winning percentage game
Playing and
winning percentage game
By John Burns
ONE east Devon flock consistently achieves a true lambing percentage which would be the envy of many producers.
Last year, Graham Hill, shepherd on the Clinton Devon estate, sold 2372 lambs from 1290 North Country Mule ewes put to ram, giving a true lambing percentage of 183%. On the standard used by most people – lambs sold divided by the number of productive ewes lambing – that figure would have been 193%.
This level of performance is the result of relentless attention to detail to prevent problems arising, as well as a big effort at lambing time.
Mr Hill makes sure all vaccinations, worming, crutching, and footcare are out of the way in good time before the lambing rush starts in early March.
Ewes are outwintered and well fed on kale and big bale silage supplemented with top quality compound feed including fishmeal to ensure good colostrum and milk production. Just before lambing starts the ewes move into groups of 200 in unroofed straw yards next to the limited range of buildings which are used to house the 200 lambing pens needed for this prolific flock, he explains.
Well before lambing, the whole building, including its earth floor and the pen hurdles, are disinfected using a knapsack sprayer, and the 200 pens erected. Fostering pens are also prepared, along with the hospital bay, and extra help booked for the main three weeks of lambing.
Labour will be two experienced lambers – one for night duty and one for day work – plus a trainee to help in the daytime. One or two other casual workers will also be contacted to help with jobs such as watering and bedding if the others are overrun with actual lambing work. Mr Hill says it is necessary to make sure all staff know exactly the standards expected of them and that a meticulous recording system is used to avoid expensive errors.
The routine is as follows: Freshly lambed ewes and their lambs are moved from outdoor yards to indoor pens. Lambs navels are dipped in copper sulphate solution at the earliest opportunity after birth. "Its cheap and it works a dream," according to Mr Hill.
Once penned, ewes are checked for teeth, body condition and udder. All details are recorded including the scan prediction. Then the ewe is held in standing position against the pen side while her colostrum is milked out into a jug.
Usually colostrum flows freely but in a small number of cases an injection of 1ml of oxytocin is given to help let-down. Some or all the colostrum is then given to all the ewes lambs by stomach tube. The minimum dose is 120ml, with bigger lambs receiving up to 200ml. Any surplus is pooled in plastic bottles and keeps satisfactorily without refrigeration for three or four days. Mixing it with warm freshly-drawn colostrum before feeding warms it up enough for all except the smallest weakest lambs.
Mr Hill is convinced that under his conditions – unroofed yards which can get very wet, and the heavily used lambing pens on earth floors – the system is more effective and cheaper than routine antibiotic injection of every lamb at birth which some shepherds are forced into.
Milking out and tubing does take time but it guarantees every lamb, however weak, gets enough colostrum. It also minimises the time which has to be spent later dealing with difficulties, while the saving on antibiotics and lost lambs must be significant, he feels.
Despite Mr Hills best efforts a few lambs do go down with watery mouth and are treated orally with antibiotic paste. Severe cases will get an antibiotic injection as well.
All afterbirths are picked up. Mr Hill tails and castrates all lambs himself and at the same time assesses the ewes for body condition or other concerns. When they are trailered away to grass, any ewes which need observation are grouped together whenever possible. Ewes and lambs are numbered and colour coded according group to help shepherding after turnout.
The pen bedding is sprayed with disinfectant and fresh straw added before the next ewe is brought in.
Many lambs have to be fostered, preferably wet. If that is not possible, fostering pens are used. The ewes single is removed and two foster lambs (usually triplets) substituted. After two to three days the ewes and lambs are tried loose in a pen and observed over the next 24 to 48 hours to make sure she has taken them.
Despite many successful fosterings, Mr Hill still has a lot of surplus lambs. Fortunately there has always been a ready local demand for them and last year he sold 144 tame lambs to average £10.43 a head. "That £1500 went a long way towards the wages bill for extra help at lambing", says Mr Hill, who is continually battling to achieve the best balance between expenditure and performance.
This year, for instance, his target is to spend no more than £5 a ewe on cake without compromising on concentrate quality. Because he is pushing the system to the limit he takes the precaution of providing known triplet-bearing ewes with glucose licks shortly before they experience the stress of being yarded.
He has found that no matter how well fed the ewes have been, the sheer stress of yarding can push a few of them into metabolic problems. The glucose licks help counteract that.
• The trainee assistant lamber post was vacant at the time of writing. Anyone interested can contact Graham Hill on 01395-568205.
Unroofed straw yards hold 200-ewe groups before lambing at Clinton Devon estate. Ewes and lambs are then moved into individual pens before being trailered out to grass, explains shepherd Graham Hill.
All lambs are stomach-tubed with ewe colostrum after birth. This takes time but ensures adequate protection and minimises later difficulties.
HIGH LAMB NUMBERS
• Ewe stress minimised.
• Pen ewe and lambs.
• Colostrum given by tube.
• Fostering common.