Next years lambing

[Sheep92]

Hopefully these show the layout / stocking density of shed, and the slats themselves, and how they are cleaned out.

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Thats a lovely job, long narrow pens make the feeding simple too,
Problem with our sheds is theyre too wide and deep pens with walk through feeders make feeding a scrum

 

[Aspiring Peasant]

Going to change all crayons colour weekly at tupping to make more efficient use of housing
Will keep more 3/4 beltex/texels hoggs as lambing them has been OK
Having lambed a batch of Lleyns for the second year they have taught me great respect for the mothering abilities of mules and crosses from them, especially in a year like this so will only buy replacement mules and texel/beltex cross mules in the future
May increase numbers slightly depending on what the grass growing season is like this summer.

 

[foobar]

Already upped my numbers this year and have finally settled on a lambing set up I'm happy with which thought I'd share as the student in the picture asked for a photo of the set up.
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Out of interest, what are the bucket lids(?) on the side of the hay racks for?

 

[Poorbuthappy]

Out of interest, what are the bucket lids(?) on the side of the hay racks for?

Notes?

 

[irish dom]

Going to change all crayons colour weekly at tupping to make more efficient use of housing
Will keep more 3/4 beltex/texels hoggs as lambing them has been OK
Having lambed a batch of Lleyns for the second year they have taught me great respect for the mothering abilities of mules and crosses from them, especially in a year like this so will only buy replacement mules and texel/beltex cross mules in the future
May increase numbers slightly depending on what the grass growing season is like this summer.

That's interesting my experience would be the opposite. More lleyns here and gonna stop buying/breeding mules. My mules were inclined to take off with one lamb and leave one behind but that may be more hunger than anything else. Had other well fed lleyns a few years ago and they were terrible. The wee plain ones i have now are a joy to feed and lamb
Saying that there is no nicer sight than a good mule with a pair of good texel lambs running after them. Just wish mine would last longer and not eat as much and of course were a wee bit cheaper to buy.

 

[Boydvalley]

Out of interest, what are the bucket lids(?) on the side of the hay racks for?

Use them as white boards. Everybody has a marker pen. Do like the idea of red flag mentioned above for urgent pens. We write what's wrong on the lid but it can get missed.

 

[Woolless]

Use them as white boards. Everybody has a marker pen. Do like the idea of red flag mentioned above for urgent pens. We write what's wrong on the lid but it can get missed.

We only have 16 pens max as majority lamb outside, so they tend to be for problem cases. We have a whiteboard on the wall opposite, with a space for info on each pen. Very useful with a memory like mine!

 

[shearerlad]

I’m making a few changes for next year.

Moving back to tupping over 5 weeks rather than 3, just too many empty. Also not using harnesses on the tups and having to change every week. Feel that I’ve been disturbing the ewes, however canny I am, and this is contributing to the empties. Scanner is going to date the ewes and mark accordingly so that I can still bring in a week at a time to the lambing accommodation.

Also changing dates slightly. Currently 20th March for 3 weeks cross ewes, a week break then 3 weeks of Cheviots.
Cross ewes still starting on the 20th for 5 weeks and the Cheviots starting on the 10th of April.

Only other thing is the possibility of having a student for the main part of lambing to service the individual pens.

 

[Boydvalley]

We only have 16 pens max as majority lamb outside, so they tend to be for problem cases. We have a whiteboard on the wall opposite, with a space for info on each pen. Very useful with a memory like mine!

We have a white board aswell that the students are really good at putting problems on and communicating with each other. However the stupid farmer i.e. Me is so used to carrying it all in his head he forgets to look or write on the board and the system falls down

 

[Green farmer]

Been thinking about it. If I could get enough ewe lambs coming through, I’d adopt a new culling policy. Any ewe that needs my help for any issue should be culled. Treat them as a flock and anything that takes up one on one time should be culled. I figure the 5- 10% if ewe that need separating for thinks like slow to bond with lambs, mastitis etc , take up far too much time compared to the ones that just pop them out and you don’t have to interfere with.

 

[Woolless]

Been thinking about it. If I could get enough ewe lambs coming through, I’d adopt a new culling policy. Any ewe that needs my help for any issue should be culled. Treat them as a flock and anything that takes up one on one time should be culled. I figure the 5- 10% if ewe that need separating for thinks like slow to bond with lambs, mastitis etc , take up far too much time compared to the ones that just pop them out and you don’t have to interfere with.

