Falklands : PRE-LAMB SHEARING – THE WELFARE IMPLICATIONS
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 16.09.2011 (Article Archived on 30.09.2011)
By Steve Pointing
(As published in the Wool Press for September 2011)
All sheep need to be shorn from time to time and in most countries and in most sheep breeds this occurs once a year.
PRE-LAMB SHEARING – THE WELFARE IMPLICATIONS
By Steve Pointing
(As published in the Wool Press for September 2011)
All sheep need to be shorn from time to time and in most countries and in most sheep breeds this occurs once a year. Traditionally in the Falkland Islands the shearing of ewes takes place after the lambs have been weaned – so any time from January onwards. Over recent years a few farmers have adopted the practice of pre-lamb shearing and, as, ideally, this should be done a month before lambing; this usually takes place in late September or early October. As anyone who lives and farms in the Falklands knows, the weather in September and October can be fairly unpredictable and subject to lengthy cold spells accompanied by strong winds.
So what are the averages of pre-lamb shearing and what precautions do you need to take to mitigate against possible welfare problems?
As already stated, shearing is an important part of general sheep husbandry and during the shearing process animals need to be handled with care and managed well afterwards to reduce the risk and consequences of exposure. The timing of shearing can play a significant part in the animal husbandry of sheep enterprises. Pre-lamb shearing, usually 4 to 6 weeks before lambing, can promote lamb survival because:
1. The lambs have heavier birth weights and therefore are stronger and
2. Ewes are more likely to seek or use shelter in adverse conditions thereby protecting their lambs.
However, if pre-lamb shearing is carried out without the necessary extra food and effective shelter, ewes may suffer cold stress and metabolic disease. Newly shorn sheep (at all times but particularly when shorn early in the season) are especially vulnerable to adverse weather conditions and require more feed than normal for three weeks or more after shearing to sustain body temperature and maintain body conditions. Maintenance requirements are usually increased for 6 to 8 weeks after shearing. These effects are more pronounced in early spring when shearing increases a sheep’s energy requirements by 50 to 70% compared to 20 to 30% in summer and autumn.
An interesting study was carried out by CSIRO in Australia in 1995 looking at the productivity and cold resistance by ewes shorn by standard or cover combs. The study looked at the effects of Pre-lamb shearing with both cover and standard combs and of leaving ewes unshorn until after weaning on their feed intake, productivity and cold resistance. Border Leicester x Romney ewes were divided into 3 groups balanced for pregnancy status, ewe age and live-weight. Two groups of ewes were shorn by either standard comb or cover comb, on day 114 of pregnancy (P114 – normal pregnancy in a ewe being about 147 days) and one group left unshorn until weaning on day 84 of lactation (L84). All ewes were managed under the same conditions during pregnancy and lactation. The main findings were as follows:
1. ewes shorn pre-lamb by cover comb had lower mortality from shearing to lambing than ewes shorn by standard combs
2. 20 days after shearing (P134) the live-weights were greater in the unshorn group than in the cover comb shorn group (<0.05), which was in turn heavier (p<0.05) than ewes shorn by standard comb.
3. Mid-side clean wool growth rates were greater in standard comb and cover comb shorn ewes during the post shearing period (to day 40 of lactation) than unshorn ewes (P<0.05)
4. Similarly the yield and brightness of wool were superior (P<0.05) in pre-lamb shorn groups.
5. Lamb live-weights at birth, docking and weaning and lamb survival, were similar between shearing policies.
6. Rectal temperature (RT) was significantly (P<0.05) lower in both pre-lamb shorn groups than in the unshorn group on day 3 post shearing (S3) but by day 5, only the ewes shorn by standard comb had a lower RT.
Conclusion – these results suggest that the greater amount of residual wool cover in cover comb – vs standard comb-shorn ewes provides a low-cost, practical method for reducing the 2 important disadvantages of pre-lamb shearing, namely increased cold stress and feed intakes post shearing.
(Australian Journal of Agricultural research 46(4) 721-732)
So pre-lamb shearing doesn’t have to lead to more welfare problems than normal shearing provided it is well planned and well managed. Some things to take into consideration are as follows:
1. Control the rams! Pre-lamb shearing must be pre-lamb! If rams serve the ewes beforetime, there will be births before and during shearing, leading to all sorts of management problems.
2. Reserve a good paddock or a paddock near the shed, where the livestock rounded up can eat, drink and rest. Take sheep to the shed from this paddock in small lots, big enough for half a day’s work at most.
3. In the evening, enclose the animals that will be shorn the next morning. This does not alter the animal’s grazing cycle and it avoids the problems caused by rain at night and morning dew. Remember that sheep rarely graze at night in temperate climates.
4. Before noon enclose the sheep that will be shorn in the afternoon
5. Round up slowly and use dogs with care.
6. If some sheep were not shorn, send them back to the paddock rather than keeping them housed overnight.
7. Shear with snow or cover combs – this is compulsory in the Falkland islands between September 15th and October 15th when pre-lamb shearing is most likely to be taking place.
8. Immediately after shearing the sheep should go to the lambing paddock or a paddock with reasonable grass and shelter. As a general rule, animals should not spend more than 10 hours without feeding.
9. Do not leave livestock enclosed in a shed for long periods of time after shearing.
Listen to the weather forecast and the sheep-chill factor and delay shearing if the forecast is very bad. Make sure shorn sheep are initially put into a paddock with reasonable shelter.
By the time this article is published the shearing season in the Falkland Islands won’t be that far off and I’d like to remind everyone of the shearing dates set out in the sheep welfare code. They are as follows:
1. Shearing season – 15 September until 30 April
2. Cover combs compulsory 15 September until 15 October and 15 March until 30 April
3. Standard combs can be used between 15 October and 15 March but if the weather forecast is bad during this period then either delay shearing or use cover combs instead.
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