Last Day of tupping

Well thats it ,Day 34 the last day of tupping is today..The Ram's havent served any ewes for the second time which is great for me ,but i don't supposse the rams think so.There is no need to put the ram's through another cycle which would take it to day 51
The hanesses will be coming off tomorrow & the rams will be together again untill next year.When there may be 4 ram.s for tupping all being well when Peatland Pippit comes in to the flock.
The ewes will once again be all one flock until we have then scanned.Which will around about mid December.That will tell me which ewe is have what .This is helpfull so that they can be split up and fed acordingly to what they are having.

second cycle day 20

All the ewes have now been tupped for the first time.They were all tupped with in 14 days.So now we have changed over the colours on the raddles.

James has got Red
Sandy has got Green
Skylark has got Blue

Now i know which dates the ewes will lamb on.
But if they didn't hold to there first service and they have another colour on them with in the next 17 days then that will push then on 17 days later. 
This is a good management tool.

week two of tupping

It's nearly the end of the second week now day 11
22 ewes have been tupped leaving just 1 remaining to be done in the next 6 day's.I do hope that it is sooner than latter so that there all close together.


Here you can see that one ewe has been tupped by the red wax mark that the ram has left behind after mating.The other ewe has yet to be done.

One that has been tupped.

Week one of tupping

The first week has now passed since we put the three boy's in to the girl's.It was a little mad at first with James trying to mount with in 30 seconds of getting in to the field.A little exited to say the least.
For the first three days their were 3 ewes tupped each day ,then it slowed down to 2 a day.Now it's a little quiet with the rams resting waiting for the ewes to come in to season.As soon as they start to show signs ,the rams will keep following hen until the ewes stands for him.
As of yet we have had 12 ewes tupped leaving 11 to be tupped in the next ten days.

After that the ram's wax crayons will be changed over to a different colour so that i know if any ewes were not mated successfully first round.This also gives me a better idea of what day the ewes will lamb.

It's Tupping Time

Well! this time of year has come around again so soon.The rams must go in to the breeding Flock of Shropshire's
There are three rams this year Sandy , James ,& Skylark 
Ram's go in on 28th of September so lambing should be on around 23rd February
.Watch this space 

Sandy has got 12 ewes to tup.

James has got 5 ewes to tup.

Skylark has got 6 ewes to tup.

 The harness
It can be a little tricky to fit ,it needs to be in the center of the brisket to work correctly and be comfortable to wear ,after all the ram will wear it for 51 day's.

Checking for a good fit

                                                                        

Sandy with a red wax crayon

Red ,Orange, Green, now show us the ladies.

Feeding Time

Shearing

                                                                 Shearing

This is Brian. He's a professional shearer giving very few second cuts

You start with the neck and work the shears down to the leg

The tricky bit cutting around the teats

The last cut The tail

One very happy customer

The Fleece

The spinning wheel

The end product
Now the farmer's happy

British farmers

My Web Site

http://www.peatlandfarm.co.uk/

BBC Shropshire's Genevieve Tudor trains to be a beekeeper.

BBC Shropshire's Genevieve Tudor trains to be a beekeeper.

My New Toy

Here are some clippers that i am in great need of to make my dagging easier especial on my back.

Watch this space !

Well we have been dagging the ram lambs today ,as the fly's are just starting to become a problem

The culprits are blow fly's which are usually called green bottles

The green bottle fly (Lucilia sericata) is a common blowfly. It is 10-14 mm long

slightly larger than a housefly, and has brilliant, metallic, blue-green

 

 

 

 

what they do is lay eggs on the muck around the tail causing unnecessary inconvenience.

Next week we will be doing he ewe lambs