Feeding Pregnant ewes advice please.

[FlockingHard]

Hello all,

Im pretty new to sheep farming and until now have just searched FF posts for answers but can’t find an answer to this one.

I have today housed my 60 improved welsh ewes,due to lamb from 21st March.

I have 4 20x14 pens with walk throughs in between. Until now they have had ad lib access to haylage from 2 circle feeders.

I have a per day concentrate feeding plan- .25 kg nuts for singles all the way through, twins .25 week one increasing by .25 each week till on 1kg in week four then that’s it. Plan to split the feeds into two smaller AM and PM feeds.

I also plan to give them some haylage, fed down the walk throughs? How much? When? Do I put that in first then but on top? Or nuts first then haylage down? I don’t want over/ underfeed!
Today I put nuts down, waited till those were gone, then popped some haylage in- they still have some now 8 hours on...should they always have access to haylage? Or do I ration them?

I have haylage but can get hay if that’s considered better? Was worried about introducing new nutrition at this stage- am I over thinking?
Any help, advice , better suggestions absolutely welcomed.

 

[M-J-G]

For twins I start a month before lambing with 0.2kg and build up to 0.6kg by lambing, less if there is any grass about.

Triplets start 6 weeks before and build up 0.8kg by lambing, they are on 0.5 Just now with 2 weeks to go.

Singles haven't been fed yet, but when they are housed they will get a dusting just to shut them up while the rest are getting fed.

All will get ad lib hay

 

[Woolless]

Hello all,

Im pretty new to sheep farming and until now have just searched FF posts for answers but can’t find an answer to this one.

I have today housed my 60 improved welsh ewes,due to lamb from 21st March.

I have 4 20x14 pens with walk throughs in between. Until now they have had ad lib access to haylage from 2 circle feeders.

I have a per day concentrate feeding plan- .25 kg nuts for singles all the way through, twins .25 week one increasing by .25 each week till on 1kg in week four then that’s it. Plan to split the feeds into two smaller AM and PM feeds.

I also plan to give them some haylage, fed down the walk throughs? How much? When? Do I put that in first then but on top? Or nuts first then haylage down? I don’t want over/ underfeed!
Today I put nuts down, waited till those were gone, then popped some haylage in- they still have some now 8 hours on...should they always have access to haylage? Or do I ration them?

I have haylage but can get hay if that’s considered better? Was worried about introducing new nutrition at this stage- am I over thinking?
Any help, advice , better suggestions absolutely welcomed.

They'll need ad-lib haulage or hay. I can't see improved Welsh ewes needing a kilo of cake? @M-J-G's feeding regime sounds about right to me.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

They need fresh haylage , if its starts too heat your in trouble , thats why hay is better

 

[FlockingHard]

Thanks guys, M-J-G , thanks I’ll adjust rations.

can I ask- if you didn’t have hay and had haylage would you swap?

 

[Northeastfarmer]

They need fresh haylage , if its starts too heat your in trouble , thats why hay is better

I don’t like hay for in lamb ewes...prefer hayledge

 

[FlockingHard]

Thanks again- just a quick one- would you feed nuts into the walkthroughs when they are empty, wait for nuts to be eaten and then add the haylage in? Or other option - feed nuts down the walk through and have haylage along the fronts of the pen on concrete floor?

 

[Mc115reed]

Thanks again- just a quick one- would you feed nuts into the walkthroughs when they are empty, wait for nuts to be eaten and then add the haylage in? Or other option - feed nuts down the walk through and have haylage along the fronts of the pen on concrete floor?

I feed ontop of my hay I found if I didn’t they nosed it away from themselves and would end up stretching to try reach the nuts and come would come through the feed barrier ...

 

[Skintagain]

Hello all,

Im pretty new to sheep farming and until now have just searched FF posts for answers but can’t find an answer to this one.

I have today housed my 60 improved welsh ewes,due to lamb from 21st March.

I have 4 20x14 pens with walk throughs in between. Until now they have had ad lib access to haylage from 2 circle feeders.

I have a per day concentrate feeding plan- .25 kg nuts for singles all the way through, twins .25 week one increasing by .25 each week till on 1kg in week four then that’s it. Plan to split the feeds into two smaller AM and PM feeds.

I also plan to give them some haylage, fed down the walk throughs? How much? When? Do I put that in first then but on top? Or nuts first then haylage down? I don’t want over/ underfeed!
Today I put nuts down, waited till those were gone, then popped some haylage in- they still have some now 8 hours on...should they always have access to haylage? Or do I ration them?

I have haylage but can get hay if that’s considered better? Was worried about introducing new nutrition at this stage- am I over thinking?
Any help, advice , better suggestions absolutely welcomed.

Sounds a lot of concentrate for some Welshies, I would say half a kilo is plenty. If it’s good Haylage they will do well on it singles maybe a bit too well with the concs. My sheep are having 0.5kg flat rate, 48 hour wilt Silage and June hay to pick between, all mules and tex x mules

 

[John Chance]

http://beefandlamb.ahdb.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Feeding-the-ewe.pdf

 

[M-J-G]

Thanks guys, M-J-G , thanks I’ll adjust rations.

can I ask- if you didn’t have hay and had haylage would you swap?

Thanks again- just a quick one- would you feed nuts into the walkthroughs when they are empty, wait for nuts to be eaten and then add the haylage in? Or other option - feed nuts down the walk through and have haylage along the fronts of the pen on concrete floor?

If you have good haylage to hand I'd just use it. But you'd need to watch that it didn't get too much time before it's eaten.
As soon as it smells off it can give problems.
Do you have any cattle that you can give refuse haylage to?

I'd go for ad-lib haylage along the front if you have enough space to feed them concentrate in the walkthrough feeders.

That way you can remove what's left over easily without having to clean out troughs.

 

[bazza3034]

If the ewes are in good condition bucket licks are very useful and cut the meal to a minimum use a blend in stead of a nut as less chance of prolapse don't forget to get rid of any cats as you will have a big problem and fresh haylage daily as they are very fussy animals

 

[John Chance]

Hay / Haylage questions depends on what they are like. Either can be good or crap or anywhere in between. Get an analysis done. It's not much work.

Get good representative samples; lots of handfuls mixed up and then subdivided until you get one large freezer bag full; squeeze air out and seal (like it's vac packed). Ask feed merchant to test or (better) send to lab for analysis. Google "Forage Analytical Assurance Group". There's a list of their members. Pick one; ring them to arrange. They'll probably ask you to pay upfront. Post at beginning of week, so it's not hanging around over the weekend.

Palatability, energy content and protein content matter. Look for high D Value (proxy for palatability), ME (energy) and CP (protein).