[Dans]

Hi

We have had our mineral lick in a bowl on the floor but the rain has done a number on it so we need to start a new one.  We have bought a holder this time which should help but what height does it need to be at? Will lambs need access to it?

Dans

[twizzel]

Depends what lick it is as to whether lambs need access. If just a bog standard mineral lick then yes they should have access when older and grazing. Our licks are in 20kg buckets not raised up or anything.

[DartmoorLiz]

I've made a kind of umbrella that hangs over the salt block to stop the rain dissolving it and then hang it about a foot off the ground from a tree or fence post - don't hang it on a wire fence though as it'll make the wire rust.

[Womble]

Does your holder keep the rain off?  If not, you could try mounting the holder inside a plastic tub to make a protective canopy for it, similar to the ones in this thread.

I built a sort of bus shelter thingy to keep the rain off the larger crystalix buckets. It's just big enough for the tub plus a ewe's head!

[harmony]

Upside down barrel with a piece cut out of it. The lick buckets though are designed to put out with any cover on them. Now and again if need be tip the water off if the sheep don't get it first.

[Womble]

That's true Harmony. However, they definitely last longer if you keep them dry. When we just left them in the field, we ended up losing some every time we tipped the water off.

We found that this wasn't so much of an issue with the red molassessed buckets because the sheep liked them more and slurped the liquid off the top. However, if it was just a mineral bucket, they ate less and then ignored it once it got wet and went sludgy.