[Dans]

Hi,

Possibly a bit of an unusual question. I'm trying to manage our ewes, ewe lambs and ram lambs. What kind of score am I looking for them? The ewe's aren't in lamb, we are taking a year off and will tup them in 2018 so I don't want them to get too fat, which I've heard can happen if they skip a year. Everything I am finding is suggesting a BCS for in lamb ewes. The ewe lambs haven't been tupped and the ram lambs haven't worked this year. Any suggestions? Thanks

Dans

[sheeponthebrain]

without concentrates their unlikely to get too fat over the winter.  you may have to keep the ewes tightly stocked over the summer months as that s when they'll really start to put on excess fat which could affect tupping.

[Dans]

Thank you, we've been giving the ewes some ewe nuts on the cold days as there isn't much shelter where they are and the boys have had non-molassed coarse mix. I've been checking their BCS whenever they come up for feeding from me (my OH does most of the feeds) and they seem to be stable (I think a 2, maybe 2.5). I'll remember to keep them tight for summer. Thanks again

Dans

[bj_cardiff]

How much grass do you have and at you feeding hay? If you have loads of grass then I wouldn't think they need anything else. If you have no grass then feed ad-lib hay, I wouldn't think they need anything else. At this time of year I think its most important for them to get as much grass or hay as they can eat and worry about their weight when the weather is better. It must be really horrible to be cold and hungry!

[Dans]

Not much grass left at the moment but they are on as much hay as they can eat. We started putting out hard feed on cold nights and frosty mornings but should probably start cutting back on it again. They have started making a fuss if the hard feed doesn't come now though and I hate the thought of them being cold and hungry.

Dans

[twizzel]

It’s the hay/grass fibre that will heat them from inside as its digested. If they are empty it would not hurt to take a check in condition over the winter so that when spring and summer comes they don’t get too fat. A handful of nuts once a week to keep them tame if you don’t have a dog, and a good quality mineral lick (not feed lick!) should suffice. Any animal getting hard feed regularly will get used to it and be waiting for it at that time of the day but it doesn’t mean they need it 

[SallyintNorth]

Sheep have fabulous insulation, they can stand a lot of cold, provided they’ve got plenty of forage. It’s the wet stuff that does the damage.  So unless it’s unrelentingly wet, personally I wouldn’t think barren native ewes in Lincolnshire need any hard feed, but maybe a mineral lick or Himalayan rock salt would be a good idea. A little extra feed for ewe lambs won’t go amiss, especially in a hard winter.

If feeding hard food, don’t be on-off with it. Their digestions have to adapt, so feeding it just when the weather takes a turn is almost counter-productive. If you will need it when the weather is bad, get them on it sooner and keep them on it until the bad weather has passed.  Once a day is best for sheep, IMO.  Always with ad ib forage, of course.

The above is one reason we’ve switched to grass nuts.  No change to digestion needed, or very little. We use the Dengie All Stock ones.

We’re in North Cornwall though. I’d have tried the grass nuts in Cumbria if I’d known about them, but I can’t say if I’d have been as pleased with them in that more severe climate.

I always fed a 16% all stock ration through winter to all my sheep up there, btw.  Just maybe 1/4lb a day a head for the native types.  So far down here I haven’t fed any nuts this year, and the pregnant sheep are doing fine. I’m in two minds about feeding for the final two months; maybe just the first timers (who went to a Heb tup; the others went to a Romney so I don’t want lambs growing too large) and the Zwartbles .  The hoggs may need a bit of feed if the evil wet weather continues; they don’t have the reserves the older sheep do.