Might separate her, but their on point of lambing now, so might have to leave until after weaning.
Which Ewes to Cull
- Thread starter Big Ambitions
- Start date
Might separate her, but their on point of lambing now, so might have to leave until after weaning.
livestock 1
Member
Me tooThat’s 70% of my herd tho
michael N123
Member
Trying to get round the farm running a permanent electric fence tight to the walls to stop the buggers going at them
could be a full time job gapping at ours sometimes
livestock 1
Member
Like painting the forth bridge here
I notch, for the obvious, but I also notch in a positive way, ( closed flock for 40yrs basically) double notch ewe lambs out of best ewes ie twins mothering and milk, lambing ease, and I'm afraid I like a good mouth and feet because if you get an extra yr out of a ewe your flock depreciation costs go down. lamb indoors.
RmfJ
Member
- Location
- Pembrokeshire
Lumpy jaw?
little_p
Member
- Location
- Powys / Herefordshire
The best ewe we ever had was an escaper.
She came from a family of escapers. Her Mum was a Beulah ewe who got into the neighbours field with the Welsh Mountain Tups, And so (Waltzing) Maltida was created.
Each Autumn Maltida used to cross the river and get into our Neighbours rough patch, the rain came and river rose to the point that we couldn't get her back. She used to stay there rent free all Winter long, have a trouble-free lambing and we used to get her and her lamb back across the river in Spring.
Maltida used to come into her own at weaning time. We used to wean her off her lamb and then take her to the furthest field from the farm and then sit in the truck and watch her trying to break back. She showed us all the places in the fences that needed shoring up.
She came from a family of escapers. Her Mum was a Beulah ewe who got into the neighbours field with the Welsh Mountain Tups, And so (Waltzing) Maltida was created.
Each Autumn Maltida used to cross the river and get into our Neighbours rough patch, the rain came and river rose to the point that we couldn't get her back. She used to stay there rent free all Winter long, have a trouble-free lambing and we used to get her and her lamb back across the river in Spring.
Maltida used to come into her own at weaning time. We used to wean her off her lamb and then take her to the furthest field from the farm and then sit in the truck and watch her trying to break back. She showed us all the places in the fences that needed shoring up.
- Location
- The North
Bad mother, 1 tit, bad lamber, big tits, foot issues (more than once) rejecting lamb, prolapse all get ‘ death tag’ go for meat one reared lambs.
makes job so much easier year on year, I keep home breed and buy some,
last year to pick the best ( home keepers so I could recognise the best) I did not tail gimmers off mules that had literally no interventions at all, all I did was move them out and tail them, I will let you know how this goes as they have not really lambs yet
makes job so much easier year on year, I keep home breed and buy some,
last year to pick the best ( home keepers so I could recognise the best) I did not tail gimmers off mules that had literally no interventions at all, all I did was move them out and tail them, I will let you know how this goes as they have not really lambs yet
Possibly that was it. I didn't record why she was marked cull,but the thinness of her lambs speaks for itself.
In her defense they are lambs 18-21 of her career, so I can't be too cross with her.
Put a good pair of gloves on catch the ewe and sit her on the electric fence for 2 minutes problem sovled
little_p
Member
- Location
- Powys / Herefordshire
This reads like my recent dating history.
- Location
- East Ayrshire
You need a stock of these
Question for ye lads. Would you cull ewes that scan triplets ? Every ounce of losses I've had this season has come from ewes that scanned triplets. All ageing ewes as well.
- Location
- Fife
Wouldn’t cull, unless she scans triplets more than once, then maybe if you want to reduce triplets. Just don’t keep her lambs as replacements
- Location
- The North
Same as above I keep triplets as you always get some dead ones and I often mother into big singles.
I just get a decent amount, ( usually no pet lambs or bought in but I do have to mother them off into singles) if I started getting to may I would consider culling older ones.
I just get a decent amount, ( usually no pet lambs or bought in but I do have to mother them off into singles) if I started getting to may I would consider culling older ones.
Global ovine
Member
- Location
- Central Otago NZ
We need to understand what goes on to get triplets to select for or against this occurrence.
Between 20 and 30% of ewes that scan twins shed 3 eggs. There is a genetic effect transferred from the sire that influences embryo survival that ranges from 67 -98% embryonic survival. Most ewes that scan triplets do not repeat triplets every pregnancy. To select against triplets is possible, but rams must also be retained for use out of that flock, or selection is only applied to the female side of that gene pool. However it takes a shepherd's lifetime to reduce tripleting incidence by 10%, economically just peanuts compared to selecting for many other more important traits such as Survival, Growth and Disease resistance.
Selecting for triplets is possible, but once flock scanning exceeds 210% the incidence of quads starts to rise and over 30% of triplets started as 4 eggs shed. This rise and replacement of ewes of lower order litter size reflect that of the incidence of triplets that rises quickly above a scanning of 165%. Having a high genetic ability to be prolific is advantageous as the ideal lambing % can be controlled by managing ewe live weight, or more specifically BCS. Far more achievable than culling.
The greater the proportion of larger litter size the greater the incidence of birthing problems. High litter size is more common in older ewes which compounds survival problems.