Scanning operators are reporting excellent results from mid-season lambing flocks.

The majority of flocks scanned to date are at least maintaining the positive performance achieved in 2013/2014, with many scanning on average 2% to 5% higher litter size.

Scanners are also reporting ewes to be in better condition than previous years. The positive scanning rates are a result of the favourable grass and weather at breeding, along with more ewes in prime condition.

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There is still a long way to go before talking about a bumper lamb crop. Nonetheless, the ingredients appear to be in place and given some luck and good weather at lambing, many flocks are in line to have more lambs on the ground in 2015.

However, scanners also offer a word of caution, advising flock owners that feeding programmes may need tweaking in late pregnancy to deal with the higher numbers. They also point to a tighter lambing spread which may put more pressure on lambing facilities, with flock owners advised to have more temporary penning in place should bad weather hit during lambing.

Regional view

Operators are currently in their busiest season, with peak scanning activity in mid-season flocks taking place from mid-December to the last week of January. Francis Curley, livestock pregnancy scanning technician for Galway and south Roscommon, is finding that scanning results in the region are excellent, with flocks averaging 1.7 to 1.9 lambs/ewe. He thinks it is definitely a better year than previous ones, with more lambs/ewe and ewes in excellent body condition for the stage of pregnancy.

Curley advises the best time to scan a flock of ewes is when the first ewes tupped (mated) reach 90 days in-lamb. Many sheep farmers debate every year whether or not the empty ewes should be held on the farm for another breeding season. Curley says it can be risky to hold on to these ewes as they may have internal problems that are preventing them from conceiving.

Recently, Curley scanned for a farmer that held on to 10 empty ewes from last year. This year, only three out of the 10 ewes showed in-lamb. He says if considering holding onto empty ewes for another season only choose young ewes.

Similarly, in Donegal scanning results are very good, with sheep flocks carrying 1.85 to 1.95 lambs/ewe.

Sean McHugh, scanning operator from Inishowen in Co Donegal, says that scanning results are better than last year. He is encountering many farmers with an increased flock size, while another trend noticed in his area is that some farmers are pushing for an earlier mid-season lambing of February rather than March this year.

Patrick McManus, sheep scanner in Co Fermanagh, found early-lambing ewes performed very well in the Leitrim/Fermanagh region, with many flocks hitting two lambs/ewe or above. In flocks scanned, he has noticed that farmers in his area aren’t keeping as many ewe lambs this year for breeding. McManus thinks this is because of the current strong trade for lambs in the factory. He says some farmers in his area are scanning ewe lambs and the ones that are not in-lamb are being sold straight away.

In Co Kerry, sheep flocks scanned by scanning operator Charles O’Shea are averaging 1.8 lambs/ewe. O’Shea says that the best result he got this year was 2.2 lambs/ewe. In general, O’Shea added, flock sizes are holding, but he has noticed that some hill flocks with Scottish Blackface ewes are increasing this year.

While scanning will be later in these flocks, he says that a few hill flocks scanned to date are also following the positive pattern in lowland flocks of higher litter size and lower barren rates.