Newborn Lambs and Lambing Records

Our new ewes are lambing!! Little Buddy and I head over to our breeder's farm and see the brand new lambs! Also, the breeder (Tess) talks about what she documents for her lambing records and why.

[@LivesWeAreGiven]

Tess is so lovely. What a blessing to have the breeder be so generous with her time and educating you, and others via youtube.

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

agreed!

[@PartTimePermies]

Great video! Tess is so full of information, she makes a great teacher/mentor!

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Thank you. Yes, Tess is great!

[@cheesehippo2655]

lol "are you excited little buddy?" --"nooooo"

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

I wasn't expecting that answer

[@ncooty]

The Grass-fed Homestead I laughed at that. I thought maybe it was because you told him not to get too excited, given that some would be for meat. Great video, Dan. Always great to see Tess, who seems always to be smiling. She's certainly in her element. :)

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

We did talk about that a few days prior so he is mostly focused on the ones we are "keeping" - the ewes and the "pets" (Daisy, Clover, and Sage)

[@jordanthomson3031]

That was hilarious

[@mick3805]

If you were a sheep you would want to live with Tess on her farm

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

agreed!

[@entrepreneurialadventures760]

@mick you'd just have to cross your hooves that you'd be on the A team and not the "c" team🤣

[@JerryGDawg56]

Sooo impressed with Tess and her organizational skills!

[@cbwmama8461]

Hummmmmmmmm did Tess give you a hint that she might consider the little brown one as a potential stud ram?

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

It sounded like that ;)

[@cbwmama8461]

He could be worth much more as a stud ram than in someone's freezer -- especially if he wins awards at the county fair :o) Maybe you can work out a deal with her :o)

[@mccrack77]

I'm so glad you found Tess. She is the kindest, sweetest lady, not to mention a treasure trove of knowledge and experience. I just love her.

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Yes, she is great! She was a really good find ;)

[@Marina-cq2yt]

this woman is like a saint! she seems to care deeply about her animals & seems full of healthy knowledge!

[@bobputman5947]

big congrats on the new lambs, they are adorable, your going to love watching them grow, i love the way they leap and play, I should have been a shepherd, had my sheepherders wagon and lived that type of life...little buddy is getting a great education, oh i wanted to ask you , what type of work does your wife do.

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Thanks Bob! My wife does software consulting

[@colin8532]

I love these videos with Tess. She seems like such a sweetheart. You can tell she really loves her work with the sheep, and really cares for them. The knowledge she has, and her willingness to share it to teach others is amazing. What a great friend you have there.

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Yes, Tess is wonderful and has been a tremendous blessing for us!

[@LangFamilyFarmsLA]

Very excited for you and your family! Im wondering about how you plan to handle genetic diversity. I mean if you decided to use the brown ram lamb as a stud lamb, what would be your plans for his mother since you own them both?

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Don't know yet. We'd have to get a second ram if we kept him or breed a freezer lamb to Connie and prior to harvest. Tess also has a rent-a-ram program. We have options, I just don't know which way we're going yet

[@SansaStarkofWinterfell]

Tess is so wonderful giving all these answers/information. Your son really seemed to enjoy being there with the sheep. Great picture at the end Dan. 🌾Be Blessed ღ 🌿

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

:) Thank you Sansa. Can you send me an email when you get a chance? - dan at grassfedhomestead dot com

[@SansaStarkofWinterfell]

Hopefully the email worked right. dan@ then the homestead(.) com We'll see...

[@renmcnamara6743]

What a wealth of information! Really love the videos featuring Tess and her herd. That little ram lamb is quite the looker... his coloring is similar to that of a grulla horse, minus the dorsal stripe and barring. How exciting, congratulations!!!

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Thank you Lauren!

[@lilbitatatime3763]

An excellent video. This is a fine example of who you would want to purchase from. Tess is knowledgeable and has a gift of explaining the importance of keeping records for many reasons. Thank you for sharing.

[@janellelucido4444]

These videos are priceless! I’m gobbling them up! Thank you!!!!

[@candicechristensen1753]

I think I like the collar option as opposed to the ear tag

[@railroadskater2896]

It's especially better than the SCOUNDREL method of spray-painting the number on the lamb's side. This lady is awesome!!!!

