[Paul and Caroline]

Hi

We have 7 Ewes (2 x 1 crop and 5 glimmers) and they are running with a tup as I type - they are on reasonable pasture but I don't think it is enough for them. What supplementary feed should I provide for them please? I do have hay bales but should I be giving them any concentrate?

[SallyintNorth]

What breed?  Where are you?  What’s the weather doing?  Were the ewes in good condition going into tupping? 

I’ve never fed ewes while tupping, not even Mules on Northumberland moorland with a little snow falling.  You won’t harm them giving them hay - my greedy lot are asking for it, and pinching from the cattle if they get the chance.  It’s very early here (north Cornwall) to be giving hay to sheep, but we didn’t get good grass growth for most of the summer, so pickings are slimmer than usual.

[bj_cardiff]

It depends on what your grazing is like, and what condition the ewes are in.

My ewes are all in VGC at the moment and now that the grass is running out fast, I'm planning on feeding haylage in 3-4 weeks. They have as much as they will eat then until the grass is back, which seems an awful long way off right now   They have a mineral bucket and if their really hungry that will vanish very quickly!


I've never fed ewe nuts throughout the winter, I start a few days, maybe a week before the first ewe is due to lamb.

[SallyintNorth]

Reading your post again, I’d say offer them a little hay for now.  If they don’t go mad for it, don’t bother with it for another few weeks, at least unless the weather turns sharply.

In general, supplementation isn’t required until 8 weeks before lambing, when the need for sugar rises sharply. Some people give molasses or licky buckets for the sugar at this time, some feed a cake. 

Depending on breed, number of lambs, and quality of ground, many of us give (more) hard feed from around 4 weeks before lambing when the growing lambs are taking up space, making it harder for the ewe to get all her nutrition from forage.  In ewes which will have big lambs and produce a lot of milk, the feed may even need to be split into two feeds so as not to overwhelm the now very constricted rumen.

[twizzel]

If they are only now tupping they shouldn’t need hard feed. Mine had an energy bucket through tupping this year as a few of my shearling ewes were on the thin side but now that the rams have come out they are just down to a standard mineral bucket and grass. As said above hay is fine if grass is short but I wouldn’t worry about cake until they are 4-6 weeks from lambing.

[Paul and Caroline]

What breed?  Where are you?  What’s the weather doing?  Were the ewes in good condition going into tupping? 

I’ve never fed ewes while tupping, not even Mules on Northumberland moorland with a little snow falling.  You won’t harm them giving them hay - my greedy lot are asking for it, and pinching from the cattle if they get the chance.  It’s very early here (north Cornwall) to be giving hay to sheep, but we didn’t get good grass growth for most of the summer, so pickings are slimmer than usual.

Hi - lots of useful info in all of the replies so far but I can't quote them all!

This is my first year of tupping and lambing.

The Ewes are texel crosses and they are very big girls (not fat just huge frames and stocky - BCS of 3 and a little bit!) that came to me as pet (Cade) lambs. The tup went in with them on 7th November so we have only just completed one cycle. They have all been covered if the raddle mark tells the truth! He will stay with them for the second cycle and I know it's very early to be worrying about nutrition just yet but as they say, forewarned is forearmed - we are in the very SW of Scotland and so far the weather is a fair bit drier than we normally have. All 8 of them are on a 2.5 acre field and if I was just overwintering Hoggs I would be happy enough that there was enough grass for maintenance however in my lambing (in)experience I read about issues such as Twin Lamb disease and other issues caused by nutritional deficiencies and would rather prevent them as opposed to treat them - if that makes sense? I will try Sallies suggestion of offering up some hay to see how they take it and I will put in a mineral lick which they can take or leave

[twizzel]

Twin lamb is only a real worry in the last 6 weeks of lambing normally, when the lambs are growing rapidly and the ewe isn’t able to eat as much as she needs to. It’s then that energy buckets or cake are used to provide extra nutrition. If they are in good condition now it won’t harm them to lose half a condition score once the tup comes out through to 6 weeks before lambing although I suspect the weather will probably help them lose a bit. They shouldn’t need any hard feed other than a handful to keep them tame until pre lambing though, just provide hay if they are getting a bit low on grass.

[fsmnutter]

Twin lamb tends to be more of a problem in ewes that are too fat coming up to lambing, because their bodies are used to a high intake which they can't maintain when the lambs are nearly fully grown and lose condition, put too much energy into their lambs and don't have enough for themselves.
As above, hay and grass should be sufficient throughout,  though a mineral bucket can be helpful to keep selenium,  cobalt and copper levels right to prevent other diseases and give strong lambs.
It can be worth scanning them (usually about 30-90 days post tupping, depending on your scanners preferences) to see how many lambs they are carrying and then you know which ewes are carrying more lambs to keep a closer eye on.
Having a twin lamb drench on hand is always useful and if you have a small number of ewes you will be able to keep a closer eye on them as lambing approaches.
Make sure you have the vet's (and/ or a local experienced lamber/farmer's) number handy for any concerns.

[SallyintNorth]

Ah, ok.  Well I would try to keep them happy and healthy without any hard feed then, if you can.  Overlarge lambs and difficult lambings are a hazard with Texels, and many breeders don’t cake at all until after lambing for that reason. 

They’re crosses so that will help, but sound chunky! 

I’d feed hay - as much as they’ll clean up in 10-15 mins - once a day for now, or from whenever they do seem really genuinely hungry.  (Always much harder to tell with cades.  They’re always greedy!)

Up the hay to twice a day from around Christmastime if the weather is poor.

Mineral bucket - *not* a feed lick, check it doesn’t have any cereal in it - from 8 weeks out.  Well, or from now if you want.  Crystallix red is the one we used to use, now we’re using a local organic product. 

You actually want them to lose a little bit of condition between now and 8 weeks from lambing, so you can keep the sugars up from then and have them on a ‘rising plane of nutrition’ as lambing approaches.

With those sheep I think I might switch to a low protein energy bucket in the last four weeks, just to make sure they’ve enough input for milk production but not so much the lambs get too large.  A neighbour in north Cumbria with similar sheep, also cades, used the Downland bucket and all was well.  ETA link https://www.downland.co.uk/product/sheep_natural_energy/