![]() ![]() This means that poor nutrition during this time can reduce the number of these finer-fiber producing follicles, producing less wool and coarser wool for the rest of its lifetime. ![]() The groundwork for the lateral and secondary follicles is laid between days 60 and 100, encompassing most of the second trimester. By the beginning of the second trimester, most of the primary wool follicles are in place – these are the coarser fibers in the fleece. The second trimester brings much differentiation in the cells of the fetus, and the various body systems are formed. That way, as the pastures drop in nutrition after the ground freezes, they have another source of feed available. We usually let them continue to graze our fields and also provide high-quality hay in the barns. The ewes don’t need much more than their maintenance ration – but this is not a time to reduce their intake or feed poor-quality hay. ![]() Good nutrition means good placental growth – and it also makes sure the needed building blocks are present for those early systems to form (including brain growth and the rest of the central nervous system, for example). The first trimester, during the tail end of breeding and the period just after, is an important time for good nutrition because this is the time when all of the support structures for the pregnancy are laid in. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “You are what you eat.” Well, our sheep, too, are a reflection of what they eat and the nutrition they get through the year, particularly during gestation. It is amazing how much some of these ewes carry!ĭuring this period, the nutrition our ewes receive is reflected not only in the health of the ewes, but eventually also in the lambs they produce. ![]() Each ewe is pregnant for about 150 days, towards the end of which she can carry up to about 45 pounds of lambs plus lots of fluid and other supporting tissues. The health and well-being of our flock is always important, but never more-so than during gestation, beginning during breeding in the fall and extending to nearly April 1 when our last ewes deliver their lambs. With the change of blogging format in December, 2014, many of the photos once included with these entries were lost. Blog (Prior to 2015) This section of our website includes a copy of blogs written between the fall of 2009 and the end of 2014. ![]()
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