Farmers in the business of lambing ewes will know that a good system for lambing sheep does not have to be overly 'fancy' or complicated - in fact 'simple but effective' often proves the best policy for a good lambing setup.

This a a fact well known to sheep farmers Ken and Richard Mathews based in Killeigh, Co. Offaly.

Their lambing setup has evolved over decades to suit their system and make the job of lambing ewes as straight-forward as possible.

Take a look a the video below to see how the lambing setup on the farm looks:

As can be seen in the video, the key areas of the lambing setup on the farm are all simple, functional and effective.

The key areas of focus on the farm at lambing time are:

Pre-lambing group pens;
Post-Lambing individual pens;
Intensive Care Unit (ICU);
Pet lamb rearing facility;
Store or 'The nerve centre';
Grazing Paddocks

Father and son farming duo Ken and Richard Mathews take us around their setup and show us how the system works.

We see the spring-loaded shutters on the external sides of the shed which prevent ewes all rushing to a single point at meal feeding time and allows for meal feeding to be a one-person job.

As well as this, the shed includes more simple features such as iodine access points at each of the group pens for disinfecting lambs' navels.

With all ewes sheared going into the shed, a hook is needed to catch the ewes allowing them to be restrained if needed without any major stress on the ewe or the handler.

Once ewes have lambed in the group pens, they go to the individual post-lambing pens. Here the ewe and her lambs can be closely monitored to ensure they are doing okay and that the ewe is taking to her lambs and the lambs have received enough colostrum milk.

Like all things on the Mathews farm, the post-lambing pens also include some 'DIY innovation' to ensure they can be managed effectively.

A sewer pipe runs the length of the pens with drinking points allowing the ewe to drink after lambing but high enough so the lamb does not risk falling in. All feed and water access points in the individual pens are above ground level, allowing the lambs and the ewe more space to lye and for intakes to be monitored more closely.

There are additional individual pens for ewes post lambing in a shed on the farm known as 'The Calf house'.

These are effectively pens for rearing calves that have been adapted into iindividual pens for ewes post lambing to ensure the lams are getting the best possible start in live.

The shed is a timber structure with a concrete base and timber slats and partitions. The timber slats keep the bedding place on top dry for the ewes and lambs.

Each individual post-lambing pen has access to:

A hay rack;
Fresh silage;
Water;
Concentrates (fed twice daily).

Interestingly, precision chop silage from a pit is fed to the ewes both pre and post lambing. The silage is of a high quality (76% DMD and near 14% protein).

Ken believes the precision chop feed allows for higher intakes.

To the top of the individual pens is an area Richard calls 'The Nerve Centre' or the control area of the whole lambing operation.

This is where supplies are stored, data is recorded and the heater box for weak lambs is located.

Ewes with higher litter numbers or weak lambs go to another area of the farm known as the 'ICU' area.

This is another simple but effective area built with pallets fixed in place with timbers and screws and sheep hurdles to the front of each pen.

A heat lamp with a timber guard surrounding it prevents the ewes from knocking the heat lamps or lying on the lambs under them.

As the Matthews run a Belclare-cross type ewe, prolificacy is higher than average flocks. This means there is additional lambs to be reared as pets - something which is no issue as the farm has an automatic pet lamb feeder in place on the farm.

The pet lamb rearing facility or 'Creche' as it is called on the farm features an automated milk feeder which mixes, warms and distributes milk to the pens for pet lambs. The feeder can supply milk for up to 180 lambs.

Out to the paddock

Once the lambs have found their feet and got off to a good start, they go straight to grass once conditions allow.

Ken said that lambs are "at least 2-3 days old when they go out to grass with their ewes.

Lambs and ewes are marked for easy identification and that once ewes and lambs go out "they can't come back in again. A sheltered field is selected with a good grass cover and they are herded once a day.

Stay tuned for episode two where we look into the system in more detail and see how ken and Richard deal with a few tricky situations in the lambing shed.