The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: kelly58 on April 19, 2015, 01:31:36 pm
-
Has anyone got any input about lambing in May. My tups couldnt go in with the ewes till January as fencing at new place didnt go according to plan ???? I know with the new grass coming through will have to watch weight gain.
They are Boreray, will leave mineral lick in with them and feed ad lib concentrate the last 3 weeks before they lamb.
Anything else l need to know ? Going to Hep P them next weekend when l do them with Spot on.
Any input gratefully received
-
I can't really see why you would need ad lib concentrate, given they are May lambing with good grass, and are a primitive breed. I've not fed mine a thing (shedders) and have been struggling with big singles due to good grass growth!
-
Hi Porterlauren, my grass is coarse lots of couch grass,not been grazed for years. Not your 'lush grass' so to speak.
-
If there is any grass - no concentrates needed. Crap grass in May should be plenty for primitive ewes without supplementation of food. Save the feed bill
-
Oh right, leave the mineral bucket though ?
-
Having lambed plenty of flocks in May I think your # 1 problem will be them getting too fat/big lambs
take the food away and I would take the blocks away too + keep them as tight as possible on grass until 10 days before due date
I struggled to keep mine lean enough which is why I moved away from May lambing----I find the optimum time for outdoor grass only lambing in my part of the world is 12th April
-
I stay in Caithness, the grass doesn't come through as soon as yours down in Englandshire !
Thanks everyone much appreciated for the input, will keep an eye on their condition score. :thumbsup:
-
the biggest problem i had with lambing in may was flystrike! was very warm last year and I had problems with them on newly lambed ewes.
-
Hi Porterlauren, my grass is coarse lots of couch grass,not been grazed for years. Not your 'lush grass' so to speak.
That 'lush grass' is the biggest problem i've had this year. Kept the singles and hoggs on absolute crap right up until the last couple of weeks before lambing and then turned them into lambing paddocks with good grazing. In hind sight I should have waited until they had started dropping lambs before turning them onto the better grass! But you live and you learn!
Primitives should be able to produce viable lambs on your grazing in May, it's what they were born to do!
-
Have been giving them concentrate through winter with bruised barley 1/2 - 1/2 , got some barley left would it be ok to use it up giving them some on the wet n windy days still to come ?
-
Its hard to say without seeing them but going on the information given; as a blind answer I would say "no".
ps. safer to use it up after lambing
-
Thank you everyone :thumbsup:
-
In all honesty, by feeding them too much now, you;re probably doing more harm than good. A wet and windy night won't bother a sheep!
-
If you put the tup in in January aren't you looking at nearer June? My girls were tupped in December and I'm looking at May?
-
Can't add much to the advice already given, but if you have concentrate to use up, then wait 'til they've lambed; if they're kept indoors for a day or two you'll need to feed them some concentrate anyway to help get the milk going (though the grass is better ASAP) and feeding concentrate when they've lambed and are into milk production won't be a problem - they'll be ravenous after lambing it they're anything like mine.
-
I have Soays and lambed end of May last year. Fly strike immediately after birth was a real problem - maybe not dupridingly given the bloody gunk on their backside. Two ewes with twins got struck, one ewe (but not her lambs), and on the other set of twins both lambs (but not their dam) - in both probably on day 2 or 3. Horrible, but they all recovered well.
This year my lot decided to get started a whole 7 weeks earlier!
-
Will shear their back ends once they have lambed to lower the chance of Fly strike, as l mentioned earlier l am doing them with spot on next weekend when they get their Hep P jag.
Thanks for the heads up :thumbsup:
Im not feeding them at present havent done for a while, they are in good condition.
They have field shelters in each field so l dont worry about wet and windy days, just needed someone to confirm if l had to give them any feed before lambing. :thumbsup:
-
Hi, We always lamb our blackface in May and feed a little sheep crunch and oats. We have vitamin blocks out too.
we are in the north west of Scotland and our grass is only starting then. Never had a problem with too big/ fat lambs.
-
Thanks Crofterswife, more my end of the country, will keep an eye on their weight.
My Boreray originate from your Black face crossed with the Ancient tan face.
:sheep:
-
Should clarify only feed when we take them off the hill to lamb. They do have vitamin blocks all winter though.
The Boreray sound really interesting. Do they reach the same size as the Blackface?
-
Mature ewes weigh 28kg, standing 22" at the withers, Tups obviously bigger.
Dont know about your blackface ?
-
Our mature Blackie ewes can be 40 kg and be about 30" to the shoulder. As you say the tups are much bigger.
So guess the Blackies are a bit bigger.
-
I keep Lleyn sheep and lamb them in early April, I feed them at least 3 weeks before they lamb and they always have a lick in with em. Good lambing so far this year tons of twins and singles, only 2 gave triplets. :)
-
Lleyn sheep they weigh in at 70kg, More than twice the size of my Boreray, they are only wee :sheep:
Will keep a check on their weight :thumbsup: