[Griffy78]

Hi everyone - newbie here 

I have recently had two 9 week old Cade lambs that were bought up indoors when we had them off the farmer.
With this in mind, we carried on with them indoors at night and out on quite a small patch in the day time with hay and creep too (have finished bottle feeding them now).
My question is (so sorry if it’s a daft question!!) - I’ve tried to build them up slowly to having grass but want to move them across to their ‘proper’ paddock. It’s not been grazed by the horses for 18 mths, so I’d say it’s quite rich pasture. Do I need to be careful with how quickly they move across and will they gorge themselves until they bloat??
Any tips or thoughts on moving them across to the bigger/richer grass and also the step of them staying outdoors 24/7 too?
Thanks 

[arobwk]

Hi Griffy78 - welcome to the forum.  I don't know enough about non-bloating pasture, but I'm sure someone else will come along soon with good advice.

[SallyintNorth]

Yup, you definitely need to be careful.  Any way you can put them out for an hour twice a day or something?  Or make a pen within the field?

[bj_cardiff]

If your worried I would put them into a smalish area/corner for 24hrs and stop feeding them anything, just water.

If its grass that has not been grazed for 18months it might not be as lush as you think - if its long with lots of dead grass mixed in it? To be honest I regularly move ewes/lambs from poor grazed down fields to lush fields that have been rested and have never had bloat from the grass or given it a second thought!

[SallyintNorth]

Lambs with their mummies to show them what to do is a different proposition to cades just off the bottle. 

[Buttermilk]

I would continue feeding the creep and have an offering of hay but otherwise just put them out.  This is what I have done with mine.

[Griffy78]

Thank you everyone for your advice, it’s very helpful.
I’ve set out their big paddock in a certain way which means I can fence off a smaller section when needed.
So I’ll just put them on a small patch to start with..just to be sure they’re ok with it.

As they’re still in at night, would you just go for it and leave them out and not worry about it lol?! They’ll have some shelter from heat/bad weather if they want it - am I being too over the top still having them in at night at 9 weeks old?!

Thanks guys!

[SallyintNorth]

With no adults to care for them I would bring them in at night for a while, yes.  At least a week or three.

My cades used to come in - or at least be in a secure pen with a shelter - until they either joined other sheep or were around 12 weeks old.  Probably a bit soft of me :/

[bj_cardiff]

My orphan lambs live out with the flock from 4 weeks old, at that age they have learnt to hang around with their friends and I think there is security in numbers! I think that a lamb is more likely to gorge itself when feed is restricted, so if kept off grass overnight it is more likely to stuff itself in the morning.

I think you have a range of ideas here from different people, so you could pick something in the middle that works for you!