October is for lovers!

That’s right, love is in the air around here. When planning out the lambing season I begin by counting back the days from when I’d like to have lambing begin to determine when I need to introduce my ewes to our ram.

The gestation period for sheep is approximately 153 days so since I would like for lambs to arrive around mid-March to mid-April I’m going to aim for breeding to begin the middle of October. For years I allowed our ram to be in with the ewes all year long and they would choose their breeding season typically to begin as soon as the summer heat cooled off a bit, around September.

This however posed to be more of an issue for me because I ended up with lambs being born in the middle of the fridged winter which resulted in more hands-on care from me. It was just so darn cold for the lambs to thrive without being stalled and protected from the weather.

There is no reason these moms can’t birth their babies with ease without any intervention from me as long as the elements were supportive of that process. So, with that in mind I chose to push the lambing season forward a few weeks and take advantage of the milder weather.

This then in turn gives me the opportunity to finish off the lambs for processing by filling their diet of fresh spring grasses and forages, resulting in heavier bodies and more nutrient-dense meats.