- Location
- Montgomeryshire
Car paint is a no no for anything but shedders. It isn’t scourable from wool, which would likely be coming off only a month or two after lambing.
Tagging lambs at birth outside
- Thread starter Farmerwully
- Start date
Car paint is a no no for anything but shedders. It isn’t scourable from wool, which would likely be coming off only a month or two after lambing.
- Location
- Devon
And no good marking shedders pre lambing as it's all coming out during lambing.
car paint is a no no for any animal
mine are done pre lambing and it works well enough----the last few may be difficult to make out but by elimination its an easy process to figure who is who
- Location
- Devon
My ewe lambs have 75% shed now, and still a few tail enders lambing.
Ewes are slower shedding I grant you.
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- Location
- Montgomeryshire
Or maybe sheep that stick to their lambs close enough than you can scan the tags with a reader.
I only have one or two a year that won’t stand within the Psion’s range whilst I’m ringing/tagging their lambs. I don’t tag their lambs for potential replacements on account of it.Had a handful of pure Lleyn shearlings lamb this year where not one would stand near enough. That’s sealed their fate, as well as their progeny’s, and any other Lleyn blood that I might have been tempted to introduce.
- Location
- Devon
I really wonder what Lleyns you bought Neil. Every time you mention them, it's a fault I find mine excel at...Or maybe sheep that stick to their lambs close enough than you can scan the tags with a reader.
Had a handful of pure Lleyn shearlings lamb this year where not one would stand near enough. That’s sealed their fate, as well as their progeny’s, and any other Lleyn blood that I might have been tempted to introduce.
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
I aappreciate that there is more variation within a breed than between them, but the very small handful I bought are without doubt the worst group of sheep i’ve Ever had the misfortune to work with. I consider that I struck lucky though, as the same year I was looking to buy in a pedigree flock of 250, which thankfully (as it happens) fell through.
On the other hand, I have been very impressed with the progeny of the ram I bought from the same place. The whethers did well and the daughters have been great lambing as hoggs.
I have left a few sons entire, out of good Highlander ewes, with a view to keeping the best Lleyn x Highlander ram to use. That will be enough Lleyn blood for me, just for an injection of hybrid vigour.
- Location
- Devon
Agree about variation within a breed, I was just surprised at what you said about the Lleyns being stand off ish. Mine really shine at lambing time and that's when I wish I had a whole flock of them. They're the ones who go off to lamb on their own as far away from the rest as possible. They're the ones who'll stand practically in your lap when tailing their lambs, and the ones who'll keep their lambs together better than anything else.
But I find them slower growing than the Highlanders, and more prone to lameness and mastitis, so the rest of the year I'm not so keen.
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
Absolutely the opposite of my (admittedly very small) sample. As ewe lambs, on the same forage only system as my own, they didn’t come through the winter as well. I gave them the benefit of the doubt on mothering as ewe lambs, but certainly didn’t shine. I shot one as her pelvis was so small that my (very small handed) vet could get the lamb out, even in pieces. Again, I gave them the benefit of the doubt and wrote her off as a one off individual.
As shearlings I had 5 of them lamb before one lambed herself and actually stick with her lambs. We’re off I thought, then the next morning she’d wandered off and left one. She was only 50 yards away but couldn’t give a toss about her lamb crying out to her. She still doesn’t, but is dragging them up.
One (scanned for 3) had quads. 2 alive at about 2.5kg each, and two dead smaller ones. After a week I let her out and she is rearing them of a fashion, but certainly not an attentive mum.
I’ll pass thanks.
Hats off to the guys that run any number of them lambing outside though.For the record, I don’t like Marmite either.
- Location
- Devon
CopperBeech
Member
- Location
- A Welsh man lost in England
First year having much to do with lleyns and have lambed about 600, albeit inside. Very good mums so far, and good lambs. Not the easiest born sometimes though.
Or maybe sheep that stick to their lambs close enough than you can scan the tags with a reader.
This i think is often more to do with how used to seeing people the sheep are ? My ewes next to nat trust land with 100+ walkers/picnickers a day can all be read with a Psion whereas the ewes on the downs that never have people walking through them will stay just outside ''Psion'' range (if i can catch the lambs to start with )
Mossfennan Easycares
Member
- Location
- Peeblesshire
If you are looking for an excuse not to do something you will always find one.
Plenty of people are recording large numbers at birth outside. It is perfectly possible if you want to do it.
scatterbrainedlass
Member
- Location
- Lancashire
If you're spraying numbers on the ewes and lambs anyway you should be able to read tags at the same time? We put large numbered tags in all our home bred replacements so eventually most of our breeding ewes will have easy-read tags! In the meantime a lot of patience and bobbing about trying to read her tag while kneeling with the lamb or grabbing the ewe or luring her into a trailer works!