The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: domsmith on January 29, 2013, 07:55:47 pm
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The terrible weather has gone on now for what seems like forever. With lambing just around the corner what are you going to do to try and deal with the wet conditions. We started at tupping with 200 ewes, between fluke and terrible conditions we have had losses and am yet to scan.
We wont lamb until the 15th April, and i have been trying to convince myself it will all be OK by then. But the doubt has set in and i think we need to prepare for the worst!
I have adhoc indoor space for maybe 60 ewes, then i hope to have cows outside to calve by the end of march, so only young stock in, so i could maybe house 100ewes indoors. that still leaves 80 outside.
Lambing always has its ups and downs, but as we have had such a terrible winter with far too many losses, i cant afford to lose any more.
have any of you got any ideas to beat the wet, any tricks or pearls of wisdom.
thanks
dominic
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Wish I could help but all I can offer is sympathy for your losses and hope that spring will be well and tryly sprung by 15th April :fc:
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I tend to lamb outside but then bring them in very soon after for just a day or two to get dry, make sure they are bonded and feeding and castrate any boys, then they go out again. They are Shetlands so quite hardy but I havent lost one yet. That way just keeping them in a day, there is room for the next ewe and lamb to come in as they don't all lamb on the same day. Sort of a middle ground between bringing them in and leaving them out altogether.
It might not work for you and it does mean disinfecting and cleaning out pens but it works for us
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We've had more wet lambings than dry in the last 6 years. >:(
Tips:
- clear plastic macs on lambs who have thin skins
- don't de-rush your pastures, rush bushes make great shelter
- warm wet isn't as dangerous as cold wet - cold wet kills lambs
- if your weather is cold wet, bring in any ewes who might lamb overnight - lambs born into cold wet weather can be past saving by the time you do your first round :'(
Lessons learned (from units lambing 00s of ewes, so not all applicable to small <20 ewe flocks):
- don't feed cake to groups which are lambing; the disturbance can result in ewes leaving newborns and not getting back to them in time - this is a bigger problem with twins and triplets than with singles (but you probably aren't caking the singles anyway)
- if your families are having to stay indoors a wee while, and conditions are wet, make the following rules:
- Every lamb gets Orajet within one hour of birth (prevents watery mouth - this can quickly become an epidemic when there are a lot of families indoors)
- All pens completely cleaned out, and disinfected and/or limed between occupants
As well as the lambs being more vulnerable, with the so-called summer and long wet winter we've had, the ewes are also vulnerable, so be very vigilant for metabolic disturbances - 'twin lamb disease' etc - and have your calcium, magnesium and twin lamb drenches handy. (See this post (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=12927.msg136877#msg136877) for my vet's crib sheet for treating metabolic disturbances)
Also, in challenging years, we apply blanket rules
- one hogg = one lamb (any extras take off and foster or rear as orphans)
- all triplet lambs to get extra colostrum within 6hrs (2hrs if poss) of birth
- no ewe to rear triplets unless she's CS3 and has a perfect udder and two operational teats
I know there are things I haven't remembered to write up, but there's a start.[/list]
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Thanks for that Sally, seems like good advice, i didn't know about the Orajet, but will get some,is it like a kick start?
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The weather was pretty shocking last April for lambing if I remember.
I like to lamb in fields with plenty of cover, gorse, bramble thickets, patches of hawthorn and whatnot for them to get in and lamb.
Most of my lambing fields are sloping so pretty well drained. If the weather is poor and the lambs are with mum I leave them well alone - forget tagging, balling etc - none of this is worth a dead lamb.
I tend not to lose many - I think if I fiddled and interfered, Id lose more - just let the ewes get on with it - they should show the lambs where to shelter/stand in front of them to keep the rain off etc.
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Our ram broke through our fence in Sept so we are lambing imminently. Very scared. Lambed in apr and may last year and got fly strike on one lamb which we managed to save so hopefully won't have that problem but I am dreading cold soggy lambs. They have free access to two stables so hopefully they won't give birth in a big puddle but all lambed outside last year so a bit worried. Good luck everyone!
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i didn't know about the Orajet, but will get some,is it like a kick start?
No, it's an antibiotic. Ideally it's used as a preventative, given within 1 hour of birth indoors. If lambs subsequently develop watery mouth and/or the scours, it can be used then as a treatment - but we found it better by far to prevent rather than cure.
Some people use Spectam the same way but I can't personally vouch for that having the same preventative action.
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I have the use of my neighbour's small barn, so I bring mine in 'a week's worth at a time', lamb indoors and keep them in pens with mum until they're three or four days old.
If it's awful I still let them have access to the end of the barn for longer than that - I'm at 1000ft in Cumbria, so it can be pretty cold and wet.
At some point it gets too full (I only have 20 or so) and the older ones go out to make way for the next ones.
I was taught by an old farmer right from the beginning to change the raddle every week, so I knew who would lamb in which week.
I add more straw but don't clean out until after lambing. When I lambed for a friend with a very big flock, we re-strawed once then cleaned out after that. His ewes lambed outside and then were brought in immediately for a couple of days - also in cold wet Cumbria though not as high as me.