Or keep numbers up by tupping those troublemakers with a terminal sire in a B flock.

 

[Woolless]

One thing I was thinking about tweaking and won't now is choice of terminal sire. I was considering trying to source an sensible Texel for a trial. But the Hampshire x lambs have been very little trouble and probably putting more to the Easycare this time, so will stick with the existing tup squad.

 

[Nithsdale]

Been thinking about it. If I could get enough ewe lambs coming through, I’d adopt a new culling policy. Any ewe that needs my help for any issue should be culled. Treat them as a flock and anything that takes up one on one time should be culled. I figure the 5- 10% if ewe that need separating for thinks like slow to bond with lambs, mastitis etc , take up far too much time compared to the ones that just pop them out and you don’t have to interfere with.

Run 2 flocks:

1: Pime
2: Sub Prime.

Breed your ewe lambs from Prime. Any ewe with ANY problem, she automatically drops into Sub Prime, stuck lambs, prolapses, lamb rejection, lamb death, lack of milk, dirty tail, I'll thrive compared to rest... ALL of her offspring is then culled and her bad breeding ends with her.

Be ruthless. I guarantee you will see a marked improvement in flock 'Prime' within 3 years.

Or keep numbers up by tupping those troublemakers with a terminal sire in a B flock.

What he said

 

[Green farmer]

Or keep numbers up by tupping those troublemakers with a terminal sire in a B flock.

I was thinking about that, but those ewes still wouldn’t be up to the job next year, they’d just be a year older and probably worse habits by then.

 

[shearerlad]

I was thinking about that, but those ewes still wouldn’t be up to the job next year, they’d just be a year older and probably worse habits by then.

I do similar to above identifying with an ear notch on right ear. If she has another problem or repeat offence then a 2nd notch and she is gone.

 

[Nithsdale]

I was thinking about that, but those ewes still wouldn’t be up to the job next year, they’d just be a year older and probably worse habits by then.

The 2nd flock is the hardest to sort out, because it is mostly problems

Once you have the main flock sorted, start culling the worst of the bottom end of the 2nd flock. You need to accept in the short-medium term the 2nd flock will be poor... they will be more work. Don't be as ruthless, but don't be a soft touch either. Cull the very worst but be prepared to put up with some issues.

 

[Green farmer]

I do similar to above identifying with an ear notch on right ear. If she has another problem or repeat offence then a 2nd notch and she is gone.

What percentage of ewes that get one notch end up getting a second ? I bought cheap blank red tags . Pop one in and job done.

 

[ford4000]

I'm disappointed with my Aberfield ewes this year, so I think a couple of lleyn tups will be replacing them.
Going to blood test the ewes before tupping to see if it's worth bolusing. ..especially the Aberfields , and going to blood test for abortions in the summer too.
Finishing touches to the lambing shed too, things like a water pipe the ewes in the pens can drink out of.
Might try teasers to spread the lambing peak out as well.... lots to think about

 

[ford4000]

I'm disappointed with my Aberfield ewes this year, so I think a couple of lleyn tups will be replacing them.
Going to blood test the ewes before tupping to see if it's worth bolusing. ..especially the Aberfields , and going to blood test for abortions in the summer too.
Finishing touches to the lambing shed too, things like a water pipe the ewes in the pens can drink out of.
Might try teasers to spread the lambing peak out as well.... lots to think about

O yes, and change from heptavac P to something cheaper, and spend the money on footvax instead

 

[Al R]

I'm disappointed with my Aberfield ewes this year, so I think a couple of lleyn tups will be replacing them.
Going to blood test the ewes before tupping to see if it's worth bolusing. ..especially the Aberfields , and going to blood test for abortions in the summer too.
Finishing touches to the lambing shed too, things like a water pipe the ewes in the pens can drink out of.
Might try teasers to spread the lambing peak out as well.... lots to think about

85% of my problems this year were from ewes with AF blood :/ unfortunately their mainly yearlings and 3yo’s but depending how many genuine culls I have the whole lot of AF’s will be gone. This year we didn’t notch the ears on any AF ewe lambs born as we don’t want to keep any more.