I've been busy the last three days trying to get the sheep sorted and penned and ready for breeding. Since I've been working by myself, it's taken me longer than usual to get the fields in order and ready for the ram. So tomorrow is the big day when Cedar will finally get to be re-united with his ewes...that is, if all goes as planned.
When I sorted the ewes on Monday I had seven ewes mapped out for breeding, but things never seem to go as planned. (It's good to be flexible!) So Cedar will have 8 ewes this year because Poa was being a brat and apparently didn't want to be left out of the fun. As she's my second oldest ewe and she always produces correct lambs, I really didn't want to expend the energy to drag her into the non-breeding pen. Poa joins Crystal, Kira, Madeleine, Wynona, Maggie, Claire, and Edna to complete the 2012 breeding group.
When Cedar's done in mid-November I'd like to re-home him, whether it be in another flock or in the freezer. After this breeding cycle he will be too closely related to my flock, especially when it comes time for next year's breeding. He really has been well behaved, but I need to add some diversity and I just love his daughters too much. He's improved our flock so much that I really do need to sell some of the older ewes to make way for the new. He's listed on the NASSA site as registration number S30956. If anyone knows of someone looking for a ram, they can contact me at oldhomecrawford@gmail.com.
Even with all of the breeding sheep, that still leaves 4 wethers, 7 ewe lambs, 3 open adult ewes (Annie, Mocha, and Clover), and Lwaxanna, the rescue meat mutt.
The next decision is whether or not we breed the goats. I keep going back and forth on this one - to have goat cheese, or to not have goat cheese. If it were that simple it would be a no-brainer, but with the freshening and the kids and the milking, I'm not sure that I want to take on that kind of commitment.
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