"The wind chill was -9degC and our neighbours were about the same,"Mr Eade said.
"It has been mentally pretty tough on a lot of farmers going through it."
The snow closed roads around Southland and South Otago, while some areas had near blizzard conditions and hard frosts. Areas had from 10cm to 25cm of snow.
About 70% of Mr Eade’s ewes had lambed, while the hoggets had yet to start.
He expected a higher than normal death rate, but did not have the figures.
He was grateful for the weather warnings before the event along with the the previous week’s warmer conditions.
"That was probably our saviour.
"It was mitigated by us working ... [very hard] bringing our sheep in to sheltered paddocks beforehand."
Simon O’Meara, of Quinbrook Farm, near Wilden, said he lost from 8% to 10% more lambs than he would normally expect.
He also lost about a dozen ewes with milk fever and sleepy sickness after being stuck in snow drifts.
"The Otago Rural Support Trust had come round ... to see if we needed a hand and they delivered hot meals down our road, which was great."
Wyndham farmer Dean Rabbidge said he "dodged a bullet" as he had only 150 ewes left to lamb and his hoggets had yet to start.
"We had three really rough days in Wyndham but we dodged a bullet.
"However, I really feel for the other guys.
"If it had been 10 days earlier, it would have been devastating."
Blair Drysdale, of Balfour, said they had not been too badly affected as they had fewer sheep than in the past and those they had were pretty well through lambing with no issues.
Fernvale Genetics’ owner Lloyd Brenssell has several farms in and around Ettrick, Moa Flat, and Wilden and had not been badly affected.
"We had a helicopter out there this morning [Thursday] snow raking, but they reported no problems.
"The wind had shifted the snow and exposed the grass so the ewes have feed and were in good condition."
He expected a possible losses from 3% to 5% with the odd isolated mob bearing the brunt.
"I am relatively relieved.
"However, probably the biggest challenge was the access through Aitchison Runs Rd as we had to fight hard to get that road open.
"Now it is pretty much business as usual."
Gary Kelliher, of Alexandra, said they had been badly affected on his sheep and deer property.
"It had been a battle and quite severe. It was cold and windy and we were just getting under way with lambing. It really knocked the ewes back."
Feed had been tight as late frosts slowed growth.
The ewes were fed up with supplements and were keen to get on to grass.
"It was hard to get them back to dry feed."
