The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: princesspiggy on September 11, 2012, 07:17:49 pm

Title: tupping time
Post by: princesspiggy on September 11, 2012, 07:17:49 pm
so when do u all put your ram out with the ewes?


and who tups the ewe lambs?


just wondering  ::) ;D
Title: Re: tupping time
Post by: jaykay on September 11, 2012, 07:25:29 pm
In on 5th Nov, start lambing on 1st April  ;D

No, I don't tup gimmer lambs deliberately. Mind you, one little madam was in with the tups this aftenoon, so who knows  :P
Title: Re: tupping time
Post by: Fleecewife on September 11, 2012, 07:39:56 pm
As Jaykay says - except my little tarts would have to jump several fences and cross the road to get to the fellas  :o :D :sheep:
 
And hereabouts we call our female lambs 'ewe lambs' then 'ewe hoggs', and 'gimmers' are shearling ewes.   Designed to be confusing  ::)   Probably a couple of miles up the road they call them something else.......
Title: Re: tupping time
Post by: shep53 on September 11, 2012, 07:46:33 pm
X EWES 10th nov    DRAFT HILL  20th nov        HILL  28th nov    only serve the largest x ewe lambs over 38 kg
Title: Re: tupping time
Post by: RichStaffs on September 11, 2012, 07:52:03 pm
Ewes this saturday the 15th, (teasers in for 2 weeks previously). Ewe lambs (over 42kg) mid Oct.
Title: Re: tupping time
Post by: Old Shep on September 11, 2012, 08:01:10 pm
And hereabouts we call our female lambs 'ewe lambs' then 'ewe hoggs', and 'gimmers' are shearling ewes.   Designed to be confusing  ::)   Probably a couple of miles up the road they call them something else.......
Well a few miles down the road ( I think) female lambs are gimmer lambs, ewe hoggs are just hoggs (as opposed to tup hoggs) and shearling ewe are just shearings.  Yes confusing..
Title: Re: tupping time
Post by: wellies on September 11, 2012, 08:05:13 pm
1st week in October, although hubby wants them in a few weeks earlier this year think he's feeling sorry for the ewes who keep batting their eye lashes at the boys over the fence... little tarts that they are  :eyelashes:
Title: Re: tupping time
Post by: jaykay on September 11, 2012, 08:42:49 pm
Ours are gimmer lambs, gimmer hoggs, gimmer shearings, yows.
Title: Re: tupping time
Post by: domsmith on September 11, 2012, 08:58:26 pm
20th November ish.

All ewe lambs we choose for replacements will be tupped, mismothering is the only problem we ever have. this year so far i intend to tup 40+lambs as i try to quickly increase my numbers.

Last year i also tupped 20 of my neighbours ewe lammbs ;D . he allowed them to jump a wall and join my tups. he came around to check them, couldnt find them so just left! i then had to go and seperate them and put them back. he knew where they were but couldnt be bothered to go and get them. he then complained to me about them being in lamb! all good humoured in the end.

d
Title: Re: tupping time
Post by: Foobar on September 11, 2012, 09:05:15 pm
Beginning of October to lamb beginning of March.  Ewe lambs will be over 35kg so will be tupped also, probably a week into tupping, depending on how well the ewes are being covered - I need a tight lambing period.
(Breed: BWM, Location: Lowland South Wales)
Title: Re: tupping time
Post by: jaykay on September 11, 2012, 09:17:12 pm
Talking about a tight tupping time, I need mine to be a fortnight. So I was wondering about sponging. Anyone done it?
Title: Re: tupping time
Post by: Pasture Farm on September 11, 2012, 09:22:26 pm
ours will be 2 weeks time   approx ::)   bit later than last year   but hopefully earlier than april lambing    depending on how many stragglers
 
Title: Re: tupping time
Post by: Mallows Flock on September 11, 2012, 09:54:11 pm
Well, as mine are usually shearlings 4 tooth or 8 tooth ewes to tup, I normally go for  October (mid) for mid march lambing as the weather here is better then that we have had all summer (South West here) A couple of mine were born right at the end of feb last year... coldish nights but strong sun during the day and DRY! One Shetland didn't lamb til July this year! 2 1/2 years old! I was convinced she was barren! 3 tups later.......................!
Title: Re: tupping time
Post by: colliewoman on September 11, 2012, 10:10:15 pm
I tup the end of November cos I don't like lambing in the cold :-[
I do tup ewe lambs if they are big enough, but mainly cos a neighbor keeps a ram the size of a small house and he is always trying to get to my teeny tiny ladies. If they are going to get tupped, they will get tupped to something small NOT to that great beast of a sheep ;D
Title: Re: tupping time
Post by: hexhammeasure on September 11, 2012, 10:36:40 pm
ours go in on either the 18th or 26th september depending on which sale has good tups, we will use 3 colours changed every 12 days. any ewes tupped showing the last colour will be sold so we will only lamb for 24 days max
Title: Re: tupping time
Post by: SallyintNorth on September 12, 2012, 12:04:41 am
We usually tup a few for February lambs but the bulk of the flock to lamb in March.  Big ewe lambs to lamb well after the main flock has been once through, so we can concentrate on them properly.  If we have a lot of shearlings who didn't lamb as hoggs coming into the flock we'll lamb them after the main flock.

We'll probably get the first tup out next week.  He'll go to big strong experienced ewes whose lambs were early away this year, so they've had a good long time to get fit.  But we won't flush them as we hope they'll all have single lambs, which will be ready as soon as possible while spring lamb prices are still high.  We usually have the first few away end May, at around 14 weeks old. 
Title: Re: tupping time
Post by: SallyintNorth on September 12, 2012, 12:07:39 am
jaykay, our ex-lodger had done sponging and didn't rate it.  Not a very good success rate and he was very uncomfortable with the likelihood of infection.  He felt it maybe caused fertility issues downstream, too.  However it is still used by quite a few commercial flocks hereabouts, so it must work for them.

Given that your females share a long fence with your tup, would you not expect the majority to be tupped within the first 14 days anyway?  I suppose you really don't want even one geld while you're trying to increase numbers, though.
Title: Re: tupping time
Post by: jaykay on September 12, 2012, 06:53:15 am
What happened last year Sally, is that they were clearly cycling and were all tupped at the end of the 17 days when I put him in - all bar one. All the sharing of the fence does is get them in sync not ready at a specified date.
Title: Re: tupping time
Post by: SallyintNorth on September 12, 2012, 08:51:52 am
What happened last year Sally, is that they were clearly cycling and were all tupped at the end of the 17 days when I put him in - all bar one.

Someone's law, that! 
Title: Re: tupping time
Post by: Rosemary on September 12, 2012, 09:02:17 am
5th November and we don't tup ewe lambs.
Title: Re: tupping time
Post by: Sbom on September 12, 2012, 09:57:40 am
Our tup stays with the ewes all year, he is raddled up but nothing marked yet. I prefer not to tup ewe lambs.
Title: Re: tupping time
Post by: RichStaffs on September 12, 2012, 04:26:42 pm
Talking about a tight tupping time, I need mine to be a fortnight. So I was wondering about sponging. Anyone done it?
Sponging can be ok, but you need 1 ram for every ten ewes. I've changed to using teasers.
Keep ewes away from sight, sound and smell of rams (and billy goats) for 6 weeks, put teasers in for 14 days and then replace with fertile rams, the majority of the ewes will take the rams around day 18.
Obviously a few will repeat 17 days later, but works for me.
Title: Re: tupping time
Post by: Anke on September 12, 2012, 04:36:41 pm
5th November and we don't tup ewe lambs.
Same here. Ties up with school hols.