[kanisha]

Like fleecewife unless I've seen a mating and noted it I don't know exactly when the ewes are due to lamb.  Last year they pretty much all lambed early morning with the odd one later in the day.  Other years it hasn't been the same , something to do with the moon? maybe, worth looking at.

I do often hve an idea the night before if a ewe is due to lamb, her behaviour will change. Some are more obvious than others. All this talk of lambs and mine are still weeks away!

[Foobar]

How can you predict when the ewes are due down to a day?

You need to know exactly what day they were mated (ie. daily checking of raddle marks), then you work on the average gestation time of 147 days (but that can vary in some breeds).  You would usually allow + or - 2 days around that, and it can change depending on the weather - ewes might hold off until a storm passes etc.

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Verdfish I do as Foobar says and write the date in the diary. Knowing when they are due means that I know when to start feeding them, when to vaccinate them and when to bring them into the lambing shed.


Up until this group my Ryelands have lambed pretty much on the day with the exception of those carrying a large single who have gone a day over. But even then you could tell by all the huffing and puffing, lip curling and grinding of teeth in the 48 hours before that they were thinking about it. FSM thats very interesting about the seriously over due lamb due to its size? Those suffolks are beautiful but they do have awfully big heads.


Foobar, I experienced one of my neighbours commercial suffolks " asking me for help" one year when I was helping with lambing and she kept following me while I was filling up water buckets and laying down in front of me and bleating at me until I reached inside her. The farmer had gone to lunch and his big flighty ewes were normally assisted by one person holding the ewe down and another at the back end but this girl persuaded me to lamb her schmalenberg twins on my own as she couldn't get them out. These are not silly, soppy, answer to their name pets like my girls so I was doubly surprised but yes you are right, they do learn to trust their shepherd.


Fleecewife you have guilt tripped me into getting out into the sun and finishing off the pasture harrowing that I started yesterday. At this rate I will have it seeded and growing new pasture by the time this lazy bunch get their uterus in gear!

[mowhaugh]

I have no idea when ours are due to the day (there's 1200 of them, I'm not that good) but we change the raddle colour each week to house them a week at a time. I haven't noticed any particular pattern time of day wise, but it does definitely happen that if the weather has been bad, then we have a nice day, they all stop. Although we usually have a few a day or two early, we never (yet, hope I don't regret this) have any lambing outside, ie more than a week early. But we do sometimes seem to have a few crossing their legs for AGES at the end. They do lamb outside, so we can get the mucking out done.

[Marches Farmer]

Hmm, one year when snow stayed on the ground for six weeks around December all my ewes lambed six days late, another year nine days early - no idea why.

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Well I didn't get the harrowing done as I was delivering mis presented twins from the ewe who is due tomorrow. 


Oh I do love sheep.


The three remaining are now in 3 separate but adjoining lambing areas (as I am sick of them headbutting each other in the guts) The ewe and her twins are in their bonding pen with a lamp and I'm having a well earned cuppa!


One down...ten to go!


Mowhaugh, when you lamb that many as you say its more about groups of ewes according to raddle colour not individuals. Besides...you wouldnt find a calendar big enough to write all their names in lol!


When I helped my commercial neighbour with hundreds they were just lambing all day every day and we did things differently as a result.


With the one that I just lambed I let her clean off the first lamb that I delivered and give it her attention while I stood back and had a well earned cuppa and waited for the second bag. Then I delivered the second one and tagged and iodined the first and got it feeding while she cleaned the second. If I was lambing hundreds however I know that once I had delivered the first and could feel that the second was there I would have reached right in and fished it out as I would need to be moving on to the next one.


Larger numbers are easier in a way than smaller ones I think 

[waterbuffalofarmer]

I really do envy you buffy..... my ewe which is due to lamb keeps getting bigger and bigger all the time and won't lamb, I don't think she is quite ready yet though.

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Well they lamb when they are ready I suppose don't they WBF. Perhaps she is carrying triplets lol! Dont feel too envious though....I still have two overdue and one due on Thursday so it's anybodies guess when they will arrive. Happy with todays little bundles of life though. Two lovely strong healthy lambs and a calm and capable ewe. At least she has broken the spell....    

[mowhaugh]

Larger numbers are easier in a way than smaller ones I think 

I do know what you mean, when I am doing main lambing, I just operate in lambing mode and there isn't any time to worry about anything, you just get on with it. The shetlands (all 12 of them) are due earlier this year due to a malfunction (shetland tup scaling stone dyke to find wives) and clearly I can't sit in the shed all day every day for 3 weeks for 12 sheep, but I am already very stressed about them. It would help if I knew exactly which date Ken had done the mountaineering trick, but at least he found the right wives!

[Womble]

clearly I can't sit in the shed all day every day for 3 weeks for 12 sheep

Why ever not?  I intend to! 

[mowhaugh]

clearly I can't sit in the shed all day every day for 3 weeks for 12 sheep

Why ever not?  I intend to! 

I think my 3 children and my employers at my day job, from which I've already got unpaid leave from for main lambing, which is not easy to achieve, might get a bit cross. Although it would be lovely I could actually have time to read a book or two in between!

[Red]

We've got 2 weeks to go for our Heb girls (13 in lamb this year) Last year the girls (10 in lamb) mostly all lambed in a 2 week window mostly starting at  5 - 6 am, only 1 lambed in the night and 1, 2 weeks after we thought we had finished !  1 tiny little surprise ...


All of ours find a space on their own then the usual throwing head back and showing teeth, then pawing the ground ... Usually only 10 mins after this.


We do check them every 2 hours during lambing and have great neighbours who love to help.

[Buttermilk]

Another lambed at 3am today.  Only 7 more to go.

[Timothy5]

I confess I don't do the 'expectant father' thing. I make sure my ewes are fit and healthy, sufficient good quality feed, access to forage, plenty of good hay available, clean water and suitable shelter, then I let them get on with it. I avoid messing them about. I don't scan, it won't put a lamb in there is there is none. If one seems to be in trouble, I do what I can, but generally they don't need me fussing.
Due dates, just as with humans, is at best an estimate, they are not a production line in a factory, the little ones will come when they are good and ready to.
I keep Soay ewes, and they have thrived for many generations on an island without human intervention. One of the reasons I chose that breed is because they are hardy and independent.

[Big Light]

Interesting that [member=11699]Red[/member]  and [member=4333]Fleecewife[/member]  and myself all have Hebrideans and yes definately that 5am -6am ish period is when over 90% pop out its in the dark but light then comes in an hour or 2 so could quite well be a primative predatory response the breed has retained. i.e when you are lying on your side you are at the greatest risk from predators so you lamb in the dark but you want to then see protect and nurture them so just before daybreak is perfect. Pretty much we do a last check  late at night then first thing and if lambed the lambs are still very wet. You get the very odd one during the day but not many!