We make sure that all the minerals are available free choice. As long as grazing
permits they are free to browse in their pasture. As lambing time approaches
we make sure that there are a few lambing pens set up along with each one having
it's own heat lamp. When the ewe nears her time she is penned up so she can be
alone with her lambs for the first few days. This gives her and the lambs time to
know each other and gives us a chance to tag, band tails, and castrate. Some
people wait until weaning time to do all the docking of tails and banding..
but we think it is less stressful to do it younger.
After a few days to 1 week mom and babies are cut out into another area where only ewes with lambs are. This helps prevent lamb injury by preventing lambs sucking on ewes that haven't lambed yet. Once all have lambed they are put back to their normal area. The ewes with lamb area has a special area called a "creep" area where only the lambs can fit through. A lamb starter pellet is kept in this area at all times. We also noticed that the lambs enjoy taking a nap in there. Most likely it is their way of avoiding the chaos that happens at chore time! The ewes seem to get very exicted at feeding time and this way they can get away and not get stepped on.
Weaning time makes for a noisy couple nights here! Around the clock they seem
to talk constantly back and forth . But it soon ends. Whew! Most of the lambs here
do not go through a "shrink week" because they have been eating lamb pellets since
about the 1st week of age. We still get the occasional lamb or 2 that really miss
mom and lose a little weight. They recover in a week or two and catch right
back up to the other lambs.
