Keeping Lambing Simple 
By Richard Moore, Ruminant Specialist

Lambing is a time when all sheep farmers are under pressure and weak, poorly lambs will only add to the workload. Be kind to your ewes and they will respond with strong, healthy, thriving lambs, keeping life simpler for everybody. 

This is the view of Ian Semple, Legavallon Rd, Dungiven where 160 dairy cows also add to the workload at lambing time. Ian runs a flock of 300 ewes which lamb from late March onwards. The ewe flock is made up of various crossbreds, predominantly Cheviot and Texel crosses; Ian having shifted away from Blackface some years ago to improve the carcass quality of his lambs. The ewes are then crossed with either a Texel or Suffolk ram to further improve the carcass characteristics of lambs. Around 40 Cheviot cross ewes are kept each year as replacements. 

The target is to scan all ewes 70-90 days into the gestation period and this means that all of the flock is scanned in early January. This year with the excellent winter grazing conditions, ewes are in good condition and have scanned out with a lambing percentage of 175%. The aim is to sell over 15 lambs for every 10 ewes. 

At housing, 8-10 weeks prior to lambing, ewes are grouped according to the number of lambs they are carrying. This winter well-fermented second cut silage is being fed along with Thompson's Ewelac 19. Single bearing ewes are fed 0.15 kg from housing and stepped up to 0.25 kg at 2 weeks prior to lambing. Ewes bearing twins and triplets are currently being fed 0.25kg per head and again at two weeks prior to lambing twins will be stepped up to 0.5kg per day while triplets are stepped up to 0.75kg per head. This feeding will be continued for twins and triplets for 3-4 weeks after lambing to maximise milk yields and ensure lambs thrive. 

Ian believes that the high level of Vitamin E in Thompson's Ewelac of 200mg/kg along with a Selenium Yeast will help to ensure that lambs get of to the best possible start in life. Ian has achieved excellent performance in the past and is confident he will continue to do so again this winter with Thompson's Shepherds care range of feeds.