October 16, 2020
We've been busy collecting “rejected” (free) pumpkins from local farm stands to feed to our sheep.
All of our animals love pumpkins, but this year we are giving the bulk of them to our sheep at Hill-Stead. This past summer's drought hit our sheep pasture at Hill-Stead the hardest, and even without that added stress, I like the ewes to go into the winter (and breeding season) with the best body condition possible. So starting a couple weeks before the arrival of the breeding ram, we feed them literally tons of pumpkins, all the day old corn we can find, and mushy apples by the crate.
The technical term for this is “Flushing the Breeding Ewes”, and is defined as “ temporarily and purposefully increasing the nutritional plane of the flock to increase ovulation and conception” - Anne and I , however, call it simply “stuffing them silly”.
Studies have shown that Flushing can increase the incidence of twins and increase lambing in general by 10-20%. I'm not as concerned with the total number of lambs, as I am with the health of each of them, and their moms. Last spring's lambing season was a complete train wreck, the likes of which I hope never to see again.
We have always had one or two lambs that don't quite thrive, or are rejected by their mothers and need to be bottle fed, but this past spring we had 10 bottle fed lambs and several ewes that needed medical intervention. We had the vet out for the first time in years. The problem was an acute selenium deficiency. It has been ameliorated with a salt/mineral mix that they have access to at all times. All New England pastures are deficient in selenium, and without realizing it, ours got a little bit worse each year, and the problem went from chronic to acute.
So we are “flushing the ewes” and keeping our fingers and toes crossed that this fall will set the stage for a perfect spring. Here's hoping!