The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: smudger on May 10, 2012, 11:08:52 pm
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Time flies!
Only had to two this year a ewe lamb and ram lamb (entire), both born end Jan. I am cutting back on creep feed with aim of separating the ram lamb and putting him with my tup when he arrives for company in mid June. I was then going to turn the ewe lamb and the two ewes in with the rest of the flock, so the ewe lamb will naturally wean. They are GfD. Does this sound sensible? Alternatively would be removing the ewes and leaving the two rams together now, but not sure two is enough to do that. Also now close to 5 mths old for the ram (although not seen any naughty behavior), so risk with the ewe lamb.
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I always understood that you should wean both twins at the same time, otherwise you risk the ewe getting mastitis.
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Sorry if not clear.
The two lambs are singles from different ewes. The core of the question is whether its ok to naturally let the ewe lamb wean herself when turned out with rest of my flock. If not then I need to keep her with the ram lamb for a bit longer so he has company and remove the dams now. Ideally I'd like to turn whole flock out onto a single field and remove the ram lamb when my tup arrives in about a month but as he is nearly 5 mths old, there is a risk he could get up to mischief. The two ewes are quite attached to each other so wouldn't be happy me removing the ewe and ewe lamb. It would be easier if we had more lambs....
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I would pull the lambs out and put with the tup. Dry the ewes out fast by putting on poor grazing, (wont' take long, a week or two), then put ewe lamb back in with the ewes. And leave the boys together.
You could wean naturally but it would depend on the condition of the ewe. She needs to be able to get back in peak condition for tupping time.
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I have naturally weaned some of my GFD's in the past without problems - after a while the ewes scarcely let the lambs suckle. As foobar points out though, do assess the condition of the ewe. It's always tricky when you have a single ewe lamb as you obviously can't leave her on her own for weaning.
Alternatively I don't think you should have any problems with the ram lambs at this time of year as the ewes won't be cycling (based on hours of daylight). I have my whole GFD flock together all the way through to late July. It may not be possible to do this with some of the other breeds though.
I know that 2 sheep should be enough to give one another company so I guess that should also be fine for lambs, although I would probably choose to put them in a small field so they don't lose one another.
BTW, have you thought about what you are going to do with the ewe lamb when the ram goes in with the ewes in the autumn?
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Thank you both. I will turn all out together and seperate/wean fully when ram arrives. I hadn't thought about tupping time and my sole ewe lamb :-[ - will probably borrow a few ewe lambs to keep her company (or look to buy some).