The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: bj_cardiff on March 31, 2017, 08:59:11 am
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I'm just trying to weigh early lambing or late lambing and see what the advantages and disadvantages are. I usually lamb indoors late March/early April as the grass is starting to come through and weather is improving and I wondered how early lambing flocks cope with the lack of grass and bad weather? I usually feed haylage from January until their turned out.
Do you lamb indoors and keep the ewes lambs indoors for a month (or so) until the weather improves and grass is good.
Or, do you have enough grazing that you have a rested field with good grass?
Anything else I haven't factored in?
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Weather in Carmarthenshire! .... and depending on your actual location when grass really starts growing.. Carmarthenshire at 700 ft and we barely have grass yet .... am hoping it grows enough to keep up with the ewes and lambs I have out.
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Choice of ram must factor into it as well, no point lambing early in Jan and Feb if you have thin skinned lambs with no wool unless you have ample space to keep them in until the weather comes right...
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We generally aim to lamb in three weeks from 6th March. I shut up the turnout field at the end of September, so there's enough grazing for the first three weeks or so and the level of magnesium is likely to be high, due to slow growth, so avoiding staggers. Last year grass growth didn't get going until May, though, so we used all our hay stock and fed for a fortnight longer than usual. Our lambs go in mothering up pens for a couple of days, then get ringed, numbered and transferred to a nursery shed, where hey learn to stay with their dam and not cross-suckle, and are generally outside by day 4 to 6. In the past we once mucked out the shed and brought them back in for a couple of days when the weather has turned really vicious. Late lambing carries the risk of flystrike to lambs, especially those passing meconium in the first day or so - not something I ever want to deal with.
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Hi
I always lambed in early/mid February and turnout them out after a couple of days usually. The field would have been rest since late summer, but I carry on with the nuts for 6weeks after lambing to help.
This year I lambed in January for the first time. Ewes were in great condition as pregnancy was mostly in kinder months which meant I didn't get them in until a couple of weeks before.
I kept mine inside in a nursery pen until about a week then started letting them out in the day and bringing them inside in the evening.
Ewes took a lot of feeding this year after lambing even though the field had be rested from late august. They all however look great now.
Next year I will reduce how much I feed them up to lambing as lambs came out a bit big, then ram the food straight up once lambed.
Hope this helps