[Hilton]

Just about finished lambing 40 black Welsh mountain ewes in the north east of Scotland, delayed by 2 weeks on last year to avoid the snow.... What a joke.  Thought folks may like to read our story....

Old Monty the tup did a cracking job, over 200% success rate, unfortunately not all pulled through the weather.  I'm left with 67 lambs alive, about 40 tup lambs castrated this afternoon, all walking a little funny now.  All the females should be going back into the breeding flock until we get to 100 breeding ewes which is our plan, we will have graduated from smallholder to farm by that number I think!! 

Of the losses, we have lost only 1 to a fox, the pre-lambing control did help.  We lost the majority to not clearing their lungs and since we lamb outside, we can't be at every lambing, will change that for next year and lamb indoors.  Several gimmers gave us problems, one lost twins in a complex lambing handled brilliantly by my wife who has only lambed 5 ewes ever!  Probably 2 gimmers don't look in lamb at all and I know it is not montys fault    The weather really didn't help, putting the stock trailer out in the field helped, last night there were about 30 lambs in it, looked like a crèche. 

The black Welsh mountains really have impressed us, not one rejection from a ewe and all the triplets (we had 10 sets!) are feeding from mum although some are pretty small.  None of the 67 being bottle fed although we have a had a few indoors by the Aga after 4 mornings of snow in a row this week.

If anyone nearby is in the market for a black Welsh mountain tup, I need to move monty on now, he has had 2 seasons with us but with excellent results.  Also have a tup lamb from last year which I missed so he is intact.  Also happy to sell tup lambs for fattening, keeping all ewes though.

Matt and Angela.

[Brandi]

  thank you for sharing, it is both helpful and interesting to hear others' experiences. We have a small flock of badger faced - torddu - ewes along with shorthorn cattle. Similarly we wait until late April / early May to benefit from combination of better weather and more grass.

We find them to be excellent mothers and the lambs to be vigorous. We had adverse weather conditions last year and were torn between bringing them indoors and leaving them out. The ewes know a thing or two though, probably why they have survived the centuries and would shelter their lambs in the gorse and re-appear with better weather

We brought the ones left to lamb indoors for ease of management, however, it was clear that they were unhappy, almost depressed and perked up no end when they were released from captivity! This year we're bringing them in at night again to ease management at night if lambing assistance us required and it seems to be a happy medium.

[BenBhoy]

Thanks for sharing. Unusual to hear of someone going from out to inside lambing. To have only lost one to fox isn't bad going, I'd dare say you may lose at least that many to something else  (pneumonia, joint I'll etc) if you go indoors, coupled with the extra labour required & straw. All eats into any potential returns.

[Marches Farmer]

I'd keep an eye on the gimmers - we had one that definitely didn't look pregnant (but scanned with a single) lamb 22.5 weeks after the tup came out.  We bring ours in five days before the first lamb is due, each ewe goes into a mothering up pen as soon as we're sure she's lambing down, stays for one more day than she has lambs, graduates to the nursery shed for a couple of days so that lambs learn to go to Mum and not try to suckle from other ewes and then go outdoors.  No cocci, no losses.  Horses for courses, though.  The tups stay in for only 18 days so ewes are indoors for a quite a short period and numbers in the shed fall quickly.

[shep53]

.  We lost the majority to not clearing their lungs and since we lamb outside, we can't be at every lambing, .

Matt and Angela.

                                   Well done                  Explanation please for above .

[Llandovery Lass]

No problem with indoor lambing, make sure the space is clean and disinfected. Treat each lamb with iodine and a dose of spectam and leave with mum in a separate pen for at least 24 hours, make sure she is feeding them, check her udder. If you can its good to have an area where new mothers can mix before going out as they are very protective at this stage and may not come to eat. We move every new born into a lambing pen which is cleaned out before the new occupants. If on soil a good dose of lime will probably sort the bacteria but if like us your pens are on concrete I like to clear and disinfect. I do like them to be out within three days as long as there are no problems.

[Hilton]

Thanks for all comments...

We have excellent shelter from the west, south and east but since the forestry commission cut down the 10acres of 100ft trees to the north, the last 2 weeks of weather have been like an arctic funnel.  Our "lambing park" this year is quite open with little shelter except the bales and trailer I put out which cannot shelter all the animals.  I'd happily use the shed just for bad weather and overnight rather than all the time.  I'm sure we will find the best compromise for us in time.

Answering the "clearing their lungs" comment.  We had 5-6 lambs still with birth sack or fluid around the mouths, something usually cleaned by the ewe or me.  This is the most frustrating as the lambs were good sizes, easily lambed unaided etc but just needed a 5 second intervention to get them going.  I hope to control this better next year indoors where we can see them.

Still 2 gimmers to keep an eye on.....

Matt

[Foobar]

I had at least one lamb (also BWM) who had a very tough membrane which didn't break - luckily I was there to break it open.  I also had another ewe-lamb give birth and when I found them the lamb was dead.  Looked like it hadn't taken a breath, so I suspect similar problem there too.  Both ewe-lambs (the mothers) to the same ram.  First time that's happened to my BWMs, and first time I've lost a lamb like that.
I wonder what influences the thickness of the sac?

[shep53]

HILTON  I'm lambing 30x more sheep than you and will have lost about the same 5-6 lambs in the sac , yes lambing inside may save a few if your going to stand and watch each birth .   There are a few theories about what causes a tough membrane        to  much protein in the diet            a mineral deficiency   maybe low selenium .      Seems to vary the amount of thick membrane in different years

[SallyintNorth]

In my fleece flock, I've lambed 35 primitive and native breeds and crossbreeds outside this year.  Chad had worked brilliantly, hadn't missed a single one.  Including the hoggs, which I'd been unable to keep separate and had hoped might not all have been receptive.  :/

I lamb outdoors; the sheep have the run of 25 riverside acres of mixed pasture and woodland.  It's idyllic for them, with loads of great shelter and cover from predators, but the downside is I can't always find a sheep doesn't want to be found in the steeply wooded slopes.

The 14 ewes lambed 207%.  I twin died - never sooked - and I'm rearing one triplet on the bottle.  One other set of triplets are still on mum, but I may yet have to lift one. 

The 9 shearlings lambed 133%, no losses or removals.  Clever girls; 1 lamb for your first time is best, in my view.

The 14 hoggs lambed 121%.  One lost her lamb close to term, probably due to a scare.    Two losses post-partum; one unknown causes at 3 days, the other went lame and the mother hid her away somewhere I couldn't find her, then the lamb was never seen again.  (In hindsight I should have brought ewe and lamb in once I realised the lamb was lame.). I've lifted two lambs, both twins; the one mother was struggling to provide for both her lambs, and the other lamb had the knuckled-over problem which the inexperienced mother wasn't managing well in the poor weather we had at the time.

All the first timers, both shearlings and hoggs, did brilliantly.  Apart from the lamb that died at 3 days, no mothering issues whatsoever.

No lambings were assisted; three first-timers (one hogg with twins, two shearlings with singles) were given a colostrum top-up, but would probably have been fine without.  One lamb was jacketed, having been born in horrid weather and the inexperienced Wensleydale mum not having found great shelter.

Another dream lambing from my girls.  Outdoor lambing has its stresses for the shepherd, I think, but when the girls turn in a performance like that, again, it's hard to argue for a change to indoor lambing!