Early lambing ewes

Ground conditions have badly deteriorated in recent weeks, with almost all soils saturated. Land will hopefully get a chance to soak in the coming days, but conditions remain extremely challenging for releasing early lambing ewes and their lambs.

Many producers are delaying doing so in the hope that ground will soak and provide better conditions for a dry lie and reasonable grass utilisation.

It is vital that early lambing ewes retained indoors for any significant period of time are adequately supplemented to ensure milk yield is not compromised.

Twin-suckling ewes in good body condition and offered ad-lib access to moderate quality silage (68-70+DMD) will require 1.2kg to 1.5kg concentrate supplementation daily.

The condition of early lambing ewes is reported to be pretty good but where any ewes are lacking condition, supplementation levels should be increased to 1.5kg to 1.7kg.

Single-suckling ewes in good body condition will require 0.6kg to 0.8kg concentrates along with access to top-quality silage, with this again rising to 1kg or higher where forage quality is poor or for ewes lacking condition.

The feeding levels described above can typically be reduced by 0.2kg to 0.3kg where ewes and lambs are retained indoors for a short period post-lambing.

It is advisable to build feeding levels gradually to avoid any sharp increases. Where ewes are on such high levels of feed, straw usage will also need to be increased significantly to maintain high levels of hygiene and limit the chance of a build-up of bacteria and disease establishing.

Introducing feed

Weather continues to be very challenging for outwintered sheep. It is important that supplementary feed is introduced in adequate time to prevent ewes losing valuable body condition. Reports on silage quality are variable, raising the importance of getting silage tested.

Clostridial vaccination

The level of maternally derived antibodies in colostrum for ewes on a clostridial disease vaccination programme will be influenced by optimum timing of administration.

It is important to note that recommended timeframes range between products, and as such it is important to adhere to manufacturers’ guidelines.

Note also, that if it is greater than 12 months since sheep have been vaccinated then a primary course of two treatments will be required. This may be relevant for flocks which have pushed back their lambing date.

Withdrawal periods

It is important that producers continue to adhere to withdrawal periods and refrain from drafting sheep for sale where the withdrawal period has not passed. Where sheep are being sold live through mart sales, it is the responsibility of the owner of the sheep to declare if sheep are still within a withdrawal period.

Sheep census reminder

The online portal to submit the annual sheep and goat census is now live. The date of the census is 31 December 2023 and it is best to complete the census in good time when numbers can be easiest collated.

Date for diary

The Teagasc lowland sheep conferences take place in Athlone, Co Westmeath on 23 January at 7pm and on 25 January in Letterkenny Co Donegal. Further details on venues and the programme will be carried in the coming weeks.