The heading “breeding starts at lambing” may seem strange but the best time to identify potential future replacements is at birth. There are a number of reasons for this.

Firstly, attributes like large pendulous udders and over-sized teats are frequently inherited, as are other problems such as ewes with a poor milk yield, for example.

Failing to identify lambs from these ewes promotes the potential of similar problems occurring with offspring down the line.

The best possible scenario when selecting home-bred replacements is to match proven records with strong performance.

All too often ewe lambs retained for breeding are selected from the tail ends lambs remaining on the farm at the end of the year.

Question

The question that you have to ask yourself is: why are these lambs still on the farm?

In the absence of a genuine reason, like younger lambs born from ewe lambs later in the season, for example, selecting home-bred replacements in this manner will only lead to generating a flock of poor-performing ewes.

In addition, where no historic information is available on these lambs, it could be worse, with poor performance and inherited problems combining.

At birth, lambs from the best mothers in the flock, or those sired from maternally strong rams or lambs from multiple births, should be identified and marked as potential replacements. Their performance can then be monitored through the season and a decision can then be made with a strong background of information.

Adopting a method that delivers accurate identification is important.

We may have good intentions to record information at a later date, but the reality is that when lambing gets busy, these goals are often pushed aside.

Choosing the best system

Ear notching is probably the most reliable and allows for a range of details to be recorded, depending on the position of the notch.

Tail docking, only suitable for lambs in an early lambing flock, also has merit, while management tags or branding will record information, but are less reliable.

The important point is to choose a system that works for you.

Remember, it is important to select replacements early.

On many farms, the first lambs to reach slaughter weight are sold.

This is fine if they are singles and you are only selecting replacements from twin or triplet bearing ewes, or if the ram is a terminal sire, for example.

But if this is not the case, an opportunity has been missed to improve the quality of the flock by not selecting strong performers.