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Like many others here, I keep a good eye on my ewes at tupping, so I know within a day or so of their due date to lamb. I then get those ewes inside about a week prior to the due date (I aim for between 145 days and 148 days gestation, with most of mine appearing to lamb at 147 days). They lamb inside and spend 3 days in a lambing pen until I am sure everything as it should be. They spend a couple more days in the pen if ewe rearing triplets. I then put ewes and lambs outside and if weather fine and dry they stay out overnight. IF it is wet and horrible they come in at night and go out again early morning. I have 10 ewes and this year I have one due in about a weeks time with the remainder of my small flock due from 17th March through to 15th April. I have 2 pairs of ewes due on the same date - 17th March and 4th April. I hope the weather will be much drier and kinder than at present as it really is miserable out there for any livestock. I would certainly invest in some waterproof storm jackets for your lambs though if you have no option but to put young lambs outside - I have used these before and have found them very good (I buy the clear ones rather than the orange ones as my horse had 40 fits at little orange things running around the field with him!). My ewes and lambs do seem to enjoy coming back inside at night and I only have to open the field gate and they run straight in to the barn and in to the area they are supposed to be. The lambs in particular can't wait to cuddle down in the straw after a day in the field following mum around and lie along the sides of the barn with a contented look on their faces and with their eyes closed!
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Mine are lambing now, coming in a couple of days before they are due. Again they go in a mothering pen once lambed for about 48 hrs, then out by day and in by night with macs on. All the outside lambs are now a lovely shade of brown - I seem to have a flock of mudlarks! :raining:
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- don't feed cake to groups which are lambing; the disturbance can result in ewes leaving newborns and not getting back to them in time - this is a bigger problem with twins and triplets than with singles (but you probably aren't caking the singles anyway)
I dont think this is such an issue with small flocks, and I would avoid any change in feeding patterns. With my BWM new mothers won't even come to the feed trough for the first few days, they prefer to stay with their new babies, to the point where I have to go and take them their own personal feed trug whilst the others are eating!
I think the watchword is "be prepared" and assume that the weather will be rubbish. Keep an eye on the forecast daily. Even if you don't have any indoor areas you can knock up some make shift shelters easily and cheaply with pallets, hurdles, tarps, straw bales, spare pig arks, old gates, old doors, etc etc. Make sure you choose a lambing field that has as much natural shelter as possible from hedgerows, trees and wot not. Have plastic macs on stand-by.
Be super clean in everything you do, copious use of stuff like Stalosan. Dunk your wellies in a disinfectant bucket often. Avoid stressing the sheep. And make regular checks on all animals, without fail - I would do every 4 hours, but I don't tend to do overnight, but would do if the weather was extreme. Have plenty of pairs of waterproofs handy for yourself so you can put on a dry set whilst a wet set are drying off.
I lamb outside but bring new borns inside for 24 hours or until I am happy that they are fit and well, then they are turned back outside.
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Some intersting things mentioned so far.
I can speak for spectam, works in much the same way.
I use the lambmacs, mine are orange at the moment. they aren't a great fit for little Shetland lambs, but everything has been crossed this year so hopefully will be a bit bigger.
i find the fields with alot of rushes in make spotting ewes in trouble very difficult, but this year i might use a rough field and just be extra vigilant. its also a gift to predators giving them cover.
my fields slope too, but are still water logged with our heavy soil.
temporary structures could be useful. i have 4 or 5 pig arcs i can press into service as field shelters.
last year was very wet and a difficult year, here also.
i never check the outdoor ewes after dark, i think disturbing them is more trouble than help. i find nearly all the ewes lamb in daylight. i think when you start stirring them you will bring the lambs on. i find going out at dawn catches many fresh born lambs. i am a great believer in leave well alone. but always act on on instinct, if you think its going wrong get stuck in!
i find feeding groups of lambing ewes a very useful way to see what will lamb during that day. the ewes that dont come over for food will be the ones to watch. it can be heart stopping when you have a huge group of sheep come running to you, and all the lambs are stood watching calling for their mums. will they ever find their correct mums. nearly always they do of course.
thanks for all the comments so far
dom
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Some ewes don't like plastic macs on their lambs if they're put on a couple of days after birth. Put them on soon after birth if you can. I put hay bales out in a "swastika" pattern in the turn out field - this gives a place for the lambs to shelter behind whatever the wind direction. Our normal rule is no. of lambs + 1 for how many days in the shed. We then put them in batches in a "nursery" shed for a night so they learn to stick with mum and not try to suckle from another ewe. Then they go out.
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I can't say I've ever had a problem with lambs sucking the wrong mum - at first. The strange thing to observe with outdoor flocks is that the lambs when they are a bit older, a week or so, say are looked after in a big bunch by a couple of 'aunties' who do seem to let them suck whilst mum is off grazing.
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I have noticed that my ewes appear to take it in turns to babysit the majority of lambs whilst the other mums go off grazing. This is on a strict "no milk" basis though! The babysitter changes daily. I find watching sheep fascinating! ::)
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I'd echo that, we usually have a creche thing going on whilst the other mums graze.
