The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: angusrr on November 20, 2017, 05:55:35 pm
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three of my ewes are quite fat and have been tupped by the texel ram.i know that I should have whipped them into shape before tupping but I did try to slim them down but I left it a bit late.
The grass quality is now deteriorating and they need to lose some weight before lambing. should let them lose weight in the early stage of pregnancy by leaving them on the deteriorating grass and keep them at the ideal weight when they reach it. or I could keep them well fed now and let them lose a bit later on. any advice would be appreciated
Thanks
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Your sheep can loose a small amount of condition all through pregnancy , but if they loose too much then they will be prime candidates for TLD , it is very hard to achieve a small lose in condition without going too far , grass and hay should be all that is needed in the first 4 mths , just keep condition scoring
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Mine are the same this year :( currently strip grazed after grazing a small paddock right down. Fence moved a couple of times a week a meter each time. They have hay for dry matter, they have to completely empty the rack before it’s filled and fill it at dusk so they have had a day grazing the paddock rather than sitting at a rack of hay. Hoping this will help a bit of weight loss along with general check in condition due to weather etc. Will also delay feeding concentrates before lambing but provide energy buckets in the last 6 wks to prevent twin lamb. We are lucky to be scanning this year which will help feeding etc. My ewes are 6-9 weeks in lamb, you shouldn’t cut feed levels for the first 30-40 days after tupping as it can affect embryo implantation.
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My ewes are all looking well at the moment and due in Feb. There isn't much grass left now so I've just started feeding haylage. I have 2 bales in with 40 ewes and I'm hoping it'll last them 10 days, they also have a mineral bucket.
I think 'fat' is a bit of a relative term and different people would class them differently. Unless obese (in which case they probably won't be in lamb), I'd offer them ad-lib hay, or haylage and see how they get on.
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We have some Southdowns that always stay at CS4 whatever the grazing and lumber up the field like a club sofa on castors. We also have some Badger Face that never get above CS2.5, even after a really good summer. All get grass supplemented by hay if necessary and hard feed for the final six weeks of pregnancy. All produce robust, good-sized lambs so we don't worry too much about CS.