[Hillview Farm]

I was hoping to sponge my flock including a pair of shetlands and when I said this to a friend with shetlands he said I will struggle as they don't start to cycle until mid to late nov. We are wanting to lamb first week of march so tupping will be beg oct.
 
We wasn't using pmgs.

Will it work?

[Anke]

Probably only one way to find out....

I sponged my girls last year, but only for a 3rd week April lambing, and it worked a treat (would have even been better if tup would have been able to fire on all cylinders...).

I had the boy in the field next to the girls, and when I took the sponges out they started to cluster around on the fence line the day after. Put him in with them 48hours after taking out sponges.

[Hillview Farm]

And did you lamb over five days? Or was the ram not able to keep up?

[Anke]

Yes, if tup would have been firing correctly (he did mount them etc, just must have been not very fertile) we would have lambed over a two-day period.... (I had five lambing over two days as expected, another two lambed 15days later, and two never took, but tup was removed after he had covered the last four for a second time).

I would recommend it and will be doing it again - but I have moved my lambing back to outside, with outside pens and so prefer to lamb mid-April onwards.

[Dogwalker]

My four shetlands lambed over three days at the beginning of April with no intervention,  they were with the ram from 17th October or there abouts.

[Bramblecot]

 I had 5 Shetlands lambing on the same night, with the other 14 over a fortnight in late April.  No assistance, great little sheep, mainly had twins except for the shearlings.

[SallyintNorth]

I'll be interested to know how this pans out.  My primitives don't seem to think they should lamb before early April, even if the tup is with them - and keen! - throughout.  I don't think I would sponge here, as we can manage with whatever works naturally, but the biologist in me is interested to know whether the intervention can kickstart the cycling even in sheep which naturally would not cycle until later in the year.  And of course, for people who have to plan lambing around jobs, when Easter moves about...

[Me]

Why not give PMSG? Or consider Melatonin implants? Or have two lamb later!

[Hillview Farm]

It's much easier on me to lamb over a short period and I can take time off work.

Spoke to my vet today when he was doing some pd's and he said it should bring them on. He advised that I didn't need pmsg as I'll end up with too many muiltiples and I'm not bringing them too much forward.

Should I be using it?

[Me]

You can't have it both ways! I know nothing about Shetlands, if you are genuinely sponging outside their reproductive window I would suggest you use PMSG. If they are cycling then in your position the PMSG risks multiples for no good reason. Balance the hassle of potential bottle lambs against the hassle of not being in lamb to decide what to do. Anyone who can tell you the exact amount of PMSG required is a bloody genius.

[Anke]

I have used sponges in my goats quite a bit, but usually not to bring them on early in the season,more to make sure I can time them being in season at a certain time to allow for mating trips etc.

I have also sponged the goats and used PMSG for laprascopic AI, and have had good results. However that they have more triplets and quads hasn't been the case for me, this year my huge BT type girl had a single from AI (fortunately a female). Others have also reported that more singles were born from  (lap) AI than would be expected this year. But people also had quads in previous years, so yes PMSG seems a bit of a lottery.

If you want to lamb much earlier than natural it would also be best to combine the sponging etc with light changes, but not sure exactly how that wold work with sheep. Only read about it for housed goats.

I am sponging the sheep to condense the lambing into a few days rather than have it earlier than usual, so cannot advise on the question if Shetlands would be covered before November. I have always just put the tup in beg of Nov the earliest - too cold here and no point lambing before Beg April.

[Hillview Farm]

ok so it may just be easier to let the shetlands lamb later and bite the bullet.

so would I need to give my charollais and my crossbred ewes(Suffolk mules) the Pmsg? if sponging at the end of sept?

don't charollais cycle early?

I heard people saying that using a small dose of Pmsg is an insurance policy!

[SallyintNorth]

don't charollais cycle early?

I would have said Yes, ours do, except that last year none of our sheep wanted to get jiggy until the weather turned in mid-Oct.

[langfauld easycare]

don't charollais cycle early?

I would have said Yes, ours do, except that last year none of our sheep wanted to get jiggy until the weather turned in mid-Oct.

couple of years back i bought pedigree charollais which lambed in feb tryed to tup them the following year to do the same but only one held, just ended up having them lamb in april with the rest .when i had soays could never get them to lamb much before mid april 

[farmvet]

Sponges should bring shetlands on early. But they may not recycle at 16days if they don't hold to the tup.  They would probably revert back to their natural breeding season. Also what breed of tup are you planning to use ?