How to decide what ewe lambs to keep

0:00Welcome to the sheep show podcast, the place where cheap people from all over the world come to learn laugh and level up their flock skills. We're your hosts, a brother and sister from opposite sides of the world. I'm Andru coming to you from the Green Hills of Ireland. I'm Gille joining in from Down Under in Australia. Together we bring you practical tips, proven techniques and real conversations about everything sheep, from breeding, behavior to business and everyday realities of raising healthy happy animals. Whether you're new shepherd, a seasoned producer or simply sheep curious, this is your weekly dose of knowledge, community and a touch of sibling banter. Grab a cup of all your farm roots and the style you've been today's episode, sheep show podcast. So Andru, I know we're not going to talk about the L word, lambing, that is, but we are going

1:02to talk about actual labs and particularly you lambs choosing a U lamb because we're doing some marking. That's been fun, hasn't it? Yes. Kind of different. You really do that at home. Really? I kind of do it when I'm, I wonder, when I'm left in the mouth of the shade. Kind of like when I'm doing a release or whatever you like to call it, from lambing in the pens, the other pens, what do you feel? That's my doing my mark and as it was all under one time. Do you do any tails? Ted docking, tagging, yes, to one of the tags. Vaccinations. Yeah, no. No, no vaccinations until the come back. Okay. I'm going to. Our minerals around like that doesn't happen then. Okay. That happens after. Yes. You can't illustrate your lambs. Get Ireland. No, no lambs in Ireland are castrated. Where? No, it's very, very rarity weather's in the in the, in the, the mark. Now it used to be a big thing and now it was just gone that no one really sounded desire, but there's no, there's no call for it.

2:05I think this should be, but there is no call for it in, in, in, in, in marks. Wow. Our in factories around like that. Yeah. No one looking for weather's just sitting. Do you think that impacts the taste of the meat? Definitely. Wow. What did they probably think that the lambs was gone in Ireland before that happens? What? That's what I like to say. No, no. Definitely think that lambs after all should all be weathered. It's not just a big thing in Ireland that you buy the back of store lambs and you squeeze them. Yeah. You know, like you do for diesel. What have you haven't seen that doing here? Wow. Yeah. Lowering and not letting. No, right. So we've been doing some marketing. That's been going well, but while we've been marking, you've been making comments like to the back on that lamb. And these are the comments. So I thought we'd like to you thought we'd chat about choosing a U-lam from birth slash one month old, two months old, possibly even three months. Yeah.

3:05Typically not. So replacement you. So replacement flow. Yeah. Like who's your replacement flock? Like winning and having no details at all. They're kind of blind. Yes. That's my opinion on it. Yes. So you're going to pick a new one. From the batch of lambs you've won't. And you just think to yourself, oh, I'll just pick this one. She looks nice. She's grown well and whatever. Yeah. And yes, you definitely need one Sahara. Keeping up to speed with the growth. They haven't got growth rates. But you get that from maybe a lamb. You see that in the first month. Like we've seen when you were American, your lambs was four or five, whatever kilos were born. And they would have doubled their weight in. They're triple their weights. Oh, yeah. They're quadrupled their weights sometimes. Yeah. So, okay. So what are doing it at say four weeks old? What do you do at a four week old? You have a lot more knowledge. And you have your whole risk factor, your whole gamble on keeping that old lamb has shrunk

4:13up. Yeah. You know, your odds have got better. Yeah. Well, let's just put it worse. Put it away. Look at it. Well, it has been earned because yeah. So if you think that if you wait till three months winning and you don't have this extra data, it's a bigger gamble. Yes. You're on bigger. You're on bigger. That's right. So you're on there smaller? I know you're on there smaller, but the risk factor is smaller. Your whole want into a blind way. But many new lambs are of a proven light is great because you know that. But when you're trying to breed your own lambs, you want to think yourself, I'm going to keep this lamb well for me anyway, keep this lamb on for an extra near 12 months. That's me too. And that's hard. And that's hard. And that's very financial draining for me. Actually, for me, I don't get a lamb out of that. If that lamb is born in August, because I don't have a lamb till August 24 months. Yes. So gets printed at 18 months has a lamb when it's two years old. And you don't get any money then for years.

