[JMB]

Hello again. Just got my first flock of lambs and already thinking of eating them. Poor things.
I have read various threads on Weaning already and read my sheep books, but a few conflicting ideas.
Our lambs were born from April 20th.
Would late August be too early to wean? (We still bring our flock in evey day for a bit of mix and the lambs join in, although they're not fed seperately)
From the threads, I think we might house them next to each other (we could put them out of sight but not earshot) as this seems less stressful.  Would 3 weeks apart be enough?
And do the ewes need to be on fairly bare ground for their milk to dry up? (my book suggests penning up and feeding straw but not keen to do that)
Due to lack of space, (and a tup to find room for too- don't want him back on his daughters) , we initially thought it would be good to slaughter the lambs at the time of weaning, but I've read that hill breeds tend not to be big enough.
Do you think that's the case?
And so would anyone advise to sell as store lambs at that time instead?
So many questions.....
Thank you xxxxx
 
 

[lachlanandmarcus]

I wouldnt think Hebs would be killing weight until the spring after their birth. Nice taste but not much mean before then esp as all the costs are per head. Also with our Shetlands I prefer the taste of hoggett.
Weaning, do you need to wean them? Our Shetlands stay with mum and wean themselves before Mum goes in with ram in early November. No stress or risk of mastitis and we've never had any problems with them getting in lamb or getting enough twins (about half have twins). NB we do castrate the boys tho, if you dont then I can see why you would need to separate.

[SallyintNorth]

If you do run them on with their mums, you'd need to seperate the ewe lambs off at the end of summer, just in case...  So as it sounds as though you don't have seperate paddocks you can use, you may have to sell females as stores, and males too if they're not castrated.

If you do decide to wean, yes it's best to put the mothers on bare-ish ground for a few days / a week.  Four months old is the traditional weaning age for hill flocks around here, but I don't know if Hebs would be different.  Three weeks apart before regrouping would be plenty, yes.

[JMB]

Thanks for your replies.
We have a couple of separate paddocks and we have castrated our ram lambs.
I'm just trying to figure out 'adequate' space for them when I have to take the tup away from the ewes, and the lambs away from their mums and I'll have 3 separate groups for a while.
I hadn't thought of letting them wean themselves off Mum though. That'd be much easier and less chance of mastitis.
You've been a big help thank you.
Joanne xxx

[Fleecewife]

Hebs are not worth sending to slaughter before 16 months.  They don't put on any condition over the winter and need grass into the summer to reach a good weight.  We have tried slaughtering at various ages and have found that the best carcase is at 16 months, ie early to mid Aug of the following year from an April lambing.  Slaughtering them at weaning wouldn't give you more than a rabbit on a stick      I have never sold Hebs as stores and am not sure what the market would be.  It might be best to find a buyer privately, perhaps through the Hebridean Sheep Society.  The Nature reserves are often looking for wethers (have to be from registered stock) to Conservation Graze their reserves, so you could perhaps approach some of them if you don't want to raise them for meat yourself - which would be a loss as they are very very tasty 
   
As we breed breeding stock, we don't castrate our males, except a few with an obvious fault at birth, so we take them off the mothers by the end of August to avoid the chance of unwanted matings.  We put them in with the stock tups across the road and there isn't much upset at all - they are so busy avoiding being 'checked out' by the big boys that they forget all about their dams 
 
The ewe lambs we tend to leave with their dams for a couple of weeks more.  In theory this could increase the chance of mastitis but    we have never had that problem.  We then put the ewe lambs into an adjoining field, so they can see their mothers, and graze and lie next to them, but they can't feed, so absolutely no stress.  That gives the ewes a couple of months to get back into breeding condition before the tup goes in in Nov.  We find that we don't need to dry the ewes off as they have just about done it themselves by the time their lambs are 5 months, although of course we do keep an eye on them.
 
After tupping, we run all the females together again, and all the males in a separate group across the road.  After the first season when the tup is on his own, there will always be enough males waiting to see if they are good enough for breeding stock, or to go to slaughter, that the breeding boys always have company.  The ones for slaughter go in early Aug, the grass has a couple of weeks to recover and then the male lambs, now hoggs, arrive in that field.
 
 

[JMB]

Wow! 16 months. We should have done our homework!
Although I am quite partial to rabbit on a stick.
We'll have to keep them and eat them I think. Ours aren't registered (they should be because they all look perfect to me, but it doesn't work like that, and I haven't a clue really- just a doting sheep keeper)
We have our tup, Colin, from our friends on the Isle of Coll so it's not easy to just use him and send him back to free up space.
Anyway, plenty of food for thought. Thanks ever so much for all your advice.
Joanne xxx