Ewes that are scanned in lamb, then don’t give you a lamb can be so frustrating. Wet-dries are a frustrating cost to your operation.

We all expect to get some wet-dry ewes, but some people have more than what they can explain. If this is the case it may be worth looking at these ewes to try to work out what has happened and possibly what options might exist to reduce the number in the future.

Lambs lost between scanning and lambing can be seen as abortions, but often they are just not seen. Crop paddocks are notorious for seamlessly burying any abortions that may occur. Or the lambs may survive through to lambing and die soon after birth – why??

There are many reasons for this – both infectious and non-infectious. These things can also cause lambs to be born weak i.e. they are not very hardy and in poor or terrible weather they are the first ones to die.

The best time of year to look into a wet-dry ewe problem is now. We can blood test for some infectious causes assess trace elements and mineral levels. Sometimes these particular ewes can be quite different to the main mob. It is also a good time to do some planning for next year.

Let us know if you are interested in investigating your wet-dry ewes.