Kyle brought a bottle lamb over (a lamb that needs to be fed milk replacer because the mother can't feed it for one reason or another), wondering if I wanted to take care of him. I have always loved animals, so it didn't take me long to decide!

Kyle showed me how to mix the bottles, and explained that I would need to feed him a bottle several times a day. I was worried about being able to catch the little guy in order to feed him a bottle, Kyle laughed and said that won't be a problem! He had been feeding the lamb a bottle for a week or so, and every time he went in the barn, he would nearly trip over him because he would cling to his pants looking for milk.

We decided to name him Ramsey. Ramsey was the youngest lamb in the barn by at least a couple weeks so he was much smaller than the others. Not hard to recognize out of the bunch! The first time I fed Ramsey, he gulped that bottle right down, much faster than I had ever seen a baby drink their bottle!

My son Bottle Feeding

Image by Courtney Kolander

I quickly realized how much work it is to bottle feed a lamb. It's comes close to as much work as taking care of a new born baby.....but without the crying, sleepless nights, and diaper changing! Okay, so it's a little easier!

Our entire family quickly fell in love with Ramsey. When the weather started to warm up, we brought Ramsey outside to play. He followed us everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE! We would run around the outside of the house, and Ramsey would run right behind us. He started to remind us more of a dog than a sheep!

Image by Courtney Kolander

We ended up having to move Ramsey to his own barn because some of the other mothers (female sheep are called ewes) were pushing him around since he was not theirs, and poor Ramsey didn't have anyone to protect him like the other lambs did. Ramsey didn't seem to mind being alone in the barn, but we started thinking about getting another lamb so he would have someone to keep him company. Sheep are flock animals and typically feel safest when in groups of 5 or more.

It just so happens that Kyle ended up with a female bottle lamb, which we named Kora, that he gave us in exchange for helping him with his chores. She was a triplet, and her mom didn't have enough milk to feed all 3 of them. Boy was she a hand full when we first got her! I was used to Ramsey being quiet and laid back; well Kora was a different story! She spent more time trying to see what Ramsey was doing, and trying to call for her mom (who was at another farm) while I was trying to bottle feed her than she did actually drinking. She was funny though! She would jump in and out of her food trough, knock things over in the barn, and jump up along the gate. Very energetic!

Image by Courtney Kolander

We brought them out to play in the yard almost daily, and they loved it! We quickly became their flock, they no longer cared much about the other sheep. I think they maybe thought they were people instead of sheep. :) When people would stop by our place, Kora and Ramsey would be right there to greet them, not your typical sheep that are usually timid around people. When you bottle feed lambs, you almost imprint on them, and they get very attached to you. I once read in a book that a sheep will never forget a human face, not sure if that's true about your typical sheep, but Ramsey and Kora could definitely pick our family out of a large group of people, without a doubt!

It's kind of funny, in the summer they care more about eating their grass and clovers than they do about anything else...until I leave their sight. Then they both go running around the outside of the house "baaing", several times, until I come back outside.

I always hear people say that sheep are so dumb. I don't think they are given enough credit. If they are raised outside of a flock like my pets, you will quickly find that they have a mind of their own. Yes, they do love their food to the point that they spend most of their day grazing, but that doesn't make them stupid. I think a lot of it is their strong flocking instincts, but that's their only form of protection. They are very social animals. When one wants to leave their resting area to go eat in the pasture, they all go eat in the pasture. If one wants to go back to the resting area, they all go back to the resting area. If they know a couple sheep are a ways behind them, they will normally stop and wait for them to catch up....unless they hear you with a bucket full of grain, then they all just come running!

Wooly Ramsey

Image by Courtney Kolander

In 2011, my husband's uncle (I'll call him Jack) had 3 pregnant ewes that he wanted to know if we were interested in buying from him because they were going to lamb too late in the year which would mess with his farming schedule a bit. We had been thinking about adding to our flock for some time, so it wasn't a difficult decision.

I quickly realized that I had a lot to learn if we were going to do this on our own. It's one thing to have 2 pet sheep, but it's a totally different thing to learn about lambing and breeding them. So, I did one of the things that I do best-- Research! I requested as many books as I could find at the public library, and asked Kyle and Jack as many questions as I could without driving them both crazy!

Kora

Image by Courtney Kolander

Just 2 weeks after buying the 3 pregnant ewes, the first set of twins arrived! The mother did a wonderful job taking care of them, and the lambs were both healthy and doing great! Shortly after, a second set of twins were born, I didn't have as good of a feeling about these. They weren't as active as the first set and of course Kyle and Jack were both out of the area for the weekend. We ended up getting some replacement lamb milk to supplement them. After trying to bottle feed them for a few days, they were barely drinking enough milk to make it worth mixing the bottles up, so I decided to have faith that the mom had enough milk to feed them herself. By this time they seemed to have a lot more energy also.

Ramsey & My Daughter (Wearing her color cordinated barn attire!)

Image by Courtney Kolander

Kora & My Daughter

Image by Courtney Kolander

Ewe #3 gave birth to twins also, but she ended up losing one of them right away. I was so mad when I found the 2nd lamb lying in the straw on the other side of the barn still in the amniotic sac, but I quickly felt empathy for the mom. I could tell that she was a bit sad. I thought, if only I had been there in time to break the sac open myself, but something didn't look right. The ewe is an older ewe, so she knew how to take care of the lambs after birth. Maybe she knew the lamb was a still birth, had some deformity, or maybe she got too distracted by cleaning the other lamb, and it was too late for the other by that time. After doing some research online, I'm pretty confident that the lamb had some sort of infection, and was a still birth. The placentas (lambs have several small button like ones) were light tan instead of purplish red. I broke the amniotic sac open and a gross brown liquid came oozing out. That's a sign of an infection.

Ewe #3's single lamb ended up being the largest of the bunch. We ended up with 5 happy, healthy lambs, so I couldn't complain!

Well, that pretty much brings us to the present date. We recently moved to our own farm place just a few miles outside of town. We have been busy working on cleaning out the barn that had been filled with 20 years worth of pop cans (or soda cans if you live in the south), and lots of heavy old pig crates. Since our barn (and lack of fencing) wasn't going to be ready for this lambing season, we decided to keep our sheep out at Jack's for a couple months. We are waiting for Kora and our other 3 ewes to give birth any day now!

Ramsey

Image by Courtney Kolander

My Daughter "Mutton Busting"
Ramsey didn't seem to mind, he just keeps eating!

Image by Courtney Kolander

Kora gave birth to her first lambs on 2/3/2012!
So far she looks like she will be a great mother!

Kora and her lambs

Image by Courtney Kolander

Lamb #1

Image by Courtney Kolander

Lamb #2

Image by Courtney Kolander

Kora Nursing the Lamb

Image by Courtney Kolander

It's kind of difficult taking pictures of Ramsey because he usually tries to eat the camera! :)
They were sheared recently so they aren't as cute and fluffy looking as normal.

Image by Courtney Kolander


Image by Courtney Kolander


Image by Courtney Kolander

A Katahdin Lamb Gives Turkey a Kiss
Buy This at Allposters.com





A Ewe and Her Twin Lambs
Buy This at Allposters.com





Sheep Ovis Aries
Buy This at Allposters.com





New Lamb, South Island, New Zealand
Buy This at Allposters.com





Herdwick Sheep, England
Buy This at Allposters.com

Lamb Looks for Shelter Aside its Mother Sheep
Buy This at Allposters.com





Herd of Sheep
Buy This at Allposters.com





Bighorn Sheep Yellowstone National Park
Buy This at Allposters.com





American Bighorn Sheep
Buy This at Allposters.com