pgk
Member
- Location
- south warwickshire
Spot on the stealers were bred off lleyns save for one out of a Romney which took on a lost multiple 3 days after she lambed her own twins and lost one.
What breed for outdoor lambing
- Thread starter paul&mandy
- Start date
- Location
- West Wales
I was just sent this by one of the girls lambing with me
- Location
- Dumfries & Galloway
I was just sent this by one of the girls lambing with me
Yep.
She tried to tag me with 1 of them
- Location
- West Wales
I've got 90 highlanders bred from Romneys lambing and only had a single stolen from a ewe who lambed on top of another single causing confusion so she left it. Caught her, put her in the shed with her lamb and fostered a triplet on, cant complain
paul&mandy
Member
- Location
- surrey/west sussex
Do you get bulk discount?
paul&mandy
Member
- Location
- surrey/west sussex
Groups I checked last light all fed and fine picking up cold unfed disowned lambs. Bags all fine, they just pee off with 1 and leave the other. If they don't keep up they get left. The ewes just don't spur them on to drink, they dont look at them or talk to there lambs to stimulate them.
Does anyone on here lamb biggish numbers of Suffolk mules outside?
R.Dutchman
Member
- Location
- Devon
I believe Sandyknowe and bentley lamb pure ewes outside, probably not on here... it gets a bit tedious constantly being told all suffolks are the same!
Bentley lamb they’re Suffolk ewes indoors, aberblacks outdoors I think.
Sandyknowe and easyrams would be the only big flocks of Suffolk’s lambing outdoors that I know of.
Is that a ploughed field, or just an optical illusion?
CopperBeech
Member
- Location
- A Welsh man lost in England
It’s mad and just shows the difference within breeds / types. All of mine are great mums and we will lamb them in 200-250 twin ewes in a group and 400 singles and they are good as gold for sticking with their lambs, finding them if lost etc. I lambed a big hung single this morning, ewe was wild as hell until I caught her with the dog and lambed her. Once her lamb was at my feet she was licking it that intentlly she was letting me scratch her head etc. With the enzo problem we are having now, finding ewes standing where their lambs died up to a week later calling for them, and will take a skin lamb after a week if I get desperate etc. Never kept such maternal sheep I’d never change breeds.
- Location
- West Wales
The girls were just telling me now after turning out the exlana ewe lambs run straight for the lambs from the turn out trailer and stay with them, the mule ewe lambs run passed their lambs so they’ve got to be let out in corners of fields to limit their take off area. I had to pull a lamb last night, 1 leg stuck on the elbow so very easy, first pull in over a week and over 200 born.
We have lambed outdoors for the first time this year, mostly pure Lleyns to a Lleyn tup, only Lifeline or Crystalyx buckets, except for the ewe lambs, who had a small amount of hard feed. We had a few huge singles but otherwise happy with the rest, very little assistance needed. We have lambed nearly 60 with about 20 to go. Only had to bring a set of twins in for 48 hours because ewe only wanted one but she is back out now and is fine, and had to bring in a ewe lamb that pee'd off and left lamb but she is mothered up now. Not so much which breed as which ewes within that breed that makes the big difference.
paul&mandy
Member
- Location
- surrey/west sussex
It's where the ditch spoil was put from the ditch along the track.
Aspiring Peasants
Member
- Location
- North Pennines
Texel mule lambed last night when it was -3. Not due to start until Tuesday so I hadn't checked them first thing.
- Location
- The North
I’ve a few like that spot on in the morning, amusingly to the op I do have 1 proper mule cross Suffolk as one of my mule jumped into neighbour, then came back with them in her, kids desperate to keep Suffolk lamb ( looks completely Suffolk) be was female so why not was ok for a few years now prob 6 exactly same as op 2 great lambs but lazy as f**k had to come in as she did not lick them off
Devil's advocate
Member
- Location
- Posh side of Barnsley
Suffolk cross Mules great sheep, change the system not the breed, get some sheds built, store hay in them too.
paul&mandy
Member
- Location
- surrey/west sussex
Or get a breed that can do it's job?
We buy in 300 plus Suffolk X mule every year as replacements and there bloody useless. Had there chances....
On a whole there fine it's just the larger than I'd like persentage that are right #*#*ers. Getting peed off killing ourselves bringing in cold unlicked unstimulated lambs. Yes sometimes they get them up, then there more worried about the extra food they can fit in there bellys and go off grazing leaving the lambs hungry. 1 minute they look fine the next all tucked up, catch and give a good feed to only come back to find the unfed yet again. So now bring in if you can catch the buggers as they are wise to it now, by now they lambs have lost interest to feed and cold creating a load more work with an unnecessary amount of dead lambs as you can only be in so many places.
Then you hear or people with X and y breed saying how good they are, makes you think...
We buy in 300 plus Suffolk X mule every year as replacements and there bloody useless. Had there chances....
On a whole there fine it's just the larger than I'd like persentage that are right #*#*ers. Getting peed off killing ourselves bringing in cold unlicked unstimulated lambs. Yes sometimes they get them up, then there more worried about the extra food they can fit in there bellys and go off grazing leaving the lambs hungry. 1 minute they look fine the next all tucked up, catch and give a good feed to only come back to find the unfed yet again. So now bring in if you can catch the buggers as they are wise to it now, by now they lambs have lost interest to feed and cold creating a load more work with an unnecessary amount of dead lambs as you can only be in so many places.
Then you hear or people with X and y breed saying how good they are, makes you think...
To be fair the probability have the worst breed of ewe to be outside lambing. Anything is better and a Suffolk cross with a texel lamb on it for outside lambing. I’ve got mule, nz Suffolk x welsh and pure welsh for outside lambing and they are all fine.
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
We ditched Suffolk crosses for Texel crosses in the early-mid nineties. That was with mostly homebred ewes lambing indoors, and the difference in maternal ability was quite staggering. If you want to stick with buying your replacements in then that would be the obvious first step.
Plenty of dopey Texels about now though too, as too many breeders have been lambing them under heat lamps, tubing every lamb born, etc, all of which keeps the lazy ones in the gene pool.
Moving to a maternal breed (bred from those Texels) when we changed to outdoor lambing was a revelation again.