rearing cade lambs

[sherg]

This year we've got a lot of lambs in the ewes and so far we've managed to keep the majority of the triplet lambs alive, if the ewe has plenty of milk and the lambs are even we send them out as triplets, any big lambs get taken off and cross fostered and the small ones get put in the cade pen the problem is the cade pen is getting bigger and we still have about 50 ewe lambs scanned for twins originally we had planned to send them out as twins but with the lack of grass I can see problems with that. In a normal year we'd sell any spare lambs but in welshpool last week the average was only £5 each so we thinking of getting a machine to rear them, is there any money in it?

 

[Tim W]

If you cost everything in---no

But if you don't count labour then you may be able to con yourself into thinking you have made some money

 

[Flossie]

With high losses due to the current weather, high losses last back end with fluke, schmallenberg thrown in as well........I would hazard a guess that lambs might be dear later on. If you can house and feed them without anything more important suffering, I'd have a bit of a play with them

 

[sherg]

With high losses due to the current weather, high losses last back end with fluke, schmallenberg thrown in as well........I would hazard a guess that lambs might be dear later on. If you can house and feed them without anything more important suffering, I'd have a bit of a play with them

that was my thinking, also we keep hearing about the drought in nz if its as bad as they say there's bound to be less lambs about in the next 12 months just think it could be the right year to try it, has anybody got any costs for rearing lambs?

 

[neilo]

that was my thinking, also we keep hearing about the drought in nz if its as bad as they say there's bound to be less lambs about in the next 12 months just think it could be the right year to try it, has anybody got any costs for rearing lambs?

Work on half a (25kg) bag of milk powder per lamb @ £50/bag, and about £20 of lamb creep to do them ad-lib to finished. They won't all make it, through scouring or redgut, so costs will increase for mortality, then there's labour, straw and hire of the machine (unless you buy one). Realistically, done well, you will be looking at £60/lamb if you are only putting them in at a fiver.

Not a lot of profit in it, even if you have nothing more valuable to do with your time. Forever the optimist, I always rear any orphans on a machine. I'd rather take the chance on that than bugger a ewe up trying to rear triplets badly.

 

[Penmoel]

Whats the cost of hiring a machine, must be a minimum number of lambs to make it viable?

 

[lady muck]

My brother always has over 100 pets and has bought a basic machine which he said cost about £1300 new. Prior to this he reared everything on shepherdesses.

 

[DB67]

We started taking one lamb off the triplets last year.

Way I see it is, yes you may make a slight loss on said lamb, but the pair left with the ewe will do better and the ewe will do better aswell only having to rear two.

 

[Flossie]

that was my thinking, also we keep hearing about the drought in nz if its as bad as they say there's bound to be less lambs about in the next 12 months just think it could be the right year to try it, has anybody got any costs for rearing lambs?

Have you any cheap labour you could utilise i.e. kids ? Give them their own lamb to incentivise them...............that's the way my parents worked

 

[neilo]

Whats the cost of hiring a machine, must be a minimum number of lambs to make it viable?

I bought my ex-hire machine 10 years ago, but at the time, you could haggle a free machine from Volac as long as you bought a ton of milk powder. Otherwise it was £15/week IIRC.

 

[neilo]

We started taking one lamb off the triplets last year.

Way I see it is, yes you may make a slight loss on said lamb, but the pair left with the ewe will do better and the ewe will do better aswell only having to rear two.

Agreed. I have never seen a ewe rear 3 properly and more often than not, they are buggered after trying. Costed out fully, and on a busy farm, that fiver is looking attractive.

 

[lady muck]

Have you any cheap labour you could utilise i.e. kids ? Give them their own lamb to incentivise them...............that's the way my parents worked

My kids are getting fed up feeding their pets already but then our pets are on 4 feeds per day. Only got 2 so not on shepherdess yet!

 

[sherg]

there is cheap labour here in myself the way the season is looking I wont be flat out in may and by june they'd be weaned that's why we're thinking of doing it, if I could get them weaned for £60 it might be worth a try, i'll give volac a ring in the morning

 

[lady muck]

Last year my brother kept his inside and just finished them then got £80 for quite a few of them. They would be born late march/April. I think he had over 130 at the end. Last week he had 38 pets and 30 if them were on the machine and the rest were being trained on the shepherdess.

 

[Downtrodden Dad]

I dont think individually you can make anything and should take the fiver. Some will kid themselves it works, but I look at it that you are saving the other two and the ewe. The most we ever had was 200 on two feeders, made good crack for the neighbours but lost a bloody fortune!

 

[Radio]

Hired machine cost £300 for season.Expensieve but helps sanity.Agree better to have ewe and twins in field and triplet on machine we also have 50 ewe lambs with twins and will pick 1lamb up. Otherwise will spoil all 3. Made that mistake years ago had to bring them back in at a month old , wouldn't let lambs suck cut teats had to suckle lambs for a fortnight till healed nightmare second thoughts machine cheap!

 

[VSS]

Agreed. I have never seen a ewe rear 3 properly and more often than not, they are buggered after trying. Costed out fully, and on a busy farm, that fiver is looking attractive.

Even on your maternal ewes? I could understand it with the Charollais. We had a eight year old ewe have triplets a couple of years ago and, yes she had some extra TLC, but the two resulting ewe lambs were the best we had that year and the tup lamb sold well at Builth last year.

 

[neilo]

Even on your maternal ewes? I could understand it with the Charollais. We had a eight year old ewe have triplets a couple of years ago and, yes she had some extra TLC, but the two resulting ewe lambs were the best we had that year and the tup lamb sold well at Builth last year.

'Extra tlc' would create a problem/expense, I expect my sheep to rear lambs off grass. if you are going to pull them ou seperately and feed them high levels of concs, creep the lambs and (even more time consuming) run about with topping up bottles, then you may as well have had them off to rear separately IMO.

A couple of times I have tried a separate 'tlc' group, we still ended up with orf/mastitis/knackered poor ewes & half reared lambs.


Oh, on taking the fiver, I am currently up to 19 on the machine.

 

[Penmoel]

Oh, on taking the fiver, I am currently up to 19 on the machine.

Sedgemoore market report last week, somone told me they sold better there yesterday! Am tempted to have a day out one Saturday were upto 21 here on sheperdess.

Orphan Lambs (94)
other large entry of 94 Orphan Lambs sold to a strong trade, when there was plenty of interest. Weaned types to £29 from Miss JA Webber and £26 from Mr S Haskins. Others £25 from Mr AJ Kift and £24 from Mr PJ Buckingham and Mr G Sage. Smaller types £10-£18. A few ewe lambs generated keen interest to a
top of £36 from Messrs Robin Pardoe & Son. Overall average £16.62.

 

[Yale]

Oh, on taking the fiver, I am currently up to 19 on the machine.

At least with recreational chain harrowing you get to sit on your backside.Recreational lamb rearing,nah,not for me.

I'll be taking the fiver.