When to assist lambing

Green farmer

Hi guys, I'm finding that I'm having to pull a lot of lambs this year. What's the general rule of thumb as to when you start to intervene ??? How long do you give the ewe to do it herself ??? Thanks

weatherbyfoxer

Green farmer wrote: »

Hi guys, I'm finding that I'm having to pull a lot of lambs this year.

why are you finding that you have to pull lambs?..are lambs coming wrong way or comming big?..generally ill leave them during the day once they are making progress,id have no problem leaving a ewe over 1 hour and a ewe lamb somtimes 2 hours but id still look in often as possible without disturbing

Assisted 18 out of 70 main flock this year 8 of which were thriplets

have 10 ewe lambs lambed so far with no assistance needed

weatherbyfoxer

Green farmer wrote: »

Hi guys, I'm finding that I'm having to pull a lot of lambs this year.

why are you finding that you have to pull lambs?..are lambs coming wrong way or comming big?..generally ill leave them during the day once they are making progress,id have no problem leaving a ewe over 1 hour and a ewe lamb somtimes 2 hours but id still look in often as possible without disturbing

Assisted 18 out of 70 main flock this year 8 of which were thriplets

have 10 ewe lambs lambed so far with no assistance needed

Green farmer

It's combination of the lambs are mostly singles and the ewes lambing so far are hoggets with not much room to work with compared to the older ewes.

Sheep breeder

Wrong type of ram used,

weatherbyfoxer

Sheep breeder wrote: »

Wrong type of ram used,

Could be alright, somting like a big texel or even a big suffock ram on hoggets can spell disaster but feeding level of concentrates for the 6-8 weeks pre lambing can also make a huge difference

Green farmer

weatherbyfoxer wrote: »

Could be alright, somting like a big texel or even a big suffock ram on hoggets can spell disaster but feeding level of concentrates for the 6-8 weeks pre lambing can also make a huge difference

Ya , i gave the ewe plenty of time today but I had to assist when she was getting tired. A huge set of twins from an experienced 6 year old good ewe. I think I'll change the ram in the summer. I might also tweak the feeding to see if it makes any difference.

tabby aspreme

What type of ram are you using , and how much feed are they getting

Green farmer

tabby aspreme wrote: »

What type of ram are you using , and how much feed are they getting

I'm beginning to notice a pattern. I've two texels and a charlois. One of the texels is big and I'm noticing difficulties with the texel x ewe's he serviced. He serviced some cheviot / belclare ewes as well but the first of those are after lambing and no issues there.
I think he might get the road soon !!!!

Feed wise their getting hay or good silage and 1lb of 18 % meal , also mineral lick buckets. Their in good condition

rancher

Green farmer wrote: »

I'm beginning to notice a pattern. I've two texels and a charlois. One of the texels is big and I'm noticing difficulties with the texel x ewe's he serviced. He serviced some cheviot / belclare ewes as well but the first of those are after lambing and no issues there.
I think he might get the road soon !!!!

Feed wise their getting hay or good silage and 1lb of 18 % meal , also mineral lick buckets. Their in good condition

The extra muscling in texel ewes leaves them tight too, mightn't be all the rams fault