5:14Down those days. Yeah, yeah. For that. You don't receive payback. No. She doesn't pay for rent. No. He's a freeloader. Yes. Child. I'm not saying I father you said me, I'm keeping on them. You all have put them in lamb. You know, let them pay for that. They'll pay the way. Yeah. Yeah. If they're big enough, if they're strong enough, if you're game enough, yeah. Yeah. Does it get huge gamble there? Yeah. I find it doesn't work. What I find is that have a lot more labor for a very bad lamb. Yes. It's a very late lamb too. Yeah. Late lamb. The most lamb that's not going to do as well. Put your oil on the pressure. If you were to do it right, you would need to grow that as a separate flock. Give them creep feed, the lambs creep feed and the old, supplementary feed or the oil lambs, whatever they are. Look at the supplementary feed. And if you have that, I suppose, extra brown.

6:17And yet you want to increase your flock numbers and your lamb numbers and you have that extra feed and all that. It's a great way of getting up into numbers. But it's a very expensive way. Yes. And a lot of things can go wrong. I have. And the other thing is I find, I think the lamb acts a bit like this too, particularly with the Walshahons, they've got a longevity. But if you lamb them when they're a lamb, like a real baby lamb, you know, they're nine months old, getting pregnant, you're going to lose that longevity on the top end. You're going to lose three, four, five, six years of that animal's life. You're going at them and they don't grow up properly. It's struggling in the second year unless you're seriously upkeepin' and like that too, yes. Probably sure. Yes. So, okay. So we're back to one week old, or sorry, four weeks old. Yeah, what do we say? What do we say? I actually think it starts. Okay. So, if you've rolled down on your boot at birth, the birth weight starts something to go

7:18by. You don't want to be keeping the oil down. That's 10 in Caleb. First, five, five, five, five. And you don't want to be keeping the oil down. That's two keys. No. That's great. And then that's the birth weight. Great. That's one piece of down. That's one piece of pie, you see. Oh, yeah. And then the oil, so that's the mother, the oil. The ease of lambing. Yeah, ease of lambing. The mint. And fees. Mothering. The facility and mothering. Like, right, six. Six pieces. And you're not going to know that I've woken you. No. You only know that I have fastened you at the time of life. Yes. Or very. Unless you have, you know, a very small flock. And you have a, you know, a scround. And if you have that small flock, that is the job. And you will know that. But I think once you get over even 20 laps, you know, like ten years, you know, like, ten years, you know, you've never seen that. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's pretty hard to pick and say, oh, yeah, that one I've made.

8:20Yeah, no, like, it's okay. Little small group could just jot these things down. Yeah. It seems to really, really had. I would love. And there's a wand or a wand thing that I use to scan the ear tag. There are some of those that are designed where you can actually pump in that that. I think David has one. Yeah. Yeah. It's probably slow, I'd say, because there's like a awkward keyboard. But at least you could wonder is there. Some way you could get your wand blue, that's your phone. And just get a little app on your phone. There definitely is. Yeah. Herodwatch is there. It's very good. I use it a bit now. But I can Bluetooth my wand is me a small little blue one. And I completed my wand. So to my phone on her watch. And you can get one of it. Wow. Almost looking to that. Because that definitely has a Bluetooth feature. My monitor. Yeah. So, okay. So, so at first, you know, and then at four weeks, what else can you see or notice that I'm a week or weeks then, you can see that space in the blind.

9:20The lamb. My alarm is performing. So you have visual data. Yeah, but it's actually kind of cementing your. For your first impression, impressions that do the work with the makes all this crack. How the old mother's up to the lamb, the mother ability and the facility and all of that. And you can see it in the lamb. Then. Right now I'm just doing what? You know, the lamb has trippled in with. Yeah. Pretty good. Yeah, that keeps happening. I'm going to have a big lamb. Yeah. Good lamb. And then you have. ricables. This to make up of the lamb. You can kind of see the lamb better than off the length of the lamb, the back and the lamb, the top, the feet. Is the lamb, you know, door crazy or is the. Yeah. Oh, that is. And see the make up of the lamb. That's just kind of cement. Then your other quarter of your pie. Yeah. Not that. And back when you're saying, look at the back on that lamb.

