[SavageU]

I am nearing the end of my first lambing.

Horrendous start, but all good now and very happy.

My question is ringwomb. I have one ewe who lost her twins and suffered with this-what’s the view on tupping her again? I have had mixed views on this thus far so interested to hear.

The other ewe was empty, or looks it to me would you keep for next year, or get shut?

I’m not a massive commercial set up but having suffered a lot of complications and heartache (inevitable though that is!) I do need to try and manage this going forward.

As an addition, potential ram lambs-I’ve got 3 boys, not banded the testicles as I want to see what they look like come 4 months and Market if not, but may also be able to sell on as wethers or maybe keep 1…unsure what to do tbh.

Thoughts welcome. I will keep some of the ewe lambs this year and increase our flock by a small select amount.

That should help manage the pasture I think and get it eaten off a bit more which is the goal..

[KHSDoc]

Ring womb:- We have had successful lambing with ewe second time around, if you like her then keep her. There is apparently a risk of it happening again but for us it didn't though n=1 so not hugely statistically significant! With the empty ewe, it has been an odd year lambing wise with many of our ewes showing late conception or being empty and similar reports elsewhere in East Anglia so again if you like her keep her. We do not band our rams and the ones we sell at market are not marked down.

[twizzel]

First off… I am hard on my ewes and culling criteria. Some people may be more lenient than me, but I do believe my flock is better for it. Empty, prolapse, crap mothers, no milk, abortion, mastitis, caesarean are all cullable offences for me. Ringwomb would be if it was a true ringwomb and needed a section. Repeated hard lambing would be too if each year the same ewe had big problems lambing. Lambing is hard enough without worrying about what happened with a ewe last year. I am also somewhat limited on numbers so every ewe must pull her weight.


If you’re in doubt about whether to castrate ram lambs, I would ring them. Considering it’s your first year, it would be one less thing to worry about. If you want to sell them as wethers they either need castrating by banding/ringing before 7 days of age, or you’ll have to pay the vet. If you’re going to kill them for meat, it doesn’t matter if they’re not castrated too much, as long as you’ve got somewhere to keep them away from any females, and get rid before the autumn.

[shep53]

Personally i would sell the 2 ewes as you could keep them both and have the same problem next year  or not , for me i want a ewe to give birth and suckle the lamb/s with no or minimal intervention

[Rosemary]

In my early days, I gave empty ewes a "second chance". Never worked. By the next tupping they were too fat to conceive, I think.
I'd put both away. Mutton is very tasty. Life's to short to store up problems at lambing time.

[SallyintNorth]

In your circs I would cull Mrs Ringwomb.  She may well be okay in future but her daughters may do the same first time out.  Your later self will thank your now self for culling out avoidable problems.

I agree with twiz about banding the boys.  You're new at this, take all the options which reduce stress, reduce problems, require the least experience.  Time enough to finesse such choices when you have the basics down, a few years ahead.

[SallyintNorth]

In your circs I would cull Mrs Ringwomb.  She may well be okay in future but her daughters may do the same first time out.  Your later self will thank your now self for culling out avoidable problems.

You're new at this, take all the options which reduce stress, reduce problems, require the least experience.  Time enough to finesse such choices when you have the basics down, a few years ahead.

:bookmark: cull or not? and novice shepherd advice

I think these may be two of the best answers I've ever given (in my 16,000+ posts!).  I wish I'd been given them when I was starting out!  I'm bookmarking them so I can give them again 

[SavageU]

Thank you everyone.

It’s basically what I thought, I cannot have another year like this year (the bad bits) and whilst toxo may have contributed towards some of it…I don’t need to keep sheep that are going to cause me further stress at a very stressful time.

Think there’s a chance of them going to be grass eaters on the road and having a fat and happy life, so that’s one option.

[twizzel]

Thank you everyone.

It’s basically what I thought, I cannot have another year like this year (the bad bits) and whilst toxo may have contributed towards some of it…I don’t need to keep sheep that are going to cause me further stress at a very stressful time.

Think there’s a chance of them going to be grass eaters on the road and having a fat and happy life, so that’s one option.

Lambing never goes to plan, you will have bad days but they do get better. I had a terrible day a few days ago, it’s got better since. If you have had toxo confirmed, toxovax is essential next year and going forward, it is expensive but 100% worth it. All of my sheep are toxo and enzo vaccinated. 

[SavageU]

Well it wasn’t just a bad day in fairness to myself, it was a bad fortnight where I wanted to sell everything!

Which vac do you use please?

Also, any experience of entropion? I have two lambs with Cloudy/weepy eyes. Hoping it would go-vet job or sterile water and wipe?

[twizzel]

I use toxovax and enzovax. It’s about £7-8 per head for both vaccines, but well worth it.


If the eye is weepy and cloudy you’ll need some cream from the vet, and possibly need to inject the eyelid to push it back out and stop from inverting. Or try pinching the eyelid, it can swell a bit and stay out that way, but if the eye is cloudy you probably need to inject and give some cream to be honest.

[SavageU]

I’ll call them tomorrow, it looks beyond a wipe but I’ll try that first.

Will ask about those tomorrow.

[SallyintNorth]

Entropion has two major causes.  Genetics and dehydration.

Keep tabs on ewes whose lambs have entropion, and consider changing your tup or even breed.

Any lamb with entropion - suspect the ewe may be short of milk.  Make sure she has plenty of water and as much grass as possible, supplementation if no grass.  Consider topping up any lamb with entropion.

Top tip : When you first spot entropion, correct the eyelid's position and squeeze the lid to bruise it very slightly.  The swelling will keep it sitting eyelashes out.  Many lambs need no further intervention.  (The slight and transient discomfort of the bruised lid is a price worth paying to avoid having your eyelashes constantly scraping your cornea.)

[twizzel]

It’s also genetically linked to the ram, so if he’s throwing a large proportion of lambs with entropion, best to cull. It’s something I’ll check for when putting newborn lambs into mothering pens as it can normally be corrected by pinching at this stage- dip navel, check eyes, check ewe milk supply.

[SavageU]

Yeah there’s been 3 out of 9 lambs. Potentially could have rectified it sooner if I’d known what I was looking at.

Will keep an eye on numbers.