The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: tobytoby on June 26, 2012, 02:17:12 pm
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Advice from the wise please;
After a lot of searching i have managed to find 3 ewe lambs and 5 x 4 year old breeding ewes all registerd white Ryelands to start me out on my grass cutting flock.
Would there by any logic/benefit in giving the breeding ewes a year off from lambing and waiting until next year to put the lambs and adult ewes together to a Ram?
I don't really want to start up another paddock to segregate a ram & have to find a friend for it - i had in my head that i could have ran the Ram with the ewes all year ( i know believe this is a bad idea??)
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There's no rule which says you have to breed your ewes every year :) . If you leave them unbred for a season just make sure you don't overfeed them in the winter - the usual quantities for in-lamb ewes would not apply to empty ones.
You should be able to find a tup to hire rather than buying one, if it wouldn't fit with your system :sheep:
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You can give ewes a year off, but being Ryelands they tend to get fat easily which could make it difficult to get them back in lamb.
Contact the Ryeland Breed Society who should be able to give you a contact who could hire a ram to you. That way the lambs need only be kept away for a few weeks from their mums while the ram does his job. The beauty of hiring a ram is you get to use different blood lines and not get too attached when he has to move on after 2 years (otherwise he will be serving his daughters).
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I'm fairly new to all this- our first year lambing this year- but we borrowed a tup from a friend (he lives too far away to just send back anytime) and we are running him with the ewes till probably about late August time. Then he'll come out, spend a bit of time with his pal in another field, and go back in with the ewes in November and come out again 6 weeks before lambing to give the ewes a break from the hustle and bustle of feeding time.
Some people think this in not a good idea- equally loads of people have said it'll be fine.
We're risking it. I'll let you know if we get any Christmas surprises!
J x
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I echo what Fleecewife says, especially with this being a small flock that I am guessing you would probably bucket-train?
If your ewes get too fat it can be difficult to get the condition off them and if they are too fat they 'may' not necessarily fall pregnant. If however you can manage their condition none of this should be a problem. (just read khajou's post - looks like this might be a bit of a challenge with Ryelands)
Just a thought, it's a little controversial and may not be a suitable option for Ryelands, but, depending on how well grown the lambs are, another possibility is to put the ram to the lambs and the ewes this year. If you might be interested in going down this route, carefully research the implications such as impact on the growth of the in-lamb ewe lambs, additional feeding requirements and potential mothering-up problems etc.
I also concur with FW and kajou that 'rent-a-ram' might be an easier option for a small flock. ;D
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I wouldnt give them a year off. Put them to a different ram if you cant find a Ryeland one.
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One further possibility...if you can bear to be parted from the older ewes for a while...is to send them off on their holidays to visit a nice Ryeland gentleman. :eyelashes:
Just do a bit of homework to make sure you are happy with the sheepy hotel before you pack their bags.
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The important thing is that they should be mated as gimmers if they havent been as lambs. ie dont wait until their 3rd autumn to mate them, as they may find it harder to get in lamb. But once they have had that youthful lamb, its up to you if you miss a year, as long as you manage their condition.
All 18 of my ewes had this year off as lambing was just when I was having a major operation. All but one had lambs previously. I shall report back on their success rate in the coming year!
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I could not put my Ryeland ewes to the tup because I had a serious operation last October and knew that I would not be able to cope with the stains of lambing on my body if things went wrong. I have not overfed my ewes over the winter and will be putting all ewes to the tups even the ones that should have lambed for the first time this year.
I have in the past given my ewes a rest year and they have given me some cracking lambs in the next lambing season.
The option is up to you. If you want to put them to the tup, the Ryeland Flock book Society can put you in contact with someone more local to you to maybe hire a tup ., or if you want give them a rest.
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I run a ram with one of my mini flocks all year. they don;t come into season til Nov anyway so my lambing is always round late March April despite the fact he runs with them all the time. A ram in the field also protects you field from thieves... people don't wanna risk getting in there with them! LOL!
Where are you? i know someone eho rents out their Ryeland rams in the South west!
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I have had mixed views on running this years lambs with a ram, and with keeping the ram in permanently with the flock? ???
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There's no right and wrong, tobytoby, just opinions and experiences. You have to weigh them up yourself and make your own decision from that.
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We did try putting some well grown lambs to the tup year before last. It wasn't a good idea! and we won't do it again.
Would definately go for the borrowing a ram option.
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No experience here, but my farming neighbour told me once that although he has put ewe lambs to the ram on a few occasions, he does not think that it is a good idea in general. He felt that it affected their growth and that their lambs were smaller at birth (in general) and never really caught up.
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No experience here, but my farming neighbour told me once that although he has put ewe lambs to the ram on a few occasions, he does not think that it is a good idea in general. He felt that it affected their growth and that their lambs were smaller at birth (in general) and never really caught up.
We don't tend to serve ewe lambs for that reason i think ewes need that extra year to grow and mature but it's personal preference, and i know plenty of people who do serve their lambs and have no trouble.
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I find that Ryeland ewe lambs are just not mature enough to put to the tup. They are far better left to reach maturity before lambing.
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I think it depends on the ewe lamb - some mature much quicker than others. I bought five Charollais and put them to my Ryeland ram as ewe lambs - they were all well grown by tupping time and all of them lambed the following year no problem, and all the lambs were good sized. I've got some other breeds though that I wouldn't mate as lambs as they aren't mature enough.
I don't keep my ram in with the ewes all year round because I've seen him butt lambs quite hard - he comes out prior to lambing and goes in a 'boy's' paddock, then back with the ewes in November.
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Re: putting ewe lambs to the ram. It is generally not considered to be a problem as long as they reach 40kg at tupping. I wouldnt put my slower-growing wilts horns to the ram in yr 1. Ewes who take the ram in yr 1 are likley to be more productive throughout their lives - called Ovine Early Oestrous (syndrome?). However, ewe lambs shouldnt be expected to raise muktiples in most cicumstances, so you'll have to do some fostering.