10:22What a wit down the whole. What's in sort of which that's that's there with your lamb. Yeah. The land on your lamb has that length under with like some of the lamb's ears have that. Yeah. That lead. That width for, you know, category on lamb. It's pretty good. It's pretty, pretty good. Yeah. It's pretty good. And what about single or twins that factor in that? I think it does. Yes. Definitely. Yeah. Yeah. I have a lamb around. I'm earmarked because he ticked out the box at the start. I have a home. You're like to keep these off the twin. He was earmarked at the start. You know, the young that ran on board. Commodled lamb. That was ground. The old lady milk. She was out the next day. You know, the lamb looked well. He looked well as say, Montold him or have to fight. Peanum. Then he looked well at waning. Now he wasn't the biggest lamb in the bunch. He was a twin. Yeah. But he was there.

11:24There are bugs. The biggest lamb of the bunch could have been or without him now. It's pretty good. It was for something. K was 42 kilos. Winning. This guy was 46. Yeah. Well, that's 42 kilo lamb. Single. Yeah. That's your produce. Two thirty six. Seven kilos. Yeah. So you know, where do you go? Yeah. So he doubled. Yeah. Touch him double. Yeah. What he can't let your eyes deceive you. He does count. Yeah. That first first value, you know, make a. That lamb that's that 42 kilos off that one single. Yo, it's great. And he don't well another that. But he's only a single. So you have to say it. You know, yeah. Me, Mark, I'm dead. And we also, when we're doing the marking, we also like to some U lambs that because I often I will double tag my use. So they have the electronic tag that's all our gear tag here in Australia. And then I'll put in a far mind.

12:24Detail, which is like a bigger. Tag that helps me see the number. And there's been times when we've been waiting, marking. I've said, now we'll let that U lamb goes away. There were a bunch of double tagger. Yeah. And I can see you doing that one. Two months, single one, I'm winning. I like that. I'm going to keep that time. Oh, why I didn't tag it. Oh, maybe I didn't have a tag. I'm going to keep that time. Well, I said no to it because they had extremely pink nose. Yeah, probably change. I know. I do. Some of them never change. Do come into their peak. Yeah. But yeah. Yeah. Some of them love. Do you think I don't know? I'm thinking that you didn't do the wrong thing. It's just going to be. You didn't at least you have something in. If some step missed so that you kind of would prompt yourself, yes, okay, there's something. Something I miss here. Funny part is I know you. You said, oh, yeah, we can just keep you more. Maybe grand, you know, I could send them later on.

13:24I said, do maybe go something else. I think I have enough. Grass is growing. The grass is growing. She understood you've got inside my head. Yeah, well, it's not good. I think it's to have a little step to prompt yourselves. Please keep them as a. I know. I know. Yeah, I understand. Yeah, you can always keep them. Yeah, I know. Yeah, San T. I don't know. I have to make some right on us when I was winning. The lambs are coming up the race and it was tag them, tag them, tag them. Good enough to different folks. Next in this big yellow lamb. I don't know. Oh my God. I just pointed that tag down. I didn't know. I didn't know. I got one. I'm saying pointed that target. I just let you know. Just that. I just let her. Keep her. Yeah. And you all should watch them tag. I take it on that. I don't know. It's a four lab. And that was on site. Uh-huh. Coming up to shoes. I was the wrong thing to do. What? How do you know though? What to in? Well, what's the data on those labs?

