Joining Advice
Achieving high lambing percentages and finishing lambs quickly with minimal losses is what we all want as sheep farmers. Increasing fertility, achieving a high level of animal health and high lamb survival is the key. Here we discuss some of the main areas and recommendations to achieve the best outcome when joining ewes so that we end up with as many saleable lambs as possible.
Ram Inspection
It's important to keep an eye on your rams and the main time to inspect rams is before the ram selling season starts (last Wednesday of September) and again before joining. Rams need to be fit, healthy and sound so they are willing and able to cover plenty of ground to do their job properly. It's never a good thing to discover you need rams once the better ones are gone or worse, when they are sold out.
Rams need to be inspected for lameness, swelling in the joints, problems with their feet and teeth and how they walk as well as their general fitness. The testicles need to be checked and should be firm and springy with no lumps. The prepuce and penis should also be clear of any problems such as swelling and the rams should have a condition score of at least 3.5. Rams who have been sick and have had a fever may have poor fertility for some time. It's important that rams are reliable.
If a ram fails inspection then they should be treated or replaced if treatment is not an option.
If in doubt, rams should be replaced. The cost of a poor lambing is far greater than the price of new rams.
Nutrition
Healthy well nourished sheep are fertile sheep. It's important that ewes protein, energy, vitamin and mineral requirements are met so that their fertility is at optimal levels. It has been shown that feeding ewes a high protein and energy diet such as grain at joining will increase their ovulation rate which means more multiple births and more lambs. If ewes are in poor condition and not well fed they may have less lambs, lamb late or miss out completely.
Both rams and ewes should be at least a condition score of 3.5 at joining for optimal fertility. Ewes in poor condition may not cycle early and may get in lamb late or not at all.
Feeding Rams a high protein diet such as lupins, beans or pellets 50 days prior to joining will help lift their fertility.
We recommend supplementing vitamins and minerals which might be lacking in your area. We have great results with using supplementary licks which are high in Calcium, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Vitamin D among other nutrients which we find greatly reduces some health issues, improves fertility, milking and reduces lambing problems.
Health
We recommend covering all bases when it comes to health and vaccinating is one of the best ways. A disease problem is not always obvious. Sometimes a poor lambing percentage is all you will notice. Abortions from Campylobacter and predators taking lambs because they are weakened from a preventable disease can be causes of low percentages. Sometimes a fox problem is actually an underlying disease issue as foxes will take weak, less mobile, less vigorous lambs which can be a symptom of Campylobacter, Erysipelas or Clostridial disease.
Using a good 6 in 1 vaccine is important for controlling Pulpy Kidney (Enterotoxaemia), Black Disease, Blackleg, Malignant oedema, Tetanus (clostridial diseases) and Cheesy Gland. Vaccines such as Guardian 6 in 1, Glanvac 6 and GlanEry 7 in 1 will help keep these problems at bay.
Vaccinating for Erysipelas polyarthritis is really important for preventing arthritis in sheep. An Erysipelas infection can be the reason a lamb is taken by a fox, doesn't survive a cold night, doesn't do well or can't go to market due to arthrititus. Vaccinating will save a lot of lambs and is extremely profitable. Eryvac, Eryguard or GlanEry 7 in 1 are great products for reducing arthritis in lambs.
Vaccinate for Campylobacter which can cause abortions in sheep. Young maiden ewes are more susceptible than older ewes however all sheep can be vulnerable and benefit from vaccination. When joining maiden ewes we highly recommend using Campyvax to build immunity and achieve higher percentages as well as preventing a disastrous abortion storm.
Feet. Any lameness coming from the feet needs to be taken seriously as lame sheep do a poor job when it comes to anything but especially when it comes to having and raring lambs. A good program is in order to control foot problems. Foot bathing, antibiotics, paring feet, culling and the use of Footvax are all steps that can be taken to keep these problems at bay or eliminate the problem altogether.
Drenching, having an effective drenching strategy is important. Worms can be the reason for poor condition which means poor fertility, poor vigor and poorly reared lambs as well as death in some cases. Rotating drench types and doing Fecal Egg Counts is a good way of keeping on top of things.
Predator Management
Foxes and in some areas wild dogs are a significant issue when it comes to lamb survival. A lack of twins, poor percentages and dead lambs are the main indicator that there is a fox taking lambs and this will have a significant impact on your lambing percentage. We have found that the best way of managing this problem is a combination of guard animals such as Alpacas, Maremma dogs and/or Donkeys along with baiting and shooting. While shooting and baiting won't entirely eliminate foxes from your area, it is important that foxes don't become familiar with your guard animals which is why eliminating and deterring is the most effective practice. A good predator control program will pay for itself very quickly.
Joining Rates & Recomendations
It appears everyone has a different idea of how many rams to join per head of ewes. Joining at a higher ratio will generally see better results meaning less dry ewes, more early lambs and a tighter lambing. We recommend joining 1 ram per 50 ewes and no less than 2, 3 to be safe. The MLA advise 1.5 rams per 100 ewes plus 1 extra ram and 2 rams per 100 for maiden ewes and ewe lambs plus 1 extra ram. A fit and healthy White Suffolk or Charollais ram will service 100 ewes however relying on this can tempt Murphy's Law where anything that can go wrong, will go wrong and when things go wrong with joining it can be costly and frustrating and that is why it is best to play it safe and using a higher number of rams. Rams can also be added later after the main lot are put out. Fresh rams can stimulate joining which can be helpful if conditions are tough.
