Weaning Lambs

As a general rule of thumb, most lambs can be successfully weaned at 60 days of age or 45 pounds, whichever comes first.

Weaning is a crucial period in the management of ewes and lambs. It is the practice of removing lambs from the milk diet provided by the ewe (or a milk replacement diet).  From the milk diet, lambs are moved onto forage or grain-based diets. This separation can be stressful for both ewes and lambs. It should be the goal of all producers to minimize stress at weaning.

When to wean

Weaning age varies greatly in the sheep industry and depends upon many factors including availability of pasture and other feed supplies and target market. Lambs may be weaned successfully as early as 3 to 4 weeks of age and as late as 5 to 6 months of age. Early in life, the lamb cannot digest anything but milk. However, by 3 weeks of age, the developed rumen makes the lamb more efficient than the ewe. Typically, the ewe's milk production peak at 4 weeks after lambing and steadily declines to about half as much by 10 weeks. About 74 percent of all milk is produced in the first 8 weeks of lactation.

Early Weaning

Early weaning is a relative term, but implies weaning at any time after 21 days of age, but usually before 90 days. 60 days is a common weaning age in intensively managed sheep operations. Early weaning can be successful provided lambs are drinking water and consuming adequate amounts of feed. Creep feeding is essential to an early weaning program.The size of the lamb at weaning is generally more important than its actual age. As a rule of thumb, most lambs can be weaned at 60 days of age or 45 pounds, whichever comes first (though this will vary by breed).

Early weaning offers many advantages. Weaned lambs are very efficient feed converters. It is more efficient to feed grain to lambs because they will convert the feed to gain more efficiently than the ewes can convert the feed to milk to lamb gain. Early weaning eases the lacation stress of high producing ewes. It allows ewes to return to breeding condition earlier, which is essential for accelerated lambing programs. Weaning lambs early and placing them in a feed lot for grain feeding saves pasture and enables the producer to maintain more ewes on a given amount of pasture. In drought years, it is common to wean lambs early (60-90 days). With early weaning, cull ewes can be sold earlier. Lambs are usually marketed early. However, early weaning is more stressful for both the ewe and lambs. Ewes are more prone to mastitis because they are still producing milk when their lambs are separated.

Late Weaning

In a natural situation, weaning occurs at approximately 6 months of age, usually in the fall when ewes come into heat. Spring-born lambs are often weaned later than winter-born and fall-born lambs. In fact, it is not uncommon to leave spring-born lambs with their dams until they are ready for market. There are several advantages to late weaning. It is more natural and results in less stress for the ewe and lambs. There is less risk of the ewe developing mastitis since her milk production has declined significantly. Late weaning allows the producer to take advantage of available forage for lambs. Pasture gains are usually more economical than those acheived in a feed lot situation. On the other hand, lambs must compete with ewes for the available forage. They are more likely to become infected with worm larvae. Predator problems are usually greater in late weaning, pasture rearing environments.

The main concern at weaning time for ewes is preventing mastitis problems.

Preventing Mastitis

The main concern at weaning time for ewes is to prevent mastitis problems. Ewes with mastitis have reduced or no production value in future years. The easiest way to prevent mastitis is to halt milk production. Approximately two weeks before weaning, grain should be removed from the ewe's diet. Ten days before weaning, you should remove grain from the ewes' diet and feed them a low quality roughage diet. Feeding straw the last 2 to 3 days before weaning further shuts down lactation. After weaning, ewes should be maintained on low quality feed for 3 to 7 days to assist ewes in drying up. Some producers withhold or restrict water intake before and after weaning. However, removing water from the ewe's diet during hot weather can be dangerous and is not recommended.

You should not turn ewes out to pasture immediately after weaning them. Spring grass is high in protein, water, and other nutrients which promote milk production.

Weaning Environment

Generally, weaning time is more stressful for lambs than ewes. At weaning, the lambs are challenged not only by being separated from their mother, but also by their need to fend for themselves nutritionally. Their immune systems are not fully developed, and they are more susceptible to disease. You should not drastically change the lamb's ration for two weeks before to two weeks after weaning. When weaning, the ewes should be removed from the lambs, not vice versa. By leaving lambs in the same location, they will experience less stress and are less likely to go off feed because they will know where the feeders, minerals, and water are. It has generally recommended that ewes and lambs are far enough apart that they can't hear each other. It's important to maintain the same groupings during weaning, e.g. keep siblings together. Newly weaned lambs should have plenty of clean, fresh water at all times. Keep the lambs on the same feed before and after weaning until the stress of weaning has pasted (7-10 days). Feeds containing urea should not be fed for at least 2 weeks past weaning.

Lambs weaned at 10 weeks of age will recognize and return to their dams after 2 months of separation. After weaning, twins will stay together for the first few days.

Newly weaned lambs should be closely monitored for health problems. Clinical coccidiosis is commonly seen in young lambs at the time of weaning. Enterotoxemia (overeating disease type D) is more common in early weaned lambs. It can be prevented with a good vaccination program. Lambs from vaccinated dams should receive their first vaccination for type D at approximately 10 weeks of age, followed by a booster 2 to 4 weeks later.

Low stress weaning
Creep feeding reduces the stress of weaning. With cattle, the stress of weaning has been reduced by allowing the cow and calf to have fenceline contact. An Australian company (www.easywean.com.au) markets a "nosering" or anti-sucking device that prevents lambs from nursing (the ewe rejects attempts to suckle), which dries up the ewe's lactation while maintaining the maternal bond and allowing ewes and lambs to be managed as a single mob. The ring is a plastic device that clips into the partition between the lamb's nostrils. It should stay on for 2 weeks to allow the ewe's lactation to dry up. The rings are reusable and 90 percent effective. They reduce weaning stress and enhance animal performance. They do not prevent the lamb from grazing. Click HERE to see images of the noserings.

You should weigh lambs at weaning time so you can calculate adjusted weaning weights. Ewes that wean the heaviest litters will make the most money and should be favored in breeding and selection programs.