14:26I don't know. What they? I, yes, I won't have any data on them. I only have that out of the labs. I tell you. Yes. What's the look to add? Yes. So why is that? Oh, well, okay. So they're all the shoes. Bay, that's you just are also just bigger. Yes. Yes. Yes. I just didn't stick to my guns. Okay. Boss, it was very hard. This lovely white Chevy. And he was quite Chevy too. Now I was up to shoot and she was buying around now. She not at all like. Wow. Don't know. Boss, because it's turned into a Chevy too. Couldn't be bad. Probably a single. Don't well. No. But she's in with the on mark. Or do it the mark. No, no. She was probably, it was that's all the things that was marked. I just, that's one thing I don't this year. I did keep a lot of Linux, but I marked a broad range of shape this year. So I mark labs off. The Muleo is in my clamped off the Chevy Joe's in the mark. Clams off theography. Joe's in the mark. Clams off the Lannarchos. When you say marking, you mean put an ear tag in them.

15:27So you'd keep them next year. Yeah. So I think you're just pick. Yeah. I picked 10 of 10. I think I have over the 55 or 60 old amps. I'd say I have say 20 of each. Okay. Well, stream streams streams. So what percentage of your your lambs, you lambs, should you be keeping? Do you think as replacement? So I always tend to get harder, quarter or a total of flock every year. Should you retain? Wow. Wow. That's what I am for a quarter or a third of your. They keep really necessarily. You're probably wanting to be keeping no less than a quarter. Both to be really on the shore side. And you couldn't be offload a few. Yeah. Not a few hoggots. So we keep in the tors. Okay. Because if you say wow, the good man always said to me, I show when you're keeping 20 miles, they keep torturing. That's why I have this disease.

16:29And disease. Safe disease. Yeah, safe disease. So if you had 100 lambs, that would be say 30, 30 odd lambs keeping. A few hundred years. A hundred years. Yeah, breeding. You do the hundred breeding. Yeah. 30 years. Yeah. Arms to keep every. Right. Okay. Okay. Well, what would be some reasons for instant sort of downgrading? You know, reasons why you wouldn't keep. Well, heavy births were. Or low births. Yeah. You know, that struggle to mother up to Islam struggle to feed its lambs. If it had two or if it had one God, definitely had one there, you'd be really accident that thing. But if you have two, just struggle to feed your two lambs, then you have to say, I don't want to be breeding you because I don't want you don't want to add labor to yourself. Like you need to go. Any mother says you can breed all the breed, breed lamb and difficulties out of yours. I don't know how that's going to work. I think that's a really interesting thing to talk about.

17:29Yeah. Anyway, but no, I'm going to difficulty at birth. Your, as opposed to mobility, mincibility, lamb survivability, the neighbor talked to get that. Yeah. To where it is. That's that's a big thing. That's a big thing. Yeah. Milking life, with making birthwaters is is milking ability. There are two pillars. And you know, making birthwaters other than that. And bear in mind, obviously, like everything else, those have an environmental indicator. It's not 100% genetic. Nothing's 100% genetic. No, nothing. It's nothing. It's both if that Joe was in a batch of 100 Joe's and they're all that the one sort of environment. Yeah. That Joe was no, a little. Yeah. There's something wrong. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's for the genetics or not. Yeah. But it could be that she's a shy feeder. Yes. Yes. Yes. No. I thought of saying. And yeah, could we just hurry in that environment? Is it in this pushy is the other ones? Yeah.

18:30So that's yeah, that's yes, I mean, to think about it. Do you want to read that? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, I'm just thinking where I know. I know. What is this? What's the cause of the causation? Yes. Yes. Yes. So many. And visual things are there. I mean, we look to the couple of mouths and teeth. Yes, months like that. Like, yeah, we shot her in the shock mode. Like, yeah, that's it. Now, that's a major. Yeah. That's it's just. Wow. You know, zero tolerance. Zero tolerance for that. Yeah. Because of the, you know, we're converting grass into these. Yeah. You know, we haven't got that. Or lambs. Yeah. You know, it's like going on to mobile field with the blunt blades and they're more. Yeah. You're not going to do it right. Yeah. It's like, dive from the realm was forced in their engine. But only two cylinders go on. It's not going to work. Yeah. You know, let me get you to be our right, but not really. Everything starts with the mouth. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. It's huge. Feet and both on work, work with and midgen. You know,

19:31all these factors. Yeah. Like definitely. Feet is a big thing for me now. I have been starting to be ruthless with the feet business on air. When you say feed, you're talking about the way the hoof grows. Yes. Yes. Unlearnless. And with a feet stand the feet sideways. Yes. The curls and the toes and curls and the sides of the feet. And yeah, a constant lameness, which you know, you don't have to get in your sheet. Well, no. No, you don't like it. You know, but again, I would have. On the shape. I don't think we've turned the shape up yet to do it. To do a feet. To do one, maybe one after laming in the shed. Oh, yes. We did one. That's right. We didn't want. That's right. Yes. Yeah. We did one. Oh, and that's it. No harm. Yeah. Thanks. Yeah.

