Phew. That’s scanning done for the year, and it wasn’t too awful. Last year’s scanning & lambing was a total disaster; I ended up with about 35 lambs from almost 60 sheep put to the ram. So from last year’s 60%, I’m looking at around 120% this year – that is 12 lambs for every 10 sheep. I was hoping for 150%, but I suppose I should be satisfied with that.
I took the sheep out this morning, walking them out to the fank.
The sheep were penned and left until the scanner arrived. We all set up and held our collective breath
As you can see, the weather was actually quite nice. We had snow showers before and after, but it stayed nice and dry while we were out.
It wasn’t long before my sheep were going through.
I had to rush off as soon as we finished, so I haven’t been able to get definitive numbers, but I’m looking at two thirds of them having singles, a quarter twins, 3-4 empty and TWO sets of triplets. I was delighted with the triplets, to be honest, as the sheep should be able to raise them on her own. They’re some of the Roussin crosses I got last year. One Roussin with 3, one with 2 and one empty. The other triplet is a Suffolk-cross,from the same place.
I’ve left the sheep in the apportionment until I’m off on Thursday, so I’ll sort them on Thursday – can’t wait!