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Country: Spain
Dairy or/and meat sheep: Dairy and meat
Source of information: Bibliography and technical Services
Level of solution: Practical
Aim: To facilitate the mother-lamb relationship and avoid mis-mothering
Description:
- What is implemented;
To prepare areas for individual allocation of sheep with their lamb/-s
- How is implemented;
During the first 12-24 h, the sheep and the lamb/s must be together in the place where the lambing has taken in order to facilitate mutual recognition.
The yearlings that lamb for the first time, sheep that had a bad lambing, and sheep with several lambs, had to be placed in individual penning arrangements of around 2 m2, or in any case within a small batch of sheep (another 2 more sheep) to try to guarantee that mothers recognize and take care of their offspring.
- When is it implemented.
Susceptible sheep should be introduced within these arrangements at the time of lambing, where they should remain between 12 and 24 hours.
Expected benefits:
To decrease lamb mortality, as well as labour requirements.
Prerequisites and/or limits (knowledge, training, capabilities, cost, management, facilities, equipment, etc.)
- Availability of space and barriers
- Economic cost
Tips & Tricks:
- Fostering bucket
- Wet fostering protocol
- Post partum cage
- Foster ewe in the orphan lambs pen
- Skinning lambs for fostering
- Using salt for ewe-lamb bonding
- Using a dog to bond ewe with lamb
- Adoption of unwanted lambs
Expected impacts:
| Benefit | |||||||
| Benefit expected | Increase productivity mortality better labor organisation better feed management less stress for the farmer |
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| System | |||||||
| Is the solution suitable for various production systems | Y | ||||||
| If no – for which system | extensive systems with lambing time outdoor | ||||||
| Cost | |||||||
| What are the asset costs | Costs can be dependent on size flock. Would start at 100-500 for barriers, but could go much higher. | ||||||
| What are the maintenance costs | |||||||
| Any limits to its applicability | |||||||
| Work Load | |||||||
| Farmers | Service provider/tech.-vet-others | ||||||
| How much time is required to prepare and implement the solution | <1day | ||||||
| How many people is needed to implement the solution? | 1 | ||||||
| Timing | |||||||
| How long it takes to get results? | 1 day- 1week | ||||||
| How long it takes to see an effect on sheep productivity? | current production period | ||||||
| Equipment/Facility | |||||||
| Farmers | Service provider/technicians-vet-others | ||||||
| What kind of equipment/tool are necessary? | barriers | ||||||
| Skill/Knowledge-Training (farmer) | |||||||
| Does the solution need any specific skill/knowledge or training? | No | ||||||
| How much time will be required for training | No | ||||||
| Wider Environment | |||||||
| Is there any particular regulation link to the solution? | No, animal welfare legislation for mininum space allowance per animal | ||||||
| Does the solution need any particular structure or organisation? | No | ||||||
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