[@kathygalvin4325]

WOW i needed this refresher of information. y'all arent far from me, I'm in Stevens County Washington. I'm looking for ram service for my ewes for next season. if you have recommendations i would be greatful!

[@violettevicencio5530]

Family Home Entertainment presents Nursery Rhymes (1983)

[@violettevicencio5530]

This reminds me of “Little Bo-Peep” & “Mary Had a Little Lamb” from Nursery Rhymes (1983)

[@PrattFamilyHomestead]

How awesome is that!! Everyone loves a newborn lamb :) Tess keeps very good records lol. I don't think I have the mindset for that. But I think I had better start doing better with that with our goats. Now, did I see the next video on your channel for me to watch is a food video...Lamb riblets? LOL :)

[@Marcanthonyfb]

" are you ready little buddy" and his answer was " Nooo", lol we gotta love our kids, he seemed to enjoy himself and was educational video, thanks again. See ya next time.

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Yeah, he had fun once we got there

[@Strevale]

I was thinking that Connie may give you twins. It makes sense that a sheep isn't always going to have the same number of babies, and I believe Tess said that she's only lambed a couple times. The one that previously had triplets probably just needed a little bit of a break, lol. With that brown lamb, you may want to consider trading or selling him if you don't plan on using him as breeding stock yourself. I'm not going to lie, I was a little irked when you butchered your ram that was a good potential breeding stock. I understand your decision, but I just felt like a good opportunity was wasted. Congrats on scoring some quality sheep and lambs! I'm excited to see your progress as a shepherd!

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Thank you Strevale - I have regretted my decision about #53 (the ram you mentioned). I'm not going to make that mistake again.

[@isaaclinscheid4273]

Wow! The lambs are stunning. You are going to have a beautiful flock when they get to your place. Little buddy seemed to do well with the lambs for his age. I am impressed. You have a wonderful sheep breeder, she answers all the questions you have and has a wonderful operation and one day, you could have an operation just as amazing as hers. Follow your dreams, and continue to follow them. You can do it. I have faith in you. God bless

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Thanks Isaac!

[@onedazinn998]

aww :) I just loved that black sheep (seeing her with Little Buddy confirmed it o.-) & now her baby is probably the prettiest one I've seen. Hope you are keeping them all!

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Her ewe is stunning! The bright white with the black spots...wow! I really like Annabell (the black ewe)

[@Jax2533]

Those baby lamb look very delicious

[@barbarawaters6514]

super video, thank you.

[@stonorebellion1278]

Greetings. What month does your Ewes typically lamb?

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

On Tess' ranch they lamb Feb-March

[@jjohnson1061]

looks like connie upped her game just for you! beautiful lambs, and another great video.

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

She did! :) Thank you

[@sherrithompson1688]

Love the new babies. Would you be able to tell me where I could get the tags and the chains Tess uses? Thank you and I love your videos.

[@alwborys346]

Sherri Thompson I can get the chain at a hardware store. They are made of plastic and used with plastic stakes. They r light wt & don’t rust. I use plastic automotive ties to attach them. U want the plastic to break should they get the collar caught.

[@CleoCastonguay47]

Tess is a real good teacher. You are lucky to have her as a mentor. She is the typical person to be raising sheep.... :)

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

We are really grateful for her

[@cynthiamantooth1201]

It looks like you are well on your way to being a sheepherder. I love the colors of the lambs and look forward to seeing them on your own homestead.

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

We look forward to it too! Thanks for watching Cynthia

[@cortneymcmichael1981]

I am so enjoying your videos. Does Tess have any written literature?

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Thank you, Cortney. Nothing published that I know of

[@amberrogers4870]

Has Tess ever mentioned whether the meat texture and flavor is different between the ram lambs and the wethers?

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Tess doesn't have wethers. She doesn't castrate so I don't think she has any info on the matter

[@marybelfordsmith8421]

How exciting for you! Thanks for sharing!

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

you're welcome! It was my pleasure

[@jimclaire7996]

Good video. I am starting to understand record keeping. Breeding seems to have more knowledge behind it that I originally understood it to be. God bless America.

[@sherilange8687]

The white lamb with the brown face!!!! Oh my adorable

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

I know!

[@deborhasmith7746]

Tess, I love all of your ways of loving and caring for all of your animals. You are a very loving and caring person. This was a very interesting and full of info, video. Thank you for sharing.

