Lambing 2025

Sami23

Lambing kicked off here on Tuesday - small flock and was going well until I checked them a few minutes ago and a twin that lambed at 3pm today the Ewe is after killing one of them by lying on top of him.

Jesus it would sicken you to see a fine big lambed flattened like that for no reason and unless I stay in the shed 24/7 no way of preventing it.

Hope lambing is going well for everyone.

tabby aspreme

Best of luck with them, it was often said around here, the first 5 and the last 5, to lamb gave the most bother, having them lie on lamb's is very disheartening, but it happens, what size pen were they in

Sami23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123169528#Comment_123169528

5' x 5' pen of sheep hurdles

tabby aspreme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123169861#Comment_123169861

That's plenty big, just hard luck so

wrangler

A ewe put out her guts here last night….. at least I she was dead, I hate finding them alive..

Still about three weeks to go before they start lambing

Sami23

Had a Ewe prolapse last Saturday and used Sheep School's rope technique to put it back in.

I notice yesterday and today her back end seems to be what I think is swelling up and not sure if I might have the ropes too tight or she could be starting to prolapse a little again as the ropes are too loose.

Luckily up to now I don't have much experience of dealing with prolapses.

Any advice would be very welcome and I might try get a picture later.

razor8

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123171173#Comment_123171173

yip, rope is too tight, go buy yourself a prolapse harness. it much kinder on them than ropes

Sami23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123172225#Comment_123172225

Do you have to use the spoon with those harnesses - I'd be afraid I wouldn't be able to put it on right

wrangler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123172304#Comment_123172304

I only use the spoon if the harness is showing signs of not working, and even then I'd only leave it in for 48hrs.

The spoon can't be very comfortable for them. Put it in gently and you cant do any harm.

The harness is very successful, you'll seldom need to use the spoon

razor8

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123172304#Comment_123172304

very rarely have to use a spoon. They are very simple to put on

Sami23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123172652#Comment_123172652

Does the harness normally come off directly after lambing or does it need to be left on for a period of time

razor8

they usually lamb through the harness. Very odd time lamb might get tangled. I usually take them off after they lamb unless there was some other issue

J.O. Farmer

Harness is a great job, much quicker and easier to put on than the rope

tabby aspreme

Be sure to get her tag no, so you can cull her later on in the year, never keep a ewe that prolapses

Sami23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123178866#Comment_123178866

Was thinking that alright.

Is it the case that a Ewe that prolapses will prolapse every year if you kept her ?

tabby aspreme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123178982#Comment_123178982

Yes in my experience, I used to ear notch them to make sure I sold them

Dickie10

Christ put in 3 days of madness here about 35 ewes lamber out of 129 in 3 days. Need them to ease up just to get ahead of things . All going well enough no major mortality touch wood. Triplets are a bit of a headache I’ll have to start taking off 3rd lamb and letting them off as pets

jfh

Lost three lambs from ewes lying on them, all three had bad feet that's what I'm putting it down to. Had a few with prolapse also, used the harness, they lambed perfectly with it on thankfully

Sami23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123175111#Comment_123175111

My Ewe lambed on Sunday with the harness on no problem and all was good until this morning when I noticed she had prolapsed again about the size of a hurling ball. I put it back in but she had it out again within an hour.

I presume my only option is to put the harness back on again ?

And how long will I need to leave it on for ?

Thanks

wrangler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123187272#Comment_123187272

Leave it on if it works, it won't do her any harm, if you leave the prolapse out and it gets dirty she'll be worse.

Take it off in a couple weeks and try her again but its no harm to her.

I used to be a contract shearer and I often took out a spoon at shearing, but that's just cruel, you can imagine that stuck up you for three months and the smell of it would be shocking .

Sami23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123187647#Comment_123187647

Thanks wrangler - I'll stick it back on her so.

Is there any fear of it cutting her underneath where the straps go beside her udder

wrangler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123187671#Comment_123187671

Try loosening the straps when it's two days on her, it can be surprising how loose it can be and still work.

You've nothing to lose anyway.

I think that when they go force the harness pulls under their neck and they stop forcing.

If she still pushes it out, she deserves to be cut underneath 😁😁

razor8

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123187671#Comment_123187671

give her antibiotics for a few days too to cover any infections

Sami23

Anyone else have trouble with sheep constantly twisting around in pens and wrapping the straw up in a long rope around their foot.

And it's damn hard to get off their foot sometimes.

Tileman

had it a bit last year as the straw was very long but not this year. It’s a complete pain when it happens

tabby aspreme

Oat and barley straw are worst for getting wrapped around the legs, winter wheat straw is more brittle, and better for lambing pens

Anto_Meath

The OH has a few sheep, a few of the lambs are lame. It's weird it seems to effect them from about 2 -3 weeks, I am wondering is a foot dip or something that they could be ran through to help get them better...

DJ98

At what age would lambs start to eat pellets? Have some 2 weeks old amd want to start feeding as soon as possible

wrangler

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123225468#Comment_123225468

Introduce creep when lambs are two to three weeks old

. By the time twins are three weeks old, they need to be taking in feed of their own, on top of the ewe's milk, if they are to continue to grow fast

Use something sweet like this, they'll start eating quicker and change to something less expensive when eating well.

https://grennansonline.ie/products/pedigree-lamb-crunch?srsltid=AfmBOoqkGWlceaaQZ3JGVYppMdcE3G7kwta4K-ICrLpiDDL-DaMzueOv

arctictree

Just reading this thread now. Started lambing last Friday with an early single. Two pairs of twins yesterday.

Had a sick ewe last week that aborted on Saturday. I had to pull out the lambs in about 20 bits. The smell would kill you. The ewe seems to be doing OK now with a few days of penstrep and painkiller.

Re the prolapse spoon. I very very rarely have to use it. If the prolapse is caught early then the straps do the job.

nicksnikita

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123225326#Comment_123225326

had the same last year. Seemed to be contagious. We footbathed them every other day for a week or so and sprayed the hooves as well. That sorted it. We used Hoofsure - I’m sure your local place will have that or an alternative.