[Young Ed]

thinking about making some silage for my store lambs i will be getting in about 2-3 months time
will they be needing silage or is it just something to feed sheep over the winter ie:breeding stock?
could i make it just in black plastic bin bags? is it just grass cuttings? collected asap?
anything else?
Cheers Ed

[farmvet]

You need to be extremely careful feeding silage to sheep.  It must be the highest quality carefully managed & eaten quickly once opened.  They are very prone to listeriosis - this is the main reason commercial farmers don't feed it unless they either accept the losses or feed poorer bales to cattle.
If you just put grass cuttings in bin bags your likely to get stinking compost!

[SallyintNorth]

Your lambs will be eating grass, hopefully, when you get them and well into the winter.  They may need some hay or straw after Christmas when there is little nourishment left in the grass, until it starts to grow again in spring.

Up here we need to give store lambs a little cake from October onwards.  I'm not sure where you are and whether yours will need cake over winter.  Keep an eye on their condition - look up how to do condition scoring - and if they are losing condition, give them a bit of cake. Just 1/2lb per head per day will make a lot of difference.

[Young Ed]

Your lambs will be eating grass, hopefully, when you get them and well into the winter.  They may need some hay or straw after Christmas when there is little nourishment left in the grass, until it starts to grow again in spring.

Up here we need to give store lambs a little cake from October onwards.  I'm not sure where you are and whether yours will need cake over winter.  Keep an eye on their condition - look up how to do condition scoring - and if they are losing condition, give them a bit of cake. Just 1/2lb per head per day will make a lot of difference.

up in 'far north west of england' i have no clue as to how the lambs grow :p but down here they can be ready at 4 months of age (kent, far southeast of england) but i will be keeping them on for 2 or 3 months after i get them in july but they will be gone before any snow and most certainly christmas as we need to eat some of the meat at christmas!

You need to be extremely careful feeding silage to sheep.  It must be the highest quality carefully managed & eaten quickly once opened.  They are very prone to listeriosis - this is the main reason commercial farmers don't feed it unless they either accept the losses or feed poorer bales to cattle.
If you just put grass cuttings in bin bags your likely to get stinking compost!

right i shall probably not do silage then! why is it safer when done in plastc barrels as in another recent thread on here as no one said anything about the health side of it? some said add molasses but i'm guessing this is nothing to do with the health side of things?
Cheers Ed

[Me]

Lots of people feed silage to sheep! Quite successfully, and yes if its spoilt Listeria is a possibility as it is in cattle. Plastic barrels may/not be safer as keeping air out is key

[Fleecewife]

But the point is that if they are on plenty of grass and will not be kept over winter, then they don't need silage anyway.  Fattening your lambs on natural sward will have them tasting sweet and tender 

[Young Ed]

But the point is that if they are on plenty of grass and will not be kept over winter, then they don't need silage anyway.  Fattening your lambs on natural sward will have them tasting sweet and tender 

good point!
whilst we are on the subject, i know with pigs for the last fortnight or week or so you feed them plenty of apples what about store lambs? do they just stay on grass or do they need some pellets or cake or other supplement?
Cheers Ed

[Me]

If they are coming up fit on grass - don't rock the boat. A pile of apples for eg would do more harm than good! If struggling in late summer with grass quality declining into autumn you may have to make a judgement call and offer feed of some kind but probably the little lambbies will fatten fine with you on grassy greeness

[Young Ed]

If they are coming up fit on grass - don't rock the boat. A pile of apples for eg would do more harm than good! If struggling in late summer with grass quality declining into autumn you may have to make a judgement call and offer feed of some kind but probably the little lambbies will fatten fine with you on grassy greeness

thanks Me!
was just saying the apples as an example of what the pigs have, and i understand that grazing animals (sheep) can't and won't eat the same stuff as munching crunching destruction machines (pigs)!

so pretty much just wait and see how they are doing and what condition they look like
Cheers Ed