[Bionic]

Is it usual to put this years ewe lambs (born April) to the tup this year or do people wait until next year?

[Marches Farmer]

Some commercial farmers will have ewe lambs tupped but the drawbacks are that the lambs will still be growing themselves as well as growing lambs inside them so will need extra feed, they're much more likely to reject their lambs, meaning lots of extra work for the shepherd in getting them mothered up, fostered on or bottle fed and their colostrum is likely to be of poorer quality than that of a mature animal. 

Traditional and rare breeds generally aren't put to the tup until their second Autumn.

[Bionic]

Thankyou. I didn't intend to put mine to the tup as they only seem to be babies themselves but just wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing.

[moony]

We put the tup with our ewe lambs. Some take, some do not. Normally have singles. Never had a problem with the actual lambing but they do as said previously sometimes reject them. If your lambing indoors or you have somewhere to pen them up and a bit of time on your hands that's not a problem but it is definitely more work. Whether its worth it for the extra lamb is debatable.

[lachlanandmarcus]

Apparently altho some reject the lambs it tends to make them better mothers in future years having lambed as a ewe lamb.


But I don't do it myself, I lie my lambies to grow slow and they are Shetlands

[devonlad]

we have always waited in the past and put them to the ram the following year. however this time we are planning to put them to the ram at about 8 months old. what we have realised is that as more often than not our first timers produce singles which means that by the time they are 3 years old all we have produced from them is 1 lamb- our smallholding is very much our hobby but we have made a fairly lousy job of making it pay, often by letting heart rule head. Currently, Lexie, Ellie, Lucy, Hazel and Pip seem far too small and lamblike to be mums next year but we are planning on feeding themup properly  to get them ready. our friend and neighbour always puts his to the ram first year so we're going to give it a go.

[LandieMan]

I would not normally put my manx/Heb  girls in with the tup in the first year. One little manx girl got jumped by Jester (four horned Heb Ram) last year. Although she is smaller than the other ewes she did pretty well. She only produced a single but has been a good attentive mother. I am sure she will have twins this year and be just as attentive. I am not planning on doing it this year but it is not a disaster if it happens. She even got attacked by a dog the month before the birth and had to have her leg sewn up, these are tough animals.

[novicesmallholder]

Personally,
 
I wait until the second autumn, gives them time to grow, and don't like the thought of too many teenage mothers!
 
Regards,
 
Mark

[SteveHants]

I do it - but they need to have attained 3/4 of their mature weight; so in my case I only put 40KG+ ewe lambs to the tup. I tup them later than the rest of the flock and they are only allowed to rear one lamb.


The benefits include them paying their way earlier, and the mature weight of the ewe will be smaller if she has reared a lamb as a ewe - big ewes eat more and cost more to keep. However, the nutrition needs to be good for in lamb ewe lambs. And, although most scan with singles anyway, you will need to do something with the twins out of those that do give birth to two. There is also anecdotal evidence that the laming percentage of those ewes as shearlings will be lower.

[SallyintNorth]

We do it sometimes with just a few very well grown commercials, but use a small tup of a vigourous breed - we tried a Shetland last year, were very happy with the results and will use one of his half-bred sons this year - and, as others have said, give extra feed and care, and only allow hoggs to rear a single. 

The only reason I would ever actively advocate it would be if you have a breed and ground where any uptupped ewe hoggs may become overfat if not bred.  Which with Ryelands maybe could be an issue - but perhaps not on your ground in Wales, Sally?

[Bionic]

The only reason I would ever actively advocate it would be if you have a breed and ground where any uptupped ewe hoggs may become overfat if not bred.  Which with Ryelands maybe could be an issue - but perhaps not on your ground in Wales, Sally?

No, I don't think our ground would be the issue in getting them over fat but I might be? I like to give them all treats     but hopefully not too much

[Rosemary]

I have always waited until the second year but this year I have two single ewe lambs that are almost as big as their mothers NOW, and I am serioulsy considering tupping them this year. However, the problem is that my (only) tup is their father, so I would need to use another tup.

Fortunately, we sold our lovely old tup to a friend who lives about 6 miles away, so we might use hime if they are willing.

The twin ewe lambs will run on for another year.

[Bionic]

Rosemary, thats interesting as I have twin ewe lambs too and to me (the one who knows nothing) they look a bit small for tupping.
Thats a definite decision then. They will not be going to the tup this autumn.

[17AndCounting]

We've had a good look at our ewes and ewe lambs today as the shearer has been so it's easier to see the size of them in comparison. Our ewe lambs are definitely the same size as two of our older ewes (the third one is a bit taller) and so we've decided we're going to tup them this year and see what happens. We've got mainly Hebs and we'll be using Heb and Shetland rams (both untested so this all might come to nothing!).