The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: moony on April 14, 2013, 01:49:17 pm
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Anyone got any suggestions. We have just started lambing and its not going that well. Last year we lost 1 lamb for every 50. This year so far we have had 3 lots of twins and 2 singles. The first single was doing well but was accounted for by the horrendous snow drifts. The first lot of twins were both girls. The mother rejected one which is on the bottle and doing fine, and the other is doing really well with mum. The second lot of twins were boys, again the mother rejected one and kept one. The rejected one died 2 days after birth but to be honest never really got going. He was a massive lamb where as the one that is still alive is tiny although healthy. The third lot of twins were both boys and still born, one massive lamb and one small one. Then today we have had a single boy still born. All the still borns have been fully formed.
My concern is that so far we have had 7 lambs, not including the first as the weather accounted for that.
They have been 5 boys and 2 girls. 4 of the boys were black and one white. Both girls are white. All four black boys have died, 3 of which were still borns. Is it just coincidence that its the black ones that have died or could there be a link?
The ewes that have had lambs have all had 2 crops previously with us with no problems. We have used mainly the same ram but also one of his sons. Could it be him thats carrying something as he is black.
Should have said the ewes are lambed outside and are a mix of Hebridean and Hebridean cross Texel that have lambed so far. We have a few much of the older ewes then a whole bunch of hoggs to come which looks like its going to be interesting.
We were expecting a few to be rejected as the weather will have hit the mothers hard but could the weather have led to them aborting late on?
We also get a lot of dogs running around the fields due to numb owners and also people lamping. Could it be them?
The ewes are all in good health and have had easy births. All but the last one has been well cleansed at mothered. The last one was just left by the ewe straight away.
Any suggestions welcome. All are due to lamb in the next fortnight.
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Really sorry to hear this. It could be several things, schmallenberg , stress from dog worrying, in-breeding. I would be inclined to get a post mortem done if you have any more. Doubt colour has anything to do with it but gender might.
I hope you have better luck with rest :fc:
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Any black lambs from Hebs crossed with a white breed will be because the Hebs are of the 20% Hebs which are black dominant. It is usual to have white lambs when crossed ie the Hebs are black recessive (white is dominant). I can see no reason why black lambs would be more susceptible to death than white.
I would be inclined to blame the lampers and chasing dogs - see if you can't stop them, but the damage might already be done. So as not to be just guessing, a pm is a good idea.
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I agree on the post mortem. Could be an abortion agent and you'll need to fix it fast if possible.