Little Ladies and Lambs: Lamb System

So one of the frequent questions Joe and I get asked is about our lamb raising process. Last year was complete trial and error being the first year. This year things changed and all our processes changed. Many of the sheep dairies use either a 24 hour,3 day ,30 day or mix system. We have stuck with the 3 day system which we used last year and worked well for us. Once the ewes have lambs they get moved to our lamb barn. They are put in a pen (their own little private retreat) to rest up and eat. The lambs are left with the ewe in that pen for 3 days while we monitor the ewe and lambs closely. During those 3 days the lambs are tagged and receive a vitamin B shot. This process also gives us time to register each ewe and lamb into dairy plan. During the first three days the ewes receive mix feed 50/50 alfalfa and rye grass as well as rolled corn. After the 3 days are up, the ewes get their feet trimmed, lambs are weaned and the ewe is then put in the milking string. The lambs then get put into the lamb nursery (small pens with heat lambs on temperature control) They are then put in pens of 5 for two weeks and bottle fed by hand 3x daily with powder formula. We also mix a raw egg in our formula for the lambs to provide an extra vitamin boost. Once lambs are aggressive enough and suckling without assistance They are then moved to a larger pen of 8 and grafted on bucket which provides limited free choice formula. Once lambs are successful on eating from a bucket feeder, they are then introduced to creep feed. At this time they are also vaccinated and tails are docked. We closely monitor each lamb and have our pens arranged by the aggressive manner of the lambs (meaning we don't put the rowdy ones in with the little tiny quiet ones) We have had great lamb success this year and our new process and procedures are working well. Our lamb count is now around 145 with a death loss of 4% which means lots of time, lots of attention and lots of bottle cleaning. Lots more babies, Haverton farm processes and stories to come!!!