Feeding molasses inside

[TexelBen]

We house lambing ewes around Xmas, and turn them out just after lambing in early April. Stops them destroying our land as we're on heavy clay.
Last year we fed hay and cake.
Would haylage and molasses do them in the earlier stages then swap to cake later on?

 

[livestock 1]

We house lambing ewes around Xmas, and turn them out just after lambing in early April. Stops them destroying our land as we're on heavy clay.
Last year we fed hay and cake.
Would haylage and molasses do them in the earlier stages then swap to cake later on?

What type of ewes do you have? If they are Texel ewes then yes more than likely. I use promol 20 for inlamb ewes which is molasses and urea for the protein. It is not as good as using cake in my experience but that will be depending on intakes and haulage quality which varies a lot in my case

 

[TexelBen]

What type of ewes do you have? If they are Texel ewes then yes more than likely. I use promol 20 for inlamb ewes which is molasses and urea for the protein. It is not as good as using cake in my experience but that will be depending on intakes and haulage quality which varies a lot in my case

They are mainly texel and texel cross ewes, will probably start scaling around 6-8 weeks prelambing, just wanted to cut down the cake bill a bit!

 

[livestock 1]

They are mainly texel and texel cross ewes, will probably start scaling around 6-8 weeks prelambing, just wanted to cut down the cake bill a bit!

Should be ok. I use the molasses with protein.

 

[TexelBen]

Should be ok. I use the molasses with protein.

I'd looked at that promol 20 when I was googling, how do you feed it?
With a wheel/ball feeder?

 

[livestock 1]

I'd looked at that promol 20 when I was googling, how do you feed it?
With a wheel/ball feeder?

Just in the wheel feeders. My biggest gripe with it is the chew on feeding the stuff

 

[aangus]

Just in the wheel feeders. My biggest gripe with it is the chew on feeding the stuff

What would the intake per ewe per day be?

 

[livestock 1]

What would the intake per ewe per day be?

I couldn’t tell you accurately. If they are outside and it’s clashy weather they will take more than they would inside but the urea one is supposed to be self limiting where as pure cane isn’t they just eat it all the time

 

[neilo]

Whenever I've tried using liquid feed inside with a ball feeder, intakes have been much higher than outside and they've squitted on it a bit. I always thought they were taking it out of boredom. It certainly reduces the need for concentrates, but if intakes are too high then the cost saving isn't much to shout about. The triplets will take more though, which is better for them holding condition, rather than everything having the same ration if you don't separate them.

I dread to think what intakes would be like with straight cane molasses, or how loose they'd be.

 

[livestock 1]

Whenever I've tried using liquid feed inside with a ball feeder, intakes have been much higher than outside and they've squitted on it a bit. I always thought they were taking it out of boredom. It certainly reduces the need for concentrates, but if intakes are too high then the cost saving isn't much to shout about. The triplets will take more though, which is better for them holding condition, rather than everything having the same ration if you don't separate them.

I dread to think what intakes would be like with straight cane molasses, or how loose they'd be.

The urea ones are supposed to be self limiting. Our sheep take less of this than the pure cane. When we reach late January the weather can be extreme here and intakes are higher due to us basically feeding the weather. I could do a calculation per head but it’s not accurate as sheep are getting other things too. In busy times liquid feed is a good way to reduce daily labour here.

 

[yellowbelly]

I reckon @Gator sometimes feeds it inside??

 

[Gator]

I reckon @Gator sometimes feeds it inside??

Aye

 

[livestock 1]

Better than five gallon drums

 

[Gator]

Better than five gallon drums

And cleaner

 

[Gator]

Better than five gallon drums

And feeding outside too

 

[TexelBen]

Aye

How do you get on with it? Do you feed with cake or instead of?

 

[Gator]

How do you get on with it? Do you feed with cake or instead of?

Got on ok with it but i didnt use any last year, they just went through to fast, gave um tubs last year and as daft as it sounds it worked out cheaper

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Whenever I've tried using liquid feed inside with a ball feeder, intakes have been much higher than outside and they've squitted on it a bit. I always thought they were taking it out of boredom. It certainly reduces the need for concentrates, but if intakes are too high then the cost saving isn't much to shout about. The triplets will take more though, which is better for them holding condition, rather than everything having the same ration if you don't separate them.

I dread to think what intakes would be like with straight cane molasses, or how loose they'd be.

I tried blocks inside. They stood around the block all day until it had gone -same with liquid. No idea why they had loads of grub in front of them