Liquid Feed for In Lamb Ewes

Jerry

Member

Mixed Farmer

Location

Devon

• Nov 9, 2019

• #1

Just exploring options for in lamb ewes ready for when they move onto stubble turnips in 3 weeks time.

Currently on OK grass and in decent condition.

They all have a mayo bolus pre tupping as always short of Cobalt here and turnips low in iodine. Mayo say bolus lasts 6 months so should be covered till post lambing mid Feb.

Turnips this year have a lot of leaf, not a great deal of bulb. (I might supplement them with fodder beet as they is a potential to buy some locally, not agreed a price yet)

They will have access to a grass run back and also decent haylage.

Toying with the idea of putting out some feeders and filling from IBC on loader.

What sort of feeders are the best (wheel/ball?) and is liquid a more cost effective/better option than feed blocks to get a bit more energy in the?

Last year I had no twin lamb disease but the turnips were far better and I did not need to use many feed blocks.

 

Guiggs

Member

Location

Leicestershire

• Nov 9, 2019

• #2

I have the ball type feeders, it's a pretty messy job filling them but I'm happy with the results of liquid feeding.
It's far cheaper than blocks and theres less pushing and shoving than feeding concentrate.
I use Dennis Brinicombe easy sheep 22 last year as I had young ewes but having brought some broken mouthed this year I'll use the easy lamb as its higher energy, bit more money but hopefully money well spent.

 

neilo

Member

Mixed Farmer

Location

Montgomeryshire

• Nov 9, 2019

• #3

As above, ball feeders every time, and much cheaper than blocks.

Make sure to use a liquid feed with urea in it (like Brinicombe’s), as the urea makes it self limiting. Cheaper liquids are just straight molasses and the just drink it like toffee, so you end up with sheep covered in the stuff and loose muck making them daggy. The dearer feeds are usually much cheaper in the end ime.

I can’t say that I’ve ever found it a particularly messy job when I’ve used it. I used to feed many thousands of litres years ago (when it was much cheaper) filling 25L drums from fruit juice barrels on pallets, then decanting from those to the feeders in the field. More recently i’ve Sat an incredible on a pile of pallets on the other side of a fence to the feeders, then topped them up with a 2” hose. Again, a clean enough job.

 

Dkb

Member

• Nov 9, 2019

• #4

Last year I fed the ewes in two bunches one on just pulled beet out of a hopper and bales of hay.

And another bunch on just pure rape

Then 2 weeks before lambing I put them out to grass and they all lambs fine. So if you had enough stubble turnips I don’t know if you’d need to bother with the molasses at all would you?

 

sherg

Member

Location

shropshire

• Nov 9, 2019

• #5

Have a look at @Gator coming home for lambing thread he feeds a lot of it

 

Gator

Never Forgotten

Honorary Member

Location

Lancashire

• Nov 10, 2019

• #6

I use ball feeders, fed from a 400 litre barrel through a pipe on the back of the gator. No mess compared to trying to pour it out of 5 gallon drums.

 

S

spanner

Member

Location

derbyshire

• Nov 10, 2019

• #7

Watch with the urea ones. We had some get the lid of a rumenco wheel feeder and emptied it. Ended up with 6 dead ewes ?

 

Downton_shep

Member

Location

Leintwardine

• Nov 10, 2019

• #8

I’m not sure you’d need much more energy especially if you go down the fodder beet route.

 

neilo

Member

Mixed Farmer

Location

Montgomeryshire

• Nov 10, 2019

• #9

spanner said:

Watch with the urea ones. We had some get the lid of a rumenco wheel feeder and emptied it. Ended up with 6 dead ewes ?

Click to expand...

Crikey. I fed it for years and, thankfully, never The worst I ever had was a few ewes getting the squats for a day or two.

 

P

penntor

Member

Livestock Farmer

Location

sw devon

• Nov 11, 2019

• #10

I have a 6 wheel feeder connected to an IBC. I use Denis Brinicombe Easysheep 18. I buy 1200L at a time split into 2 IBC's, just open the tap once a day to fill feeder and replace IBC when empty. I prefer wheel feeders to ball feeders as I have seen sheep push the ball down and drink the feed rather than lick it off.
A friend of mine had a ewe who would take a mouthful of hay/silage from the round feeder, run over to the ball feeder, push the hay into it and soak it in liquid feed before eating it!

 

L

livestock 1

Member

• Nov 11, 2019

• #11

If you feed fodderbeet you will have no twin lamb disease. If you are feeding ewes for the purpose of stopping twin lamb I would use pure cane molasses the thick stuff. I feed promol 20 which is molasses with 20% urea. I prefer when I can get it pure cane molasses mixed 50/50 with potale. It’s not meant to be fed to sheep as the potale has traces of copper from the pipewok ect. We are very short in copper here so we can use it with success. I wouldn’t advise it if you have texels or/and not deficient in copper. There’s thousands of tonnes of it sold for sheep in our area. I feed fodderbeet so need the protein more than you will for stubble turnips.
Blocks are for millionaires unless they are for fell ewes

 

hally

Member

Livestock Farmer

Location

cumbria

• Mar 5, 2021

• #12

livestock 1 said:

If you feed fodderbeet you will have no twin lamb disease. If you are feeding ewes for the purpose of stopping twin lamb I would use pure cane molasses the thick stuff. I feed promol 20 which is molasses with 20% urea. I prefer when I can get it pure cane molasses mixed 50/50 with potale. It’s not meant to be fed to sheep as the potale has traces of copper from the pipewok ect. We are very short in copper here so we can use it with success. I wouldn’t advise it if you have texels or/and not deficient in copper. There’s thousands of tonnes of it sold for sheep in our area. I feed fodderbeet so need the protein more than you will for stubble turnips.
Blocks are for millionaires unless they are for fell ewes

Click to expand...

Just resurrecting this thread, who in your area do you get your molasses off?

 

L

livestock 1

Member

• Mar 5, 2021

• #13

hally said:

Just resurrecting this thread, who in your area do you get your molasses off?

Click to expand...

Peter Robinson do you want his number?

 

hally

Member

Livestock Farmer

Location

cumbria

• Mar 5, 2021

• #14

livestock 1 said:

Peter Robinson do you want his number?

Click to expand...

I would appreciate that, does he deliver?
our feed supplier sells it but I have to pick it up and they are an hour away. Went the other day for a couple of IBC in the cattle trailer, an hour trip to get there, waited an hour to get filled and they didn’t have a handler big enough to reach into my trailer so had a bloody scary ride home with 2 ton balanced in the back of the trailer

 

L

livestock 1

Member

• Mar 5, 2021

• #15

hally said:

I would appreciate that, does he deliver?
our feed supplier sells it but I have to pick it up and they are an hour away. Went the other day for a couple of IBC in the cattle trailer, an hour trip to get there, waited an hour to get filled and they didn’t have a handler big enough to reach into my trailer so had a bloody scary ride home with 2 ton balanced in the back of the trailer

Click to expand...

Yes he delivers. You can’t be fing on like that will get number later.

 

L

livestock 1

Member

• Mar 5, 2021

• #16