Ultrasound Muscle & Fat Depth Scanning

M&F scanning has been in full swing this week with Lamplus breeders at all corners of the country scanning their lambs. At the beginning of any scanning season, it is mostly early lambing breeds such as Vendeen’s, Charollais’ and Suffolk’s being scanned once the age of the lamb is within the boundary of 120 – 180 days old. When technicians are on site, a weight and health inspection is carried out on all animals (including lambs that are not being M&F scanned, ALL lambs must be present). The M&F reports are inputted into the Sheep Ireland App and the reports are available immediately. For more information click here.

It is also very important for breeders that are not M&F scanning to take a weight between 120 – 180 days
old, when to weigh guide here.

Upcoming Events

• National Sheep Breeders Association (NSBA) Championships Saturday June 9th, 2018, Cillin Hill Mart, County Kilkenny. Over 700 Sheep (covering 10 breeds) will be present on the day for the purpose-built ring in Cillian Hill Mart.
• Sheep Board Meeting, Thursday June 21st, 2018, Killeshin Hotel, County Portlaoise.
• Sheep 2018: Farm to Fork, Saturday 7th July, 2018, Teagasc, Athenry, County Galway. For more information click here.

Ram Report

Some breeders will have all their weights recorded and will soon be looking into rams for the next breeding season. The ram report is a handy tool for farmers to select which of their own stock rams they would like to use again. It shows the average daily gain and the differences between the lambs at the different weighing stages. See an example of a ram report below.