Flock Management - Raising Sheep - page 263

ADVANTAGES OF EARLY
AND LATE LAMBING
Early Lambing
■ There are fewer parasites on the early-grass pasture.
■ Ewe lambs born early are more apt to breed as lambs.
■ You can sell early lambs by Easter, if creep fed, and get a better
price for early meat lambs.
■ You can have all lambs born by the time of the best spring grass,
which promotes good milk fl ow and fast growth.
■ There are fewer problems with fl ies at docking and castrating
time.
Late Lambing
■ It is easy to shear ewes before lambing.
■ This avoids the danger of lambing in severe weather.
■ Mild weather means fewer chilled lambs.
■ Ewes can lamb out on the pasture.
■ Less grain is required for lambs, since you have lots of pasture.
Artifi cial Insemination
Artifi cial insemination (AI) is another option for small fl ocks. AI is a little
trickier in sheep than in cattle, and it must be done by a veterinarian or a
specially trained AI technician. However, it provides a good ram's semen to a
small fl ock without your having to keep a ram.
Interest in using AI in sheep production is increasing because this tech-
nique allows breeders to increase genetic diversity in their fl ocks. For example,
Susan Mongold, a breeder of Icelandic sheep, fought her way through several
years of red tape to be able to import semen from Iceland. Why? To increase
the genetic diversity within her fl ock. “The Canadian fl ock, from which we
got our animals, originated from two imports of only eighty-eight animals. We
wanted the very best genetics to improve our fl ock,” she told me.
Artifi cial insemination is a procedure that uses a laparoscope (a fi berop-
tic instrument similar to the one commonly used on humans). Since AI in
sheep is a surgical procedure, due to the ewe's curved cervix, all ewes that are
candidates for AI should be in good health and should not be overly stressed
beforehand. The procedure needs to be synchronized with the estrous cycle;