The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: shrekfeet on March 05, 2010, 10:32:49 am
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I'm planningto bring my ewes in to lamb and then turning them out the next day or so. At what stage should I bring them in? I only have an approximate date for lambing to being
thanks
hope you are all getting some of this lovely sunshine
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Hi I start bringing mine in at night about a week before the first is due, they follow a bucket easily! If the weathers awful I leave them in all day too, they dont seem to mind, once lambed I pen for 36-48 hours then take those back out!
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I read somewhere not to bring them in if they are wet as they will take an age to dry out. Would I be better to just start housing them from their due date?
Also what should I be feeding them after they have lambed as there is still no grass
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They take ages to dry whether in or out? Its best for ewes to get as much exercise as possible near to lambing. I feed ad lib hay and they have ewe mix too.
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I only bring mine in when they are due, but not this year as we will be lambing early May. I give them Hay, Sheep course mix and a Ewe and lamb lick.
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I bring mine in a week before lambing...spend some time with them in the shed every day, feeding them hay, mixed corn and mineral lick...by the time the first one's ready to lamb they are used to my presence and usually quite easy to handle...when they birth, I pen mother and lamb(s) seperately for a few days until they have all lambed...separating each family to their own pen... then I take away a partition hurdle one pen at a time (one in the am and one in the pm) until they are all back together and ready to be turned out again, once I have eartagged and castrated the lambs and checked the ewes feet, etc...sounds like overkill I know, but they are always easier to handle and it gives me a chance to get to know the youngsters and them to trust me. I should point out that I only have 12 breeding ewes...so not hundreds of sheep to contend with!
Regards
Farmer, :farmer:
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Oh yes mineral lick too, but make sure you get one thats safe for lambs if you leave a mixture of lambed and still to lamb ewes in together!
Once penned and the lambs have been ringed, tagged etc, mum gets a foot trim!
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Thanks for all the feedback, much appreciated. Exciting times!
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Indeed, lambing time is great, provided all goes well, otherwise it can be dreadful. Buy hey, its not happened yet!!
I'm bringing my ewes in this weekend. They are due around the same time as yours I think - 15th onwards. But mine have to be transported from my rented fields, 3 miles away, so I'll be bringing them home in good time and they'll be out on the small paddock here where they will be allowed in and out of the (new and posh!!) shed during the day if the weather's fine. I will only shut them in the shed if the weather turns (which I think it is due to do from the 12th according to the Met Office forecast) and at night, every night. I usually keep ewe and lamb(s) in pens for two or three days, depending on progress, and then, if its reasonable weather, allow them out in the daytime.
I will be watching 'Lambing Live' on BBC 2 from this Sunday to see how the other half live - the ones with vast amounts of sheep to contend with. Cheers.
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I read somewhere not to bring them in if they are wet as they will take an age to dry out.
If you house them when they are wet they will also be very susceptible to pneumonia
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So what happens if they lamb outside in the wet?
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Give the lambs the best chance possible by not lambing outside in wet if at all possible.