The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: sheepmad on November 10, 2013, 05:31:39 pm
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I have a few ewe lams that I want to keep as replacement ewes next year. They are a bit on the 'small' side but have good shape. I'm wondering what I should feed them over winter to help them develop. Can any one help me out? Should I use ewe master, lamb master or any thing else? Thank you!
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Grass, Hay if the grass get short, few nut if snow is on the ground.
Job sorted! :thumbsup:
Nothing worse than over fat ewes
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Thank you very much! And that will save me money! ;D
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Grass, Hay if the grass get short, few nut if snow is on the ground.
Job sorted! :thumbsup:
Nothing worse than over fat ewes
But if you don't feed them enough to keep growing over the winter then you will stunt them for ever , depends where you are if you can grow grass all year, the balance is to keep them growing but not fat, for me it is what ever grass they can find , silage and 300 gms 18% nut
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Agree with hillview :thumbsup:
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Thanks for your advice :)
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I'm not trying to be contraversial, but it is a common falasy that underfed animals will be forever stunted. If that were true, then all the starving millions would turn out as pigmies. In fact just feeding your lambs grass or hay will keep them growing without fattening, which is what you want. Such a diet is not underfeeding for breeding stock, but would obviously not be sufficient for if you were fattening them.
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My ewe lambs last year just had grass and yellow block, when it snowed I gave the the left over hay from the ewes (2nd best) they stayed lovely and fat :thumbsup:
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So long as they aren't thin - check if you can feel their spine, you should have to press to feel bones - then plenty of good grass / hay will keep them growing, yes.
Personally, being where we are, we feed a little bit of cake - just 1/2lb / head / day - to all overwintering lambs and find that sets them up better for a long, healthy and productive life in the Cumbrian uplands. I'd do it differently if I lived somewhere milder and with more nutritious forage.
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One of the things that will stunt their growth though is if they have a heavy parasite load - so make sure they aren't wormy and most importantly give them a dose of Fasinex to treat fluke. Probably another one early in the new year.
Mine have a lick in and will get hay once there is snow on the ground or all-day frost.
I have also found that lambs that have had Coccidiosis as youngsters will not really catch up with their peers.
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lots of good points here sheepmad, some things will depend upon breed. soft lowland park breeds might need suplimentary dry feed (not sure i have hill sheep) others like hebridean maybe not so much. also weather is big factor. Whats your breed? and what sort of ground are they on? will agree that grass is best. i also use a mineral and vitamin drench throgh the winter seems to work ok, like anke says if your concerned get thier worm count checked
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we find with our replacements the major challenge is keeping them from getting too big and fat, assuming yours aren't bound for the ram until well into next year i would imagine there's plenty of time for them to get straight. When we first started, our original sheep "guru" a local farmer told us to put them to the ram first year as they would get fat otherwise. We never have as we didn't like the idea- until this year. We deliberately haven't fed them up as we don't want the chance of twin lamb problems and have been fairly easy about it- if they are mature enough he'll have them and if not he won't. time is ticking on and all the older sheep were covered more than a fortnight ago. this years lambs have yet to be touched and if that remains the case our main priority will be to try to keep the weight off them prior to next years tupping as this adversely affects conception rates