Pros and cons of breeding ewe lambs!

DJ98

What are they?

Dickie10

pros- getting extra lambs
making the ewe lambs pay for themselves over the winter
can be bred fairly cheap if the right ram is used and the lambs are big and lamb in april



cons- can be wild at lambing

need to pick a docile breed if u want no hardship ie llynn
pick the right ram
try to have them 50 kg at tupping

ERG89

We'll be breeding a few big ewe lambs this year(first time in 8 years we are). We'll be lambing them a few weeks later than the rest to make extra care & time just in case.
Most of the lambs we kept are tipping already but as said be careful which you pick to breed & the ram.
I often feel the ewe won't develop as well when you breed them too young

tom_k

Pros: As long as they're big enough to go to the ram it's better to lamb them first year than feeding and keeping for a year with no return.

Cons: Can be a bit wild or take a while to get used to mothering. However I've found that once the lamb sucks for the first time the mothering instinct kicks in.

As already stated use an easy lambing ram, lamb them a bit later than the main flock. I also keep them and feed them seperate from the main flock.

Cran

Tip April born lambs here Mule x Lleyn get about 70% take with them, bought in March born Mules and January born pedigree lambs more or less 100% in lamb of these.

Pros
more lambs over life
Calms them down as hoggets (especially pedigrees)
Here its some of our best replacement genetics, so additional year from them

Cons
More lambing issues
Need to run separate to ewes (we actually run them with the triplets after scanning)
Can be wild, especially as we lamb outdoors

Dickie10

watch out if lambing outdoors i had one last year and she went off on the lamb , they need watching for the first 24 hrs to mother up well. i like to do it because i lamb in early feb from a maternal ram(lleyn) these ewe lambs are then well big by october, i lamb during easter holidays then when i have 2 weeks off. so they take damn all feeding after lambing, i like to breed all my own repacements so i can keep the genes of a really nice well performing ewe, i have a great lenghty suffolk ram now 6 year old and plan on keeping a batch of his daughters next year then he will be retired. i hope his meat bearing genes will leave good meaty suffolk x lambs from suffolk x ewes. im thinking of useing the few cheviots that are here to go with him and have borris ewes, are borris ewes still seen as a good ewe? i heard they command a great price in wicklow. i tried the lleyn on cheviot ewes and they look like serious ewe lambs now, pity ii dont have more. they have a white mule type head but much quiter than a cheviot

DJ98

Our lambs are belclare x and would be ated to a belclare ram. Would this be advisable?

AnFeirmeoir

I wouldn't say they're much wilder than a hogget at lambing and once they take to the lamb they are better mothers than a hogget. Also wild ewe lambs are easier to handle than a wild hogget.

Lambing as ewe lambs adds to the overall mothering ability in my opinion .

ganmo

I've seen the sums done plenty of times and in my mind if you can get them fed right they make it worth the hastle.

saying that its not done here

ganmo

I've seen the sums done plenty of times and in my mind if you can get them fed right they make it worth the hastle.

saying that its not done here

paddysdream

Always run the ewe lambs here with the rams.
Pros;
Extra lambs to sell.
Better mothers than hoggets once the mothering instinct kicks in.
Less hassle following year lambing them.
Easy to handle when lambing(indoors here)
If dry/unsuitable/lambing problem/no milk etc etc then worth hogget price in March/April whilst hogget/2yr. old will only get you cast ewe price in factory.Big difference.

Cons;
Shepard with smaller hands required
Take up more time at lambing
Need to run/feed seperate to mature ewes and also prob at grass after lambing.
Smaller crop following year compared to those ran dry
Smaller lambs which usually finish later.
If they get a setback(poor grazing etc)hard to get condition back on in time for ram again at times.

All in all would prefer to have them in lamb as ewe lambs.Size and weight is important but wouldn't get hung up on it.Recomendation is 48kg upwards for lowland lambs but would run them here 40kg upwards and they grow plenty big as ewes.

