2022 Lambing Season Update

Over the last number of years, I've tried to document how our lambing season has gone in my Foothill Agrarian blog - not because I think it will be of interest to anyone else, but so I can find these reports and look back at our progress (or lack thereof). So here goes this year's report!

When we gathered the sheep into the corrals in mid-November to pull the rams, we noted that one of the best maternal ewes we've ever had (the ewe formerly known as 1386) was still cycling. We decided to combine the breeding groups (as well as our yearling ewes, which we typically don't breed) and leave them with two of our rams for another cycle (17 days) - with the hope that we'd get ewe lambs out of 1386. More on this later....

After a great start to our grass year (with germination occurring in late October, and enough rain in November and December to keep things going), the rain shut off in January. In fact, January - March 2022 were the driest we've ever experienced. Great lambing weather, but we were sure nervous about having enough forage. Thanks to Roger, who spent lots of extra time building fence in steep country we hadn't grazed in prior years, we were able to keep the sheep on rangeland 2 weeks later than normal (and cut out 2 trips in the trailer - we hauled directly home for shearing instead of going to irrigated pasture first).

During our pre-lambing vaccinations in mid-January, we saw evidence that ewes were starting to bag up, but nothing looked remarkably close or remarkably big (indicating multiple lambs). That said, overall, the sheep were in great condition.

On day 142 of gestation (February 16), the first two ewes delivered twins (2040, a Shropshire ewe was first; 23, a brockle-faced ewe went later the same day). We were off and running!

2022 turned out to be the most compressed lambing season we've ever experienced, and one of the best breed-ups. Our pregnancy rate was nearly 99% (including 1386, who was late bred). Every ewe except 1386 and the one open ewe we had this year lambed within a 30 day window. More than 70% of the ewes had multiples (twins or triplets). Two ewes raised triplets on rangeland pasture. Our total conception rate (including the late bred ewes and yearlings) was 175%; our lambs per ewe exposed is currently 1.52 - our best rate ever. And 1386 ended up delivering twins in April (ram lambs, of course, but at least she had lambs!). And six of the yearling ewes were late bred, as well - all with singles (and all are solid mothers).

A few other statistics:

• Abortion rate: 3.4% (benchmark: less than 5%)
• Death loss (all causes except abortion): 9.5% (benchmark: less than 5%)
• Pull rate (% of lambs needing assistance): 5.4%
• Jail rate (% of ewes that needed to be put in pen at lambing): 5.6%
• Bottle lamb rate (% of lambs bottle raised): 3.4%

Part of the reason I write all of this down is so that we can analyze what went right and what we could do better next year. Here are a few things that I think we got right this year:

• For the first time in several years, we fed the rams all summer at our home place. This meant I saw them every day, and adjusted their feed intake at the appropriate time prior to breeding. They were in great shape when they went in with the ewes.
• We increased the flushing ration we provided the ewes (to 1 lb of dry COB and 0.5 lb of chia seed per head per day from September 15 through October 15. We then tapered off feed for three days instead of stopping abruptly.
• Our irrigated pasture quality appeared to be improved during flushing and breeding.
• We switched back to a loose mineral during breeding, which seemed to increase intake.
• One of the contributing factors in our higher-than-expected death loss was an unusual degree of mis-mothering - mostly experienced ewes who tried to steal lambs from other ewes. We've marked these ewes to be culled, which will hopefully alleviate the problem.

Now the task will be to see if we can duplicate our success in the coming year. We'll continue with the management measures outlined above. I am also contemplating whether to continue to split the ewes into 2 breeding groups - as our business evolves and Roger steps back from Flying Mule Sheep Company, I'm looking for ways to simplify. Keeping the ewes at Blue Oak Ranch until the week of shearing was one step in this process; a single breeding group might be another. On the other hand, I like the breed combinations we currently have - perhaps 2 breeding groups for the first cycle is a practical compromise.

Remembering Fred Groverman

I was honored to be asked to speak at the Celebration of Life for Fred Groverman on April 23. I wanted to share a bit more about Fred's legacy in the sheep world.

In his outstanding essay, “Let the Farm Judge,” Wendell Berry writes:

“What does it mean that an island [England] not much bigger than Kansas… should have developed 60 or so breeds of sheep? It means that many thousands of farmers were paying the most discriminating attention, not only to their sheep, but also to the nature of their local landscapes and economies for a long time…. The result, when such an effort is carried on by enough intelligent farmers in the same region for a long time, is the development of a distinct breed that fits regional needs. Such local adaptation is the most important requirement for agriculture, wherever it occurs.”

Fred’s beloved Shropshire sheep are the result of “many thousands of farmers” paying attention to local conditions for a long time. More importantly, I think, Fred is the epitome of a wise farmer working in the same region for a long time. He’ll be missed. He is missed.

I was introduced to Fred – as many of us in the greater sheep world were, I suspect – by Cody Heimke. We were trying to rebuild our small sheep flock following the last big drought, and Cody thought Fred’s Shropshire genetics would be a great compliment to our Cheviot mules. And was Cody ever right.

If you ever bought sheep from Fred, you’ll know that it wasn’t just a matter of showing up and loading your sheep. Fred wanted to be sure that you also knew about his management system. He made sure you saw his pastures and his barns – and the rest of his sheep. You were buying sheep, but Fred forced you to look deeper – to see the importance not only of his genetics but of his approach to raising sheep. I learned something every time I visited Fred.

Several years ago, after buying the last set of rams I’d buy from him, I had the opportunity to interview Fred for a weekly podcast I produce with fellow shepherd Ryan Mahoney and Dr. Rosie Busch, our extension sheep and goat veterinarian. I listened to it again as I was thinking about what to say today – what a treat to hear Fred’s voice!

During our conversation, Fred joked that he was proud to have raised twenty-five feet of children – that he was proud to be the shortest man in his family. We talked about his family’s history in northern California (and in Petaluma specifically), about milking cows and caring for chickens as a kid, about going to vet school, and about the Shropshire genetics his father imported from the UK. But the three things I most loved about our conversation were these:

1. We talked about his lifelong love of learning. “Keep asking questions,” he told me. “There’s so much to be curious about.”
2. I asked him what he would tell a young person who wanted to get started in sheep. “Find someone to help you – find a mentor.” Fred was a mentor to many, including me.
3. I asked him how he responded when someone told him, “Sheep are stupid.” He said, “I’d say, ‘You haven’t spent enough time watching them.’” I suspect there were few things Fred enjoyed more than watching his sheep.

Our first set of lambs this year was born several days after Fred’s passing in mid-February – a spectacular set of Shropshire twins out of a daughter of the ewes we bought from Fred in 2015. As I watched these first lambs of 2022 stand on wobbly legs and start looking for the teat, I couldn’t help but feel Fred smiling down at us – sheep and shepherd alike.