my pretty baby didn't sell!

What do you do when it is fall and your lambs you had for sale didn't sell?
It's your baby....they are pretty, they come to eat out of your hand....they have beautiful fleece, color, tail, horns, legs even!
They are perfect!!!!!
And you are stuck with them.

Well...easiest solution to the extra rams, and ewes if you grew up on a farm....is to ship them
Look for a sales barn near you, find out when they take sheep....and drive them there, pat them, and hope them are fine until whatever happens.
I didn't grow up on a farm.

I would like other solutions. You can hold ewe lambs and even some ram lambs over until they are yearlings. You need extra feed, pasture, pens, patience. Lots of potential breeders are looking for bigger sheep... full grown rams....proven sheep.
If you like breeding ewe lambs....and they are big enough, go ahead and expose them to a good ram....or a good looking ram lamb.

I say that because I don't put my breedable ewe lambs with a full grown ram. I hate to have them do something wrong and have the ram butt them. It can happen. I also don't want a big ram to cover my little baby ewe. So I enjopy trying out ram lambs on the bigger ewe lambs.
So then, you can advertise bred...exposed ewes....I wouldn't guarantee them, you may get disappointed buyers.
I will quote Juliann here....the way to guarantee the lamb you get from that ewe is the most perfect lamb you ever hoped for....is to sell the ewe before she lambs.
For that very reason....you will find many breeders selling the yearling and older ewes with lambs by their sides in the spring.....the best of both worlds. The breeder gets to choose which lamb they can keep....and the buyer gets already birthed lambs at a reduced price with a ewe mom.
There are some breeders who rent out sheep....yes, really!
You keep the sheep for the winter...feed and keep it healthy, and you get the lambs.
Not a bad deal....but beware the health problems. Opp is passed through breeding and milk....if your rental is exposed and comes back to your flock...the Opp can be passed to all his or her next partners....and from them to the next partners. There are lots of other health issues to bringing sheep from one farm to another.

Maybe you just need to advertise those babies more....contact your breeder friends....cut the price...privately of course....trade your first born son...no that's Rumplestiltzkin isn't it.....spin straw into gold....make your wool sales value-added...pay for those extra mouths by selling yarn.
Well I'm grasping-at-straws-here.