The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: wellies on November 29, 2011, 08:04:42 pm
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I only have 5 Ewes but was wondering if it is worth having them scanned to see if Ted has done his job. He has completely lost interest in them after initially being quite keen on spending timre with them. Now he is just under my feet all the time ::). He was introduced to them in early October and the last and only time I saw him doing anything vaguely within his job description was on the 30th October (I felt very proud of his efforts ;D)
So what do you guys think, should I have them scanned and if so do you know of anyone lovely in Shropshire who offers this service?
:wave:
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Well, if he did he job well in the first 17 days of October, they won't have been in season since then, hence him being under your feet :)
I like knowing how many I'm expecting out of each ewe so I have mine scanned. I'm lucky in that a big neighbouring farmer has his done and i take mine over and tag them onto the end. You may be able to organise something similar since the scanners here are so busy they wouldn't set up for my 20-30 sheep separately.
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You should have them scanned within 90 days of the tups going out, I believe, otherwise the scanner can't tell how many lambs there are.
IMHO it's worth getting them done - we've always done it, even when we only had three ewes. I don't like surprises, so you know where you are.
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surprise was the name of the game before scanners were invented :farmer:
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The main thing about scanning is you can feed the ewes with twins more than the ones with singles.
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You can have them scanned, it is useful to know how many lambs and hence how much to feed the ewes correctly.
Mind you, our old ram, Curly Wurly, never seems to show much interest in our ewes...but come the third week in April the ewes all pop out little Curly lookylikies :-))))
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Mind you, our old ram, Curly Wurly, never seems to show much interest in our ewes...but come the third week in April the ewes all pop out little Curly lookylikies :-))))
He's a gentleman - doesn't kiss and tell. We've had tups like this, never saw him work but all girls in lamb. We had a bull we never saw actually do the deed, either, it was quite a worry until we had the first lot PD'd!
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We never scan - it's either one or two (or none) with Hebs and they all feed together over the winter anyway. We leave the tup in for 4 or 5 weeks in November so our lambing is not too long-drawn-out.
With a breed which could have lots of lambs or which needs a lot of supplementary feeding while carrying lambs it would be worth getting them scanned.
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I scan my shetlands because I use a big ram on little ewes. I dont want the singles to get too big to be squeezed out
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I'll be getting mine scanned this year for the first time. When I just had a small flock of Wilts Horns, I didn't bother, they very rarely throw triplets and it wasn't worth separating the twins. I just hope I can get the scanner to come out for 52 ewes....
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I just hope I can get the scanner to come out for 52 ewes....
Mine comes for 9 and used to come for three ;D