Are exposed ewes guaranteed to be bred?

No. A ewe’s ability to maintain a healthy pregnancy is highly dependent upon environment, feed, stress and handling. Since I can’t control these things once she leaves here, I can’t guarantee that an exposed ewe will lamb on time, or lamb at all. But I can tell if you and when she was marked by a ram, as all my breeding rams wear marking harnesses. This will give you a good idea of when she is due, typically 147 days from the breed date, +/- about 2 days. I add $100 to the price of a ewe once she’s exposed to a ram. Most mature ewes are going to have twins, so bred ewes are generally a good deal. I will pass along to you the sire information and a signed breeding form, so that you can register the lambs after they are born, if you choose to.

Ewelambs are a little different. Since my sheep are grass-fed, my ewelambs are fairly small when I breed in November. Only about half of them conceive and successfully lamb for me. Thus, I don’t charge any more for exposed ewelambs, and it’s just the luck of the draw if they lamb for you! If you do buy an exposed ewelamb, note that ideally they should be fed separately from adults, and be given a more generous diet- alfalfa and/or added grain on top of local hay. They should also be de-wormed a time or two during pregnancy. They are teenagers and still growing while they are pregnant, so they need really good nutrition and low competition at the feed trough in order to thrive and have healthy lambs.