Breeding groups are together for 2011. We have two Finnsheep rams and five ewes together for early spring lambs. A few weeks ago, our Bluefaced Leicester Dougal went to his new home with shepherdess Lynn. I miss the gentle giant but it made sense to sell him, especially since we have two Finn rams and are not breeding as many ewes this year.
Finnsheep Little Red Oak Eino is with Finn ewes Reese Emmi and Reese Elina. I also put Shetland Mule Sasha in with him. Yesterday, I moved Shetland yearling Roundabout Bonnie in with Eino’s group. I had her with Finn ram lamb Toivo, but he is still figuring out what to do. It doesn’t matter to me if moorit Bonnie is bred by Eino or Toivo. Either way, the result will be nice!
Finn ram Eino with his girls for 2011 lambs.
L - Finn ewe Elina, Back - Mule ewe Sasha, Middle - Finn ewe Emmi, R - Finn ram Eino
Finnsheep ram lamb Stillmeadow Toivo is now alone with Reese Annabelle (**formerly called Saara.) Toivo fought a bit of a battle with worms so he is still small but growing. He should be able to get the job done. He is a badgerface, light gray carrying brown and Annabelle is white with black and brown in her background. I am most excited about this breeding!
Finn ram lamb Toivo with Shetland ewe Bonnie. She is now moved to Eino's group.
Finn ewe lamb Annabelle with Toivo (L) and Bonnie (R)
** My next post will tell the story of how Saara’s name was changed to Annabelle.
A Sustainable Life at Roundabout Acres 
Posted by Jody van Dooijewaard on 11/01/2010 at 9:50 AM
Hi Terri 🙂
You have some beautifully coloured Finnsheep. I wish you were in Canada. We brought two Gotland ram lambs from New Jersey this past summer. I have my 6 month old Finn lamb in with the smaller also 6 month old Gotland ram. They have been together almost a month. Hope I get some lambs. Are there any signs that I should be looking for that tell me she has been bred?
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Posted by Terri, the Shepherdess on 11/01/2010 at 12:02 PM
Why thank you Jody! I LOVE my Finns. One of my favorite things is the way their lustrous fleece reflects sunshine. 🙂
Congrats on your Gotland ram lambs! To tell if a ewe has been bred, I watch the ram. If he is not nickering at her, smelling her backside, or chasing her, she is probably bred. Having said that, ram lambs can take longer to get the “idea.” Last year our Finn ram lamb Eino took about one month to do his work. This year? He was chasing the girls before we had the pen gate closed! And ram lamb Toivo is interested in Annabelle but he hasn’t figured out that he needs to do other than just nicker. He will figure it out soon.
If you can keep them together for another month or two, you should be guaranteed a lamb. If you shear before lambs are due, you should be able to see the belly swelling and the udder development.
Having said all that, sometimes the ewe lambs just aren’t bred. It’s disappointing but I just consider it nature’s way. Good luck and I can’t wait to see what you get!
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Posted by Jody van Dooijewaard on 11/01/2010 at 1:25 PM
Terri.. when you say Nickering at her….do you mean kind of like talking to her? Cause I watched him to that the other day. Paw at her and talk to her. He does that phlem type of thing with his upper lip.
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Posted by Terri, the Shepherdess on 11/01/2010 at 4:51 PM
Jody – yes, the ram will make advances by talking to the ewe and pawing at her. Sometimes the ram will flick his tongue out at her side also. (I apologize to all the readers who have not seen this. It is not obscene at all, although it may sound that way…) Usually, the ewe will squat and pee, which the ram smells, and then lifts his head and curls his lip. This is the point that our ram lamb Toivo has gotten to. As he is curling his lip, the ewe will walk away, disinterested. After that poor Toivo looks around like, “what just happened?” Once he figures out he needs to pursue her a bit, he will win the game. It sounds like that is where your ram lamb is at in his learning curve. 🙂
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Posted by Ozarkhomesteader on 11/21/2010 at 4:28 PM
So much to learn about animal husbandry before we take on raising our own!
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