Scanning results are in

Part 2, davy scanned our main lambing ewes… wow what a result!

#livestock #femalefarmer #livestock_farmHER #shepherdess #sheep #backbritishfarming

So today today is scanning day we are scanning the all the main laming y so that’s the Y and the gimmers mix of emotions obviously um you know this was always a day that Mom and I would be together so it’s going to be difficult but it’s just another step that we need

To get through um so Davey scanning somewhere else this morning and then he’ll be coming probably about lunchtime to start scanning our go um so yeah we’ll take it from there and we’ll see what the results are but first I going to go and feed and bed the cows Fed is all mucked out ready to get washed that’s today’s job wash it and disinfect it ready for the spring cow coming in where they will C in the shed so after these Ys are scanned today the Ys and the gimmers all go together the Twins and the

Triplets and then the singles and the empties are shed separately singles stay together and then obviously the empties will be sold but the singles are kept separate because they don’t get fed any additional feed um unless the weather is bad and they get silage but they don’t get any concentrate

Feed so so the Y and the gimmers got the Y this side um they have obviously had Lambs before various different ages gimmers over this side this will be their first time having Lambs never had Lambs before so we keep them separate until after today because

We like to know how the Y’s have scanned compared to how the gimmers have scanned um it’s just personal preference it’s also from a management point of view obviously these gimmers are all bought in so if they have any illness disease infection they’re not going to

Transmit it to the Y when they first come home they’ve sort of been in like isolation you could say um since they came home in September and they haven’t mixed with our y they haven’t even had no s contact this is all the early laming y so taking them down and then they’re

Going across to that field over there behind the new shed because where they were is where the main lamington and triplets will go now and they’ll get fed up there so you can see dad’s got the bails looked out already they’ll go across there I’m not

Want to put the too far away and because they’ll be need there pre- laming hip to back jab soon so I want to try and keep them as close as possible just for handiness um and also for feeding um for they’re getting silage obviously so find in handy just nip across with

Some bailes of silage as when they need them come by lay down lie sh hard to believe that they’ll be in there for longing got We Fresh picking a grass should keep them happy four fresh Lifeline buckets out to the early laming y we swear by these buckets have used

Them for years and years definitely help improve colostrum quality and uh Lambs are more vigorous off the back of B too shed’s washed out as well just the floor to sweep up now and then get it bedded get some gates walked around and get the cows in heers will go

Up that far end they stay up in that section and then the rest of it cows so we’re also trying to get an updated record of tags um so every y has two tags bags and one of them is electronic so we can scan them with the

Wand that we use here um and then if they don’t scan we cut their tags out um and replace them with our own red Replacements um and then we take note of her original number and then her new number and update our records that are online as well

So we are about halfway through the Y here now and we’re sitting at a hooping 29% there is I think it’s 74 triplets and 18 singles and I’m scared sced because last year the gimmers scaned better than the Y Gmers are up next so Twins and triplets come out this side well that’s it they are full of lambs y have scanned at 222% and gimmers are slightly less 204% I’m just going around now and I’m picking out the empties from the singles um there’s also a couple thin like older y slightly thinner um um they pulled them out so I’m going to take them out of this lot and I’m going to put them with the ears cuz they Lely start

Getting fed sooner so that way hopefully it’ll I mean try put condition on them now is virtually impossible but hopefully it’ll just keep them going until until laming I think it’s just hit me this used to be a big day for me and mom um

She would she would be at the back here filling the race um and I was always be down pushing them in to the scanner I do always remember she’ be stood at the back of the race here and you would turn around and I don’t know if it was cuz she was

Trying to keep warm or what but she was all was active and um I would turn around and she’d be doing squats she would be throwing her arms about in the air she’d be she’d always be doing something so here we’ve got the empties these will all be getting sold next

Week and then we have the singles I know the last time for the ear’s um a few people asked why why we don’t keep the empties or why we don’t give them put them back with the T to try again um we like to keep a really nice tight lamming so therefore if

