how many folk lamb in May?

spark_28 · Apr 22, 2019

Most folk do it early april here. been an excellent couple of weeks for lambign in but as is the west coast the weather could easy turn shite late April and grazing could come short, making everyhting struggle.

Just wonderign have folk gone from April-May or vice versa and their reasons why

Jerry · Apr 22, 2019

I always start a second late batch in last week of April.

Driver is not really weather related, more to do with stretching my lamb season to December for my boxed lamb sales.

Issue here is keeping ewes tight enough to avoid big lambs as grass is growing like stink at the moment.

spin cycle · Apr 22, 2019

i lamb in may....but then again i lamb in jan.feb,march, april and probably june as well

'diary of comedy sheep farmer'

Spuddler · Apr 22, 2019

Starting the process of multiple lambings through the year as doing lamb for our own customers

November,Feb, June ,September

Man_in_black · Apr 22, 2019

We're trialling it this year. Main group lamb January second batch lambing now & into May so we have steady supply of lamb for farm shop rather than a glut all at once.

The Seeker · Apr 22, 2019

I did a may lambing for a chap 4.30 am start looking the fields until 1.00 pm then the second shift came on till 8pm seemed top work well but sadly the chap i was working for sprung it on me he wanted all the ewes ear tags recorded and the lambs tagged and recorded - all outside .. i did my best but that was a big ask.

Northeastfarmer · Apr 22, 2019

I wouldn’t wanna start lambing in may

Tim W · Apr 22, 2019

We May lambed for many years ---on top of the downs on Salisbury plain this is when the grass appears so it made sense
I now lamb 15th April as i am grazing lower ground where the grass comes a bit earlier

Jim75 · Apr 22, 2019

You got to do what suits your own circumstances rather than worry what others are doing. Main contract flock is just winding down although still 40 ewes and 50 hoggs to go and my own are just about to start purely because it fits in and that’s when we get plenty grass. Probably quite late for around us and we’ll be selling at peak sale time around aug-sept

Devil's advocate · Apr 22, 2019

Northeastfarmer said:
I wouldn’t wanna start lambing in may

For what reasons, Northeastfarmer?

To the op it is standard practice on the very top of the pennines, lambing hefted ewes on the moors.

On lowland farms In theory it has lots going for it, low inputs of concencrates & Texel/Beltex lambs maturing to hit the top of the market. The one that appeals to me is wintering/lambing on permanent pasture then putting ewes & lambs onto clean land that has had an early silage crop taken from it, then moving to hay aftermaths.

Downside is for me, they would have to lamb outside which to a dog less part time sheep farmer like me is a pain & blowflies on new born lambs. Lots of hungrey foxes & badgers & crows with young to feed, that have already "got the taste" from your earlier lambing neighbours

andybk · Apr 22, 2019

I fkn am this year , left our old zwart ram in for 2 cycles last autumn no harness because they dont work on black wool usually swap ram first cycle , but for a few reasons i didnt , , he was firing blanks

, so the sweeper charollais had the lot first for week in may , dont think they will be long about looking at udders today .

Northeastfarmer · Apr 23, 2019

Devil's advocate said:
For what reasons, Northeastfarmer?

To the op it is standard practice on the very top of the pennines, lambing hefted ewes on the moors.

On lowland farms In theory it has lots going for it, low inputs of concencrates & Texel/Beltex lambs maturing to hit the top of the market. The one that appeals to me is wintering/lambing on permanent pasture then putting ewes & lambs onto clean land that has had an early silage crop taken from it, then moving to hay aftermaths.

Downside is for me, they would have to lamb outside which to a dog less part time sheep farmer like me is a pain & blowflies on new born lambs. Lots of hungrey foxes & badgers & crows with young to feed, that have already "got the taste" from your earlier lambing neighbours

In my experience you don’t get the lambing percentage, ewes need a lot more managing due to them becoming too fat, couple that to the lower lambing percentage and more intervention is required
Obviously different locations and breeds will be different

Happy · Apr 23, 2019

Jim75 said:
You got to do what suits your own circumstances rather than worry what others are doing. Main contract flock is just winding down although still 40 ewes and 50 hoggs to go and my own are just about to start purely because it fits in and that’s when we get plenty grass. Probably quite late for around us and we’ll be selling at peak sale time around aug-sept

Know someone starting an indoor lambing of 700 in a weeks time.
Wouldn’t fancy that at all myself but as you say, each to their own that fits in with whatever else you’ve got to do.

Woolless · Apr 23, 2019

andybk said:
I fkn am this year , left our old zwart ram in for 2 cycles last autumn no harness because they dont work on black wool usually swap ram first cycle , but for a few reasons i didnt , , he was firing blanks , so the sweeper charollais had the lot first for week in may , dont think they will be long about looking at udders today .

I can sympathize with that. Had a Jaffa tup a few years ago and he had two full cycles. The sweepers got the lot. Last lamb born June 1! To make it worse, I don't drink over lambing so seven weeks on the wagon!

unlacedgecko · Apr 23, 2019

spark_28 said:
Most folk do it early april here. been an excellent couple of weeks for lambign in but as is the west coast the weather could easy turn shite late April and grazing could come short, making everyhting struggle.

Just wonderign have folk gone from April-May or vice versa and their reasons why

https://www.farmideas.co.uk/userfiles/file/Sample13-1LR.pdf

David Sullivan on page 10.

spark_28 · Apr 23, 2019

Devil's advocate said:
For what reasons, Northeastfarmer?

