Deb Mickey Posted April 10, 2006 Report Share Posted April 10, 2006 Justa general question here - How do you use your dogs when you're lambing? Robin - you said how your Ben was a great lambing dog. What did you have him do? How old were the lambs? Can ya all give me some stories? I ask this because a number of years back I made a BIG mistake with Jill and a very protective ewe. :eek: Sure don't want to do that again! Thanks, all, in advance for your responses. Justa wondering... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoofly Posted April 10, 2006 Report Share Posted April 10, 2006 It depends on the dog and the sheep. I just have a small farm so i know i use my dogs differently than someone with a big flock would. Used to be, i'd have Ben help me bring in new moms and babies off the pasture to put them in small pens. He was really good and no one ever challenged him. Over time, i've gotten to where i just carry the lambs in myself and don't use a dog much for that job. It's less stressful for the ewe it seems like. I do however need a dog to bring in my flock of ewes and lambs almost every day, and that can be a challenging job for a dog, especially when the lambs are only a day or two old and slow to move along. I have one large pasture that i need for training dogs on, so have to get the flock sorted and moved around to do that. The ewes figure out pretty quickly what dogs they can intimidate and which ones they can't. I use a dog that has a bit of eye and very little "back down" in her for that job. And since my unbred training sheep are all yearlings, they mix in with the adult ewes and it's a big job to get them sorted off to use for training. LOTS of practice doing international sheds, this year at least. If i decide to use a different dog than Gael, i tend to walk out and bring the sheep in along with the dog, for confidence and to be there to back the dog up a bit. I'm also taking my young dog some and just very gently moving the ewes and lambs around with him. He got intimidated a bit at first so i'm just working on his confidence a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipedream Farm Posted April 10, 2006 Report Share Posted April 10, 2006 I don't know about others, but I've always found that it's the first timers that can get really stupid about fighting the dog and trying to take cheap shots when the dog's not bothering them and has it's back turned. I've learned to be especially careful around them with the dogs. By the time the ewes have had their second set of lambs, they are much more sensible with the dogs. Renee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted April 10, 2006 Report Share Posted April 10, 2006 Deb, I've been using my dog similarly to how Robin describes above (this was our first lambing). I have been moving them with dogs from birth on (the oldest lambs are just over two months now). The ewes and lambs have a big pasture, but we bring them up to a smaller area at night, and we also let them all out to graze a different area (along with the unbred sheep), so when it's time to put them up in their separate pastures, there's also sorting that needs to be done. Also we have some real piggers, so I need to be able to sort the various ewes with lambs from each other for feeding or sort ewes off and leave lambs behind so they can access the creep feeder. Last, when we need to catch lambs up for banding, weighing, or whatever, or need to do stuff to the ewes (who are all in need of foot trimming for example), I need to use a dog for that. I use Twist for this because she will not back down from a ewe who tries to grind her into the dirt (we have a few who will charge--and really pound--the fence if they even see a dog on the other side, and some that are a bit less bullying with dogs). I have been very pleased with her this year as she has been quite willing to protect herself from the mamas and has been very patient with both ewes and lambs. By patience, I mean that she doesn't grab at lambs if they try to bolt past her and she is willing to stop if the mom is challenging her and give the ewe a chance to think about it and turn and move off. As the lambs get older and spend less time with their moms, she's been working them alone and I think the good early work with the moms has made them much easier to move around, even by themselves--they don't tend to panic or run amok. With Kat, I would have to do as Robin described and go out and help her, and usually my time is limited so I don't bother. I guess I should. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted April 10, 2006 Report Share Posted April 10, 2006 This lambie talk makes me smile as I recall Celt and Megan helping me to bring a very new calf back into the field and near its spoiled (bottle-raised) mother. Ed was feeding the mother and the calf took off and wandered much further than we liked (they are SO dumb when they are tiny, and obnoxious when they get bigger!). Celt and Megan did a nice outrun and began bringing us the calf but it was so young that it wouldn't "work right". It did me good to watch the two dogs working as a team and using their bodies to block that calf, and bringing it towards me with such care. The calf finally got tired and didn't want to continue moving, so I went out and placed myself on one side, the dogs moved to the other, and between us the little calf moved and was reunited with her unconcerned mother. These bottle-raised moms are something else! Since then, she's been a good mom, I must admit. Calving season is always challenging for the dogs and I have to be very careful that I don't set them up for failure in working. It's a great time of year for them to be exposed to cattle that work