With flocks in the midst of lambing, a portion of many flocks will be made up of ewe lambs that farmers chose to breed off during the last back end that have lambed, or will be lambing over the coming weeks.
If this is the case, these now yearling ewes, will need to be managed correctly over the coming weeks, post-lambing.
The best thing to do with these ewes is to run them as a separate flock post-lambing or even join them up with triplet-rearing ewes.
These yearling ewes are going to require some supplementation after lambing for a couple of weeks. Teagasc recommends offering 0.5/kg/head/day after lambing for a few weeks. Where grass is in short supply, this may need to be increased – especially when a ewe is rearing more than one lamb.
With grass growth not what it should be, and if ground wasn’t closed up last back end and grass is in short supply, then the need for concentrates will become even greater.
Offering meal will help to meet the demands of early lactation and help the performance of these ewes lambs while also helping to avoid significant body condition loss.
Hygiene in the lambing shed
It’s important to not become complacent and let standards slip when it comes to hygiene in the lambing shed.
Maintaining good levels of hygiene in the lambing shed during the busy lambing period is crucial to reducing the level and spread of disease and improving lamb survival.
Lime and straw should not be spared during this time in both large group and individual pens. It’s also important to make sure any equipment used is cleaned thoroughly after use and to wear clean gloves when handling ewes.
Furthermore, it’s important lambs receive adequate amounts of colostrum. For more on how much colostrum lambs should be getting and what to do if a ewe doesn’t have enough for her own lambs click here .