Keeping lambing pens clean

[britt]

When I lambed inside I found that the most important thing was to keep the floor dry. Scrape the pen floor clean with a good sharp shovel between ewes and allow time to dry. Keep the passage ways free of straw to let the concrete dry.
Repair any leaky roofs, gutters and water troughs.
If I kept the floor dry there was no need to spend time and money on disinfectants or lime.

Oh, did I mention keeping the floor dry ?
We all look for that "silver bullet" but usually just getting the basics wright avoids the problem in the first place.

 

[Kentishfarmer]

Anyone tried this product?

View attachment 941514

So is this the best lime based product to use or does anyone have other suggestions?

 

[Gulli]

I don't do a lot, other than chuck any cleansings out that I happen to see, bed pens up just before the ewe and lambs go in there.

Always make sure any fresh lambs get iodine on their navel asap, but I don't see many lamb and if they are licked clean already then I don't usually bother.

Had maybe 2 cases of watery mouth or joint ill that I can remember in the last ten years. Probably lose loads this year now ive said that

 

[Jerry]

Anyone tried this product?

View attachment 941514

Yes, used it last year, and was fine.

 

[Yale]

Yes, used it last year, and was fine.

Do you think it made a difference to infections?

Did the pens seem drier?

 

[primmiemoo]

Do you think it made a difference to infections?

Did the pens seem drier?

This poor old crock titular head finds it kinder to use than the other powders (no coughing), and although not much difference to how dry well bedded up pens are, we think it's keeping mastitis at bay.

 

[Jerry]

Do you think it made a difference to infections?

Did the pens seem drier?

I dont get many if any infections in pens now, if it is its always lambs with issues or long term residents. Though thy are the only ones that come in as I lamb outside.

Clear pen out, let it dry for a bit, then lime and leave. Straw up as I need pens.

 

[Alistair]

Anyone tried this product?

View attachment 941514

Yes good to use, doesn’t burn your hands and is heaver than hydrated lime so doesn’t blow around so much.

 

[penntor]

I lamb outside and only a few get penned after being born. Iodine on lambs navel, layer of lime and fresh straw between each occupant and clean pen out every few sheep if I get time. I think lime and fresh straw most important.

 

[Kentishfarmer]

Yes good to use, doesn’t burn your hands and is heaver than hydrated lime so doesn’t blow around so much.

How much of it do you think I would need to order for lambing 700 ewes inside?
This will be the first time we used a disinfectant hence I don't know how much we will need

 

[andybk]

after reading this thread , i bought some cu-san , pinky powder last week , so far impressed on concrete , we clean out old bedding in lambing pens and dress the slab with dust , great at drying it out , always never liked the wet slab left after washing and normal disinfecting , be interesting to see if our joint ill goes down , had a few to many this year , prob more an issue with lambing pens being constantly damp this winter with weather , rather than individual pens after .

 

[Alistair]

How much of it do you think I would need to order for lambing 700 ewes inside?

My shed has a concrete floor and the main holding areas before the lambs are born are initially sprayed with disinfectant then I put down shavings/straw.

When the the lambs are born they go with their mother into 4 x 6 ft pens. I clean the pens out each time the lambs/ ewes go out and use between .75- I kg of Nadins hydramix lime ( just been down to weight the scoop for you). The bags weigh 25kg so I will let you estimate how much you need for your all of your pens as you are working to a much bigger scale to me. When the floor was soil/stone based I used more lime.

Hope this helps

 

[Kentishfarmer]

Many thanks for that, so 1kg/ewe effectively if they all had their own pens. We try to turn healthy singles straight out when we lamb indoors, so I Think I'll order a 1/2t pallet to start with and may/may not need some more as it progresses

 

[Alistair]

Good luck with it.

 

[rancher]

We clean out the pens between every sheep, scrape and sweep the pen and spray with sorgene, never have any problems

 

[woodylane]

Fork, brush, iodine, leave to dry, lime floor and then fresh straw. Jobs a good un

 

[primmiemoo]

Fork, brush, iodine, leave to dry, lime floor and then fresh straw. Jobs a good un

Nobody gets verruca or a cold, either

 

[StormurShepherd]

Ive experienced a few different ways on my few contracts ive done lambing.

First ever place was a small pedigree breeder who had concrete floor, we'd muck out, brush out, and I think we used powder again but i remember scrubbing with liquid too but not sure for what.

2nd farm I volunteered at for a while, I remember we couldn't muck some pens out fast enough, so for that place it was a good powdering of sanitiser and more straw ontop of that and move em to a fresh pen once free.

Last farm/estate I lambed at here has concrete floors and another older stone/rough rubbley floor. (kept rolling ankles on it) We'd muck out, brush out, sanitising powder down (and I'd be sure to use a mask if doing that again personally) then clean straw from round bales into the pens. Major issue with WM here but I believe that was due to it being in the troughs in the pens holding the ewes and the blue pipework underneath the straw to the troughs.

 

[StormurShepherd]

Also need to add from an external perspective.

Don't fill up buckets from dunking into a big barrel. No wonder WM spreads through sheds.

Personally would go with a fixed, raised water station for each pen. Saves on labour and stops from spreading crap about.