Recording sheep

[Hilly]

Outdoor lambing , how do you do it ?

 

[Six Dogs]

Use Z tags as management tags so easy to see,tag and record within 24 hours,good maternal ewes makes life easier

 

[Six Dogs]

 

[Hilly]

Good idea , I think I need to be doing same ! Bit of work for lots of gain information is power !

 

[Six Dogs]

Good idea , I think I need to be doing same ! Bit of work for lots of gain information is power !

We have made massive improvements,twinning upto close on 70%,probably 3kg on average 8 week weight,tightening lambing period-no subsides strengthen the need here!

 

[Al R]

Good idea , I think I need to be doing same ! Bit of work for lots of gain information is power !

I think @Tim W uses marking fluid and stamps the ewes tag number on the side of the ewe. If it wasn’t Tim it was someone else doing full recording

 

[Hilly]

We have made massive improvements,twinning upto close on 70%,probably 3kg on average 8 week weight,tightening lambing period-no subsides strengthen the need here!

I get subsidy but I refuse to use bps to rear livestock and especially sheep so it’s pulled out so similar , shortage of cash is a great driver of many things !

 

[Woolless]

Ewe's tag number spray painted on their side before they go on lambing paddocks. Lambs tagged and weighed at 12-24 hours (before they get too quick!) and recorded in lambing book against their dam. Can usually read ewe's tag when tagging up lambs but having a distance readable number makes it easy to record births without interfering before you need to. All data submitted to Signet for full EBV analysis. More on the blog at www.maternalsheep.co.uk.

 

[Hilly]

Ewe's tag number spray painted on their side before they go on lambing paddocks. Lambs tagged and weighed at 12-24 hours (before they get too quick!) and recorded in lambing book against their dam. Can usually read ewe's tag when tagging up lambs but having a distance readable number makes it easy to record births without interfering before you need to. All data submitted to Signet for full EBV analysis. More on the blog at www.maternalsheep.co.uk.

Do you do that ?

 

[Romney_Rob]

DNA record 500 Romney's - mob mate leave alone during lambing take DNA samples at first gather, submit to SiL use preg scanner to age foetus so we can accurately record 8ww.

Takes a bit of effort to start but once you are into the system it works very very well.

 

[Macsky]

DNA record 500 Romney's - mob mate leave alone during lambing take DNA samples at first gather, submit to SiL use preg scanner to age foetus so we can accurately record 8ww.

Takes a bit of effort to start but once you are into the system it works very very well.

Just dna parentage thats tested? What are the costs?

 

[Bill dog]

Are you wanting to record full info , eg birth weight, 8 week weight etc, or record info for female retention.
I ear notch on the bottom of the left ear any female twin lambs born unaided and up and sooked. That’s my pure Romneys and Romney/texel get notched top side of left ear.
Any that annoy get an older plain non eid tag , and they go fat .
It’s not fancy, but I get a mob of ewe lambs to choose from that I hope will replicate themselves, and breed unaided !

 

[DanM]

Are you wanting to record full info , eg birth weight, 8 week weight etc, or record info for female retention.
I ear notch on the bottom of the left ear any female twin lambs born unaided and up and sooked. That’s my pure Romneys and Romney/texel get notched top side of left ear.
Any that annoy get an older plain non eid tag , and they go fat .
It’s not fancy, but I get a mob of ewe lambs to choose from that I hope will replicate themselves, and breed unaided !

Assuming the majority are born unaided (?) wouldnt it be easier to notch the ones that have caused an issue? Ear tags can be lost!

 

[Tim W]

I spray a number on the ewe pre lambing, correlate it to the ear tag on the Psion (Shearwell makes it simple) and then can tag lambs as & when i need to. It's all on the system from then on with EID in lambs the whole thing becomes so simple & easy...weights/US scanning/individual FECs etc etc
Main thing i think is to outline what you want to know/what data to record and then streamline it to be as simple as possible

Used to do it with pen and paper in the old days (650 ewes on soggy bits of paper is hard work!)
Also had a few years using DNA parentage but the exchange rate shifting put a stop to that ----would do it again when we can get more info . for the $$$ ---this is being worked on

 

[Woolless]

Do you do that ?

Yes, but not huge numbers. 150 recorded ewes plus about the same commercials last year. Tagging up lambs is most of the work at lambing now as the work has been largely culled out.

 

[Bill dog]

There’s an idea!
Only flaw in you bloody good idea is when I’m weighing lambs . If they are notched , they run through. It would slow me down no end checking what they were .

 

[Al R]

There’s an idea!
Only flaw in you bloody good idea is when I’m weighing lambs . If they are notched , they run through. It would slow me down no end checking what they were .

I often draft ewes by breed pre tupping by notches, the odd 1 I have to slow down. This year I’ve tagged yellow on left for exlana and right for mule ewe lambs so I can draft them as they run. When picking fats pre weaning I feel the lambs in the handling/dosing pen first to check their ready, it’s easy to see which are notched, after 2 draws I’ll put red on head of every potential to keep ewe lamb. These don’t get looked at until closer to weaning when I get my final numbers together, as their marked red on head their just not looked at in terms of fat at all so even if drafting without feeling they don’t get mistakenly drawn fat

 

[Hilly]

I’ve convinced myself it neeeds done but them management tags good and handy but urgh look terrible

 

[neilo]

I catch the lambs for ringing & tagging at a few hours old, holding the pair between my legs and standing at the front of the quad. All my stuff is in the box on the front of the quad, including the Psion.
I double tag and record all potential replacements (problem lambers etc just don’t get tagged), reading the ewe’s Eid tag with the Psion as I do so. I expect her to be be standing close, minding her lambs.
If she’s so ill-attentive that I can’t read her tag at arm’s length (maybe one or two ewes a year?), do I want to keep her daughters anyway?

 

[Al R]

I’ve convinced myself it neeeds done but them management tags good and handy but urgh look terrible

https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/si-ro-mark-marking-fluid look at the pictures, with simple 1-9 numbers on rods for tattooing you can pre mark every ewe with marking fluid. Shame they can’t be freeze branded

https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/premier-branding-irons?cat_id=14 there’s the irons too