Feeding barley and peas to lambs

[Arthur Living]

Hi there,

For a start I will say I only have 60 odd lambs run alongside arable.

I would like to push them on a bit to get some of them away. About a 1/3rd of them are just about there but seem to have been static growth wise since the weather turned. The other 2/3rds I am happy to run long term on stubble turnips.

I have some barley and peas left over after the full loads were taken which is just going to be in the way for the rest of the year. I have a basic hobby type grain mill which will cope with peas but it makes flour rather than rolled product.

What would be your suggestions?

 

[neilo]

Don't roll either, feed them whole and introduce slowly. If you process grain it becomes more rapidly digestible, increasing the risk of rumen acidosis.

Mix so that you get around a 15% protein ration, and don't forget the minerals.

 

[Northern territory]

Anyone ever fed beans whole?

 

[Arthur Living]

Don't roll either, feed them whole and introduce slowly. If you process grain it becomes more rapidly digestible, increasing the risk of rumen acidosis.

Mix so that you get around a 15% protein ration, and don't forget the minerals.

When you say slowly where should I start / end up ? I guess 1/3 peas 2/3 barley ratio would be about right?

 

[michael N123]

Feed crushed barly to a few thousand lambs every year as long as you introduce it properly and don’t keep them to long there’s no problems

 

[yellowbelly]

When you say slowly where should I start / end up ? I guess 1/3 peas 2/3 barley ratio would be about right?

540 kg barley
450kg peas
10kg min/vit
would be about 17% protein

Start off with a little bit in the troughs and build up over 10-12 days to about 1lb/head/day.
When they've been on that a bit you can increase to maybe 1.5lb/hd/day or even ad lib if you like.

 

[neilo]

Feed crushed barly to a few thousand lambs every year as long as you introduce it properly and don’t keep them to long there’s no problems

Maybe so, but there's no advantage to processing the grain and it just increases the risk of acidosis.

 

[neilo]

Anyone ever fed beans whole?

We fed whole beans mixed with cereals to in-lamb ewes on the farm I did my sandwich year on (1988/9). We mixed it with minerals and a bit of molasses to stick it together and increase palatability iirc. It seemed to work OK.