[@cassiebotty8290]

Verrrry informative!!!

[@freakygeaktwo]

sounds like you'll be off to a good start with your sheep heard congrats on the lambs :) so will you keep the chocolate ram ?

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

don't know yet. I'll have to see how things play out

[@bobputman5947]

hey Dan, would it not be to your best interest for you to have your own ram, that way you would not have to take your sheep to the ram, he would already be on the property , do you have a barn for your sheep, and didnt you say you had some Yakes, and how many of them.

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

We would bring the ram to the ewes if we use that "rent-a-ram" model. As for keeping a ram full-time - there are advantages and disadvantages. I'll probably do a video on that in the future. The quick answer though is it's good to keep a closed flock and not having to bring in someone else's animal but it is more expensive (and dangerous) to have a ram to keep up with all year when they only serve a purpose in the late fall for a brief window of time.

[@jamesgames4280]

That was priceless. “No” he says. God Bless. Subscribed

[@joansmith3492]

I liked the little black and white spotted lamb.

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

awesome, right?!

[@liamm8118]

Cute lambs!

[@richardclarke2670]

is one of the lambs (2:31) a black belly sheep?

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Yes - I haven't gone back to check the time you referenced but one of the ewes is Barbados

[@candicechristensen1753]

Tess is so sweet

[@daniellesduckheadhomestead3127]

Cute baby lambs. They look nice and healthy. Congratulations. Thanks for sharing :)

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Thank you!

[@lazybee9011]

Congratulations! What a great start. And I love how confident Little Buddy is becoming around the sheep. He's a natural.

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Thank you!

[@yvanblanchette9202]

Congratulations!!! That little brown ram looks like a good start for your breeding program :-) I really love the colors on Annabelle's black and white doe. Thanks for sharing that great video, very informative, as alway :-) (btw you can pronounce my name as if it was eye-van i had not realised you had said it both ways on you live stream the other day lol)

[@IslandExoticsHomestead]

I don't think Dan will be keeping that ram lamb for his breeding flock as the ram would be related.

[@JoeHHarrell]

The ram wouldn't necessarily be related to all the sheep that Dan's getting, just his own sister and mother. Whether he's keeping the ram for breeding or not was a question I had as well, though.

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

It's too soon to make decisions on breeding rams. If we did keep him for breeding, we'd have to have a seconds ram or a whether to keep him company since we wouldn't leave him with the ewes full-time. So, in theory, we'd have a second ram for breeding the brown one's relatives. I'm not making any plans right now though. I have to see how things play out

[@IslandExoticsHomestead]

It just made sense, to me anyway, that one would want a ram totally unrelated to all your ewes so you don't require multiple rams. Cost wise it's not efficient to have to maintain 2 rams for a small scale shepherd. But that's just how I think due to keeping my numbers low. What's the right answer for one person isn't the right answer for another. It depends upon what the individuals goals are.

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Good point.

[@evpalfy2464]

🌞

[@alexiseliana3129]

When does she weigh them?

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

not long after birth

[@scuzzbecuzz]

Absolutely fascinating!! Really hope you are blessed in this endeavor!!!!

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Thank you Gary!

[@evpalfy2464]

Are you building a barn?

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

hopefully someday

[@candicechristensen1753]

So much cuteness!!!! Are you keeping the lambs too?

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

we are buying them once all of them are born

[@candicechristensen1753]

Oh ok

[@candicechristensen1753]

I was thinking they were included and I thought you were getting a heck of a deal!😅

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

haha! I wish!

[@charlesvanhowardflorendo7219]

Finally I'm back!

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Welcome back Charles!

[@DenverNick1]

Tess is just amazing!

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

:) Agreed!

[@butterking1523]

Great video

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Long time no see Butter! Thanks for watching

[@brianphilbrook5262]

Congrats!!!!

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

Thanks Brian! We're super excited

[@elizabethpendleton3421]

Awesome info!

[@justinfrederick3648]

so do you get these lambs?

[@JessiSeabolt]

Justin Frederick I believe he is going to get them when they are bigger

[@TheGrassfedHomestead]

We have to buy them but yes, we will get them with their mothers when we are able to bring them home

[@justinfrederick3648]

I'd keep that little ram for future use!