Grass supplies vary massively across the country. Some farmers will be forced into decisions on early weaning to conserve supplies, while for others in areas where grass supplies remain positive, sight should not be lost on having plans in place to minimise any check in performance.

The potential for a dip in performance post-weaning will be directly underpinned by the quality and quantity of grass available to lambs. Therefore, it is important that plans are now put in place to ensure top-quality grass is available.

After-grass

For some, the availability of after-grass coming into the rotation will address this challenge. However, this is not straightforward, with spoil moisture deficits significantly reducing growth rates and sward recovery times.

Ewes can be tightened up post-weaning and used to graze after lambs and clean off swards. / Phillip Doyle

For farmers in such a situation, it is important that decisions are made early. Delaying weaning of lambs which are aged 12 weeks-plus until grass supplies are depleted will only serve to compound issues.

It is useful to walk fields and assess what grass is there and use this information to base decisions on.

Swards should be earmarked to have available at weaning

In contrast, for farmers where growth remains relatively positive, it is important to ensure grass quality is sufficient to minimise any potential check in performance at weaning.

Swards should be earmarked to have available at weaning. Spreading a small volume of fertiliser will help to maintain quality and prevent grass heading out early.

Topping is another solution to improving quality, but with no rain in the forecast I would be slow to top, as this will delay sward recovery. Rested

Where there is a butt of poor-quality grass at the base of the sward, these swards can still be rested and when grazed by lambs they can be moved on once they have the highly digestible grass grazed.

Ewes can then be used to graze down lower-quality material, which will serve two aims – conserve grass supplies and clean off paddocks to provide the environment for good-quality regrowth once growth picks up.

Weaning procedure

The two types of weaning practised on farms are gradual and abrupt weaning. Farmers find merits in both systems.

Gradual weaning where a number of ewes are removed from the flock in stages tends to reduce stress, with fewer lambs unsettled and those that are stressed generally settle quicker.

The downside here is where ewes and lambs are grazing poor-quality swards, with performance in weaned lambs hit harder. There is also a labour component in flocking animals, but many combine this with weighing and drafting lambs which balances this.

Separated

Abrupt weaning, whereby all lambs are separated from ewes in one go, can lead to higher stress levels at first, but lambs generally settle quickly.

Disruption is minimised where lambs have access to high-quality leafy swards, which also limits any setback in performance. It is important to note that in the latter option, good fencing is needed, with lambs taking longer to settle.

Weaning is also the ideal time to identify aspects such as ewes with pendulous udders or lumps in their udder. Once weaned, the mistake is frequently made of failing to take remedial action quick enough.