[Frieslandfilly]

I have two ewes that I hope are in lamb and due in 10 weeks time,  I have been reading up about feeding but have a question about the current weather conditions and how that affects how much and when, they have been on hay since the weather turned cold I.e frozen ground, and now it is even colder with laying snow I started feeding them ewe nuts too, is this too soon, i have tried to go with instinct on this and just hope I am right, any thoughts would help, thanks

[Hillview Farm]

If your girls are tame just feel their backs and condition score them, (you can find this on google) a couple times a week. If they feel like they have gained then drop the feed off but if they feel like they have lost weight then up it a little. Mine are inside on ad lib hay and get a mouthful of hard feed just to keep them tame as they were wild! I plan to up my feed 6 weeks pre lambing as I believe 60% of the lambs growth is in the last 6 weeks. I worry about feeding too as its my first lambing on my own (I never did the feeding just the lambing) and i know overly large lambs cause no end of hassle!

Good luck

[lachlanandmarcus]

I feed mine hay all winter and mineral block. In the snow they get a small handful of nuts each, again more for taming than nutrition. I don't up the feed prior to lambing as I lamb end of April and there is usually a nice bite of grass by then and they are Shetlands so usually do well on the hay and that. Sometimes if weather is horrid til late on I might use a bucket lick. Lambing has averaged half twins, half singles every year which is enough for me.

[colliewoman]

My girls are getting cake even when it doesn't snow because, due to an epic cock up regarding grazing they were forced to run on very poor ground for a while, and lost condition. Mine aren't due till May except 2 who are end of March beginning of April. Between 14 of them they are getting about 4 pint scoops of course mix, plus some soaked beet. They always have a licky bucket and some hay.
I won't be increasing rations as I hope the grass will be in before the 6/8 week critical time 
Bear in mind my flock consists of 4 aged ewes with missing teeth, 4 ewe lambs who are well grown, 5 young fit ewes and a borrowed ram lamb.
It is far easier for me to feed all than to try and separate, and none are fat so my gut tells me we are doing just right 

[Mallows Flock]

Last year I fed nuts and had giant fat ewes and one birthed an absolutely massive (dead) boy and a smaller heralthy girl!
This year I am doing it differently.
Being a bit of a licky bucket-perv, they have a high energy, a standard, a ewe and lamb lick and a high mag lick in their field! I know they don't need all these but I have them and they can take what they need.
I also had (before snow) grass still so they were on this with their buckets. Now snow is down I am providing hay. Last year I put loads in and it just got wasted. This year (pre-snow) I tried 2 flaps per day - some wasted, 1 1/2 flaps was still too much, one flap was just right (for 17 sheep) but they still had grass. Now we have snow cover I have upped to 2 flaps and that seems just right. I say try a few differing amounts and see what you think is enough without getting wastage. The licks are being used up at a fairly normal rate. I also chuck in loads of ivy each week which gets decimated. The ones who birthed multpls last year I also give a handful (hand fed) of ewe nuts too as they have 5-6 weeks left to lamb so the extra nutrition is a bit of a boost.
The scanner is coming Tues so I will have a bit of a clearer picture then who needs to have what!
Good luck!
Lisa x x x

[Mammyshaz]

  hello Mallows, haven't seen you on here for a while, hope you and pufflepet had a good christmas 

[Mallows Flock]

Hello Mammyshaz    Had ace Crimbo with Colliewoman and her hubby! Pufflepets got spoiled to death. He is still eating chocolate from Xmas day today!!!! I hope you and your son had a wicked Christmas and New Year! I am sure Puffle will be on here again soon! He is soooooooooooo into his new X-box atm that nothing else matters! LOL!

[Rosemary]

Ours are on hay and a standard lick until six weeks before lambing. We start 1st April. They will be scanned tomorrow (and fluked  ). Those expecting twins will get about 0.5kg of nuts; those expecting singles will continue with the lick only.

Last year was the first time I'd had enough ewes to split into two groups; I felt sorry for the ones carrying singles so gave them some feed. One had to have a C section (huge tup lamb, fortunately ewe and lamb were fine) and one had to have a vet assisted delivery. This year I will be hardening my heart 

[Frieslandfilly]

Thanks for the replies, it gives me a more of an idea, think I am over feeding tbh but they bleat at me every time I go near them lol, I did a condition score a couple of weeks ago and my problem is that one was just a 3 and the other a definite 4 but I can't separate the two of them to balance it out. They do have a lick they can use if they want, just have to judge it week by week I think and see how it goes.

[Foobar]

Better to have them leaner at lambing than fat - I'd aim to feed them all as if they were CS4 and stop the nuts until 6 weeks pre-lambing.

[VSS]

Better to have them leaner at lambing than fat - I'd aim to feed them all as if they were CS4 and stop the nuts until 6 weeks pre-lambing.

CS4 is way too fat to lamb - definate diet needed. You don't say what breed they are. It makes a difference to the body condition you should be aiming for. Heavier downland breeds you need to aim for about a CS3. For Hill/Mountain breeds look for CS2 - 2.5.

Overfeeding is very common in small flocks and can cause all sorts of problems (and it's a waste of money too!)

[colliewoman]

Hello Mammyshaz    Had ace Crimbo with Colliewoman and her hubby! Pufflepets got spoiled to death. He is still eating chocolate from Xmas day today!!!! I hope you and your son had a wicked Christmas and New Year! I am sure Puffle will be on here again soon! He is soooooooooooo into his new X-box atm that nothing else matters! LOL!

 


Nice to have you back my lovely

[kumquat]

Only 8 weeks till we potentially start lambing, where the hell did the last 3 months go?? seems like only yesterday that Rammy was strutting his stuff....scary  We've been feeding hay adlib especially in this snowy weather and a few nuts/coursemix most days. All look well


PS Very nice to have Lisa back among the collective