Outside lambing mortality

Pan mixer · Apr 25, 2023

We lost 12 out of 120 born alive in the January lot - only a couple to weather, most to badgers. The weather was very good though.

Already lost 3 out of 10 alive yesterday, at the other end of the farm, no badgers but one to damp, one to buzzard and 1 to fox, mostly first timers though, I hope things improve a bit by a couple of days.

egbert · Apr 25, 2023

Never count- or haven't since i was young and full of vim and vigour.
You save what you can, but it'll never be enough.

I would say the largest variable here is the labour/support available.
If a wet cold night approaches, and there is sufficent calories available on 2 legs to fetch more twins in for a night or two, the losses will be lower.
(we're very exposed)
If there is the energy available to get out around them an extra time or two when things are busiest, losses will be lower.
The balance, as ever, is whether that labour is available/affordable, to preserve the extra handful of lambs.

Then there's the level of backup/convenience ....easy pennage for problems, good dog/vehicle access to fetch problems in.
if you're lambing in fields surrounding a well set up steading, have a dog that'll catch/hold your flighty 'head out legs back' lamber etc, and you can pull right up beside em with the bike/buggy/pickup....you're life will be easier than when the situation is....er....less salubrious.

Lambing 1000 hoggs and 2 tooths/ jeepers...good luck.

tinsheet · Apr 26, 2023

JockCroft said:
I think better not to count the lamb casualty's. Can be depressing. Why does everybody talk about the difficulties and trials of Lambing?
Count the ewe losses and how many are run empty as a benchmark. This year definitely worse for both.
Prolapses and ewes going on backs caused ewe deaths. Loss of big single lambs from difficult births and deciding not to adopt.

And the weather past 3 days has been brutal, windchill is a killer.

I just do a count up after I selling the last my lambs, take it away from the scanning results.
Saved getting depressed during lambing.

SleepyHollow · Apr 26, 2023

Lambing that many young ewes outside in one go is going to be tough. My ylgs needed more help than my hogs but different tup is what I'm pinning that on

BRB John · Apr 26, 2023

Think we've got some of the world's best sheep farmers on TFF apparently only taking 15 or 20% losses lambing hoggs outside

If you achieve less that 30% I'd consider that very much a victory

Hill Ground · Apr 26, 2023

egbert said:
Lambing 1000 hoggs and 2 tooths/ jeepers...good luck.

I'm not sure from the OP if they think their losses are to high, but I think lambing a young flock like that, your loses will be higher. Alot of first timers!

Havnt checked for a few days, but our loses from ewes numbere-up-for-lambing, to lambs-48hrs-old was running around 7-8%. A bit higher than normal, but all things considered not to emotional about it tbh.

Importance of availability of mag in the diet of pre lambing ewes can't be underestimated, especially outdoor lambing imo.

egbert · Apr 26, 2023

tinsheet said:
I just do a count up after I selling the last my lambs, take it away from the scanning results.
Saved getting depressed during lambing.

Don't scan...just notice how many sheep are annually sold off the farm if I am looking

tinsheet · Apr 26, 2023

egbert said:
Don't scan...just notice how many sheep are annually sold off the farm if I am looking

Yes I could drop the scanning now, as I don't feed any concentrates, but it useful to get rid of the emptys.

AftonShepherd · Apr 26, 2023

BRB John said:
Think we've got some of the world's best sheep farmers on TFF apparently only taking 15 or 20% losses lambing hoggs outside
If you achieve less that 30% I'd consider that very much a victory

First time ever tried tupping ewe lambs and 0% losses! Only tried 4 and this was the only one scanned in lamb but ....

Fat Lamb · Apr 26, 2023

AftonShepherd said:
View attachment 1107836
First time ever tried tupping ewe lambs and 0% losses! Only tried 4 and this was the only one scanned in lamb but ....

Well, if you don’t count the 3 geld ones then that’s 100% on your hoggs.
a perfect result!
Can’t afford any losses between now and weaning time though!!

AftonShepherd · Apr 26, 2023

Fat Lamb said:
Well, if you don’t count the 3 geld ones then that’s 100% on your hoggs.
a perfect result!
Can’t afford any losses between now and weaning time though!!

I was counting the geld ones and won't be trying them again. This thread has been discussing losses between scanning and weaning - a long way to go for that though

roseshep · Apr 26, 2023

Fellstoflats said:
Probably around 15% for us- as others have said, the variables can be massive, and what looks like a good year can very easily turn on it's head.

Breed, location etc will all play a massive part. Were you lambing in or out previously?

have always mainly lambed outside apart from the odd stint in a shed which i try to avoid! seem to have lost a fair few in that first storm that came through at the beginning of April, picking up lambs that just hit the ground and never got going is a depressing way to start lambing!

roseshep · Apr 26, 2023

egbert said:
Never count- or haven't since i was young and full of vim and vigour.
You save what you can, but it'll never be enough.

