A Lambing Record.

Otago Witness, Issue 1880, 2 December 1887, Page 7

A Lambing Record.

EDITOB WITNESS. . Sir,— As you are always anxious to hear of the management of anything pertaining to farming, I will show you the percentage of my lambing this year. I started lambing with 480 ewes, 19 of the lot not being in lamb, and there were three deaths, and four that would not take to their lambs. There are 373 ewes with one lamb each, 80 ewes with two each, and two pets — in all, 535 lambs. My sheep were looked after by Hugh Morton,ayoungniannewlyout from Scotland. In the first place, he put the ewes in three paddocks ; then he put up small yards in each, with hurdles to catch the ewes ; also a few small pens for mothering and ewes that were careless of their lambs. The best place to put up yards is in the corner of a paddock, with hurdles about a foot from the wire fence, stuffing the space with straw. This not only provides shelter, but also keeps the lambs in. A straw stack is a very good place, but it is bad to get the ewes to go into yards. After lambing had started, the ewes with twins were taken out every day and put into a small five acre paddock. After a day or two they were put then into a 22-acre paddock of the best grass on the place, reserved specially for them. When a ewe lambed all right a point was made of going to see the ewe and lamb, the next time the rounds were made to see if the lamb was sucking all right. If it was not, the ewe was caught to see what was wrong, for wool or rubbish gathered about the flank often proves an obstruction, they are consequently a great deal the better for being udder-locked and well (lagged so as to keep the lambs clean; — Yours truly, Adam Fleming. Waikaka, November 26.