Lambing finished over 7 weeks ago now, the last ewe lambed a full 7 weeks after the fist. Next year we are looking to get the breeding ewes in season at the same time. The dry cold summer of last year reduced both the quality and quantity of the grass so the ewes were not in such good condition as I would have liked. The plan for this year id to reduce the flock and keep a much closer eye on the quality of feed, we will give a supplementary feed to bring the condition score of the ewes up.
The young ewe that was very ill (previous post) has made a full recovery to my surprise. She was so ill that we left here in the back garden with no fences and she stayed put for a week or so anyway. Now she is a round as a barrel and showing a healthy interest in the Ram, she definitely needs fencing in now.
We lost just the two lambs twins still born to an unwell ewe otherwise all our breeding ewes lambed although a lot more singles than last year. Our percentage lambing was 120% compared with 140% last year, we are hoping for better this year with the new grazing regime.
The worst news regarding the sheep enterprise this year was the local abbatoir closing at a weeks notice. It was a community based business started 18 months ago with local farmers buying shares but it looks like we have all lost our money. More important is the loss of yet another small welfare friendly abbatoir. There is some hope that a new facility may rise from the ashes of Daysdrove.
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