Creep feeding lambs

[Bossfarmer]

I'd say you'd need two 8' double sided feeders.

750kg barley @ £120/te...................£90
240kg soya @ £350/te???...............£84
10kg mins/vits @£17.50/25kg...........£7
per tonne...(18% protein)..................£181

We are currently using a whole barley/protein pellet mix to get an 18% ration that works out at £160.50/te

If you're still feeding the ewes on that barley/soya mix, all the better, as the lambs will start nibbling at it alongside their mothers.It encourages them to eat it.
Get the creeps out ASAP - the sooner the better as it will be a while before the lambs start to take it in any quantity.
Don't put too much in the creeps for a start - they like it fresh. Keep increasing daily as they eat more. By about 5 or 6 weeks they could be eating 0.3kg(0.75lbs) a day. FCR will be really good and growth rates from the ewes milk, the creep and the really good spring grass will be in the region of 0.4 - 0.5kg of DLWG.

WARNING You are now entering into a high input system!!!!!
The success of this scenario hinges on the price of NS lambs in May/June. This is NOT ALWAYS enough to make it worthwhile - it certainly wasn't in 2016
It's anybody's guess where it will be this year - a lot of hoggs still to come to flood an already depressed market (from now until well after a lot of springers will be ready), Brexit fallout, exchange rates, NZ/Aussie imports, etc, etc. Welcome to farming's equivalent of Gamblers Anonymous. Creep feeding lambs needs a warning attached to it, just like in the betting world.................
......................................View attachment 490416
IMHO 40kg lambs in May need to be worth over £100 (ie more than 250p/kg LW) and look like this............
View attachment 490420
Best of luck @Nithsdale Farmer - we're all going to need it.

whats the advantage of feeding soya? and where can I buy it? I don't need a lot as only 40 early lambs

 

[Nithsdale]

Im talking about creeping 120 out of a 800 (hopefully) lamb crop - 650 of which to go fat... The other 150 kept as replacements.

I will hardly break the bank if it struggles to pay. But if it does work, it will pay. Itl also bring in cash flow at a time, traditionally, we have big expenditure getting ready for silage - net, wrap, diesel, machinery servicing...

A boy near me creeps all his lambs and said even last year it was worth it - he is on the valley floor with better grass, though.

@neilo i take your point about leaving them and comparing with rest of the flock, but itl not be a direct comparison anyway, as they are running the lowest, possibly best, PP i have and I'm keeping these ewes separate from the rest.

I priced up creep feeders yesterday, and my nearest supplier doesn't have any in - doesn't know when the next lot will arrive. But at the price quoted, for an experiment, it seems expensive - £290 for 8ft double sided, and i need 2. So, I think I'm going to let the lambs do themselves this year and see how i get on. Then maybe pick up feeders over the next year so i can hit the ground running next year.

Thanks all for the info - atleast now i have an idea what i should be doing

 

[yellowbelly]

whats the advantage of feeding soya? and where can I buy it?

Nice sweet smell, very palatable and high in DUP(Digestible Undegradable Protein)
Should be available from your local feed merchant - a bit expensive in 25kg bags though.

 

[Bossfarmer]

Nice sweet smell, very palatable and high in DUP(Digestible Undegradable Protein)
Should be available from your local feed merchant - a bit expensive in 25kg bags though.

better bought in a tonne bag? what ratio would i mix it with bruised barley for feeding to sheep?

 

[yellowbelly]

what ratio would i mix it with bruised barley for feeding to sheep?

See post #18 above.

 

[Bossfarmer]

right so a quarter roughly

 

[liammogs]

Im talking about creeping 120 out of a 800 (hopefully) lamb crop - 650 of which to go fat... The other 150 kept as replacements.

I will hardly break the bank if it struggles to pay. But if it does work, it will pay. Itl also bring in cash flow at a time, traditionally, we have big expenditure getting ready for silage - net, wrap, diesel, machinery servicing...

A boy near me creeps all his lambs and said even last year it was worth it - he is on the valley floor with better grass, though.

@neilo i take your point about leaving them and comparing with rest of the flock, but itl not be a direct comparison anyway, as they are running the lowest, possibly best, PP i have and I'm keeping these ewes separate from the rest.

