Breed a Ewe and Raise at Least 1 Lamb - PEP BB animal.straw.raiselamb

Please help: I'm struggling to understand what you want to see when you say 'caring for...' and how to show it photographically.  

Are you looking for photos of the caretaker interacting with the sheep or doing the daily check bb activities for example?

I could share a photo of me shearing as caring for the ewe but sheep don't particularly look pregnant so I'm struggling to show caring for a pregnant ewe.  The only visible activity that comes to mind is putting them into a lambing pen (which not everybody does) and often happens on the morning of lambing.

Would these photos convey caring for the ewe and one lamb?

before:



after I added straw for bedding:

Good question...  I think the "proof" could be a few sentences about how you care for them and some pictures to show that they seem to have a happy home.

I raise Katahdin sheep - a hair breed not wool breed that doesn't need sheared or docked since they shed their winter coat in the spring.  I have one ram and around 10 ewes, and once per year I get 1-3 lambs from each ewe.  During the grass growing months (April-October) they subsist on 3 acres of pasture which I fertilize liberally with chicken manure once per year which produces plentiful lush green growth for them. During this time, they have access to a rainwater fed water trough that also has a float valve connected to well water for periods of insufficient rain to keep the tank topped off.  They also have several large trees and one stall in the barn for shelter, with access to granulated sheep minerals in that stall.  During the non-grass growing wet winter months (October-March) they are fed grass hay that I make during the summer from a different pasture. This winter they got lucky and were treated with a very nice second cutting hay that they really like and will clean out the manger of the last blade of hay.  In more typical years they get first cutting which on a normal year is the only cutting I make and is a coarser lower quality hay that I let them pick through and then twice a day I empty what remains in their manger and feed it to the cattle so the sheep get new hay to pick through for the better parts. At night, I close a gate to a more secure pen connected to the barn stall so they do not have access to the pasture during the early morning or late evening hours when in past years, before instituting this practice, predators have eaten the sheep.  During lambing time, each ewe is moved to a 5x5 pen so they can be more closely monitored and cared for with individual feeding, watering, and minerals - as well as an organic grain supplement. Occasionally a ewe will not care for lambs wanting to nurse, so the small space also helps prevent the ewe from abandoning the lambs.

Here is my submission for the Animal Care - Straw - Breed a Ewe and Rise at least 1 Lamb BB.

Ruby and Tuppence were born in 2017 and were bred for the first time in the fall of 2018.  They both raised one healthy lamb and did great as first-time moms.  The small sheep flock has access to pasture (3-season) and gets hay to supplement and carry them over winter.  Ruby is in all the photos.  They have 20-gallon (half-barrel) water troughs that fish live in to manage the mosquitos and algae.  

To document the completion of the BB, I have provided the following:
     - caring for a ewe - This is Ruby and she is 2 years old in these photos
     - caring for the pregnant ewe
     - caring for the ewe and one lamb
     - one lamb that is at least one week old

I raise Gulf Coast Sheep, a dual-purpose heritage breed, in Texas. My ewe Chinchilla was born on a cold snowy morning in January, 2018. She was the first lamb born on my homestead, and I set up a sleeping bag in the chilly barn to be near her that night and listen to the unicorn-like nickering sounds of a mother-sheep's baby-talk. This December 10th, Chinchilla gave birth to a ewe lamb named Mulberry. The lambing was unassisted as always in my flock, but for the first time I happened to come into the barn while Chinchilla was in labor, and got to watch her give birth.

I raise my flock on pasture rotated monthly, and I feed them hay, pumpkins, alfalfa, and tree cuttings as supplemental feed in wintertime. I give garlic barrier as a worm preventative (concentrated garlic juice) and trim hooves once a month as well, generally the day they move from one pasture to the other.

     - caring for a ewe
     - caring for the pregnant ewe
     - caring for the ewe and one lamb
     - one lamb that is at least one week old