To the op it is standard practice on the very top of the pennines, lambing hefted ewes on the moors.

On lowland farms In theory it has lots going for it, low inputs of concencrates & Texel/Beltex lambs maturing to hit the top of the market. The one that appeals to me is wintering/lambing on permanent pasture then putting ewes & lambs onto clean land that has had an early silage crop taken from it, then moving to hay aftermaths.

Downside is for me, they would have to lamb outside which to a dog less part time sheep farmer like me is a pain & blowflies on new born lambs. Lots of hungrey foxes & badgers & crows with young to feed, that have already "got the taste" from your earlier lambing neighbours

Its my first year not ambng for a while and hoping to start sheep again this year. going to get Lleyn gimmers and keep them pure and use the hill. Theory was that if i lambed say 10th of may i would have until about the 20th of april to decide/know wether i would have to give them extra feed. The hill is massive and they would have very little competiton. id also probably throw them something a couple days a week to keep them slightly tame.It would also mean that my fields would be left barren for longer as id have a whole month of april growth (if there woud be any) to use up. Then if they lambed for three weeks their lambs and themselves would return to the hill as the grass really starts to come on. Flysttrike wont be a problem here in May, my worry was would crows and ravens be more active in May?

Lambing percentage and lambing problems hopfully wouldnt be an issue with using lleyn. Lambing in April works okish but all it takes is for two bad weeks weather in the middle of April, the grass disappears, you might lose a lamb or two to weather and your pumping in far more feed and have a far higher risk on a lamb going backwards.

Nithsdale · Apr 23, 2019

spark_28 said:
Its my first year not ambng for a while and hoping to start sheep again this year. going to get Lleyn gimmers and keep them pure and use the hill. Theory was that if i lambed say 10th of may i would have until about the 20th of april to decide/know wether i would have to give them extra feed. The hill is massive and they would have very little competiton. id also probably throw them something a couple days a week to keep them slightly tame.It would also mean that my fields would be left barren for longer as id have a whole month of april growth (if there woud be any) to use up. Then if they lambed for three weeks their lambs and themselves would return to the hill as the grass really starts to come on. Flysttrike wont be a problem here in May, my worry was would crows and ravens be more active in May?

Lambing percentage and lambing problems hopfully wouldnt be an issue with using lleyn. Lambing in April works okish but all it takes is for two bad weeks weather in the middle of April, the grass disappears, you might lose a lamb or two to weather and your pumping in far more feed and have a far higher risk on a lamb going backwards.

Where you are, a May lambing isn't a daft idea. There will be places farther out or North of you lamb in May I'd be sure of it.

Crows/Ravens might actually be less of an issue? - food will be in easier supply from other sources for them compared to early April where they are more hungry and lamb is the easiest source... (I could be well wrong there though).

Aslong as you get the right ewes, the Lleyn will work fine on hill without needing to be too kind to them. Just don't overstock it (which it doesn't sound you will).

Give it a crack and see how you get on

spark_28 · Apr 23, 2019

Nithsdale Farmer said:
Where you are, a May lambing isn't a daft idea. There will be places farther out or North of you lamb in May I'd be sure of it.

Crows/Ravens might actually be less of an issue? - food will be in easier supply from other sources for them compared to early April where they are more hungry and lamb is the easiest source... (I could be well wrong there though).

Aslong as you get the right ewes, the Lleyn will work fine on hill without needing to be too kind to them. Just don't overstock it (which it doesn't sound you will).

Give it a crack and see how you get on

my only issue is I would like to try and breed rams from them as im fairly certain id get rid of them locally as theirs no other breeders anywhere near me. I see it as a sound future investment so have no problems paying a good price for the sheep and ram. My worry is if I left them all entire id really suffer in the backend with the smaller ones as id have to get rid in septmeber as don't have the facilities to keep them longer. Not going to have a large number, about 35 but I do intend on increasing that yearly to get to above 100 odd as soon as financially possible.

Nithsdale · Apr 23, 2019

spark_28 said:
my only issue is I would like to try and breed rams from them as im fairly certain id get rid of them locally as theirs no other breeders anywhere near me. I see it as a sound future investment so have no problems paying a good price for the sheep and ram. My worry is if I left them all entire id really suffer in the backend with the smaller ones as id have to get rid in septmeber as don't have the facilities to keep them longer. Not going to have a large number, about 35 but I do intend on increasing that yearly to get to above 100 odd as soon as financially possible.

Hmmm I wouldn't keep them all entire. Select a few ewes which you think are the very best and spray them so you know them at lambing. Leave the tups off them entire and see how they get on. That's what I do if I want to keep some tups.
If you can't fatten the lambs you'll get hurt putting them store as tups - but that'll be an issue with any breed.

scottish-lleyn · Apr 23, 2019

Nithsdale Farmer said:
Hmmm I wouldn't keep them all entire. Select a few ewes which you think are the very best and spray them so you know them at lambing. Leave the tups off them entire and see how they get on. That's what I do if I want to keep some tups.
If you can't fatten the lambs you'll get hurt putting them store as tups - but that'll be an issue with any breed.

i agree with @Nithsdale Farmer but i would say dont leave any intire your first year or so until you establish your best breeding ewes. You dont want to just sell your biggest lambs from the whole lot as they are prob singles and not really your best just have had a better start. Once you see what ewes are consitantly twinning and rearing a good weight of lambs to finish with no intervension then those ewes can be your stud and lambs from the kept for stud breeding.

how many folk lamb in May?

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