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Friday afternoon a chance conversation and some local road works, saw 100 tons of road planings delivered! so i thought i would put a sheep tunnel up and use the planings as a base.
but in an intense family "discussion" we hammered out a plan to extend the old hay barn. going from 50*30 to 50 *60. using the planing as the base and just a simple pole barn idea, we now hope to house all the sheep!!
monday morning, all timber ordered, afternoon side of old barn down, digger on site wednesday, posts in on thursday and hopefully finished sometime next weeek.
just glad to be doing something positive, as the weather gets even worse!
dominic
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Mine are due from 5 March and I am dreading further wet conditions. It seems like my fields have been waterlogged for as far back as I can remember! :-\ They have certainly never been so wet since we've lived here, about 9 years. The field I would normally put them in for lambing can't be used and I only have one small paddock with a small shelter and another larger paddock which is the driest, but has no shelter apart from hedges. I will have to put up some kind of makeshift shelters in it. If the weather looks like it's going to be dire, I am going to have to somehow convert my haybarn!
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lets have a look at the wether for you lambing soon *6/2/13 to 10/2 13 This cool westerly looks set to hold, with an associated unsettled period through until about the end of the 1st week of the month, when colder weather to the north slips southwards once more. *11/2/13 to 20/2/13* High pressure builds to the north or northeast, a cold and biting northeast to easterly breeze setting in across all regions. Wintry weather sets in once more during the middle period of February, potentially another spell of snowy and frosty weather establishing. Not looking too bad spring may start
Spring may start nice
*February* The first 10 days of the month look as it'll see a mainly westerly orientated flow across all areas of the UK, this be strong at times with gales in exposed western and northwestern areas, low pressure tracking close to the UK at times. Rain will be heavy at times, but carried through quite quickly on a brisk flow, the flow may swing into the southwest occasionally and this will ensure that temperatures will hold up quite nicely for much of the time across all areas of the UK. There are indications that somewhat colder conditions will establish through the middle of the month, while remaining unsettled with low pressure having the main influence, some wintry precipitation is increasingly likely. As winds fall lighter for a time, frost and fog will become a problem. Low pressure is anticipated to be the controlling influence, wintry showers may be expected almost anywhere from time to time before dying away as a weak area of high pressure takes centre stage. Through the third week, low pressure approaches from the west with a strengthening south-easterly flow across all areas, the threat of a wintry mixture of precipitation crossing the UK as a westerly change brings Atlantic air through to showers and brighter conditions. Pressure rises at the very end of winter, an anticyclone crossing the UK, winds falling light for a time, before a southerly drift establishes over all areas, becoming less cold thereafter. MARCH The first month of spring begins with high pressure looking likely to be in control and a fine and dry, mild start, a southerly drift covering much of the UK. This scenario is expected to continue although temperatures falling back with overnight frost with some rain affecting western Britain as low pressure approaches from the west. The Atlantic will be attempting to push into western Britain, with its associated rain, buts this eastward progress may be erratic and undetermined as high pressure to the east may remain as a block? A southerly flow may be strengthening as this battle takes place, although by mid-March the Atlantic will have taken control, rain pushing through on a westerly with strong winds and rather unsettled conditions for all areas. The latter stages of March sees, higher pressure to the east or southeast over the near Continent, low pressure mainly affecting the northwest of the UK, where it'll be unsettled, southern and eastern Britain drier at times with any rain patchy and weak, mainly mild everywhere. As the month draws to a close, high pressure takes control, conditions settle and spring may have arrived with temperatures lifting across the UK.
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Just reading all ideas thought I would write a bit on my lambing. I am just about finished my first group of about 15 ewes. My temp is from -40 to -15 C I use heat lamps in the corner of pen in unheated barn. I try to towel dry any lambs especially twins or triplets after ewe has cleaned a bit. I made a warming box out of a plastic tub with lid attached to an old hair drier( the type with a flexible hose and plastic cap for the hair) I attached the hose to the tub and place the lambs in to warm and dry. I keep the tub in the pen with the ewe so she still can keep them close.With wee ones I will tube feed once or twice if they are weak as they need to nurse right away to fight the cold.Hypothermia is my biggest problem and have had to inject glucose mix in the belly if they have got too cold before I reach them. They stay in pens with ewe 1 day for single and 2-3 for twins and further for triplets until they fill out a bit. I don't have too many diseases because everything freezes :wave:
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Mine are due from 5 March and I am dreading further wet conditions. It seems like my fields have been waterlogged for as far back as I can remember! :-\ They have certainly never been so wet since we've lived here, about 9 years. The field I would normally put them in for lambing can't be used and I only have one small paddock with a small shelter and another larger paddock which is the driest, but has no shelter apart from hedges. I will have to put up some kind of makeshift shelters in it. If the weather looks like it's going to be dire, I am going to have to somehow convert my haybarn!
I've found a structure made of pallets in a noughts and crosses grid arrangement very useful, the wind doesn't get hold of it cos of the slats and it provides shelter in all directions, the ewes always choose to lamb there. Just some nails and cable ties and baler twine. Can also be moved and dismantled if needed. And cheap !!