Green farmer

The general rule is 60% of mature weight. Depending on bred,( llyen x , mules , hilltex etc) 40kg + is plenty. Working with a maternal bred makes life easier as well. Bought a lovely batch of llyen x ewe lambs here, so hoping to get on well with ewe lambs this year. I'm planning to run them look separately and look after them well, in a effort to avoid any pitfalls associated with them.

paddysdream

Green farmer wrote: »

The general rule is 60% of mature weight. Depending on bred,( llyen x , mules , hilltex etc) 40kg + is plenty. Working with a maternal bred makes life easier as well. Bought a lovely batch of llyen x ewe lambs here, so hoping to get on well with ewe lambs this year. I'm planning to run them look separately and look after them well, in a effort to avoid any pitfalls associated with them.

My ewes are either Borris type or Texel cross out of Borris type ewes .Mature ewe here would be 80 kg on average I would imagine.

rangler1

paddysdream wrote: »

My ewes are either Borris type or Texel cross out of Borris type ewes .Mature ewe here would be 80 kg on average I would imagine.

A 33 kg ewe lamb got into my breeding ewelambs last year, I didn't think she'd go in lamb so wasn't too worried about her, but she scanned with two and reared them.
They were 37kg a mth ago and she is 48kg, it'll be interesting to see if she breeds this year

paddysdream

rangler1 wrote: »

A 33 kg ewe lamb got into my breeding ewelambs last year, I didn't think she'd go in lamb so wasn't too worried about her, but she scanned with two and reared them.
They were 37kg a mth ago and she is 48kg, it'll be interesting to see if she breeds this year

Whats the bets she scans with one this year?
Maybe its just me and my unscientific research! but think that most of the ewe lambs here over the years which were scanned for 2 lambs and reared them ended up having a single at most the following year.Could be due to not being back in condition by mating time.

Dickie10

mother nature always has her way of balancing up i suppose! neever seen such easy ewe lambs to hande as the lleyn x last year out of 16 not one had to be handled all lambed themselves to a hampshire ram. i would be a little wary of feeding too much meal to ewe lambs in lamb, it can blow up the lambs in the last 5 weeks to be too monstrous. i fed small amount of nuts and hay on a bare, bare field (think concrete bare) last spring and they lambed perfectly. they had aaccess to a lifeline bucket from 10 weeks out for minerals/vitamins.

Green farmer

rangler1 wrote: »

A 33 kg ewe lamb got into my breeding ewelambs last year, I didn't think she'd go in lamb so wasn't too worried about her, but she scanned with two and reared them.
They were 37kg a mth ago and she is 48kg, it'll be interesting to see if she breeds this year

That woman you were telling me about before, "Lesley stubbings" if you type her name into YouTube, a lecture she gave in holland will pop up. She talks in dept about breeding from ewe lambs and culls, etc.

rangler1

Green farmer wrote: »

That woman you were telling me about before, "Lesley stubbings" if you type her name into YouTube, a lecture she gave in holland will pop up. She talks in dept about breeding from ewe lambs and culls, etc.

Gosh, you're getting to be a real fan of hers, but she is very practical and easy to listen to.
I see Fiona Lovett, the woman that maintains that paring feet is unnecessary, is in the country at the moment doing a tour of meetings with MSD.
Page 47 in the IFJ.
The important thing with lambing ewe lambs is to wean as early as you can and straight on to good grass and give them every chance to be built up for their second mating.....I'd even recommend giving them a pound meal if good grass isn't available, it'll be the making of them

Green farmer

The thing I like about Lesley stubbings is she's equally focused on the business side of sheep, as well as the health side. I'd be fairly sure she knows exactly how to turn a profit out of them and more importantly all the pitfalls that would get in our way.

Thanks, Ill see if Fiona Lovett is down my neck of the woods. As interesting character to listen to as well.

DJ98

Green farmer wrote: »

That woman you were telling me about before, "Lesley stubbings" if you type her name into YouTube, a lecture she gave in holland will pop up. She talks in dept about breeding from ewe lambs and culls, etc.

Has anyone got a link to that video, i cant find it!!

rangler1

DJ98 wrote: »

Has anyone got a link to that video, i cant find it!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av9IETGrzQI

the title isn't in English but the presentation is