[Bramham Wiltshire Horns]

HI all

so i finsihed my Lambing yesterday all lambed within 12 days, had 11 ewes lamb.

20 lambs in total, 12 ewes and 8 tups (6-4 Wilts and 6-4 Hampshire X)

6 ewes to the pedigree Wiltshire tup and 5 to a Hampshire Down tup

SCANNED 18 lambs 23 born, 3 perished and when i look back there was nothing i could have done to save the lambs, no matter how much you blame yourself.

1 set of Quads (scanned twins)
1 set of triplets (scanned twins)

i have took 2 off the quads and 1 off the triplet, mumm was feeding them but didnt want her to go downhill, they had plenty of colostrum and mums milk and they are now feeding off a bucket feeder (dont know why i haven't got one sooner)

so Question

do i wean around 4-6 weeks and at what stage do i introduce creep, there is hay on the pen for them to nibble at and they are drinking around a Litre each Adlib through the day.

previous years we have only had one pet lamb and during lockdown it hasnt been too hard to feed via bottle but with these 3 i wouldnt mind getting them weane quicker (obviously when they are ready i wouldnt push them too hard.

regards

Ryan

[twizzel]

Wean closer to 6 weeks, creep from 1-2 weeks, coarse mix will get them eating quicker than creep pellets then gradually change to pellets a week or so before weaning. I had 5 on an ad-lib feeder this year, they were drinking 12 litres milk a day between them but grew very well. Weaned abruptly (finished the milk powder bag!) when the oldest was 6.5 weeks and youngest 5.5 weeks. They went from 12litres a day to none, cold turkey, and transitioned to pellets and hay better than when I phased the milk out gradually in previous years.

[Bramham Wiltshire Horns]

hi Twizzel

what quantities of feed should i offer them and Protein %, would they scour?

as they are on 1ltre each per day at minute when should i increase the amount of milk?

[twizzel]

The aim with ad lib is not to let the feeder be emptied, as then the lambs go a period of time without milk on tap and gorge when it is filled again. So I think mine went over a litre after a few days on the feeder, and once feeding properly from it, switch to cold milk- it’ll stop them gorging, but also help prevent bloat.


Creep is normally 18%, again I tend to offer that ad-lib, they won’t eat much until a week or 2 before weaning. I’ve never had any scour problems with this system.

[Bramham Wiltshire Horns]

thanks for that

i have them on cold milk so will keep an eye on the feeder see how quick they are taking it.

thanksfor the advice

[SallyintNorth]

The rumen is barely functional up until 6 weeks, and reaches fully functional at 8 weeks.  So I would say don't wean earlier than 6 weeks unless you really have to.  Between 6 and 8 weeks it's a judgement call balancing risk of bloat in your management system, when the bag of milk powder runs out, etc. 

[Bramham Wiltshire Horns]

thanks Sally