f**k Up Fortnight

ladycrofter

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Highland
I think we forgot the f*ckup fortnight that goes at the end of lambing :rolleyes: . Had as many issues in the last week as the two at the beginning! One with it all out and no hope of fixing it :confused:, haven't had it happen for years. Another with lamb hung and dead. A few wobblers needing TLD and calcium, bring in and keep an eye they have enough milk. A spoon customer intent on rubbing on the fence and pulling it out :mad:, brought her in and put IT back in. Seemed to settle so we took it out the next day. Checked the camera at 4:30 one morning, of COURSE she's down and pushing again. A great way to start the day, pile out of bed and up to the shed. Wild as a hare, hold the back legs in the air job. On the bright side, 2 days later she lambed twins around it, must be a miracle.

Six to go then DONE! 👍
 

glasshouse

Member
Location
lothians
F3527665-8FCA-4A2E-899B-C96CAC18E48D.jpeg
This bism jumped in to this new plantation two days ago, 😩then produced two cracking lleyn cross lambs, 👍👍and has now disappeared😩😩
 
Last edited:

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
I think next Monday I am going to be lambing, shearing and mowing for silage on the same day. I think I need some staff. 🤔

Someone will be along shortly to claim that some breeds will lamb themselves and shear themselves, leaving you free to crack on with the mowing. :rolleyes:

Don’t believe them. I was chasing one such Hogg round this morning, with a correctly presented lamb that died before it could exit the narrow pelvis. :banghead:
 

Anymulewilldo

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Cheshire
Someone will be along shortly to claim that some breeds will lamb themselves and shear themselves, leaving you free to crack on with the mowing. :rolleyes:

Don’t believe them. I was chasing one such Hogg round this morning, with a correctly presented lamb that died before it could exit the narrow pelvis. :banghead:
Some breeds crap gold sovereigns too…
 

Estate fencing.

Member
Livestock Farmer
Someone will be along shortly to claim that some breeds will lamb themselves and shear themselves, leaving you free to crack on with the mowing. :rolleyes:

Don’t believe them. I was chasing one such Hogg round this morning, with a correctly presented lamb that died before it could exit the narrow pelvis. :banghead:
I could send the wife who has never seem a sheep to go and "observe" 3000 of them once a day because as we all know lamb when you have these breeds lambing the easiest time of the year. ;)
 

Nithsdale

Member
Livestock Farmer
How do you find the lleyn as a cross over the blackie ?


I'm the resident expert on this cross I think!


I really liked them. The stock we had produced a small, blocky ewe which survived off very little. Used to put them to the Texel, can't really remember the lambing %'s we got but I do remember you always had a few of these crosses were the last to lamb... singles... and quote often hung 🤦🏻‍♂️ (but that was back in the days long before I even thought about scanning, so management would sort that no doubt).

Skins could be quite varied but that may have been our mixture of (bought in) Blackies. The wedders sold well in the live ring, fattened easier to handy weights than Mules did at the time and most importantly the Lleyn lambs survived at lambing where the BFL lambs just wouldn't - first lambing with both side by side was 2006 we had torrential rain for a fortnight solid. I remember losing very few Lleyn lambs and brought in next to none... every single Blackie which lambed Mule lambs came into the shed.

The only ewe ever to successfully rear all 3 of her triplets on this farm was a LleynxBlackie. She just ran inbye with the rest of the Texel lambs, no special attention or extra feed. She didn't look great, but the lambs did ok.

I've said on here before if I had a block of hill and had no choice but to to run Blackies, I'd be breeding Lleyn crosses for the better ground
 

Bill dog

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Scottish Borders
I'm the resident expert on this cross I think!


I really liked them. The stock we had produced a small, blocky ewe which survived off very little. Used to put them to the Texel, can't really remember the lambing %'s we got but I do remember you always had a few of these crosses were the last to lamb... singles... and quote often hung 🤦🏻‍♂️ (but that was back in the days long before I even thought about scanning, so management would sort that no doubt).

Skins could be quite varied but that may have been our mixture of (bought in) Blackies. The wedders sold well in the live ring, fattened easier to handy weights than Mules did at the time and most importantly the Lleyn lambs survived at lambing where the BFL lambs just wouldn't - first lambing with both side by side was 2006 we had torrential rain for a fortnight solid. I remember losing very few Lleyn lambs and brought in next to none... every single Blackie which lambed Mule lambs came into the shed.

The only ewe ever to successfully rear all 3 of her triplets on this farm was a LleynxBlackie. She just ran inbye with the rest of the Texel lambs, no special attention or extra feed. She didn't look great, but the lambs did ok.

I've said on here before if I had a block of hill and had no choice but to to run Blackies, I'd be breeding Lleyn crosses for the better ground
Apologies for not asking you first oh great resident expert!😂
My son has 21 smart blackie gimmers that have just lambed to an easydam texel. Lambed some very smart lambs, so he’s delighted after the crossing blue tup I bought turned out to be utterly feckin useless!🤦‍♂️
Anyway the Incheoch lleyn ram I have is smart, but just threw too many big lambs to the Romney Hoggs this yr, so binning that idea.
Hopefully using the lleyn over the blackies will make as functional a sheep as you found !👍
 

Kingcustard

Member
Someone will be along shortly to claim that some breeds will lamb themselves and shear themselves, leaving you free to crack on with the mowing. :rolleyes:

Don’t believe them. I was chasing one such Hogg round this morning, with a correctly presented lamb that died before it could exit the narrow pelvis. :banghead:
Easycare or Exlana is what you need haha.

There you go @neilo.

Blackies can be the easiest thing in the world to lamb but if you have problems they take 3 times as long to sort.

Dad popped by last night at 7pm and said that he seen all the sheep so I don't need to go out again, I said I will be seeing them at dark just in case anything is stuck or needs mothered up, he looked at me like I was mad. Even indoors he used to switch the lights off at 10am and then back on at 6am.

I sometimes think I give myself more work but then again it's amazing the problems you can save yourself with a last light run.

I'm not sure if sheep have got more troublesome, if half the problems would sort themselves out on their own, or if the older boys just accepted losses and enjoyed better nights of sleep.

Easycares definitely aren't no care, I've had a few stuck and had to catch a few to get the lambs sucking both sides as their teats go massive if you don't watch.

But my life is so much easier being able to go to see them 17 miles away when I want without the risk of losing ewes on their backs once they are all lambed.

Compared to blackies they win hands down in my book.

Already looking at the fields of mules though and thinking I may keep a few for the March lambing, lambs ready to go in the next 10 days with the NZ Suffolk lambs, shame the price is back on last year and the costs are up.

I will be back on f@cked up fortnight next year for sure saying never again haha.
 

Nithsdale

Member
Livestock Farmer
Apologies for not asking you first oh great resident expert!😂
My son has 21 smart blackie gimmers that have just lambed to an easydam texel. Lambed some very smart lambs, so he’s delighted after the crossing blue tup I bought turned out to be utterly feckin useless!🤦‍♂️
Anyway the Incheoch lleyn ram I have is smart, but just threw too many big lambs to the Romney Hoggs this yr, so binning that idea.
Hopefully using the lleyn over the blackies will make as functional a sheep as you found !👍


Only time I've ever been classed an expert at anything ... but I'll be one of the few with experience (I've certain got that!! 😉😂)


Hopefully the cross works for you 👍
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 77 43.5%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 62 35.0%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 28 15.8%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.7%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.7%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 4 2.3%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,285
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
Top