Every lambing period has pluses and minuses, as this little fellow east of Canberra discovered this week when a cold snap arrived accompanied by strong winds and driving rain, and a graziers alert.
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South East Local Land Services district vet Bill Johnson says graziers across the tablelands reported losses of newborn lambs.
Mr Johnson said Bureau of Meteorology warnings were heeded, with mobs of freshly shorn sheep moved to better shelter.
"Graziers report taking steps to allow lambing ewes to have better access to shelter, such as opening gates into tree lines, but it is not always practical to move mobs of ewes during lambing; any disturbance causes mis-mothering and may lead to even greater losses.
"Ewes and their newborn lambs are in better condition this year as a result of the widespread improved pasture conditions, which has helped them to better cope with this cold snap.''
Most lambs are dropped from late July to mid-September, according to NSW Department of Primary Industries technical specialist for livestock Phil Graham.
Lambing varied according to availability of food, price of lambs at market, shearing schedules and other farming activities.
Mr Graham said it was an individual decision how the pluses and minuses balanced up, with amount of green feed a key consideration.
‘‘It is a lot easier to look after a pregnant ewe when you have got green feed,’’ Mr Graham said.
Farmers had an abundance of feed following an ideal autumn and early winter. "This is as good as it gets for a number reasons.’’
A hot, dry period following good rainfall was ideal. Great moisture and mild temperatures continued for months.
Mr Graham said farmers balanced their lambing decisions between food for the ewe and how many months of feed would be available to grow out the lamb for market.
‘’If you think about the ewe you would lamb in September, because that’s when you have great feed for the ewe. In lambing in September, you are not leaving a long period for the lamb to grow before the feed runs out."
Lambs were suitable for the meat market from four to seven months of age.
He said lambs were most vulnerable to fox attacks for the first four to five days of their life. Crows generally attacked ewes when they were lambing.
Meat and Livestock Australia forecasts lamb slaughter to decrease 4.3 per cent in 2014, but lamb exports to the US, China and the Middle East are all expected to increase, making up 69 per cent of sheep industry exports.
