Tupping question please

[devonbrion1998]

I lambed a small flock of welsh mules this year,they were in lamb when bought in last december all went ok and they lambed in april only 3 sets of twins out of 30 tegs..so my problem is after putting a hand on them today i would say most of them are on the lean side scoring 2 to 2.5 where as the 3 that didnt lamb are as fat as butter,all been treated the same, they have been moved from field to field on good grass from the back end of summer/weaning and still have some good grass in front of them,up together with worming all look really heathy with dry back ends,just under weight in IMO Question is what to do next was planning on tupping first week in november is there any point? any help always appreciated thank you..

 

[Pan mixer]

Bit late now but the weaker ones need some cake, the fatter ones don't - welcome to sheep farming.

 

[GTB]

Maybe sort into two groups, lean and fat. Feed the thins from now until after tupping. Two weeks to go until tupping begins, it will help.

 

[Old Tip]

Have you fluked them ?
Savage up here with the wet sumner, dosed mine twice already and the hoggs will get their third dose next week

 

[devonbrion1998]

Ok thanks i can do that,maybe i could push them hard on the cake for 3 weeks,then put them all back together and then keep feeding till tupping is over?

 

[Pan mixer]

Ok thanks i can do that,maybe i could push them hard on the cake for 3 weeks,then put them all back together and then keep feeding till tupping is over?

Sounds like a good plan, don't give them too much cake too quickly though and you will need to keep it up a bit after the tups are in.

 

[devonbrion1998]

no i have not fluked them,maybe thats the problem im not the best sheep man,we have always had cattle up till now
but surly any stock that have been wormed with that amount of fresh grass should not be under weight...i could of fattened 10 heifers on the grass they have had.I maybe should of weaned the lambs a bit earlier with them being tegs.

 

[GTB]

but surly any stock that have been wormed with that amount of fresh grass should not be under weight

This would suggest that there's another underlying problem like fluke or TE deficiency?

.I maybe should of weaned the lambs a bit earlier with them being tegs.

When did you wean?

 

[devonbrion1998]

i weaned 7 weeks ago..i do think i should of done it earlier there only small ewes, and had some big old hungry
Suffolks lambs on them,to give you an idea i could not use a creep feeder at 10 weeks as the lambs had bigger heads that the ewes,its true..shall i get the vet involved? also if they are tupped under weight whats the worst can happen? sorry for all the questions but i am trying to get all the experiance i can.

 

[GTB]

i weaned 7 weeks ago..i do think i should of done it earlier there only small ewes, and had some big old hungry
Suffolks lambs on them,to give you an idea i could not use a creep feeder at 10 weeks as the lambs had bigger heads that the ewes,its true..shall i get the vet involved? also if they are tupped under weight whats the worst can happen? sorry for all the questions but i am trying to get all the experiance i can.

Yes you should have weaned them in early august at the latest. Might be worth asking the vet to take bloods but I'd be tempted to give them a TE drench and a flukicide asap if it's just a small lot. If you feed them from now until mid Nov it should help with the scanning %. Look after them after that and they should be OK.

 

[neilo]

i weaned 7 weeks ago..i do think i should of done it earlier there only small ewes, and had some big old hungry
Suffolks lambs on them,to give you an idea i could not use a creep feeder at 10 weeks as the lambs had bigger heads that the ewes,its true..shall i get the vet involved? also if they are tupped under weight whats the worst can happen? sorry for all the questions but i am trying to get all the experiance i can.

Weight isn’t the problem, just CS. If they are lean then lambing % will be reduced, but it also means they will respond to flushing.
Personally, I’d be inclined to chuck a few feed blocks out to increase energy intake before & during tupping. As it’s such a small group, I wouldn’t bother splitting them off now, just feed them all as one mob.

 

[Doc]

I agree with @neilo and @GTB with a bit of extra feed- blocks/bag.
Sell the three that didn't lamb this week. Buy a flukicide and TE drench with the proceeds.
Only breed from what breeds.

 

[devonbrion1998]

The three that didnt lamb were put to the tup i think at 7months old ewe lams,should i not give them another chance?
i will get some bagged feed today and a drench +energy blocks and get them sorted.
The feed i have been trying to finish my lambs on just not working...fine ground wheat/barley with protein pellets no idea of protein % but its rubbish,so i may have to get them some better bagged feed.

 

[GTB]

You need lamb pellets for the lambs. I've never had much joy with straights and blends. Maybe the lambs would benefit from TE and fluke drench too?

 

[GTB]

Oh and I'd definitely tup the three 'empty' hogs. But if they're empty this time send them down the road.

 

[devonbrion1998]

Thanks GTD...I thought so,i will mark them and see how they get on at lambing

 

[devonbrion1998]

sorry GTB, the smell of bacon and eggs is distracing me...

 

[jemski]

I have some cheviot draft ewes I bought last year that were looking a bit thin and I thought I was going to have to cull them. I bolused them and 3 weeks with rumenco maxx blocks on too long parkland type grazing and they are different beasts, as are the highlander draft ewes I bought in a month ago that were mostly pretty lean.
Treat them well now, maybe lamb a week or so later, and they will repay you at lambing [emoji4]

 

[Old Tip]

Get them dosed for fluke asap, 99.9% sure that will be the problem, are their coats dull ?

 

[devonbrion1998]

Ok...yes the thinner ones have dull coats, out of 40 there would be around seven,then the next stage are 15 or so carrying a bit more condition with not so dull coats,then the tubbies they have a really nice condition to there fleece its longer and very shiny
so what i am saying is the poorer ones bad coat,the stronger ones have much better looking coats really white long and shiny...seems to me the coat reflects the condition of the animal, we are on an elevated slope here,on good draining chalk,proberbly low risk fluke? however they could still have it, i do have some wormer/fluke drench should i just get on and drench with that?or shall i buy a fluke drench...all the lambs are doing well as are the three that never lambed really fat with shiny coats,would love all my ewes to look like that,im new ish to this and proberbly expect perfect results thats just me.