[Liz Kershaw]

i'd like to start my week old lambs on a little concentrate ... All the info available says start with 'a small amount' but am not sure exactly what this means ... A few pellets? One of mine is tiny so I imagine her rumen is pretty tiny too. How do others do it? Both are feeding fine from mum, the grass isn't brilliant in their area yet and I'm not interested in early weaning so the concentrate and mum can carry on in tandem. Thanks in advance for any info, we are very new at this.

[Melmarsh]

Hi!  If they're feeding well off mum then I wouldn't bother as your not in a hurry for them to go. If mum needs or has concentrates for a while they will start by nibbling hers. If you feed the lambs then you will need some way of not letting the ewe eat it all !! I finish my few off grass and feed the ewesfor a couple of weeks after lambing to aid milk production by which time the grass is well on the way weather permitting. Good Luck whatever you decide. Other members may do things differently for their own reasons

[SallyintNorth]

If you're feeding mum, they'll copy her.  So make sure the cake she's getting is suitable for lambs (especially if any of the lambs are males), and spread it well out so they can nibble on at a bit while she feeds - if you put it in a heap, she'll push them away from it

IME they don'tdo more than play with hard feed for at least the first two weeks, often three.

[Marches Farmer]

If you're finishing them for the freezer and they're native breeds they should do fine on Mama and grass alone.  Ours are born in March and I get those we'll be eating to the abattoir by the end of November.  I supplement the ewes for the first three weeks after lambing, so they can produce plenty of milk without losing too much condition.  By that time the grass will be growing away well and the lambs will start to eat it regularly.  If you want to take them to slaughter fairly young and/or they're Continental or Contenental X breeds then you can feed the lambs creep feed, but you'll need either a special feeder or a trough the crows can't get at behind a creep hurdle. 

[Liz Kershaw]

Thanks all, we have two lambs, one ram and one ewe. Mum is currently getting ewe nuts but I've kept the lambs away from that. If I swap to feeding mum lamb nuts, then the ram could eat them? We're growing the flock, so the lambs will not be sent to slaughter (even the tup, who I intend to wether if he's not looking good enough to sell on as a breeding lamb - he's our first success!!).  They've started to nibble on grass and hay but reading other posts, are probably not getting very far with it as food at the moment. The tiny lamb is a feisty little thing, but sometimes loses out to big twin brother on the milk hence my wanting to supplement a little if I can (she won't take a bottle).

[Hellybee]

Yeah mum can eat the small nuts, perhaps put a ewe bucket with her too. 

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Liz,


  the tiny lamb may be small because she is a bit on the smaller side anyhow not just because of the big boy hogging the milk. If she is healthy and strong she will get her turn and I would suggest focusing on encouraging mums milk production with grass or concentrate if needed rather than trying to feed the lamb. That way mum will have enough milk for two and your little girl will get all that she needs regardless of her brothers apatite. After all, he can only monopolize one teat at a time so there will always be one free for his sister.


One week is still early days and there is lots of time for her to start catching up to her brother in her second and 3rd weeks. The the first 4 months is the optimum time for lambs to convert what they eat into growth so there is time for her to grow up in her own way or with the addition of concentrates. A week old is too young for her to deal with concentrates and if she is a little bit behind her brother she will be better filling up on milk at this stage. She will copy mum and eat grass but if she has hay available to nibble on this will scratch her rumen and that is what prepares it for the transition from milk to solids.


Try and sit on your hands a bit with this one and focus on mums milk production. If you are really keen to introduce the lambs to concentrate then focus on the ram as he seems more advanced and leave mums milk for the ewe lamb.

[Liz Kershaw]

Thanks Buffy, that's really helpful. I tried showing them the lamb nuts yesterday - zero interest so I think I'll hold off for another week or so as you suggest. Both the lambs have started nibbling on grass, and I've put a few hay bales around their area for wind shelter and they both have a nibble on those too. Mum has got hay, grass and water, and is having concentrate twice daily (2 x 400g).

[Hellybee]

Right enough Buffy 

[Penninehillbilly]

I know mine are goats but bought some lamb creep pellets for them - no interest. bought some calf mix for them - no interest. yet they try to eat mums coarse ration - thats about £19 wasted so far  .

[SallyintNorth]

IME most lambs don't like most creep feeds for a long time, and most calves don't like most calf feeds ever

However, lambs seem to love Champion Tup Mix, so that's what pet lambs get here.  They start playing with it in their third week and eat it properly by 3 weeks old.

Lambs out in the field with their mums will copy mum eating whatever you give her.  As soon as we have a reasonable number of lambs mouthing on at the ewe nuts we switch to Davidsons' Pearl Lamb Non-GM Lamb nuts, and any sheep that are being fed get that all summer. 

For all that the lambs in the field seem to like the Pearl Lamb Nuts, they don't seem to be as appealing to the pet lambs at first; I think in the absence of a mum to copy, the variety of shape, size, taste and texture in a mix is more likely to tempt a baby pallette.

(Oh, and it's taken me some time, but I have now found an equally appealing calf starter feed.  Would you believe it's Champion Calf Starter.)