With the trend showing increasing lamb litter sizes at scanning, attention must now turn to reaping the rewards from these higher scanning results by minimising the losses of ewes and lambs before and after lambing.

Most deaths of adult ewes and newborn lambs will occur at lambing or in the first week after lambing. These losses are costly and the aim should be to keep deaths to a minimum.

Higher litter sizes will result in higher mortality levels, but with good management during and after lambing, it can be kept to acceptable levels.

Acceptable mortality levels for lowland flocks with a scanning rate in the region of 175% to 185% would be 13%. These losses can be broken down into three periods. With pre-lambing, the aim should be to have less than 4% of these deaths. This includes re-absorbed foetuses, abortions and still births.

The next period is at lambing and the first four to five days after lambing, where 6% to 7% mortality occurs. After turnout, lamb mortality should be under 2% through to weaning. Flocks with lower scanning rates should aim to have mortality under 10%.

Management of newborn and lambs up to one week of age is crucial in minimising losses. Starvation and exposure accounts for 60% of all lamb losses that occur in the first week of life. Therefore, it is critical to closely and regularly monitor ewes and young lambs to ensure that lambs are properly suckling and are receiving adequate milk from their mothers.

Weak lambs

Weak lambs and lambs born to ewes experiencing a difficult lambing need preferential treatment after lambing. This may mean keeping these ewes and lambs in individual lambing pens for extra time to allow lambs to become stronger and ensure that ewes are taking to lambs and lambs are suckling satisfactorily.

After leaving individual pens, these ewes and lambs and any other problem ewes should be penned in a small group indoors or in a small field close to the yard where they can be monitored and receive treatment as required. Feeding of the ewes around lambing should be maintained at constant levels, as sudden changes in the diet can cause ewes to go off their feed and reduce milk yield post-lambing.

Clean, fresh water is important to the ewe after lambing and ewes should not be left without water in individual lambing pens. Ewes suckling lambs that are remaining indoors for more than a week will need concentrate levels increased as their feed requirements increase quickly after lambing.

Ewes rearing twins in good body condition score (BCS) on quality (70DMD) silage will require 1.2kg of 18% crude protein ration. This should be fed for up to four weeks. As the ewe has reached peak lactation at this stage, ration quantity can be reduced gradually.

Quick turnout to grass

However, the aim for mid-season lambing flocks should be to get ewes and lambs turned out to grass as soon as possible after lambing, if weather is suitable. Ewes and lambs should be allowed adequate time to bond prior to turnout.

Lambs should be well-filled with milk, be healthy and capable of following ewes once released outdoors. It is advisable to have tail rings and castration (if applicable) completed the night prior to lambs being put out to grass. This will ensure that lambs are lively and will avoid mis-mothering.

Ewes should be fed concentrate prior to turnout to grass. Ideally, ewes and lambs should be moved outdoors in the morning and checked throughout the day. This will allow the maximum time for animals to get accustomed to their new surroundings and seek the best shelter before nightfall.

Sheltered fields around the yard are best suited for these ewes and lambs to get settled for a few days before they are turned out to larger fields. A small group size of 15 to 20 for the first days outdoors will ensure that ewes and lambs are easily shepherded.

The feeding of ewes outdoors is fully dependent on the amount of grass and quality that is available to the flock. Ewes in good BCS at lambing have the ability to lose a small amount of condition without affecting their milking ability. However, it is crucial that ewes are fed to their requirement for up to four weeks after lambing as they are in their peak milk production in this period.

Where grass height is below 4cm or the top of your wellington toe, ewes rearing twin lambs will require supplementation at grass.

The level of supplementation will be dependent on the amount and quality of grass available. If feeding is required, troughs should be moved regularly to avoid lambs congregating in wet and dirty areas.

*This article was first published in February 2014. At the time, Shane McHugh was a Teagasc sheep specialist covering the east and northeast of the country.