[morri2]

Hi!  Can anyone give me some advice on winter feeding whilst there is snow on the ground?  I am concerned I am not feeding my sheep enough as they cannot get to any grass at the moment - we have a foot of snow and my Dorsets do not like scratching around for grass like the native sheep here in Wales.   My 14 ewes (9 should be in lamb) are getting through almost a bale of hay and a lick bucket size portion of concentrates (a mix of nuts and coarse ration) per day, together with a mineral lick and are looking quite good on it, but my rams don't seem to be doing so well.  I have 11 of the little darlings  - 6 of them are this years lambs, 3 shearlings (which I intend to sell shortly) and 2 older tups - they are getting almost the same in hay, perhaps a touch less than the ewes, but with slightly more concentrates and they are completely uninterested in the mineral lick I've given them.  My lambs are being fed their concentrates separately from the older rams, but are looking thin.  Am I underfeeding?  Any observations would be greatly appreciated.  
Hope you are all keeping warm and well.  Cx

[dixie]

Hi I'm no expert but have 7 in lamb ewes and 5 lambs, they get a bale of hay per day, a scoop of sheep mix twice a day and have an energy bucket. They all look fine if a little fatter! sounds like your feeding more than I am. Are they wormed? have they lost condition or were they on the thin side before the snow?

[morri2]

Yes, there is a possibility they may need worming - its September since they were last dosed so that could be part of the problem.  All my rams, lambs and adults were very well covered until about a month or so ago, when the weather turned, which is why I'm concerned about the amount of feed they're getting.  I suppose trying to keep themselves warm in such arctic temperatures doesn't help either!

[Canadian Sheepfarmer]

Sounds like you could be underfeeding. How much do your bales weigh? If 60 lbs that is only 4 something pounds a day if it is all good and they all get their fair share. The bales could be 50 lbs. Also with the bad summers you have been having how is the hay quality? What kind of grass was it made from? I think this cold weather is exacerbating the situation, they burn up a lot of calories just keeping warm. Here we get nightime temps down to 30-40 below for a long stretch, I aim to give my ewes 6-7 lbs of ad lib hay a day.

If you ever come across twin-lamb disease, and I pray that you never will experience it, you will see the sense of winter feeding pregnant ewes.
It is a train wreck and there is little that you can do after the fact.
Stump up more grub and look happy would be my advice!

[shrekfeet]

feed hay ad lib whilst there is snow on the ground. Only feed as much as they will get through in a day to avoid waste and do not feed it on the ground if you can avoid this.

You should not need to feed any concentrates until Feb if you are lambing late march. Get the Sheep book mentioned elsewhere in these forums from Goodlife Press. It gives lots of details and feeding concentrates too early can be a bad thing. Now you have started you should continue but in very small amounts. You will need to provide no more than .6kg/ewe in the last 3 weeks before lambing and .45 before then. Personally I'd keep it very low right now as a fat ewe can cause problems later.
Make sure they have water but they won't need a lot. Feel their backs to check condition.

[morri2]

Thanks very much everyone!  Have wormed and upped hay ration for ram lambs - hoping for disappearing vertabrae very soon (well a month or so perhaps), snow thawing nicely now, so hoping to get some grass shortly too.

[birkb]

I kept back three tup lambs last year and they lost condition as soon as they came off their mothers (i now wish that i'd just sold them at that point...a lesson for next year!!).  They began to scour.  They got really thin and I began to feed them a small amount of hard feed and hay to supplement that.  I wormed them at that point and did them again after the prescribed period.  Needless to say i kept feeding them thereafter.  It is only now, some three months later that they are beginning to build up their body mass.  A lot of work and expense for not much return.  Having said that they have become the most obedient sheep i have come across because of all the personal attention!!

My ewes get less than you are feeding your own, last year i had a lot of "roly poly" expectant mothers by the time April came and i don't think it helped.  This year I'm not being so generous with the rations until closer to lambing.

[morri2]

Well, Birkb that sounds just like my flock - my ewes are all looking round, even those which I've not put to the ram this year!  My older rams look great (which as just as well as I am trying to sell them), but the poor ram lambs are positively skinny - they were OK when taken away from their mums, but as soon as the grass ran out and the weather turned, they lost condition very quickly.  I have now separated them from the older rams and put them back in their own field now the snow has cleared so I'm hoping the additional feeding will now take effect.  Cheers.

[shrekfeet]

Remember that spring grass is just around the corner and they will soon recover condition. If not in lamb then any shep only needs to 'survive' the winter and not gain condition