29 February 2008
Done & Dusted
Posted by Richard under: Sheep; Smallholding .
Lambing is finally over and we can look forward to getting a bit more sleep.
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- Ten ewes tupped
- Nine ewes lambed
- Thirteen lambs born alive
- Eight ram lambs
- Five ewe lambs
- Four sets of twins
- Five singles
One bit of bad news. One of our ewes, Fay, unfortunately went downhill rapidly with a very virulent case of mastitis. Her temperature soared through the roof and she became unresponsive in a matter of a couple of hours. The initial diagnosis was hypomagnesia, but later it was confirmed as being caused by a e.coli mastitis, and the advice we had from three separate sources (the vet, Andy and another local breeder) was that best cause of action was to cull her immediately. She was in a lot of pain, and was highly infectious to both the flock and humans. Her lamb is currently looking fit & well but is being kept isolated (under strict bio-security) and is being bottlefed.
So we have lost two of our ewes through lambing - which is a big wrench - but it was a recognised risk of buying some older stock that hadn’t been lambed recently. Millys prolapse earlier was probably unavoidable - on further investigation it seems she may have prolapsed during lambing on a previous occasion prior to us purchasing her, but we didn’t know this from the lambing records we saw when she was purchased. We will have to try to review if we could have done anything to prevent the case of mastitis in Fay - again she may have been predisposed to it from before we purchased her, it could have been damage to her teats (her lamb was large and hungry), we kept her bedding clean when she was penned up and she was out on fresh pasture within a couple of days…not sure if we can pinpoint a single cause.
However, overall the ewes have done a great job and have set us up with some replacement stock for the future. Fingers-crossed and with a good deal of vigilance, we haven’t lost any lambs, which is a great sign.
PS: Kate was a hero yesterday and trimmed the feet on the final few ewes before turnout, and in the process has ‘put her back out’….just in time for Mothers Day.
8 Comments so far...
colour it green Says:
29 February 2008 at 10:48 pm.
glad this part is over for you - sad to hear that you lost two of your ewes. Hope the lambs continue to thrive. Getting more and more nervous over my own little flock now..
Jo Knight Says:
1 March 2008 at 10:34 am.
I know what you mean , ‘CIG’!
We haven’t started either, yet; & as our lot are staggered we’ve got ten ewes & nine goats to give birth throughout this month; then nine further goats the following month; a short break & then yet another four goats…..it’ll be a busy time in the nursery, methinks (as all the kids will be bottle-fed, regardless, from four days’ old); thus a largely sleepless year for yours truly!
Glad all’s gone pretty well for you guys; sorry to hear about your ewes, it’s always dreadful to lose a member of the ‘family’. But at least you’ve got a happy, healthy crop of lambs to be proud of….& lots of bottle-feeding to keep you busy, by the sound of it!
Hope your back ‘de-crocks’ ASAP, Kate - Get Well Soon.
Richard Says:
1 March 2008 at 7:39 pm.
I went to update the flock treatment book today - and realise is wasn’t Fay that we had to cull, but Felicity…Fay is still out in the field. It doesn’t make it any better - but, ho-hum!
We only actually ‘bottle-fed’ for the first few days until we were confident that they had the hang of taking cold milk from a rubber teat. Now we’re using a bucketfeeder slung over the side of the hurdles - only need to clean/disinfect it thoroughly and refill twice a day. Just keep noting how much is being taken - and keeping an eye to ensure they are all feeding.
Jo Knight Says:
2 March 2008 at 12:16 pm.
Glad lambs aren’t as fussy as goat kids!
Unless the milk is at a specific temperature, they won’t touch it. I ended up bottle-feeding our lot for four months, last year!
Anke Sieker Says:
6 March 2008 at 11:55 am.
Congratulations - you are a lot braver than me - going for full-scale lambing in your fisrt year of smallholding! I have started with store lambs for this year only, and hopefully will be going for some ewes for breeding (once I decided on which breed!) in the summer. Hopefully a few of my store lambs will make it to breeding stock too, but at the moment its checking feet every month (quite wet field here in the Borders) and just top-feeding a bit of hay…
Jo Knight Says:
8 March 2008 at 7:01 pm.
Ooerrr,
we’ve started! No lambs yet but seven kids in the last couple of days. Alas, five are boys - not great for building up the Milkforce! Thankfully all delivered without complications & all babies bonny & bouncing (lots); but no sleep for Yours Truly. Urgh.
Richard Says:
9 March 2008 at 9:04 pm.
Anke - it does seem a bit mad to leap headfirst into small-scale but full-on shepherding…but we had a small advantage. Kate went to a school that had a 250 head Crossbred & Suffolk flock…and the pupils were responsible for their management - she came out with a GCSE in agriculture. She is the one with the know-how - I am just the hired help. Good luck with the sheep - let us know what breed you go for - I guess that the Borders is real hill sheep country?
Jo - Sorry for the slow response, been damn busy. Good news on the goats - hopefully the ewes lamb easy as well. Bizarrely for a Southdown breeder we were hoping for more ewes than rams, as we need replacement breeding stock to ramp up the herd…but we got 8 rams and 5 ewes - sometimes I just think sheep can be difficult on purpose.
Jo Knight Says:
10 March 2008 at 8:33 am.
All too true - & goats are worse, if anything - we desperately need girls to bolster the Milkforce & the tally so far this year is…..7 boys & 4 girls. Yah boo hiss. Oh yes & the first of 2008’s lambs…two rams (& we also want girls). Yah boo hiss - again.