How do I build my small breeding flock?
If you are hoping to breed your own lambs one day, it takes a little planning ahead to make the process go smoothly. It is recommended that ewe lambs are bred on their second fall so that they are lambing at 2 years old when they are fully grown. Because of this, you will need to avoid keeping ewe lambs and any ram together in her first year. Babydolls are also rare and can be hard to find. If you’re starting out, an ideal small flock would be two or three ewes and a ram and wether. In order to build up to this, here are a few options to get you there:
Purchase a ewe lamb and wether your first year, and a ram lamb and ewe lamb in your second year. In the second year, you can place yearling ewe with ram for breeding while the wether keeps the ewe lamb company. After breeding season you can keep the two ewes together and the wether and ram can be buddies.
Purchase two ewe lambs your first year. Purchase a ram and wether your second year. They can all be placed together during breeding and when need to be separated they will each have a buddy with them.
I feel it is important to note that while it is recommended that a Babydoll ewe lamb is first bred in her second fall once she is a year of age, a ram lamb can and will breed at 6 months of age. If majority of lambs are born in April, they will be 6 months of age come an October/November breeding season.
While there are other ways to build your small flock, those two options I feel make the process go the smoothest. It is best to start out with lambs from a registered breeder and raise them up. Since Babydolls are so rare in Canada, it can be extremely hard to find breeding age ewe’s. And if you do come across some for sale, be wary. Often times they are problem ewes and you will not know their health history. Yes, there are exceptions to this statement, however, I just encourage you to be cautious if you go this route. Sometimes registered breeders who have very good stock with great health management practices might have older ewes that they are willing to sell off. This can also be an opportunity to get in without the wait.
Please reach out if you have any questions on building your small flock.
