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Author Topic: Lifeline licks for lamb and ewe  (Read 2859 times)

tommytink

  • Joined Aug 2018
Lifeline licks for lamb and ewe
« on: January 20, 2020, 11:11:09 pm »
Our sheep have the farm co-op branded mineral buckets but looking to get the Lifeline lamb and ewe to help with the last section of pregnancy. Does anyone know if these are okay for rams to have access to??

twizzel

  • Joined Apr 2012
Re: Lifeline licks for lamb and ewe
« Reply #1 on: January 21, 2020, 07:22:47 am »
No I don’t think they are, there is too much magnesium in them if you have a read of this link below. I would not risk it.
https://www.glanbiaconnect.com/farm-management/detail/article/urinary-calculi-in-sheep

tommytink

  • Joined Aug 2018
Re: Lifeline licks for lamb and ewe
« Reply #2 on: January 21, 2020, 08:49:01 am »
Here’s one of the licks we’ve used.

tommytink

  • Joined Aug 2018
Re: Lifeline licks for lamb and ewe
« Reply #3 on: January 21, 2020, 08:53:15 am »
And the other.
They prefer the high energy one. The high energy one looks more beneficial for pre-lambing maybe?
It’s only for the Radnors as they still have the tup with them. The Badgers are on their own now.
Would the Lifeline block be preferable over these two for the Badgers?
Getting confused and definitely don’t want to cause any problems with my ram.
 

twizzel

  • Joined Apr 2012
Re: Lifeline licks for lamb and ewe
« Reply #4 on: January 21, 2020, 08:54:59 am »
Unless it specifically says suitable for all sheep or rams, or the manufacturer says it’s ok, I would not feed to rams. One of the reasons we remove rams from the ewes after tupping is their dietary needs are very different. Rams need calcium : phosphorous ratio greater than 3:1, and low magnesium intake.


Edit the second one might be better but check the cal/phos ratio and mag content as per the link above.


I know mole valley blue and green energy buckets are both suitable for rams as this was confirmed by MV staff
« Last Edit: January 21, 2020, 08:56:52 am by twizzel »

tommytink

  • Joined Aug 2018
Re: Lifeline licks for lamb and ewe
« Reply #5 on: January 21, 2020, 09:29:12 am »
The ewe care 3in1 says to boost fertility in tups and ewes, and the high energy one says use for all classes of sheep. I did ask in the co-op and they said it was okay for both which is why I’ve left them in there. The Radnors were a bit fussy over the ewe care one (it is a lower intake but they weren’t touching it hardly at all) so they’ve gone back to high energy.
It’s only for this year as next year we’ll hopefully have some company for our ram. I don’t want to split him off by himself now as I think he’d go a bit mad!

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Lifeline licks for lamb and ewe
« Reply #6 on: January 21, 2020, 10:04:43 am »
The ewe care 3in1 says to boost fertility in tups and ewes, and the high energy one says use for all classes of sheep.

They should both be fine, then.

Ewes need extra glucose in the last 6-8 weeks of pregnancy, so a high energy or molassed lick is a good idea then. 

Some "licks" aren't so much licks as feed blocks, and may contain quite a bit of soya.  We avoid those but they suit some people / sheep / systems.

And you're right, the tup needs company :hugsheep:
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

tommytink

  • Joined Aug 2018
Re: Lifeline licks for lamb and ewe
« Reply #7 on: January 21, 2020, 11:47:37 am »
I’ll get the Lifeline for the Badgers then and grab another high energy for the Radnors. It’s always nice to double check as the guy in the co-op has told me a couple of things which ended up not being right  ::)

Grass is pretty sparse at the moment. We’ve brought them all back but we didn’t really get them off in time (inexperience plus we didn’t have anything set up) and the bad weather started really early. We’re saving a couple of fields for lambing. They are getting hay each day and with these licks as well I’m hoping it’ll cover the majority of bases.