very differently from the adults without calves and the weaned young stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted April 10, 2006 Report Share Posted April 10, 2006 Oh, where do I start? Every part of the yearly cycle seems like the part when I'm most grateful to have these dogs - but this is probably the time when it's easiest to explain the extent of their contribution. I have trouble catching the lambs even hours after birth, so Ben is very helpful keeping the ewe in one place so I can hook the lambs. Then if there's triplets (didn't get any this year), or any trouble, they go in the jug. I've got wool ewes so they are not the sharpest pins in the drawer. I use Ben to discourage the ewe from turning back to where she had the lamb to look for it, and also to prevent her from trying to steal other ewe's lambs as we progress through the nursery paddock - and prevent other ewes from interfering with us. My youngster Ann has actually even done this job with me a couple of times, now, and handled herself quite well. Something I've noticed is that this task really gets the head down on a plain-working dog (which both of mine are). Similiarly when we do the various chores that occur at two days (selenium and temporary marking), one week (tagging, tatooing, banding), and one month (first shots), the dog needs to discourage the ewe from walking off with the lambs since we do everything out in the open pasture. Anything after four weeks or so, and it's necessary to work the ewe and lamb flock as a group since the lambs are not necessarily staying with mom at that point. At one to two months we also worm all the adults and older lambs, wait three or four days, and turn out into clean pasture if available. We'll start the rotational grazing cycle then. Until then we set out ewes and lambs to graze for about two hours in the lower pasture and the yearlings and rams in the upper pasture, in the morning and then again in the evening. We have to watch them there because there's no fence to speak of there. This is a new and unique task this year which I hope will not be necessary next year! Of course we also use the dogs to hold back the ewes while we set out feed. They are not as aggressive in the spring with green grass at foot, but it's still nicer to be able to take my time filling bins. During this time they actually get a little crazy over the mineral, so it's handy to have a dog nearby so I can manage filling our sort of tricky mineral feeder. Likewise the creep feeders, where even a few mouthfuls of spilled lamb creep feed could make a smaller ewe really sick. If he doesn't need to be in for an early meeting, Patrick does a lot of these chores in the morning with Doug the Dog or Jen. If anything else needs to be done to the ewes for whatever reason, we of course also use the dogs. About midway through this lambing, I realized that the Covexin8 I gave must have been bad, because we saw a couple of cases of blackleg appear. I had to treat them (requires a huge dose of Pen daily for a week), plus vaccinate the whole flock immediately. Those are times I really am thankful for dogs. I had to leave that same day for the clinic in Leesburg - but I simply delayed my departure for a few hours until I ran into town, purchased the vac, then gathered the two flocks quickly and shot them all up. So easy and I was on the road only three hours late - and I also had to spend time doctoring a weak chilled lamb before leaving. Patrick was able to continue treating the two affected ewes in the morning before heading out on his two hour commute - very conveniently because he could catch them with Doug the Dog or Jen. I've learned never ever ever ever to hike into the far pastures without a dog (or my little shepherd's supply kit). I can't even relate all the little ways they pull their weight during this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mckaycanada Posted April 13, 2006 Report Share Posted April 13, 2006 Keep the dogs off ewes with lambs. They are under enough stress already. If you absolutely need to move them, then take it slow and easy, working the dog relatively far off and lie them down if the ewe turns to face them. The ewe will always opt to eventually move away from the dog if you are outside the fight or flight zone. I've moved ewes with multiple newborns out of coyote territory but it was a long and careful process. Maybe 40 minutes to go a kilometre. Push, wait, push, wait, push etc. until everyone is back home. For young dogs, it is a risk for the dog because you are guaranteed numerous stand off situations. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted April 13, 2006 Report Share Posted April 13, 2006 I would be lost at lambing time without a good dog. I enter the lambing paddock with the dog at my heel, and use the dog to hold the ewe in place while I check, tag, castrate and process any new lambs. I also use the dog to drift the unlambed ewes ahead onto the new paddock, leaving behind each day's newborns. It's much easier to put the dog right at the edge of the flight/fight zone, hold the ewe steady while you cleek the lambs, and them back down. The ewe is much less inclined to bugger off when there's a dog holding her. There's no need for this to be stressful, but it is definitely not the time to be training the dog, and good lambing dogs are fairly rare. They have to be able to read sheep with a level of precision that's rare and wonderful to behold. I also found that when newborn lambs are exposed to dogs early on -- particularly if the dogs are kept well under control, it becomes much easier to move the whole flock later on. Lambs and ewes stay together better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.