20:31Yeah. It is quite rare. It's very. Yeah, which is good. Just really good. Again, there's an element there of genetics and an environment. Wow. So keeping, you know, a third of your you flock, you know, of your flock as you replacement. Some sort of a target to hit. Yeah. Try it, but it's not simply. Yeah. Like, there's nowhere. Like, I thought I'd never be able to do it. And even this year, it's daunting now having to go home to say, well, I do it these year with arms. You know, like I be very tight for grass. I'd say this year. But even though I'm down a few heads. Yeah. But it's still be tight for grass, you know? Yeah. Especially because the probably a run right around the fist. And the time of recording, Andrew is still in Australia here. So he's contemplating what he faces when he goes home. Yes, this going home to face the cheap of decilating the test.

21:31So just someone left to get open on. Yeah. But I would have been out through, you know, a couple days. But anyway, look at. It's honestly end of summer. So it's, it's kind of retain as much grass. Yes. And it's hard. It's grass banks now. Yeah. Yeah. And I get home. I resurrected all put them on. SimFast for. I want. Definitely. Fast. And we were talking about this yesterday in Australia. We called the Jenny Craig. Paddock Jenny Craig was a. Weight loss guru in Australia in probably the 80s. And just still affectionately known in farming communities. But slimfast, you call it the slim fast, but slim fast. I'm that. So. Yeah. That's cheap needs weight watches. Yes. So there you go. That's really interesting. So I've just done my, my numbers. If I have a breeding flock of about 170 ish, I should be keeping 56 you. Lambs. What? I'm doing that.

22:31Oh, number wise. Number wise. How does. I'd have to look, but possibly. Yeah, 50. And easily. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe 15. Yeah. Now it's Sam. Yeah. 50. How is that? Is it is a dawn to next year? Yes. It is huge, huge. Yeah. Once you start lamb those you those you lambs or maidens, you call them hoggets. I call them maidens yet. You're into a whole other game of lambing older. Yeah. Our. Our. Oh, yes. You know, Yeah, And that's what I'm doing. It's so. It's a bit of a crack. Alright. But hoggets and pick. But you go to our glam 50 year lambs. They didn't know. Yes, exactly. You know, even younger than that. It's another. That whole. Hey, that's another question here on the keeping your you. Lam. Preferences around older you. But you know, the mother, the dam being an older you or younger you. Any preferences. Yeah. Okay.

23:31No. I would have kept up with my. I have a minute or a whole. Yeah. What I find is if the old guest to an old age. With anybody she has. Lodge dog. She had a dodge dog. The colleagues. She has her head. Yeah. On a feet firm. Yes. A bunch of this. They're most closed. Yeah. All the business. Yeah. For the last five or six years or seven years. Yeah. Which is probably 10 years. Yes. That's what I find. Good. Lam's are older. Yours. Yesterday may not. The lam in our turnout as well. That winning as well. That's another issue. I think you could have a really, really good. You may see on the old. Yeah. Yeah. I see you coming up to choose. Yeah. On an older you. I was going to be five kilos lighter than the rest of the lambs or maybe four. Because. Or milk. One to see. And yeah. Yeah. Would have dropped far. Far quicker. Yeah. Yeah.

