Lamb Macs
- Thread starter Jerry
- Start date
They seem to help lambs - but can be found stuck on the hedges 6 months later
It says the Shearwell ones are biodegradable. No idea how long in reality it takes for them to rot down though.
@shearwell_chris
TALDLONKTUP2
Member
There's always one.......So what happens in 'the worst weather'Tried them but didn't think they helped much.
I prefer to work with genetics which stand upto all but the worst weather
.......Dead lambs, run around like an idiot.....Or just put a mac on them! 
- Location
- Dumfries & Galloway
There's always one.......So what happens in 'the worst weather'
Bit of shitty plastic won't save a lamb from 3ft snow drifts.
TALDLONKTUP2
Member
They're great in crisis situation, I pick them up, wash them and reuse the next year!They seem to help lambs - but can be found stuck on the hedges 6 months later
TALDLONKTUP2
Member
Girlfarmer
Member
- Location
- North Yorkshire
What they will save many a lamb from is a biting wind with torrential rain. Keeping their back dry is a life saver. Can't rate them highly enough.
We see plenty of discarded ones lying around initially, but I've never had to pick them up when we clear the meadows. I'm assuming they haven't all just blown down the hill into the neighbour's fields...
We see plenty of discarded ones lying around initially, but I've never had to pick them up when we clear the meadows. I'm assuming they haven't all just blown down the hill into the neighbour's fields...
reverand
Member
- Location
- East lancs hills
Well yes it probably will actually.....If your genetics are right of course!
Lonk tup you meanWell yes it probably will actually.....If your genetics are right of course!
Ditto............Tried them but didn't think they helped much.
I prefer to work with genetics which stand upto all but the worst weather
I notice that @Tim W.. 'liked' - yet he keeps Charol....
The only Charollais (or any other sheep ) I keep get born outside/live their whole life outside and have to put with what they get
Which means that the Charollais I breed do ok outside and don't need macs/leg warmers/thermal knitware or any other gimmick
mid Feb ?The only Charollais (or any other sheep ) I keep get born outside/live their whole life outside and have to put with what they get
Which means that the Charollais I breed do ok outside and don't need macs/leg warmers/thermal knitware or any other gimmick
start of April----
Do people lamb outside in mid Feb? Is there grass growth to do this?
I do know terminal sire breeders that lamb in Dec/Feb but they all do it inside with central heating
In fact I know terminal sire breeders that lamb indoors in March/April
Jackson4
Member
- Location
- Wensleydale
Tried them but didn't think they helped much.
I prefer to work with genetics which stand upto all but the worst weather
Just dont sell any of your costly genetic gain to those who'd rather run around doing the extra work
Testing sheep to be able to do the job with less labour/cost is the way to improve sheep, and there is always someone who thinks their breed is great because of... something else, but really its how it was selected, and treated in early life. For fat lambs i suppose your not selecting for anything so if they work and you think its worth thelabour then super.. i put a few on and that was the end of that but really for me a waste of time.TALDLONKTUP2
Member
Lambing in Wiltshire in April is hardly a test of hardiness, for any sheep....But in any case, if you'd rather have a dead lamb than an extra lamb to sell for slaughter (which is what we're on about, after all) and has absolutely no baring on flock genetics, good bad or indifferent, then that's your choice.....But it sounds idiotic to me.The only Charollais (or any other sheep ) I keep get born outside/live their whole life outside and have to put with what they get
Which means that the Charollais I breed do ok outside and don't need macs/leg warmers/thermal knitware or any other gimmick
- Location
- Dumfries & Galloway
start of April----
Do people lamb outside in mid Feb? Is there grass growth to do this?
I do know terminal sire breeders that lamb in Dec/Feb but they all do it inside with central heating
In fact I know terminal sire breeders that lamb indoors in March/April
Comparing your location to mine, regardless of altitude - my lambing starting in early March could be comparative to you lambing in Feb? So in a roundabout way, yes? We are south facing, and most years we do have grass growth.
Just dont sell any of your costly genetic gain to those who'd rather run around doing the extra work
I don't sell anything for breeding - tups or ewes
I select hard on my pures - If the lambs need fetched in, or the ewe worked with for any reason, then she is demoted to fat lamb production and the ewe lambs culled. The commercials therefor are the 'poorer' end of the flock - and currently i am relying on someone else's breeding for the Texel tups I use, so yes I concede they do cause abit more work then the pures - but nothing which has ever made me think i cant lamb when i do, with only minimal intervention.
Re. the jackets - iv honestly never seen any benefit using them. You guys keep using them if they work for you (makes me wonder how soft your lambs are though, considering when the majority of you lamb).
If the grass is growing the temperature must be good?----I try to match my grass growth to coincide with lambing, early April (although this year I could have lambed at any time through the winter
)TALDLONKTUP2
Member
Comparing your location to mine, regardless of altitude - my lambing starting in early March could be comparative to you lambing in Feb? So in a roundabout way, yes? We are south facing, and most years we do have grass growth.
I don't sell anything for breeding - tups or ewes
I select hard on my pures - If the lambs need fetched in, or the ewe worked with for any reason, then she is demoted to fat lamb production and the ewe lambs culled. The commercials therefor are the 'poorer' end of the flock - and currently i am relying on someone else's breeding for the Texel tups I use, so yes I concede they do cause abit more work then the pures - but nothing which has ever made me think i cant lamb when i do, with only minimal intervention.
Re. the jackets - iv honestly never seen any benefit using them. You guys keep using them if they work for you (makes me wonder how soft your lambs are though, considering when the majority of you lamb).
There shouldn't be any need for routine use, but there are (quite often) occasions such as a gale blown snow storms where you can't get vehicle access or don't have sheds available in really crap weather where a mac is literally a life saver and no boasts of "my lambs are harder than your lambs" will alter that.....Of course you lot tend to have a lot of singles, which helps survival
MJT
Member
There shouldn't be any need for routine use, but there are (quite often) occasions such as a gale blown snow storms where you can't get vehicle access or don't have sheds available in really crap weather where a mac is literally a life saver and no boasts of "my lambs are harder than your lambs" will alter that.....Of course you lot tend to have a lot of singles, which helps survival
Agree with this, few years ago had torrid time with wet and cold where 4 and 5 day old Cheviot lambs were dying because of the weather and they usually thrive whatever the weather, that wet and cold that soaks them through to the bone I don't care what breed they are Itl knock them for 6. At the time never crossed mind about lamb macs but looking back , even if the macs had saved 3 or 4 lambs it would have been worth messing about with them. Surely Macs are worth it in extreme weather cases. But then there's also a dairy farmer not far away with a few sheep in the most sheltered fields possible lambing in April and he still uses macs even if the weather is cracking .....
- Location
- Dumfries & Galloway
If the grass is growing the temperature must be good?----I try to match my grass growth to coincide with lambing, early April (although this year I could have lambed at any time through the winter
Spring does move up the country though... Your winter should be shorter as mine? Or has my High School geography teachings failed me?
Agree you have to time it to the grass. Grass growth comes here mid March, as lambs are on the ground - most years fields are moving well by late March.
TALDLONKTUP2
Member
I started out with quite a few Gritters, they were cheap back then. Quiet, good feet, never any bother, cracking little sheep though they did tend only to throw singles, but you'd near guarantee their Texel lambs would be done in the first batch....I wish I'd bought a BFL tup for then now, but didn't think at the timeLonk tup you mean