I imagine everyone gets low on grass in the end - what do people do? I always thought this is what the hay is for? Other half sees people (with far more land than us) rotating theirs onto grass and says we should be doing the same and we need to find tack but surely smaller outfits like ourselves are only going to have access to a limited amount of new pasture...?

bj_cardiff

  • Joined Feb 2017
  • Carmarthenshire
Re: Lifeline licks for lamb and ewe
« Reply #8 on: January 21, 2020, 01:01:56 pm »
I imagine everyone gets low on grass in the end - what do people do? I always thought this is what the hay is for?

My grazing has pretty much gone this time of year. I have fields I took the sheep off in December resting and it should (fingers crossed) have enough to turn out lambs in March.

I feed haylage in the field. What is your hay like? Sheep are incredibly fussy where hay/haylage is concerned and will sometimes go without rather than eat it. Mine won't touch anything stalky at all. The haylage I have at the moment is perfect for them, very soft and leafy, not coarse and stalky

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Lifeline licks for lamb and ewe
« Reply #9 on: January 21, 2020, 04:11:16 pm »
By this time of the year, grass - even if present - has lost a lot of its nutritional content.  Pregnant ewes need more than that!  So yes, feed good hay or haylage, and in the last 6-8 weeks, unless you know the forage is giving them enough, also feed pellets / cake of some sort - or feed blocks.  In my experience, winter grass plus hay plus licks is not enough for twin-bearers (due March / April) in the northern uplands ;).

Note that if the ewe is depleting her own resources to feed the growing foetuses, you may not see all of the effects in her condition score, and she may suffer metabolic problems - twin lamb disease and the like.  So feed plenty of glucose (molassed licks are a good source), and if in doubt, a little cake, in the last 6-8 weeks, or risk problems such as TLD, difficult lambings, insufficient milk, etc, etc, etc.  Of course, too much cake can produce over-sized lambs and difficult lambings, so you do have to find the right balance for your sheep, land and conditions!!
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

tommytink

  • Joined Aug 2018
Re: Lifeline licks for lamb and ewe
« Reply #10 on: January 22, 2020, 07:50:13 am »
The hay we made this year is not the best. Another debacle that won’t happen this year now we know someone that can help! Luckily (I think because their mountain/hill breeds) they are less fussy than a lowland breed and will eat it.

So we have not much grass (how do you stop them poaching it when it’s low??!) but we do have hay, lick blocks, and cake. I’ve read about and attempted condition scoring and I can always feel the spine and I can make out the ribs. They aren’t protruding. So I think they’re probably about right, although I read hill breeds should have a lower score than lowlands.

I am aware that this is first time for all of them and definitely want to avoid big lambs.

twizzel

  • Joined Apr 2012
Re: Lifeline licks for lamb and ewe
« Reply #11 on: January 22, 2020, 09:32:03 am »
The only time in the last 3 years of lambings I’ve had a case of twin lamb was when the high energy bucket ran out and a ewe with triplets needed treating 3 days before she lambed. Unfortunately I’d been in bed with proper flu and whilst the sheep were fed and watered nobody had noticed the lick bucket was empty.


Unless you’re stuffing 1 kilo of cake into them or they all have singles I doubt they will have big lambs. But seeing they are a hill breed they may be genetically more disposed to having singles so maybe give them energy buckets in the last 4 weeks and introduce a little cake from 2 weeks out if you don’t know what’s inside them. Feeding is an art... I got it wrong last year as a lot of my ewes were scanned incorrectly and therefore weren’t fed properly (scanner said they were about 160% but actually they were 225%), but hopefully this year with a new scanner we will have better luck with feeding levels.

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Lifeline licks for lamb and ewe
« Reply #12 on: January 22, 2020, 10:33:33 am »
I have had big singles on not much cake, but that was Mule ewes to a Beltex/Texel tup. 

Big single tup lambs in horned breeds can be a problem :o
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

 

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