Lambing from hell

[paul&mandy]

Had enough this year. It's still so wet, getting stuck still on a daily basis. March born lambs ewes milk drying up trying to feed rolls everyday and just chucking most of it in the mud.Lambed them all inside too, still had to go out after a day or 2. April Born's housed as many as possible but rest dropping into standing water. Putting fodder beet out where I can but in 5mins it's a mud bath. It's just not the rain it's the ground conditions, everything is coated in mud can't read lambs numbers. Lost too many ewes, think there just giving up wallowing in the mud. Grass only just starting to grow a month later than planned. With a year like this really thinking hard about not lambing anymore. Need sheep to run land perhaps run ewe lambs/ fatten some lambs. Not sure tbh wife's had enough between us been lambing over 40yrs and not had a disheartening year like this. Granted more sheep about than in the past.

 

[Werzle]

Everybodys pretty sick of it all, fair few putting the lambs on pellets and culling the ewes to ease conditions. Fingers crossed that springs coming this week.

 

[paul&mandy]

Everybodys pretty sick of it all, fair few putting the lambs on pellets and culling the ewes to ease conditions. Fingers crossed that springs coming this week.

Springs too late now. Under 100 left to lamb out of over 1100. Can't say I ever get that excited about lambing and all its problems but this year is something else!

 

[Aspiring Peasant]

Perhaps have to consider reducing stocking rate. How would things have looked with 550 instead of 1100? Then look to buy stores/ run ewe lambs on surplus grass

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Everybody is sick round here too....a few are cutting back numbers unfortunately the way it’s going it’s through deaths and not sales

 

[GTB]

We are having a pretty bad season too. We have already cut back numbers by 20% and had decided in the autumn that we needed to cut back even more so only kept half the usual number of ewe lambs. If this weather pattern continues then the jobs knackered I'm afraid.

 

[Werzle]

One good thing is that stock prices have held up for those that have had to sell, sheep and cattle. Nothing worse than having to sell when trades poor.

 

[Yale]

Considering the weather our lambing has gone as well as can be expected however this is because our land is mainly free draining,we have good equipment to cope,maybe not enough shed space and lamb most ewes from 1st April.

So far we have managed to ride out the conditions.

And yes,every year in the middle of lambing I seriously consider why we keep sheep.

 

[paul&mandy]

Perhaps have to consider reducing stocking rate. How would things have looked with 550 instead of 1100? Then look to buy stores/ run ewe lambs on surplus grass

Yes seriously going to look at that.

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Yes seriously going to look at that.

When I said about cutting back in the other thread you said this was a one off year!

 

[paul&mandy]

Considering the weather our lambing has gone as well as can be expected however this is because our land is mainly free draining,we have good equipment to cope,maybe not enough shed space and lamb most ewes from 1st April.

So far we have managed to ride out the conditions.

And yes,every year in the middle of lambing I seriously consider why we keep sheep.

we've got about 3 inches of slop on top of clay. Been such a wet winter with too many sheep about I think it's poached. Needs the subsoiler and or slitter through the lots this year.

 

[paul&mandy]

When I said about cutting back in the other thread you said this was a one off year!

2 in 3 at the moment. Not going to make any rash decisions at the moment. Last year was a dream. Either side of that a nightmare.....

 

[Northeastfarmer]

2 in 3 at the moment. Not going to make any rash decisions at the moment. Last year was a dream. Either side of that a nightmare.....

Surely if there’s only you and the wife you can make a living off less than 1100 ewes

 

[beardface]

You’d be better running some dairy x stores on the surplus and buying a mobile pen, than running ewe lambs as every frigger is going to be doing it after this year.

 

[S J H]

Had enough this year. It's still so wet, getting stuck still on a daily basis. March born lambs ewes milk drying up trying to feed rolls everyday and just chucking most of it in the mud.Lambed them all inside too, still had to go out after a day or 2. April Born's housed as many as possible but rest dropping into standing water. Putting fodder beet out where I can but in 5mins it's a mud bath. It's just not the rain it's the ground conditions, everything is coated in mud can't read lambs numbers. Lost too many ewes, think there just giving up wallowing in the mud. Grass only just starting to grow a month later than planned. With a year like this really thinking hard about not lambing anymore. Need sheep to run land perhaps run ewe lambs/ fatten some lambs. Not sure tbh wife's had enough between us been lambing over 40yrs and not had a disheartening year like this. Granted more sheep about than in the past.

I know on a few posts you've said about having problems with gators and them getting stuck, would a quad not be better? I think my fields would look a mess if I had the extra weight of a gator.

2 70+ farmers have told me this week that they've never seen it like this before. So I'm pretty happy, that hopefully we won't have to go through much like it again.

The only thing I'm going to change is to have more indoor pens ready for problems. There's a few that I've left out because I haven't had the pens spare and easy to get to, and I've regretted it.

 

[beardface]

Or if your a low TB area could go contract heifer rearing. If there’s any other dairy/beef or even AD near you could approach about selling surplus grass to them and go all outdoor on your best fields (low predation/sheltered) with 600 of your best ewes. If cattle are gone late summer you’d have ample grass for finishing lambs and wintering ewes.

 

[Pistonbroke]

You all forgot to mention on top of everything else, the hogs bringing rotten lambs then dying themselves because there was a shortage of toxovac........or is that just me?

 

[Al R]

You all forgot to mention on top of everything else, the hogs bringing rotten lambs then dying themselves because there was a shortage of toxovac........or is that just me?

We were going to toxovac for the first time ever but couldn’t get it. Havnt lost any ewe lambs but have had 1 abort out of 260 and almost finished lambing. No greater amount of losses compared to normal but some of my twin ewe lambs have thrown “slow” lambs, majority have been good though so could be one of those things?

 

[David.]

There seems to be an optimum number of sheep for a farm, and "trying a few more" doesn't seem to gain you many more lambs actually sold. One 10ac field we had last year, remember it was dry/cold and no grass growth then either, we put 60 ewes and lambs out there as previous years and the lambs were poor doers all summer. Have got 40 out there this year and there is grass and they are doing much better.
We have had 400+ a couple of years, but have found the system works much smoother with 350.

 

[MRT]

We were going to toxovac for the first time ever but couldn’t get it. Havnt lost any ewe lambs but have had 1 abort out of 260 and almost finished lambing. No greater amount of losses compared to normal but some of my twin ewe lambs have thrown “slow” lambs, majority have been good though so could be one of those things?

Toxo can be really depressing that way, lots of slow lambs that you fight for and they turn their toes up anyhow!