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3/ so, first, a short thread on sheep reproduction Female sheep (ewes) reach sexual maturity around 6-8 months after birth. Birth is almost always in the spring, so maturity is in the fall ... or winter. They begin an estrus cycle that's around 19 days w ~30 hr fertility window
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4/ if a ewe gets pregnant, obviously she stops being fertile until the lamb is delivered it seems that if the ewes do not get pregnant within a few cycles, the cycles stop until the next year (not 100% certain on this)
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5/ Lambs are born small, reach about 75% of their adult size by their first winter, and reach about 100% of their adult size by their second winter. Given all of the above, a lamb born in spring CAN get knocked up the same calendar year, in the fall, but this isn't super common
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6/ Last yr we had a lamb born who was on the small size...and she managed to get knocked up, it seems (we didn't realize this bc she wasn't huge this spring). I suspect that (a) she was small, (b) her baby was small (genetics?), (c) she got preggers ~2 cycles later than others
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7/ So I was outside a day or two ago ... and saw a new very very VERY tiny lamb! Wife and I have nicknamed the new lam "smol".pic.twitter.com/1uWCY7mg9z
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9/ here is smol alongside two other lambs that were born ... like three weeks agopic.twitter.com/QmBAP9grSw
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11/ Wife tells me that smol is a boy. He's not super coordinated: I saw him run, then stop suddenly ... and go kettle over teacup. I'd be a bit worried about him being a premie, or unhealthy or something ... but he's been alive for 2 or 3 days now, outside in the cool and damp
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12/ spring weather ... and he's running around, making noise, nursing ... so I guess he's gonna be ok! Curious to see if he'll reach full size, or if he's a runt. Wife is in love w smol ; I suspect he will not go into the freezer any time soon.
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