[Pocagranja]

Hi, We had our first lambs born in December & are thinking about taking them off the ewes & feeding them up for the freezer.  (They are all weaned). How long can you keep a non castrated lamb before the meat taints or they get their sisters pregnant, have read 6 months? (Hubby won't consider castrating them at birth as he doesn't want them to be in pain). 
How long does it take for a ewe to dry up her milk? We have read that you feed them on poor pasture to help reduce milk production?
Also how long should we leave it before we introduce the Tup to them again?
We want our lambs to be born before the winter next time if possible as the weather can get quite cold here, even in Spain at night!  Our ewes all gave birth outside as they & went mad when we tried to enclose them inside ready for birthing. They are very hardy & sleep outside most nights, even though they have a shelter.

[woollyval]

No! Much to early to take them away from their mothers! They will not thrive if weaned so early. Sheep, even in Spain are seasonal breeders and will tske a ram from about August. The ram lambs will not mature until about 5 months so wean them when they look big enough....about April? Keep the ram lambs all together away from mums and sisters and fatten for freezer for about August. Hope that helps a bit.

[Hazelwood Flock]

Lambs will wean themselves when the time is right at about 4-5 months old. If you remove them too soon they will not be eating sufficient hard feed and will not thrive, also you run the risk of the ewes getting mastitis and being useless for future breeding. As long as ram lambs are out of the way by 5 months old you will be fine. There is no taint unless a ram has worked, so if they are kept well away from the ewes they can run on up to 15 months old or so. Good luck!

[Fleecewife]

It's usual to have the ewes in lamb over the winter so lambs are born in spring and benefit from the spring and summer grass - grass fed lamb is tastier and cheaper to produce than grain-fed.  Gestation is 5 months, so work backwards from when you want the lambs born and put the tup in then.  Here in the north we put the tups in on Nov 5th, to start lambing Apr 1st, and you could probably go a month or so earlier than that.

I agree with others that you have taken your lambs off way too early, but if the ewes haven't dried up yet they can go back on.  The ewes will wean them naturally at about 4 - 5 months, then need a good 2 months to get back condition before they go to the tup again.  This gives an even, regular yearly pattern to breeding.

[Pocagranja]

Thanks for the replies, it is interesting to see the English way of doing things & compare to the Spanish Farmers ways. Ewes lamb twice a year here (don't know whether its due to the mild climate).
We haven't taken the lambs off the ewes yet.  Plan to when they are  2 months old in early February.
Pasture land is so different where we are, the area we live in is classed as semi-arid, desert like & the only time we have any sort of pasture is in the Spring! In the Summer it is sandy & resembles a desert! At the moment it is still desert like as we have had such a hot & dry Winter up to now. Lambs are slaughtered young due to the expensive of feeding them up, they use a special fattening up cereal mix + any local grown vegetables, (hay is not available here), & they get olive cuttings etc. We have to feed our sheep some cereal everyday, that is why the lambs naturally eat the cereal from about 1 month old.

[Fleecewife]

A very different way of doing things in Spain then compared with Britain (many Scots on here as well as Irish, Welsh and English ...and from the rest of the world of course.....

My advice is rubbish then  .  It will be interesting to hear how you get on  .

[robert waddell]

to get two crops of lambs you will have to wean at i month or at least put the tup back in with them at that time what breed are they and what is there life expectancy also does the arid conditions wear there teeth down

[Fleecewife]

That does seem too close, doesn't it.  I believe it is possible to get 3 crops in 2 years from certain breeds here, but 2 in one year seems excessive.

[kanisha]

If they are wenaed at 1 month then it seems possible that the ewes could get thrown back into a season early and not having the burden of rearing the lamb beyond four weeks would that be the same as trying to get to lambs in the UK where they are left longer on the ewe?

[woollyval]

Ah I think I understand....! Nearer to the equator you are the less differential there is between seasons and apparently having spoken to a few people the sheep of a few certain breeds can cycle again a few weeks after lambing. So if the ram is running with the flock constantly they will get re mated resulting in early weaning of the lambs as the pregnancy progresses. Therefore to stop this the easy solution is to decide when you want lambs, count back about 5-6 months and put ram in then. BUT take ram out and keep him with a castrated friend or another ram in a secure enclosure away from the ewes until the next year. This way you will get lambs when you want, the ewes will have more lambs, the lambs will be bigger and better for having their mum not put under stress and you will have better lamb to eat!

[Pocagranja]

Thank you to everyone, all your advise is appreciated!  The Spanish farmer had told us to leave the ram with the ewes, as they do to maximise lamb numbers per year but we didn't want to as it seemed unkind the her with no rest between lambs. After all your advice & comparing different ways here we have taken the Tup away to the next field so he can see the ewes & he has settled in nicely.  We are going to put the lambs in a separate field next door when they are approx 2 months old, so they can see their mums but not access the milk bar!  They are all quite huge now & lambs are slaughtered here at 20-30 kgs live weight which is approx 4 - 5 months old! (bet its different for everyone else)? They can sell for 50-70 Euros (live weight for meat) depending on weight.
We will then feed the ewes less cereal etc to help dry them up. Afterwards give them a rest of 2 months before we introduce the Tup in May time to hopefully lamb before the cold winter nights, so we don't have to worry about them lambing in the cold outside again!  We will get a harness & paint marker for the Tup when I go over to the UK in Feb, to help us pinpoint exact dates of birth (can't buy here).

[SallyintNorth]

Wow, this makes me appreciate our wet climate - the rain makes the grass grow, makes milk and lambs grow.

Our first few lambs are generally away at less than 4 months old, straight off their mums, weighing 38-42 kg liveweight.  (Around 20 kg deadweight.)  We usually get a good price for these, being new season.