Finishing some lambs indoors

[crazy_bull]

So never done this before, normally run them through on grass till feb/March and they finish on grass, however there is only 50 and can't be arsed to keep moving them about and checking them in fields, have plenty of shed space and hay.

what else should i feed them to get rid asap.

i have 2mt of feed barley in stock

I can buy feed oats at circa £110/mt

Do i need to buy a mixed ration?

They are 3/4's finished,


Or am i being silly and should keep them outside and wait till spring.


I can't supplementary feed outside due to some scheme the fields are in.


C B

 

[gatepost]

I tend to get them in, providing they are almost there wt wise, ' at the point when they are naturally starting to finish' . then put about a .25 kg /head in troughs to get them used to cake. I usually do this for about 10 days before putting them on ad lib, personally I use fattener rather than whole grains, less likely to upset them and they get gone quicker with a better killing out% I think.

 

[Y Fan Wen]

I tend to get them in, providing they are almost there wt wise, ' at the point when they are naturally starting to finish' . then put about a .25 kg /head in troughs to get them used to cake. I usually do this for about 10 days before putting them on ad lib, personally I use fattener rather than whole grains, less likely to upset them and they get gone quicker with a better killing out% I think.

My neighbour says that he gives them one 25kg bag each with hay and when they've worked their way through it, they are ready to go. Would you agree with that?

 

[beardface]

Put them through the store ring and let someone else spend there money on them

 

[hendrebc]

If you already have the feed barley then no reason not to do it. Id probably start them on some finisher pellet and when they are eating slowly introduce some barley building up to 50/50 for a while then see how they go youcan add an extra bag of barley tomake the pellets go a bit further i ised to do it a lot. I have done it with just barley and nothing else when i had a batch of creep they wouldnt eat thanks to a lot of rapemeal (well done BOCM you lost a customer there ) in it they did fine but they were used to barley by then. Was a bit wary of not enough minerals and protein but they did fine. Wont eat much pellets like that either bulking it up with barley. Leave the barley whole 2 tonne of barley should do 50 lambs easy it wont take long to finish them like that. Watch their feet they go lame really quickly inside. I havent done lamns inside for years but i was putting them through a formalin footbath every other day to stop tjem going lame. I didnt do anything fancy mixing wise just tip a bag of barley in a creep feeder then a bag of pellets and go every other till it was full and it mixed itself. Keep it cheap and simple

 

[gatepost]

My neighbour says that he gives them one 25kg bag each with hay and when they've worked their way through it, they are ready to go. Would you agree with that?

I understand the sentiment, but no, on the basis that they are ready when they handle right not when you have spent as much on them as you want to, that's why, depending a lot on your breeding you don't want to start the finishing period before they have finished the growing period, for me that is about 38kg so they then finish at around 42-45kg (full stomach) still coming in in spec.

 

[cattleman123]

Just be very careful with the Barley....heard some bad stories using barley..Oats are fine

 

[Danllan]

I understand the sentiment, but no, on the basis that they are ready when they handle right not when you have spent as much on them as you want to, that's why, depending a lot on your breeding you don't want to start the finishing period before they have finished the growing period, for me that is about 38kg so they then finish at around 42-45kg (full stomach) still coming in in spec.

 

[Renaultman]

Just be very careful with the Barley....heard some bad stories using barley..Oats are fine

Sheep love oats and thrive on them. at £110 they shouldn't be too dear to finish, would combine with a bit of silage or hay if available?

 

[crazy_bull]

Sheep love oats and thrive on them. at £110 they shouldn't be too dear to finish, would combine with a bit of silage or hay if available?

Plenty of hay available.

would they need extra protien

 

[Renaultman]

Plenty of hay available.

would they need extra protien

That's one for the nutritionists would say no, if the hay is decent quality? Protein for growth but not so much for finishing from what I remember.

 

[spin cycle]

buy a tonne of mvf multimix 30% protein and 1/2t pulp......start then on 50:50 barley pulp for about 10 days the introduce multimix 25%,pulp 25%,barley 50% and build up gradually to 1kg/hd/day....once pulp is gone go to 33% multimix 67% barley

ad lib hay....split feed in am/pm (pain i i know)...keep an eye on poo

enjoy

 

[Old Tip]

You have hay !
Your a very lucky man, I feed whole oats half and half with a 18% ration. As others have said, get them to 38kg outside then in and on ad lib. Shouldn’t be in long enough to get foot problems as long as they are reasonably bedded and footbathed once a week

 

[Dave6170]

We have some leftover lambs that we have inside, are there problems with feeding bruised propcorn barley to lambs? Apart from the vit e?

 

[Renaultman]

We have some leftover lambs that we have inside, are there problems with feeding bruised propcorn barley to lambs? Apart from the vit e?

You do have to watch out for acidosis

 

[Northeastfarmer]

We have some leftover lambs that we have inside, are there problems with feeding bruised propcorn barley to lambs? Apart from the vit e?

Be no problem as long as you get them on it gradually

 

[Dave6170]

You do have to watch out for acidosis

I know barley is risky for acidosis, but does it being propped and bruised make it worse?

 

[Renaultman]

I know barley is risky for acidosis, but does it being propped and bruised make it worse?

I can't answer that, we propcorn all of our barley but feed sheep on an oat based ration, and even the barley one has molasses and straw in to add roughage

 

[Stockbeare]

I know barley is risky for acidosis, but does it being propped and bruised make it worse?

Yes it is best to leave ot whole, then they digest it slower, less risk of acidosis.

 

[spin cycle]

I know barley is risky for acidosis, but does it being propped and bruised make it worse?

propped i don't know....but as it's an acid treatment...probably.......rolling/bruising will definitly make it worse