They’re not tued within that time frame um we decide that they’ve had enough time so for whatever reason they’re not in Lamb we get rid of them because if they keep being not in Lamb obviously they’re costing you more money you’re having to keep them and you’re

Getting nothing in return so we just cut our losses now and we sell them um comp compared to previous years here there are half the number of empties that we usually have um which I’m delighted about uh I mean I know I don’t look like it but yeah

It’s it’s ju it’s a time but on the hall we’ve had a tremendous scan for all our sheep this year um and I know Mom would be absolutely delighted too the seven early Ys were still empty as I knew they would be the main lamming Ys

Here between the gimmers and the Y from the main lamming I mean they had six weeks with the tops I gave them an extra week this year and they’re still not in Lamb so they’ve had plenty of time to cycle I mean the gimmers had a teaser

And the tops had been in for four weeks at that point so you would have thought they would have had a teaser effect so yeah um for whatever reason they’re not in Lamb so they will all be getting sold as I said um we don’t we

Won’t be keeping them that being said I do feel like they’ve had a fair amount of time with the top um as I said an extra week this year whether that’s helped reduce the empties I’m not sure I used boluses I’ve used boluses for three

Or four years now um I used a different type of bis this year so whether that’s played a part in it as well well and also I’ve given them blocks this year for the first time uh we used the romanko Sheep super topping blocks whether that’s had an effect on

It you know it does say for the Aries especially their scanning was huge the Ys are up a lot on last year’s but I wasn’t happy with their scan last year so with the combination being a good mix um I mean it was a horrendous wet weather for topping but

I don’t know you can do two years do the same thing and get totally different results um but for now I’m really chuffed with how they’ve scanned so because the tops had harnesses on this year I can see that the these Ys have obviously been tapped um you know that’s a definite

Blue she’s not repeated that’s a definite orange she’s not repeated you know orange again orange green um red to orange that’ll a repeat so for whatever reason she’s not held green to Orange that could have been the same day that the color was getting changed definitely red she’s she

Was tupped in the first week and she’s obviously not held so apart from a couple they haven’t been repeating for whatever reason so because they haven’t been repeating does that mean it’s a y problem uh surely if if she was cycling constantly she’d be getting tupped again so

Could it be that the top missed her I mean I don’t push my tops hard as I’ve explained so they should have been able to cover her if that was the case um yeah I don’t know if anyone has any thoughts um suggestions ideas please

Feel free to comment um cuz I do find this really interesting and like I say this year with having them marked we can see that the Y have been cycling I mean there’s a couple here there’s two gimmers definitely that haven’t got any marks on them so for whatever reason they’ve not been

Cycling um so yeah it’s it’s interesting to be able to see it like this and not just be like was she tupped was she not tupped so yeah but please feel free let me know in the comments if you’ve got any fees behind It just put s out to the Twins and triplets in the main lock now um obviously the grass is non-existent really um so they’ll be getting fed uh good quality silage um and they’ve also got buckets and they won’t be getting concentrates I’ll see what the weather does but they won’t be getting

Concentrates for a we pile yet uh I do also put out liquid molasses to them again depending on the weather but that won’t be for a we while yet cuz they are they are in good condition um like I say a couple that were slightly leaner some

Of the older y I’ve pulled them out and they’ve gone with the early so they’ll get concentrate feed sooner um but yeah it’s very tricky to um put condition onto the Y especially just now but if we can try and maintain it then that’s that’s hopefully good better obviously to be in

The position of them being in better neck now than being tooo lean because trying to get condition on them sort of mid pregnancy is virtually impossible um but at least if they’re a wee bit over you know I want to keep that on them um as best as possible cuz they

Just they lose it so quickly um especially if the weather takes a turn I think it’s meant to snow next week maybe so yeah but we’ll just take it as the weather comes see what happens that’s as I say silo them so we’ll see how long

That lasts them um and how they get On