# Yet another weaning lambs thread =)



## mystang89 (May 20, 2018)

I've looked up different threads here and abroad about weaning, the how to's and when to's but I haven't really found the answer to my particular situation.

As most of you know we had our first lambing on 5/10/18 from one ewe who had twins, one ram and one ewe.  I've read to wean them around 60 - 90 days or so for a normal weaning.  Normal being relative to the shepherd since early seems to be earlier than what I'm comfortable for my first lambing.  I've read the ram lamb should definitely be taken from the mom before 3 months in order to avoid any possible early breading.  

My pasture is a total of 7 acres.  It is split up into the front pasture and back pasture, around 3 acres each....ish.  I will not be splitting it into smaller paddocks if I can at all avoid it.  It's just personally not how my wife and I want our land to look.  At the moment I've been keeping the ram (father) in a different pasture than the lambs and ewes.  When it comes time for the ram lamb to be separated I thought about just putting him in the pasture with the ram (father).  I don't really know how to go about slowly weaning the ram lamb off the mom.  Should I start weaning him off around 2 months by just having him in the same pen as the mom at night then to the other pasture with the dad during the day?

Then there's the lamb ewe.  I have 2 pastures.  One for the males and the other for the females.  How do I go about separating the ewe lamb from the mom?  I read that after about 6 months the ewe mom will pretty much wean the lamb on her own by not letting her suckle long.  Do I need to really do anything special?

Then there's my particular breed and the main reason why I bought these sheep, MILK!  I want to milk my sheep for as long as she lactates which I think was from 160 ish days to 200 something days, different factors depending.  Most...all of what I read was people letting their sheep dry up because they weren't going to milk the sheep.  The milk dried up and the mom couldn't nurse anymore anyway.  I want to milk them.  How can I milk her while she still has a lamb attached to her teat?  Milk in the morning and let the lamb have at it during the day then milk again at night?  Milk only in the morning and put the lamb ewe in a different stall at night?

I also read that the sheep produces the most milk from the first 8 weeks or so and after that they taper off.  How do I make it so the ewe doesn't decrease her milk production any faster than normal?  How often are you supposed to milk a sheep anyway?  I suppose that'll be a different thread but figured I'd throw that one in for a bonus!


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## Mike CHS (May 20, 2018)

I'm no help there since we wean right at two months to get the ewes back into condition.  Lactating really takes a lot out of them and we want to give them a couple or three months to get back into good condition so we can breed them again.  Even then we will only breed those that are in super condition and those that aren't won't be bred until it's time to plan on February and March lambing.

I don't recall anyone else raising sheep for milk but I imagine you could get more info on weaning goats since the process is really similar. (I'm assuming that just from what I've read so I may be completely off base).


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## mysunwolf (May 21, 2018)

Just leave the ewe lamb on mom, as long as mom's not too skinny! That's what we do and it works out great. No hassle.

Ram lamb, we leave ours on until 6 months since our breeds aren't fertile until then anyway. Then pen him with dad in a very small pen so dad can't kill him for at least a few days, then try turning them out together. 

Your first plan for milking is perfect. Lock baby up in the evening (the lamb will be loud), milk in the AM, let them back together all day. You won't get as much but it's better than nothing.

If you completely wean the lambs, you can milk twice a day. If you milk once a day, without the lamb helping her along her production will probably taper off pretty quickly (since she's not a dairy sheep).

Yes, milk production is better in the first 8 weeks. To keep production high, best practice is to start milking the mom right away with the lamb still on her, as many times a day as you can manage, and milk share when the lamb is as young as 1-2 weeks. 

Hope this is somewhat helpful!


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## mystang89 (May 21, 2018)

Thank you! I just wanted to clarify one thing and perhaps it's because of my misunderstanding but the Awassi is a breed of sheep made for milking. Would that info change anything you said about when to milk her? 

Thanks again! I still need to make a milking station for them but my tractor went down yesterday. I wish I was 4 people at once.


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## mysunwolf (May 21, 2018)

Well, certain lines of Awassi are better for milking than others. Of course we have Friesians so the comparison is unfair volume wise. But I hear they have a surprisingly long lactation, and of course much richer milk, compared to other dairy breeds. 

We do the above with our Friesians so I don't see why the Awassi should be different. Just really watch for condition of the ewe when leaving the lambs on them, some get too skinny. 

I wish I was 4 people too!! I'd get 10x the amount of work done lol.


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## mystang89 (May 21, 2018)

Thanks much! Right now it's hard to tell the condition because they have WAY to much wool. In a couple weeks I plan on sheering her. Just want to make sure I don't stress her too early.


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## mystang89 (Jun 23, 2019)

Seeing as how this is still kinda relevant for me and I made this thread, I'm going to necro it =P

For this milking season I'm going to have 3 different ewes to milk.  I've heard that you can take the lambs off at night, starting at 2 weeks, milk in the morning and then put the lambs back with the ewes without having to worry about bottle feeding.  Has anyone heard different?  Is this too early?  Will I still need to bottle feed?  I'm sure this isn't specific to sheep so if there are any goat milkers out there with info I'd appreciate that too.


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## animalmom (Jun 24, 2019)

Separating the mom and babies at night, milking in the morning and leaving the mom with the babies during the day starting at 2 weeks is generally accepted and practiced by those who want the milk as soon as possible.  

I don't do this, but I'm a lazy person and can wait until weaning.

I would not suggest pulling the mom off any earlier than 2 weeks.

When you lock up the babies at night make sure the mom can't get next to them.  I have had several of my wee goatie does nurse their kids through a fence.  Right now I have one doe/kid that I'm wanting weaned and the doe and kid are getting very creative on this nursing through the fence so the kid gets locked up in a birthing stall and the mom is in the pen with the other ladies.  Lots of wailing going on but that is the way it is.


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## mystang89 (Jun 24, 2019)

Thanks. That solved the missing info. My wife was saying 4 weeks, I was saying 2 weeks. Now that we have the information she still says 4 weeks, so we've compromised and said 3 weeks.


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## Baymule (Jun 24, 2019)

A happy wife makes a happy life!


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