Some producers delay hay feeding until after weaning, so the lambs don't bloat on high quality forage. Orphan lambs will probably do better in a dry lot than on pasture, unless the pasture diet is supplemented. Without intervention, weaning occurs naturally at approximately 6 months of age.
Whilst the recommended lamb weaning age is 12 to 14 weeks from the start of lambing, lambs can be weaned at 8 to 10 weeks or even earlier if appropriately fed and managed.
After 5 to 6 months, lambs are weaned (although this can be significantly earlier in farming), and the males leave their mother in search of a new 'bachelor herd'- a herd of rams who live together and struggle for dominance between themselves.
Lambs should be started on some sort of solid feed at least two weeks before weaning so that they are adapted to living on their own. In addition, lambs should also be accustomed to drinking water. Solid feed often comes in the form of a high protein grain mix, but could also mean highly palatable and high protein hay.
Lambs will begin to nibble on solid food soon after birth and will be fully eating grass by 4- 6 weeks old. Hard feed such as Sheep Nuts TM or Multifeed TM nuts can also be fed. Weaning can begin as early as 6 weeks of age but most lambs benefit from milk feeding up to 12-14 weeks of age.
Lambs less than 30 days of age will need a liquid diet until about 60 days of age. They will start to nibble lamb ration pellets at about 30 days of age. Provide fresh drinking water at all times for the lamb in a clean bucket that the lamb can easily reach.
Weather permitting, healthy ewes and lambs can go out into the field after 3–5 days.
Foods like chaff and pellets should be introduced in small amounts only after around 3 weeks of age. Hard food is a necessity as it is very important for rumen development. While you can technically wean a healthy lamb at 6 weeks of age, we suggest weaning at around 10-12 weeks of age.
Once the lambs are a week old or older it is relatively easy to move everyone and begin pasture rotation to take advantage of the spring growth of grass and decrease parasite exposure.
Lambs fed ad lib milk should be at least 35 days and 15kg and thriving before they are weaned. Ideally, they should be eating at least 200g of high crude protein concentrate for three consecutive days before weaning – this ensures there is no risk of a growth check.
In an ideal scenario, it is best practice to let a ewe and her lambs out to grass when it is dry. Lambs that are let out to pasture in wet conditions are susceptible to becoming cold and hypothermic.
Cold, wet weather is especially problematic for small, newborn lambs that lose heat quickly. This can be fatal if they don't have enough energy reserves to burn to keep warm. Minimising stress and time off feed is crucial, especially in cold, wet weather.
'Normally most lambs are weaned between about 12 and 16 weeks of age, but this can be brought down to 8-10 weeks given the right circumstances' says Lesley Stubbings.
But, we learned from some hurried research in our books and on line, if you overfeed a bottle lamb, the milk will fill their abomasum and the excess will back up to their immature rumen, where bacteria can ferment it, leading to acidosis and bloat.
Lamb creep pen
A creep pen is designed for young lambs to have access to additional feed concentrates separate from their mothers and other mature sheep. A lamb creep pen should be set up to allow the lambs continuous access to fresh creep feed and a clean and dry environment.
Without these antibodies rather minor diseases can weaken a lamb, make it sick or let it die, even later on and not just immediately after birth. This colostrum must be consumed by the lamb ideally within the first 12 to 18 hours but no later than 24 hours after it was born. There are two reasons for this time limit.
Ruminants must have long fibre i.e. grass, hay, haylage, silage in their diets to keep them healthy. They cannot thrive on cereals alone. During the winter, when the grass is not growing, the sheep's diet will have to be supplemented with hay, silage or haylage.
The length of time that a lamb has been hung for will also determine how flavoursome and tender it is, about 8 days is best.
It is better to split the daily feeding for lambs in two and feed in the morning and at night. This will allow their stomachs to digest a consistent amount of feed throughout the day, rather than all at once. A healthy lamb is alert and active. They will frisk and run and jump with other lambs.
Newborn lambs should always receive colostrum as soon as possible after birth, preferably within the first 6 hours of life. This should be continued for the first 24 hours.
Lambs prefer less volume of milk in more feeds during the day as it is closer to their natural suckling behaviour. If feeding using multi lamb feeders or bottles be prepared to feed lambs 3-4 times a day (depending on your system and age of lambs).
A newborn lamb should receive 210ml of colostrum per 1kg of bodyweight. So, for example a 4kg lamb will need 840ml of colostrum. A single lamb reared away from the ewe to weaning (at an average of 35 days of age) will require a minimum of 9.5kg of Lamlac (equating to 47.5 litres of reconstituted ewe milk replacer).
Sheep tend to bed in groups together, sleeping tucked away in steep terrain where they will be safe from predators through the night. During the daylight hours sheep move downslope toward gentler terrain, where they spend hours alternately foraging and resting.
Lambing season can start as early as December and will continue until as late as June.
Natural shelter — such as native Poa tussocks, old logs, flax, shrubs and grasses — should be retained to provide shelter for lambs regardless of their mothers' sheltering behaviour, and is very likely to increase lamb survival and possibly growth.