Just over a week ago, I spoke about the importance and benefit of body condition scoring (BCS) your flock of ewes well in advance of breeding.

Getting your flock of breeding ewes in good shape before breeding will help to maximise ovulation rates, optimise embryo survival and reduce incidences of metabolic diseases.

Ideally, come mating time, you want your ewes to have a BCS of 3.5. It takes time for a ewe to put on condition – so handling your ewes in good time and managing them accordingly is crucial.

Ewes in good/ideal condition now should be fed to maintain their condition and be watched closely to make sure they stay on track and don’t lose or gain weight.

Ewes that have a body condition of less than 3 need that little bit extra attention, and as mentioned, it takes time to put on condition so identifying these ewes early is critical.

For ewes that are very thin, concentrates may need to be brought in to help them along, or, even run them along with ewe lambs to give them that bit more time to regain condition.

Overfat ewes also pose problems. Overfat ewes can have poor ovulation rates and poor colostrum and milk production due to insufficient mobilisation of body reserves and of course, they are at more risk of prolapsing.

To help overfat ewes lose condition, options include stocking these ewes at a higher rate on lower-quality grass or getting them to clean out paddocks after being grazed by other stock on the farm.