Fruitful Acres

Breeding Sheep Out of Season

Mon, 12 May 2025 17:42:28 +0000

People ask all the time about fall breedings or breeding out of season. We have typically bred our sheep all year long. Our original commercial Katahdin gave birth about every 6 months. We didn't want them overworked since they weren't getting any supplementation and our one complaint with those original Katahdin sheep was that the 3-5 lambs they gave us every year were not very large (not surprising since the ewes were 135 pounds at full maturity) and we felt they could grow fa...

Tube Feeding

Wed, 02 Apr 2025 02:29:21 +0000

We rarely have to tube feed anything. We pretty much don't tube fed animals that can swallow on their own. Unfortunately, we've known of a few cases where weak lambs or kids may have been killed by tube feeding, not because the tube was inserted incorrectly, but because the little one was given too much at once.

I was taught by a farmer so they taught me to put the baby on its left side to insert the tube (so gravity w...

Sheep/Goat Side Pregnancy Tests

Mon, 10 Feb 2025 00:12:33 +0000

We have an exciting product review to share! No idea how long they will be available. They've already gone up in price since I made a purchase, but these are very cost effective and everything you need to do a test is included.

The same company has a cow pregnancy test that claims they are testing for PAG, which is the same thing the BioPRYN tests test for. I suspect this is a cheap Chinese knock off for the Pregnostx tests BioPRYN&...

Fruitful Acres Breeding Criterion

Sun, 02 Feb 2025 12:32:24 +0000

Breeds and species. You need to select traits important to you.

So while we're waiting on pins and needles for lambing to begin (anticipated within the week), we have twin 50/50 Kiko-Nubian doelings that have put in their appearance. ??

Preparing for Cold Weather

Tue, 07 Jan 2025 14:35:51 +0000

I was asked the other day what we were doing to prepare for the cold snap coming in this week.

Animals must be able to stay dry and out of the wind.

To assist with keeping them dry, we make sure they have fresh bedding underneath of them and enough walls and roofing to prevent sideways rain or drifting snow from reaching them.

Ruminants...

Disbudding

Mon, 30 Dec 2024 15:19:42 +0000

I'm not sure how many days it'll be before I can put together a video on this topic (I've got a teenager eager to put together videos, but we will see what the new year may bring). This one is exactly what we do as far as the disbudd...

Feeding for Daytime Births

Wed, 25 Dec 2024 22:16:36 +0000

My late grandfather was a large animal veterinarian that worked a lot with canines because there are often working dogs on farms and in the military (yes, he was also a veteran). He is the reason that I can hold an intelligent conversation with medical professionals and veterinarians. He taught me how to think and question, which he told me was more important than the other things one might learn in college. Understanding that his father was an inventor (we lost count at over 120 patent...

Starting Off Kids

Wed, 25 Dec 2024 00:57:13 +0000

People are always asking how we raise litters of kids, so I thought I would take this opportunity to share details in a blog format because for once we have a single litter and no more expected right away.

On Sunday, we had a beautiful litter of quadruplets born to one of our older, experienced does. The 8 year old doe in question is Sapphire and she had a rather long labor because the first kid was coming out breech. Once that kid was ...

Dual Purpose Goats

Fri, 31 May 2024 04:05:51 +0000