How to get lambing off to the best start

Planning for the new lambing season should begin early – even if you normally lamb your flock in late spring. But whenever you start lambing, a practical seven-point plan will set your enterprise up nicely for the peak lambing period early in the New Year.

Focus on pregnant ewe nutrition

Ewes must be in the best condition possible for the last six weeks of pregnancy when 70% of foetal growth takes place.

Get it wrong and you may have to cope with poor lamb survival rates, low birth weights and inferior quality ewe colostrum. Group and feed ewes according to your scanning results and their condition score.

Getting the mineral balance right is important too, so ask your nutritionist for advice. Consider asking your vet to take blood samples from ewes 4-6 weeks pre-lambing just to make sure their diet is delivering the required energy and protein status.

Prepare your sheep housing

If you lamb indoors, sheds should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before ewes are brought inside – at least two weeks before lambing.

Use plenty of clean, dry bedding to reduce the risk of spreading lameness and other infections such as watery mouth, joint ill and coccidiosis. Good lighting is important too because it makes it so much easier to check stock without disturbing them too much.

Avoid overcrowding otherwise stress and disease issues can spiral out of control: a typical 70kg ewe needs 1.2m 2 to 1.4m 2 of floor space and 45cm of trough space.

Decide on staffing levels

Talk to your vet about the essential disease management interventions pre and post lambing.

Remember to boost your ewes’ clostridial disease and pasteurellosis cover 4-6 weeks pre-lambing. Make sure any lame sheep are separated and treated well before housing. Check the protocols for dealing with any abortion problems, scours or joint ill.

Lambing is a time of year when an extra pair of hands can be invaluable. Lambing students vary in their experience and knowledge, so be clear when advertising for staff exactly what sort of level of skills and experience you are looking for.

Any new staff recruited need to know what is expected from them from the start – and should be given clear management protocols so that they know exactly what to do in any given situation.

Check lamb milks in date and free up time

A ewe milk replacer feeding systems will help you save labour and secure better lamb growth rates.

Feeding enough replacer alongside fresh water, roughage and small amounts of a good quality creep feed refreshed daily is the key to healthy, profitable growth.

A replacer such as Lamlac, that can be mixed cold, also frees up valuable time. For optimum growth rates, make sure you have ordered supplies early and have enough new in-date stock available to cover your needs.

P

lanning for the new lambing season should begin early – even if you normally lamb your flock in late spring. But whenever you start lambing, a practical seven-point plan will set your enterprise up nicely for the peak lambing period early in the New Year.

Ewes must be in the best condition possible for the last six weeks of pregnancy when 70% of foetal growth takes place.

Get it wrong and you may have to cope with poor lamb survival rates, low birth weights and inferior quality ewe colostrum. Group and feed ewes according to your scanning results and their condition score.

Getting the mineral balance right is important too, so ask your nutritionist for advice. Consider asking your vet to take blood samples from ewes 4-6 weeks pre-lambing just to make sure their diet is delivering the required energy and protein status.

If you lamb indoors, sheds should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before ewes are brought inside – at least two weeks before lambing.

Use plenty of clean, dry bedding to reduce the risk of spreading lameness and other infections such as watery mouth, joint ill and coccidiosis. Good lighting is important too because it makes it so much easier to check stock without disturbing them too much.

Avoid overcrowding otherwise stress and disease issues can spiral out of control: a typical 70kg ewe needs 1.2m 2 to 1.4m 2 of floor space and 45cm of trough space.

Talk to your vet about the essential disease management interventions pre and post lambing.

Remember to boost your ewes’ clostridial disease and pasteurellosis cover 4-6 weeks pre-lambing. Make sure any lame sheep are separated and treated well before housing. Check the protocols for dealing with any abortion problems, scours or joint ill.

Lambing is a time of year when an extra pair of hands can be invaluable. Lambing students vary in their experience and knowledge, so be clear when advertising for staff exactly what sort of level of skills and experience you are looking for.

Any new staff recruited need to know what is expected from them from the start – and should be given clear management protocols so that they know exactly what to do in any given situation (see Lambing List, below right, for advice).

A ewe milk replacer feeding systems will help you save labour and secure better lamb growth rates.

Feeding enough replacer alongside fresh water, roughage and small amounts of a good quality creep feed refreshed daily is the key to healthy, profitable growth.

A replacer such as Lamlac, that can be mixed cold, also frees up valuable time. For optimum growth rates, make sure you have ordered supplies early and have enough new in-date stock available to cover your needs.

Lambing is always a hectic and stressful period – and once the season starts you won’t have the time to keeping dashing out for essential kit.

Order well in advance materials such as disinfectant for lambing pens, iodine for navels, castration rings, feeding tubes, marker sprays, sterilisation equipment, colostrum and milk replacer, as well as any other lambing essentials.

Keeping good records is essential to benchmarking performance and to help you identify any potential problem areas.

Record-keeping doesn’t have to be sophisticated or complicated – the important thing is to do it well.

If you don’t record already, lambing time is a great time to start. You should be aiming for less than 15% lamb losses, but top performing flocks are achieving closer to 10%.

Stock up early with equipment and supplies

Lambing is always a hectic and stressful period – and once the season starts you won’t have the time to keeping dashing out for essential kit.

Order well in advance materials such as disinfectant for lambing pens, iodine for navels, castration rings, feeding tubes, marker sprays, sterilisation equipment, colostrum and milk replacer, as well as any other lambing essentials.

Set a target for reducing lamb losses

Keeping good records is essential to benchmarking performance and to help you identify any potential problem areas.

Record-keeping doesn’t have to be sophisticated or complicated – the important thing is to do it well.

If you don’t record already, lambing time is a great time to start. You should be aiming for less than 15% lamb losses, but top performing flocks are achieving closer to 10%.

Targets for lower lamb losses

• Less than 5% from scanning to lambing

• Less than 5% during the first week of life

• Less than 2% from week one until weaning

• Less than 2% lost after weaning

[Source: Volac]

Seek veterinary advice when

• Ewe losses are more than 3%

• Lamb losses are more than 15%

• More than 2% of your ewes are barren at scanning

[Source: Volac]

Lambing list links students and farmers

The National Sheep Association lambing list is open for business once again – linking students looking for lambing work with sheep farmers seeking extra help at their busiest time of year.

The list has become an important source of labour for many UK sheep farmers – as well as a source of employment for agricultural and veterinary students looking for a work experience placement as part of their studies.

NSA list manager Katie James said: “Recent years have seen the numbers of both farmers and students using it increase substantially meaning it is now considered the go-to place for those requiring extra help or seeking vital work experience.

“It’s a very simple but effective process – we collate a list of NSA members looking for help at lambing time and produce an advert so students can approach them directly to ask for a placement. The NSA is confident the list will again be successful in its mission to help all of those involved.”

The service is an additional benefit of NSA membership. Farmers wanting to advertise on the list must complete a short application form – including details of their lambing system and position they can offer, including accommodation, meals and other details.

For students looking for a placement, adverts are split into regions to highlight positions available in different areas of the UK and overseas. The list can be found via the lambing and work experience pages on the NSA Next Generation website.

For details, www.nationalsheep.org.uk/lambing-list