[Jacob-list] Fw: weaning

[gordon johnston]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Juliet Johnston" <juliet at westergladstone.fsnet.co.uk>
To: <jacob-list at jacobsheep.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2004 11:30 PM
Subject: Re: weaning


> We definitely go for the 'do nothing' approach to weaning.  The ewes
> themselves control the process so that by the time we take the entire
males
> off at 4 months there is not a problem with mastitis.  We make sure all
the
> lambs are off by about 5 months , ie 2 months before tupping,  to give the
> ewes a chance to recover before they become pregnant again.  Some ewe
lambs
> may go to sales straight from the mothers, but for those which will be
> staying around for a while we just move them to the other side of a fence.
> We have read that they should be put out of sight of the ewes but we find
> our way is not stressful for either lambs or mothers - they can still
graze
> within sight of eachother and there is no bawling - most are weaned by
that
> age anyway and just want to be within a social distance of the ewes.
> Taking lambs off at 8 weeks would lead to a higher incidence of mastitis
> because the ewes would be in full milk.  I can see no reason to take them
> off so early except perhaps for commercial breeders of '3 crops in two
> years' breeds, where the ewes need to go back to the tups early.  Lambs
can
> cope without milk at that age, but they do better with it, so why go
through
> all that hassle ?  When the ewe weans her own lambs she does so gradually,
> which gives her time to tail off her milk supply and the lambs time to
adapt
> gently to an adult diet.
> Juliet
>