It’s Sheep Breeding Season!
We never intended to have only seven sheep, and we’re very excited to expand the flock with babies in the spring. So, let’s talk about our first Icelandic sheep breeding season!
Icelandic sheep are seasonal breeders, active from November through April. To prevent any accidental pregnancies (our ewe lambs are still too small for pregnancy), we separated the gentlemen from the ladies in October. We have only one intact ram, Ullin, so we added a wether (a castrated male) named Gammur to our flock. Gammur keeps Ullin company during those parts of the breeding season when the ladies cannot be with him. Sheep are highly social animals with flocking instincts, so they should never be kept alone.
As the days got shorter and cooler in November, the sheep started letting us know it was time. Let’s just say their behavior got a little weird! In mid-November, we allowed all three grown ewes—Nova, Poppy, and PJ—to hang out with Ullin for 2½ weeks. The ewes’ estrous cycle is 16 to 17 days, and they are typically in heat for about 30 hours. It’s a short window, but the ewes know when it is, as does the ram. When the time is right, the ewes give the ram “permission.”
Some farmers use a marking harness to indicate when to set a due date. It’s a nylon harness with a big crayon attached to the chest that gets fitted to the ram. When a ewe has a crayon mark on her backside, it’s time to start the countdown. We bought a marking harness but ended up not using it. As it turns out, the powers of observation were all that was needed with such a small flock.
Different breeds of sheep have different gestation periods. Our Icelandic sheep have a gestation period of 142 to 144 days. Icelandic sheep are also special in that they carry a Þoka (pronounced “thoka”) gene, which predisposes them to birthing multiples. Twins are extremely common; triplets are also relatively common compared to other breeds. In fact, the average birth rate per pregnancy is about 175% to 220%.
What does all this mean for Lakeview Family Homestead? The ladies and gentlemen are now separated again through the end of April. We’re hoping to be blessed with at least three, and maybe even six, lambs in April. Be warned: if this goes as planned, it could be too much cuteness to handle!