What makes early lambing success?

Ewe and lamb management as well as breed choice is critical to early lambing success. Farmers Weekly reports

Rising prices for quality early lambs are tempting some producers back to a system many walked away from after several years of poor prices. But to make the most of the opportunity, both ewe and lamb management have to be up to scratch, according to one dedicated early lamber.

Tom Masters, Seaford, East-Sussex, lambs 850 ewes in February and a further 200 in April, with nearly all lambs from the early lambing flock finished and sold by the end of June and a large proportion of the Texel-sired crop off the farm by the end of May.

For many it’s the promise of higher prices that draw them to early lambing. However, for Mr Masters it’s a simple matter of optimising the farm’s resources. “We farm a total of 550 acres right on the coast, with a portion of it being cliff top grazing. By the time we get to the middle of summer we generally have little grass and need to have stocking as low as possible at that point.

“Early lambing, coupled with creep feeding, means we can get our lamb crop sold early in the year before the grass starts to burn up and leaves me with a lower stocking rate through the summer.”

And with his coastal ground rarely suffering from frost, Mr Masters find he has sufficient grass early in the year to avoid concentrate feeding ewes once they’ve lambed. “We send all the ewes away to winter keep to preserve the grass at home for after lambing which certainly helps build up a grass wedge for ewes and lambs to go out on to.”

Ewe management

With feeding stopped immediately post-lambing it is crucial to build up condition on the ewes through the winter so they can milk off their backs a little after lambing, he adds.

“We feed up to 1kg a head a day pre-lambing and find this to be a worthwhile investment as it means the ewes have plenty of milk at lambing and, provided we get the grassland management right, they then keep on milking well after turnout.

“I find that once a ewe is milking well she can cope well on just grass at that time of year, but if we didn’t feed prior to lambing then we would struggle.”

Ewes have access to ad-lib silage alongside their concentrate pre-lambing, with young leys used to make sure it is of the highest quality possible.

Most ewes and lambs are turned out to grass 48 hours after lambing, with every group of ewes and lambs checked twice a day, with particular attention paid to the evening check. “We’re careful to mother up every group each evening to ensure the lambs survive the night. If we didn’t do this and got a bad night of weather we could lose a significant number of lambs, although the Texel cross lambs are generally tough enough to withstand a bad night.”

And with ewes scanning at 185% there is also a need to manage triplet lambs at lambing, with these being cross-fostered on to single bearing ewes where possible or reared artificially. “There’s no way we could turn a ewe out with triplets in February without it compromising both the ewe and the lambs.”

Breed choice 

But while getting the management right is crucial, so too is breed choice. “We want a ewe which will milk well, but which is also strong enough to cope with our dry summers and, crucially, can leave a good shaped, easily fleshed lamb which can be at or near the top of the trade.

“So, we tend to run Suffolk x Mule ewes and put them to high EBV Texel sires, with particular attention paid to maximising early growth. The quality of the ram is vital; we want a strong, long, powerful ram with plenty of growth and the Texel fits the bill for us perfectly.”

These high growth rate sires leave lambs capable of maximising growth from milk and creep and with the clifftop climate occasionally a harsh one in spring they have the get up and go to survive, unlike some other terminal sires.

“We’ve moved away from smaller, blockier type tups as we found their lambs didn’t grow as quickly and they didn’t have the extra length I was looking for. Length adds weight and that is crucial to maximising the lamb price.”

When it comes to prices, Mr Masters has certainly seen the benefit of the extra length and shape his Texel tups are leaving in their lambs, with his first 732 lambs sold this year averaging £100 and one week in mid-May seeing him sell 431 lambs at Ashford Market to gross £46,548, an average price of £108.

“We’d aim to have 35% of the lambs gone by the end of May and tend to draw anything 40kg and above.”

Ewe and lamb health

However, health is a top priority in order to achieve these results and all ewes are treated with a footrot vaccine as well as receiving a clostridial vaccine and an enzootic abortion vaccine. After lambing ewes are regularly footbathed to minimise scald. “A ewe with scald won’t milk as well and that can have a serious impact on lamb performance in a very short period of time. We also faecal egg count the lambs and are always on the watch for coccidiosis.”

Post-weaning management is just as crucial for the flock’s success as ewe and lamb management, believes Mr Masters. “We condition score the ewes during the summer and any which aren’t in good enough order are put on to the better grass while those in the right condition or too fit are run on poorer grass. In some cases we may feed the poorer ewes and, while it may seem an expensive option, it more than pays for itself in an increased lamb crop.”