[Hazelwood Flock]

I am curious to know at what age you swap lambs from creep starter pellets to finisher pellets. I have always kept them on starter until they are old enough to eat the ewes' cake, but I'm wondering if they would 'do' better on finisher.... any thoughts? 

[bizzielizzie66]

Hi there - it depends partly on the manufacturer of the rations you are using to be honest and when you want to wean and finish them? 

Many companies these days make a creep feed that you can finish on.  Lamb finisher is actually often not that much different in protein level but usually has a higher fibre content.

Avoid Ewe food if you are feeding ram lambs because of magnesium content & possibility of urinary calculi  Lamb finisher tends to be a normal size nut which stops them "hoovering it up" as quickly as the lamb creep as they grow. Some ewe rations are 18% or 20% protein  which you don't want to finish lambs on as it can put on too much fat.

Lamb finisher also tends to be cheaper than ewe rations (and lamb creep) - so there is a small economic benefit too.  If you are intending to switch to a finisher I would do it pre-weaning (at least two weeks) so they don't lose condition during the transition.

Hope that helps   

[Hazelwood Flock]

Thanks for that, I had noticed it was a bit cheaper. My lambs have always eaten the ewe feed as do the rams. Maybe I've been lucky not to get calculi in the males....