- Location
- Ceredigion, wales
My uncle cut back his flock by 20% years ago and produced the same amount of lambs the following year.
Same here Yale, even with starting on 25th Feb and lambing through those 2 beasts from the east snow storms and constant rain, farming on sloping fields water runs off more quickly, (drains have been running really strongly ) and it's not like we haven't had weather like this beforeConsidering the weather our lambing has gone as well as can be expected however this is because our land is mainly free draining,we have good equipment to cope,maybe not enough shed space and lamb most ewes from 1st April.
So far we have managed to ride out the conditions.
And yes,every year in the middle of lambing I seriously consider why we keep sheep.[emoji99]
I don't remember it being this wet for so long before though. Our farm has never been in such a mess. Cattle had poached the ground before having to come in early. Then the sheep made more mess before having to come in sooner than normal and the ground still hasn't recovered. And to top it all there are trees down all over the place, some of them have taken fences with them. The place is a complete shambles.Same here Yale, even with starting on 25th Feb and lambing through those 2 beasts from the east snow storms and constant rain, farming on sloping fields water runs off more quickly, (drains have been running really strongly ) and it's not like we haven't had weather like this before
Snap. Greened up last day or two though but thats all it is a green colour there is absolutley no grass anywereI don't remember it being this wet for so long before though. Our farm has never been in such a mess. Cattle had poached the ground before having to come in early. Then the sheep made more mess before having to come in sooner than normal and the ground still hasn't recovered. And to top it all there are trees down all over the place, some of them have taken fences with them. The place is a complete shambles.
Our Gator did a lot of the damage in a wet year like this one, a quad is a lot more nimble and ride on the clart instead of ploughing through itI know on a few posts you've said about having problems with gators and them getting stuck, would a quad not be better? I think my fields would look a mess if I had the extra weight of a gator.
2 70+ farmers have told me this week that they've never seen it like this before. So I'm pretty happy, that hopefully we won't have to go through much like it again.
The only thing I'm going to change is to have more indoor pens ready for problems. There's a few that I've left out because I haven't had the pens spare and easy to get to, and I've regretted it.
We don’t tup ours as hogs,we keep them tight and lamb as yearlings.You all forgot to mention on top of everything else, the hogs bringing rotten lambs then dying themselves because there was a shortage of toxovac........or is that just me?
Seeing my hoggs with lambs is the most enjoyable part of the job for meWe don’t tup ours as hogs,we keep them tight and lamb as yearlings.
Got enough headaches without stuck lambs in ewe hogs.
This place exactly the same, in a perverse way it's good to know I am not the only oneI don't remember it being this wet for so long before though. Our farm has never been in such a mess. Cattle had poached the ground before having to come in early. Then the sheep made more mess before having to come in sooner than normal and the ground still hasn't recovered. And to top it all there are trees down all over the place, some of them have taken fences with them. The place is a complete shambles.
Every cloud (crap spell of weather) has a silver lining?Seeing my hoggs with lambs is the most enjoyable part of the job for me
Last year I did question it when I was having far too many hung lambs, but since keeping them on mud this year they seem to be a lot better.
Every cloud (crap spell of weather) has a silver lining?
[QUOTE="puppet, post: 5018578, member: 25962"The outdoor brigade will be on here soon.
I've joined the brigade! Started lambing my too soft too pink too French to lamb out things at the end of March beginning of April and it was hell, lovely now though, two sets of twins two singles in the night all with their mothers in the sun
nearly every fiels we have has some sort of fence issue , trees down , sheep with head stuck through fence breaks the corner one off , even the two fields with stone wall boundaries have been breeched , think constant rain has washed them out making them weak .I don't remember it being this wet for so long before though. Our farm has never been in such a mess. Cattle had poached the ground before having to come in early. Then the sheep made more mess before having to come in sooner than normal and the ground still hasn't recovered. And to top it all there are trees down all over the place, some of them have taken fences with them. The place is a complete shambles.
That's true, you've got to be careful not to twist your ankle crossing the fields our fattening cattle were on in October, going to take some rolling to get them smooth enough for silage again....but it's not the first and I'm sure it won't be the last timeI don't remember it being this wet for so long before though. Our farm has never been in such a mess. Cattle had poached the ground before having to come in early. Then the sheep made more mess before having to come in sooner than normal and the ground still hasn't recovered. And to top it all there are trees down all over the place, some of them have taken fences with them. The place is a complete shambles.
It will grow now...I'm putting fert out today where I can, slaloming around wet patches , avoiding slopes etc. It's not pretty but needs mustSnap. Greened up last day or two though but thats all it is a green colour there is absolutley no grass anywere
I can see a difference again today looks much better from the road and yard. Havent been round yet (cow calved) so will ger to see how the fields look up close. Ewes and lambs seem happy from what i can see thoughIt will grow now...I'm putting fert out today where I can, slaloming around wet patches , avoiding slopes etc. It's not pretty but needs must