I would say the largest variable here is the labour/support available.
If a wet cold night approaches, and there is sufficent calories available on 2 legs to fetch more twins in for a night or two, the losses will be lower.
(we're very exposed)
If there is the energy available to get out around them an extra time or two when things are busiest, losses will be lower.
The balance, as ever, is whether that labour is available/affordable, to preserve the extra handful of lambs.

Then there's the level of backup/convenience ....easy pennage for problems, good dog/vehicle access to fetch problems in.
if you're lambing in fields surrounding a well set up steading, have a dog that'll catch/hold your flighty 'head out legs back' lamber etc, and you can pull right up beside em with the bike/buggy/pickup....you're life will be easier than when the situation is....er....less salubrious.

Lambing 1000 hoggs and 2 tooths/ jeepers...good luck.

Yeah the first week almost broke me

to be fair to the hoggs most have got on with it and the lambs are full of fight which is good. think i'd rather have the hoggs then the 40 triplet 2ths who seemed to have tried every which way to die or abandon their lambs!

roseshep · Apr 26, 2023

AftonShepherd said:
View attachment 1107836
First time ever tried tupping ewe lambs and 0% losses! Only tried 4 and this was the only one scanned in lamb but ....

the best days are when you lamb one and they just pee off in the opposite direction whilst its 4 degrees and pissing down

roseshep · Apr 26, 2023

Hill Ground said:
I'm not sure from the OP if they think their losses are to high, but I think lambing a young flock like that, your loses will be higher. Alot of first timers!

Havnt checked for a few days, but our loses from ewes numbere-up-for-lambing, to lambs-48hrs-old was running around 7-8%. A bit higher than normal, but all things considered not to emotional about it tbh.

Importance of availability of mag in the diet of pre lambing ewes can't be underestimated, especially outdoor lambing imo.

Just trying to establish what is good/bad, at the moment we're sitting at 10% today and coming to the end of the first cycle but....that is only what i've picked up dead not what has potentially been taken by a fox/badger etc. I have a tally counter and just click any dead i pick up more trying to work out where the highest death points are so i can see if there is anything i can do about it. In my mind i'm pretty content with loosing 20% but i have to explain that to the higher powers which no nothing about sheep farming. Last year I lost A LOT to clostridials at the 3 week mark and it continues to be the biggest killer of sheep on farm. Also should add into this that i pick up anything miss mothered/starving and rear them in the shed so really if they where deaths we would be a lot higher right now.

egbert · Apr 26, 2023

roseshep said:
Yeah the first week almost broke me to be fair to the hoggs most have got on with it and the lambs are full of fight which is good. think i'd rather have the hoggs then the 40 triplet 2ths who seemed to have tried every which way to die or abandon their lambs!

oh, I've supped from that well!
My lad is lambing a little bunch of his own hoggs here (they were away at lowland pasture last summer, or they'd never have held)
One of my old chums said 'yup, it's something every lad has to try!'
To be fair, once they got going, several have lambed unassisted fine, have got milk, and love their lambs....it will have paid for doing.

What breed of sheep are you lambing thus?

egbert · Apr 26, 2023

roseshep said:
Just trying to establish what is good/bad, at the moment we're sitting at 10% today and coming to the end of the first cycle but....that is only what i've picked up dead not what has potentially been taken by a fox/badger etc. I have a tally counter and just click any dead i pick up more trying to work out where the highest death points are so i can see if there is anything i can do about it. In my mind i'm pretty content with loosing 20% but i have to explain that to the higher powers which no nothing about sheep farming. Last year I lost A LOT to clostridials at the 3 week mark and it continues to be the biggest killer of sheep on farm. Also should add into this that i pick up anything miss mothered/starving and rear them in the shed so really if they where deaths we would be a lot higher right now.

'I have a friend' who reckons to give all lambs on inbye 1ml vaccine at birth - unvaccinated flock- which seems to stop that nonsense.

beardface · Apr 26, 2023

AftonShepherd said:
View attachment 1107836
First time ever tried tupping ewe lambs and 0% losses! Only tried 4 and this was the only one scanned in lamb but ....

Will probly through itself in a dyke next week

Nithsdale · Apr 26, 2023

exmoor dave said:
Find it creeps up more if we scan higher, which may sound odd, but we find that triplets (and quads) are just death fests,
From ewes either dying pre-lambing because it's all too much, taking a whole litter with them‍♂

Definitely.

The more you have the more you'll lose.

neilo · Apr 26, 2023

tinsheet said:
Yes I could drop the scanning now, as I don't feed any concentrates, but it useful to get rid of the emptys.

Useful to get rid of the empties, but even more useful to be able to restrict the intakes for the singles imo.

Overconditioned singles are our biggest cause of losses, if we don’t near starve them for the last month.

No concentrates is far from not feeding, it just doesn’t come out of an expensive bag any more.

Outside lambing mortality

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

0 %

Up to 25%

25-50%

50-75%

75-100%

100% I’ve had enough of farming!

Share this page