The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Richmond on September 05, 2025, 08:35:17 am
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I am sending some lambs off in a couple of weeks. They're all ewe lambs except one wether. My usual routine is to start feeding them a week or so beforehand to get them used to coming into a pen, then on D Day shut them in ready for loading. I'd like to buy some ewe nuts (rattle in a bucket better than coarse mix and easier to pick up if spilled) however I do realise these aren't good for wethers. But would it really matter just for a week or so?
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Probably not, but the consequences: cost, inconvenience and upset, not to mention the welfare issue, if you're unlucky... Tup'n'lamb mix won't hurt ewes, so you wouldn't waste the rest of the sack...
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You could get some sugarbeet nuts .. they would be safe and rattle in the bucket well :sheep: :sheep:
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Thank you both. We have pigs so I think I'll rattle some pig nuts to call them in but offer them coarse ration to actually eat. I don't think our local feed supplier does sugar beet nuts; at least I've never seen them there but can ask.
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For what it is worth, surely, if ewe mix (or tup mix for that matter) was so dangerous to feed to wethers or to the wrong sex, there would be a huge warning label on the sacks ?
My opinion is that the danger - such that it is - manifests itself over long term, rather than a coupld of weeks before slaughter so, I wouldn't make life any harder than it is and feed them all the same grub
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Lamb finisher as a suggestion?
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For what it is worth, surely, if ewe mix (or tup mix for that matter) was so dangerous to feed to wethers or to the wrong sex, there would be a huge warning label on the sacks ?
My opinion is that the danger - such that it is - manifests itself over long term, rather than a coupld of weeks before slaughter so, I wouldn't make life any harder than it is and feed them all the same grub
I had a month old castrated pet lamb die of urinary calculi. And it was on proper lamb creep with ammonium chloride and had rock salt in the pen. So it does happen and when it does it’s catastrophic :tired:
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I had a month old castrated pet lamb die of urinary calculi. And it was on proper lamb creep with ammonium chloride and had rock salt in the pen. So it does happen and when it does it’s catastrophic :tired:
Perhaps I'm missing something - how did not having "male" feed contribute ?
All deaths are not good, but at a month old and a wether, that wouldn't have had anything to do with the question of can a wether / tup lamb come to harm if given sheep nuts / non tup mix
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Thank you both. We have pigs so I think I'll rattle some pig nuts to call them in but offer them coarse ration to actually eat. I don't think our local feed supplier does sugar beet nuts; at least I've never seen them there but can ask.
I'm not sure it's necessary that the feed in the rattled bucket be nuts per se. Shaking the coarse mix in a bucket will work just fine, unless maybe they're half a mile away across a wild and windy terrain, I guess.
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I think they'll probably come to my call tbh, but just wanted to rattle something for extra encouragement.
Thanks for all your suggestions and advice everyone, much appreciated.
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Update: I rattled the bucket, I called repeatedly, and they looked at me from the other side of the field as if I were bonkers and then carried on grazing. I walked towards them and they walked away! Meanwhile the ewes in the other field ran to the gate faster than greyhounds .......
However I had better luck today and they came straight in.