Lambing season 'fast and furious' for North Otago farmers

Springbank farm owners Ross and Jo Hay are rearing orphan lambs, including their children's pet lambs. They are holding Rooster (left) and Sally, on their sheep and beef farm in North Otago. Photo / Shawn McAvinue

A "fast and furious" lambing season is going to plan on a sheep and beef farm in North Otago.

Springbank farm owners Ross and Jo Hay run sheep and beef on about 670ha - an about 170ha home block they own west of Herbert, another 90ha they lease nearby and 410ha they lease at Lighthouse Hills, near Moeraki.

Jo said the more than 2800 breeding ewes scanned at an average of 187 per cent - a lift of about 13 per cent on average on recent years.

The ewes were in good condition when they were put to the ram.

"It was the perfect tup time for us - there was a lot of good feed."

Nearly all the ewes conceived in the first cycle.

About 140 of the ewes conceived in the second cycle.

Their sheep pregnancy scanner warned them their lambing season would be "fast and furious".

"He wasn't far wrong."

Having "new lambs everywhere" in a short timeframe was all right because the weather had been mostly favourable since lambing started on August 25.

"We've had a pretty good run of weather, so far,'' she said.

Fortuitously, a cold snap hit during a lull in lambing earlier this month.

After a successful tupping, a dry autumn stunted grass growth.

"It got incredibly dry right up to July."

Ewes were given supplementary feed - a mix of silage, hay and baleage - to maintain the condition of the flock.

Ewe bearings were down this season, which she believed was due to the flock being in "good nick" going into tupping and the condition of the ewes being maintained over winter.

"They didn't get an all-you-can-eat buffet the whole way through."

Lamb triplet numbers had doubled on last season.

"In an ideal world each ewe would have two lambs, but you're never going to get that."

She was expecting to have more orphan lambs this season and doubled the order of milk powder this season to feed them, but it had not become a reality yet.

"Touch wood - so far, so good."

To make room for the orphan lambs, machinery was moved out of a three-bay shed and its floor covered in hay.

The machinery gets to return to the shed in early November.

Their children Charlie (13), Phoebe (11) and Archie (8) were allowed to keep one orphan lamb each as a pet.

One of their pet lambs was named Rooster due to the amount of noise it made.

Ross said the lambing season would be finished soon.

"It's been a good one and it'll be great to have it tidied up in a short time."