I priced up creep feeders yesterday, and my nearest supplier doesn't have any in - doesn't know when the next lot will arrive. But at the price quoted, for an experiment, it seems expensive - £290 for 8ft double sided, and i need 2. So, I think I'm going to let the lambs do themselves this year and see how i get on. Then maybe pick up feeders over the next year so i can hit the ground running next year.

Thanks all for the info - atleast now i have an idea what i should be doing

Have a look on ebay and any 'for sale' pages on facebook!! The walk in style feeder tend to be cheaper!

 

[andybk]

Have a look on ebay and any 'for sale' pages on facebook!! The walk in style feeder tend to be cheaper!

usually some in the collective sales this time of year , i recon to pay 50- 80 for a reasonable one always better to have more than you need , got a couple of this big shed ones as well , they are very good as shelter for early lambs outside though moving them between fields can be a bit more of a headache

 

[liammogs]

usually some in the collective sales this time of year , i recon to pay 50- 80 for a reasonable one always better to have more than you need , got a couple of this big shed ones as well , they are very good as shelter for early lambs outside though moving them between fields can be a bit more of a headache

As said about the shelter ones come in handy for smaller lambs seeking shelter if the weather is unfavourable!

 

[Jerry]

As said about the shelter ones come in handy for smaller lambs seeking shelter if the weather is unfavourable!

I much prefer the shelter type. Not least because the keep the feed dry. The ladder double sided ones end up wet if it's blowing a little when raining.

 

[Nithsdale]

Have a look on ebay and any 'for sale' pages on facebook!! The walk in style feeder tend to be cheaper!

None on eBay within 150miles - and i don't have time to go collect.


Will keep an eye out over the year. There's farm sales coming up late April & May so should get something somewhere

 

[yellowbelly]

There's farm sales coming up late April & May so should get something somewhere

Make sure you inspect the bottoms of them well - very prone to rotting out

Come to think of it, I could sell you mine............

............if I was starting again I would have all 3 in 1 feeders - they're dual purpose, you can use them as creeps and also to feed ewes in the winter. Immediately post lambing you can feed ewes at one side and creep lambs at the other. What's not to like? - other than the price

 

[andybk]

Make sure you inspect the bottoms of them well - very prone to rotting out

Come to think of it, I could sell you mine............

............if I was starting again I would have all 3 in 1 feeders - they're dual purpose, you can use them as creeps and also to feed ewes in the winter. Immediately post lambing you can feed ewes at one side and creep lambs at the other. What's not to like? - other than the price

they are good as you say we have had one a few years , but no doubt , the rust will get them the same in a few years , when that slot blocks and gets left for a few months , and be a lot harder to repair , new one 3 x the price of normal creep .

 

[tepapa]

Beat me to it. I would buy 3 in 1 and put it to use feeding ewes before and after lambing and creep lambs after.

 

[irish dom]

Jesus feeding ewes before and after lambing and creeping lambs. Hard to make a turn on them with all that carry on. Would improving pasture quality and grazing infrastructure in order to utilise grass better make more sense and return more.

 

[Iain289]

and

Do you have any calf creep feeders spare at this time of year? I've put a wee platform in ours and put a lamb creep gates at the front for lambs.
Pain in the arse to move but calf feeders sit rusting at this this of year so might as well doing something!

 

[gatepost]

Jesus feeding ewes before and after lambing and creeping lambs. Hard to make a turn on them with all that carry on. Would improving pasture quality and grazing infrastructure in order to utilise grass better make more sense and return more.

Depends where you are, not every one has the benefit of grass growing farms and a long season, even reseeds won't grow without warmth, I have rams away on tack, they have had grass growing too them all winter and are now standing in 6 inches, at home no growth yet as such, ferti already applied, just turned green, hence feeding ewes, no choice, that's the difference of 900ft.

 

[David.]

Buying secondhand feeders is a perfect way to buy orf onto a clean farm

 

[Nithsdale]

Buying secondhand feeders is a perfect way to buy orf onto a clean farm

Ever heard of disinfectant?

 

[Glomulinman]

Forgotten in all this is the fertilizer value of the nutrionaly enhanced dung and the ability to seed clover in the pasture by putting some well bred clover sees in with the feed,I would appreciate some idea of the fertilizer value as I have been unable to find any info on this at all.