Farmer Focus: Teasers work, but scald flares up

The new teasing strategy seems to have done its job, with all but nine ewes in our indoor lambing flock covered in the first cycle. These ewes go to terminal sire tups.

We mainly use Charollais rams from Jamie Wilde, as we have found they give a nice carcass for the butchery without us having to assist often at lambing.

See also: Forage crop nets £20 a ewe saving for Lothian flock

About the author

Louise Elkington

Louise Elkington runs 500 breeding ewes in Lincolnshire with husband Chris for their Gelston lamb brand, supplying restaurants, 13 Co-op stores and their online shop. They have 54ha (133 acres) of grass on a farm business tenancy and agreements for stubble turnips and hay aftermaths.

Read more articles by Louise Elkington

These tups will be coming out this week and it will soon be time for the maternal tups to go in with the flock we lamb outside in April.

We are hoping, with most of the indoor flock being covered in the first cycle, that we will get a couple of weeks’ break before we start lambing outdoors.

There always seems to be something that crops up and creates extra work for us. Just recently, the ewes have been suffering with scald, and there’s nothing worse than checking sheep and seeing them limping.

Previously, we have tried kinder foot-bath solutions, which are nicer for us as shepherds to use, but we just never found anything that did the job like formaldehyde.

We have run each flock through a bath of formaldehyde and saw some improvement.

We were recommended a product that contains formaldehyde with zinc and copper, and stood them in the solution to cover their feet properly.

Anything still lame at scanning will be noted and we won’t retain her lambs at weaning.

Luckily, the ewes are in great condition (maybe a little too good), so we hope it doesn’t affect their fertility.

While we are thinking about managing ewes and tupping, it’s also time to get ready for, dare I say it, Christmas.

We always try to think of new ways to showcase our produce and Christmas is a great time to get people to try something new.

Among the additions this year we have Gelston Lamb blankets; lamb, cranberry and brie bombs; and stuffed cushions.

Our lamb bacon won bronze at the Great British Food Awards, so you might see a new lamb bacon product soon.

We also have two pop-up shops and a few markets and Christmas festivals to squeeze in. It’s certainly going to be a hectic couple of months.