@Global ovine
I’ve kept triplet & twin ewe lambs from same dam & sire but they don’t always have same amount of lambs. Do you cull a barren ewe lamb even though their identical sister has scanned for twins & her full sisters have scanned previous years in lamb?
Just interested to see what others do with empty shearlings at scanning. Closed flock and started toxo and enzovax this year, my head says to cull any that aren't in lamb, but the cost of the vaccines is a bit offputting. I've got a few nice ewe lambs running on for next year. My shearlings this year have been hit quite hard with orf just as the tups came out, most of them have had it to varying degrees yet the mature ewes they are running with seem relatively unaffected. Scanning next week but just interested to see if people give shearlings another chance or get rid.
They were out a month but all scanned in lambhow long have the tups been out? If you don’t give them a good 30 days you may just be culling late lambers.
Bingo!They were out a month but all scanned in lamb
how long have the tups been out? If you don’t give them a good 30 days you may just be culling late lambers.
They're the lower fertility animals. To me it would make sense to not keep replacements out of them.
I cull everything that’s empty 100% of the time cows heifers shearling s ewes the lot I don’t carry passengers they don’t pay their way.
I will start , only twin ewe lambs out of first cycle .A man after my own heart. Go one step further and only keep replacements from the first cycle.
I will start , only twin ewe lambs out of first cycle .
and pick the best lambs for better thrive all round. A farm I know are back to front, keep all pillocks cause they aren't worth owt.Only twin ewe lambs weaned as twins from first cycle. Target maternal ability as well as fertility.
Always keep best uns for myselfand pick the best lambs for better thrive all round. A farm I know are back to front, keep all pillocks cause they aren't worth owt.
Only twin ewe lambs weaned as twins from first cycle. Target maternal ability as well as fertility.
I'm not in a position to do this. But I'd like to once I hit flock numbers.A lofty ambition, but it comes at quite a cost. To be that selective, you need to put most of the flock to maternal rams (assuming you don’t want to keep terminal crosses), and fewer to breed more valuable terminal cross lambs. Itobviously also means that you have to apply less selection pressure as to which ewes go to the maternal rams (whether that’s on performance, type, or both).
I can see the point if you are wanting to breed for fertility & twinning, above all else, but you’d need to see a significant premium for doing so I would say.
Only twin ewe lambs weaned as twins from first cycle. Target maternal ability as well as fertility.
Target twin ewe lambs that are 50%of the ewe's weight at weaning.Only twin ewe lambs weaned as twins from first cycle. Target maternal ability as well as fertility.
Target twin ewe lambs that are 50%of the ewe's weight at weaning.
How far do you go with this?!!! Still it is a good practice in theory, you will identify your ram breeders and flock improvement will improve massively at little cost.
The number of ewe lambs that you cull is up to you but it's good to know who your most productive sheep are.