The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: JedM on April 25, 2016, 07:51:59 am
-
I have 4 orphan lambs, 8 weeks old. I weaned them a week ago and now they are on grass, hay and creep. When should I stop feeding them creep? They eat grass all day, the grass is good, and they look like they could burst by the end of the day!
They never touch the hay, but I think it is because there is plenty of grass.
I could cut the amount of creep they have, but just wondered if it was necessary to feed at all if they fill up on grass?
-
Hey JayR,
What are the lambs destined for? If they're going to have a happy life as lawnmowers and pets, I'd suggest cutting back on the creep as there's no rush for them to mature and creep feeding can be quite costly!
If they're going to be sold or finished I would keep going with the creep
-
Thanks SS.
They will be for slaughter, although I might keep one ewe lamb for breeding. Yes, creep feeding is costly! Between the 4 of them, I am giving them 2kg a day, split into 2 feeds. Would it be wise to lower this amount?
-
I weaned mine at about 7 weeks, kept the creep goint for a further 1 week, but cut it out as they started to bloat with the creep and the grass. They're about 10 weeks old now and eating hay and grass, one seems to always look bloated at night, but it's all basically gone by the morning.
Hope this helps
-
That's helpful keelan, maybe i should cut out the evening feed as that's when they are looking too full.
-
We keep creep feeding until about 16 weeks- they need the extra protein from creep until the rough age they would be weaned from the ewe
-
weaning from ewe recommended earlier than 16 weeks ... better for ewe and lamb so the research goes. recommend 12 to 14 weeks. I did 13 weeks last year .