24:31What age are the. Are you using your opinion when they're at prime mix or quality quantity? Fourth crop. Third or fourth crop. Yeah. Third or fourth. Yeah. Third or fourth. Fifth crop. Six crop. And in Ireland. That's eight. Wow. You get down our school to six or seven crop. Like news. Yeah. It's a little shahorns. It's. It's between. Yeah. Yeah. You can say it. Because my purple tags. I'm sure that's. My. I'm sure that's. You can see that. I'm sure that's. 20, 20, 20, 20, 20. 20. 20. 20. 20. 20 board. Yes. The six years old. They do an amazing this year. There you go. And they're six years. You can see the purple tag. Yeah. The count. They're very good. Very good. Very good. Pretty much. You can't. There were. Wow. Already. And there will be long gone after a moment. Yeah. Okay. Cool. There you go. Good for thought everyone.

25:31Think about your ULAMs and what. What your plan is. What your replacement strategy is. How many you want to keep. Which ones you want to keep. Why you want to keep them? What are you going to do with them? Yeah. All good. Thank you. How do you keep them? Well, great. So which way are you going to. Where are you going to. What. That's a very good question. Then. Well, I have a strategy, which is. Yeah. How effective for me. I have a little. Oh, you. You. You call. You're a volatile. Long to see. Yes. I do. I have. I have a lady, a lovely lady, who came to me. interested in sheep. A while ago, and. Said to me that she really likes the look of the sheep. And she's got 10 acres, 20 or whatever. 28 and she really likes to look at the sheep. But she really wanted sheep to manage her, her land. But she didn't actually want to farm. So I confirmed the, the assessment that I'd picked up on. So if I understood you correctly, you'd really like shape, you like, if you look at them, you like watching them, you have land, you have grass, you like shape on your land, but

26:32you don't want actually want to farm them. And she said, yeah, that's right. I said, I can help you with that problem. We have a solution. We have a solution. Very good. Yeah. And I just give her meat. And I buy her hay off her every year as well, which is pretty good, hey, but I give her meat. And we can have co farm. She tells me that they look nice from the, from the window. And she will do stuff like it. There's an emergency. She'll call me or let me know or. Anyway, very, very good. And I just put my, I've now started to put my U-lams down there pretty much from waning. Yeah, probably. Yeah, waning just after waning. Yeah. Yeah. And you bring the rest in home now. And I bring, yeah, probably January. I'll do it. I'll bring those, do you think, oh, no, maybe I should do it earlier than that, keeping our other strategy that we've got going on. Yeah. Okay. That's a whole other combination. You want to bring a home, though? Correct. Yeah. Yeah. Kind of. As long as I have patecs that I could put them in.

27:32Yes. Separate them. Anyway, so that's a good question, isn't it? Where are you going to put them? Because for me, I want to keep them separate from the rams. That's number one. Yes. And also, forget about them. But no. Are you going to eat your grass back for your yoke? That's another problem that you need to be. Yeah. It's notting ahead. And that's why it is so hard to keep the yoke up. Yes. Because you're eating into your grass back. You're eating into your yoke. That's what you didn't do it for years. Yeah. Yes. Yes. You were by a big batch. It's about a yoke, so you couldn't. Yeah. And maybe then for some people, it's about maybe doing this strategy once every three years or something. Yes. All right. Definitely. People that work because they pick out a guy, they'll pick out an egg farm. And they say, right, this is what we want to do. We want to buy our replacements from this. Yeah. Yeah. What do you want to do? Yeah.

28:33Yeah. So they have a little, someone else is doing the succession planning for this. Yeah. Cool. Let's stop. So yes, probably last question is where are you going to put them? And we know where they're going to be housed for the next sort of nine to 12 months or more potentially. Yeah. Yeah. Aver and cost of dipping and dosing and cheering. She gets wheels from horns, mate. It's interesting. We're hunting. I can take the cost. Yeah. Well, definitely. I'm just for listening, everyone. Wow. Thanks so much for tuning into this episode of the sheep show podcast. We love sharing these conversations and tips with you. If you found today helpful, inspiring or even just good company while you work the flock or drove around, make sure to follow or subscribe whenever you listen. And we'd love to hear from you. Your wins, your questions, your sheep stories. You can connect with us at Jill at HolstonValleyFarm.com.au.

29:37And until next time, keep your lambs driving. Your youth content. And your shepherding spurts high. See you in the next sheep show podcast.