Actually, I will have to respectfully disagree on this point. Raising lambs is just like raising chickens. Breed the hardy ones, cull twice as deep as you think you should, and then you are only perpetuating the best genetics. Some people breed everything they started the season with. Most people do this actually. And then they have no clue they are perpetuating problems. My healthiest lambs are born in deep snow and cold temps. I will not lamb past Feb. Hypothermia is not a problem if you have health and vigor. Having more than 400 lambs a year i can tell you that most people pamper and baby their lambs... use heat lamps... Or heaven forbid put them in an enclosed barn. This is a health nightmare waiting to happen and your survival will either be very low or it will be high only because you have lost sleep and a lot of time and money saving those who should not have been bred to begin with. If your average survival rate isn't over 96% unassisted, then your business plan and genetic knowledge needs assistance.
Breeding and livestock genetics are my business. If I were to treat it like a hobby it would stand no chance of providing a living. I run the entire farm alone and have no choice but to work smarter and not harder if it is to be profitable.
While in theroy I agree with you, and only a few of my ewe lambs make the cut each year, then I cut again the next year-- or I did this until I down sized.
I am curious as to what your night time temps are in TN compared to mine in the NOrtheast. We might be talking rather different temperatures. IN the far north of VT, the one sheep breeder I know lambs in May. And one other I know here in Mass lambs in APril and in both cases the lambs are then raised on pasture. I suspect our temps are quite different.
Being from up north i have discovered that temps are very similar. What is different is how many months you have those two extremes. Up north I experienced 2 seasons. Here I have 4. I graze 9 months out of the year here.
After you have raised livestock for a lot of years your genetics left should be awesome if you are breeding correctly. If you have only been doing it for a few years or have restocked then obviously the time it takes to reach a point of no hassle livestock care is a lot less.
Winters do not last a long here so we have 4 distinct seasons. For example, when it gets to -3 here with 24" of snow (like earlier this week), we don't shovel it - we wait for it to thaw in a couple of days (usually a week at the most). Living in the Smoky Mountains gives you a wide range of weather. Up north when it snows it sticks around for weeks or months - i remember being dug out of our house one year with 3 enloaders. Bluh! We should be above freezing tomorrow for the first time in about a week.
We have grass by the first half of March here. So I lamb twice... Once I Jan and Feb, that way no lambs are older than 60 days when the spring grasses begin to come in and they are old enough to begin actively grazing. This not only makes for healthier lambs (because they aren't hitting the ground when spring parasites hit), but it also makes the most efficient use of the grazing months. The lambs get a good start and finish on grass in June before the summer pastures lose their nutritional value. If they aren't over 100 lbs on milk and grass alone by 5 months then something is wrong.
You do NOT want to lamb in April or May in TN as the Barber pole problem the end of June, combined with the heat and humidity, will dramatically slow weight gain. Same thing with poultry... All sheep and chickens begin daily pasture rotation the first of March. Prime forage and no worming necessary.
As I've said before... I don't raise livestock, I raise forage - the livestock simply convert that forage to meat, milk, and eggs for me.
I also lamb in Sept to provide a group of Easter lambs to the New England market.
All calves are born in March and Oct - this is primarily due to when i need the most milk from pasture.
I have a barn, it is used to store hay and equipment and to milk a few sheep and a couple of cows. Animals in a barn means two things I don't want... bacteria in a confined space and work to clean it out.
I keep a minimum of 4 Maremma at any given time to assure the safety of all the livestock since they live on pasture and in the woods. The woods is their shelter but it also harbors predators. The Maremma prevent any losses due to predation.