We highly recommend joining maiden and ewe lambs at a higher ratio. Young ewes are less likely to seek out rams like older ewes will and will often run away from the rams for some time which will require the rams to chase them. This playing hard to get behavior is hard on the rams and requires rams to be vigorous, fit and well stocked in the mob.
Using the Ram Effect. While some ewes may already be cycling, others may not begin to cycle until some time after the rams have been introduced. This is why rams need to be given plenty of time to service all ewes. For more information on using the ram effect and it's importance with joining ewes click here.
If you are looking at a short joining time, having more early lambs or you are wanting to tighten up your lambing you will need to add teaser rams at 1:100 to your ewes 14 days prior to the rams going in. This is to bring on the ram effect to make sure ewes are all ovulating and coming on heat at the time the rams go in. Ewes may not come on heat until the ram effect is initiated and that can take 19-25 days. Just putting the rams out for a month may result in poor lambing rates.
Using a product like Regulin may also be beneficial to tightening up lambing times.
Paddock Selection
Finding the ideal paddock to lamb in can be tricky as every season is different. We find the best paddocks to lamb in are those with good quality feed and plenty of shelter. Pasture species that grow height and leave some tufts of dry matter provide a great wind break which is the key to lambing through wet and cold condition. Planting wind breaks and picking paddocks which have trees and tufts of grass or tallish pasture to get behind out of the wind are very beneficial. If nutritional needs are met and lambs can get out of the wind then survival rates will improve when it gets wet, cold and windy.
Ram Selection
Ram selection is important and choosing the right rams for your ewes is one of the key areas to get right when it comes to having a successful lambing. We like to have diversity with our rams as we know there is no one size fits all. Rams that suit one mob of ewes may not suit the next mob ewes and that is why it's important to have differentl types of rams within each breed that offer different qualities.
Ewes and lambs are far too valuable to lose so ease of lambing is important but it's also important to get the balance right between high performance rams and easy lambing rams. Not all Charollais are the same and not all White Suffolk are the same. While all our rams have easy lambing qualities there are some who are going to perform better for easier lambing and some who are going to have bigger and faster growing lambs so it comes down to your ewes and what type of ram best suites them. Breed, size, age and conformation of the ewes are all factors that determine which ram suites them best.
As a guide the higher percentage, more pure Charollais are going to be the easiest to lamb. Choosing a high percentage Charollais with good muscling is going to provide the easiest of lambing and still produce a top quality lamb. All Charollais are easy lambing compared with other breeds however if you want to really chase those small very easy to lamb lambs then a good quality, high percentage ram is going to be ideal. However most ewes will lamb very easily to the bigger Charollais rams and if you want to have a little more performance from your lambs then they might be perfect for your ewes.
White Suffolks have long had a reputation as an easy lambing high performance breed. It's all in the structure with White Suffolks. A ram with low birth weights, fine bone structure, narrow shoulders and a streamline head is going to offer easy lambing while his length and muscling will give his lambs weight. The bigger, heavier, high growth rate rams are going to offer a bigger and faster finishing lamb. White Suffolks are producing some of the highest performing lambs in the market place at present as growth weights, ASBVs (LAMBPLAN figures) and carcass size continue to improve. White Suffolks offer great diversity when it comes to types and an ideal balance between high performing lambs and easy lambing.
When it comes to ram selection, the farmer generally knows best however we are always here to help when it comes to picking the right rams.
Further Reading
MLA
Ewes
https://www.mla.com.au/research-and-development/Genetics-and-breeding/Sheep/Reproduction/Ewes
MLA
Rams
https://www.mla.com.au/research-and-development/Genetics-and-breeding/Sheep/Reproduction/Rams
MLA
Ewe Lambs and Maidens
https://www.mla.com.au/research-and-development/Genetics-and-breeding/Sheep/Reproduction/Ewe-lambs-and-maidens
Agriculture Victoria
Joining Ewe Lambs Successfully
https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/support-and-resources/newsletters/sheep-notes-newsletter/spring-2016/joining-ewe-lambs-successfully
CSIRO
Influence of Nutrition on Ovulation Rate in the Ewe
https://www.publish.csiro.au/bi/pdf/bi9880027
Department Of Primary Industries and Regional Development Western Australia
Joining – setting the potential of your ewe flock
https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/management-reproduction/joining-%E2%80%93-setting-potential-your-ewe-flock?nopaging=1
Queensland Government - Business Queensland
Using the ram effect to promote ewe fertility
https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/farms-fishing-forestry/agriculture/livestock/sheep-goats/breeding-genetics/managing-ewes/ram-effect
Department of Primary Industries NSW
Guard animals for livestock protection: existing and potential use in Australia
https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/animals-and-livestock/sheep/management/general-information/guard-animals
Australian White Suffolk Association
Choosing The Right Lambing Paddock
https://www.whitesuffolk.com.au/choose-the-right-lambing-paddock/
Department of Primary Industries NSW
Selecting the right lambing paddock
https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/content/archive/agriculture-today-stories/ag-today-archives/may-2011/selecting-the-right-lambing-paddock
Farm Weekly
Protecting Lambs and Valuable Profits
https://www.farmweekly.com.au/story/6732575/protecting-lambs-and-valuable-profits/
Stock & Land
Teaser rams helping to tighten lambing periods
https://www.stockandland.com.au/story/5291922/teaser-rams-helping-to-tighten-lambing-periods/