As far as getting the girls ready, I have 3 acres split into 2 paddocks. I have been told that this should support 6 ewes and their lambs next spring/summer. So I am hoping for minimal feeding through the winter as the land has been waiting for them and is well grown. The farmer has accidently rolled a nice black round bale down the hill which is now stuck on my land!
I understand there is no exact science in this, but that is where I will learn. I am hopefully starting with the right sheep and small enough! I certainly know very little on the minerals side and would greatly appreciate advice there.
Hi firemansam
Firstly, on the minerals, your local vet will know what deficiencies you have in your area and will be able to sell you a mineral drench for your 6 girls. S/he will also advise on how frequently you will need to drench. You may need to give copper needles or by other means mid-pregnancy - again, your vet will advise you. Normally they won't charge for a bit of advice over the phone, or over the counter at the dispensary. (I'd call in and say you want a mineral drench for your 6 ewes but aren't sure what you should be giving them - the counter staff will either know or will bring a vet over to have a short chat with you, I would expect.)
On winter feeding, you may get away with no extra food depending on the winter but I would expect you to need a bit of hay for them after Christmas if not before. There's very little goodness in the grass by then, and they need a good bit of sustenance in order to grow their lambs. And you will certainly need hay if the ground gets frozen hard or covered with snow, as it did for weeks at a time in the winters of 2009 and 2010. When the ground is covered, we offer hay at the rate of 1 small bale of hay between 30 commercial sheep per day, so your 6 would get through a bale in 4-5 days, I would expect. When they can get at the grass they eat about half that much hay. Mind, we will be caking by that time too; they'd eat more hay if they weren't getting cake. Personally I would have at least 3 months' supply in store, so that'd be say 15-20 bales for you. Any they don't need this year will be fine next year as long as it's kept dry and off the ground.
The bale of silage your neighbour has donated (!) will not be of tremendous use to you, sadly, as once opened it must be eaten up within 3-4 days. One bale will feed 30-50 sheep for 4 days - or 6 sheep for 4 days with a lot left over you have to get rid of.
Pregnant sheep also need plenty of sugar in their diet in the last 6 weeks of pregnancy, so at that time we feed cake, or you can offer feed blocks instead. Cake and feed blocks will both have minerals in, too. Again, I'd see what your vet advises according to your local conditions.
People will tell you to feed by condition - it
is important to check their condition regularly, and to up or reduce rations accordingly, but this should be a backup to an appropriate feeding plan. It takes up to 6 weeks to add a point to a condition score in a pregnant ewe, so finding that all your ewes are a little on the thin side 6 weeks before they lamb isn't very helpful. Equally, if you find them a little over-fat at that time, you can't start reducing their rations at that stage of pregnancy or they'll have metabolic upsets.
It probably all sounds rather daunting, but it's not, really! Just get good advice from someone local who knows, and make sure you know what and how to check to be sure everything is going well, and you'll be fine.
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