Grass quality and lambs

[will6910]

Having a review of my grass samples I got taken last year. Any thing I need to do to compensate and help lambs, they have been getting mineral drench last And this year

 

[TexelBen]

Having a review of my grass samples I got taken last year. Any thing I need to do to compensate and help lambs, they have been getting mineral drench last And this year

Molybdenum locks up copper I think? Maybe?
@neilo don't you have an issue with molybdenum lockup?

 

[neilo]

Molybdenum locks up copper I think? Maybe?
@neilo don't you have an issue with molybdenum lockup?

Yes, I do. @will6910 , when you drench or bolus do you make sure it has copper in it?
That level of moly will make any copper you have unavailable. A bolus (or copper capsule) will sort that for 6 months at a time.
Cobalt and Iodine are so low as to be seriously limiting animal performance too.
A Mayo bolus (with copper in) will sort that, ideally with a drench to boost levels up immediately too.

No wonder you were struggling to finish lambs!

 

[will6910]

Yes, I do. @will6910 , when you drench or bolus do you make sure it has copper in it?
That level of moly will make any copper you have unavailable. A bolus (or copper capsule) will sort that for 6 months at a time.
Cobalt and Iodine are so low as to be seriously limiting animal performance too.
A Mayo bolus (with copper in) will sort that, ideally with a drench to boost levels up immediately too.

No wonder you were struggling to finish lambs!

Thanks. Iv always used non copper bolus and drenches as had a lot texel blood in ewes. Would ewes need copper added to there bolus to ?

 

[Bones]

There's suppose to be a lot of copper in hens meal , which I would have thought your grass would be high in it as well, goes to show

 

[will6910]

There's suppose to be a lot of copper in hens meal , which I would have thought your grass would be high in it as well, goes to show

Odd. Hen muck been spread here 10 years now. Didn’t sample any grass at all till last summer

 

[Bones]

I know on the hen meal delivery docket it says not to feed to sheep because of copper poison

 

[will6910]

I know on the hen meal delivery docket it says not to feed to sheep because of copper poison

Must be very high

 

[Bones]

It's a pity because sheep love it

 

[neilo]

Thanks. Iv always used non copper bolus and drenches as had a lot texel blood in ewes. Would ewes need copper added to there bolus to ?

Definitely, with a moly level that high. There are a lot of Texel X ewes about this area and a lot of them get copper all the time, by various means.

Incidentally, blood tests will likely tell you they have adequate copper, but the moly will make it unavailable. Hence the importance of doing forage & blood tests to get to the cause of a problem.
Did the drench you use have copper in?
I’m willing to bet you’d see a noticeable change in the sheep very soon after giving any drench that contained Cobalt, Iodine AND Copper, albeit a temporary boost.

 

[copse]

Yes, I do. @will6910 , when you drench or bolus do you make sure it has copper in it?
That level of moly will make any copper you have unavailable. A bolus (or copper capsule) will sort that for 6 months at a time.
Cobalt and Iodine are so low as to be seriously limiting animal performance too.
A Mayo bolus (with copper in) will sort that, ideally with a drench to boost levels up immediately too.

No wonder you were struggling to finish lambs!

Do mayo do a lamb Bolus with copper in ? Just had a look and could only find ewe Bolus with copper in.

 

[will6910]

No mineral dosed today and was no copper in it. How soon afaij now could I add copper to the drench and do them again ?

 

[neilo]

No mineral dosed today and was no copper in it. How soon afaij now could I add copper to the drench and do them again ?

I don’t think it would be safe to ‘add’ copper to it, you will need to buy the product with copper in it.

Tomorrow?

 

[will6910]

Yeah sorry meant to use mineral drench with added copper alresdt in it. Do I just do all and see what happens ?

 

[neilo]

Do mayo do a lamb Bolus with copper in ? Just had a look and could only find ewe Bolus with copper in.

No, despite my asking repeatedly ( @Mayo ). You have to give a 2g copper capsule with it, which they can supply to.
Load the copper capsule in the gun first, then the lamb bolus, which will hold both in place while you administer it. Takes a bit longer to load, but no longer to give.

 

[neilo]

Yeah sorry meant to use mineral drench with added copper alresdt in it. Do I just do all and see what happens ?

Up to you. If you want to see if it makes a difference then do a proportion and mark them.
Be aware that drenching will only give a temporary lift, but your moly levels (& Iodine) are similar to mine and the effect from drenching was pretty dramatic. They were like completely different sheep within a week or so.

 

[will6910]

Up to you. If you want to see if it makes a difference then do a proportion and mark them.
Be aware that drenching will only give a temporary lift, but your moly levels (& Iodine) are similar to mine and the effect from drenching was pretty dramatic. They were like completely different sheep within a week or so.

Thank u I shall get some drench with added copper [emoji1303][emoji1303]

 

[neilo]

Thank u I shall get some drench with added copper [emoji1303][emoji1303]

You’ve hopefully found the reason for your lamb finishing problems.?

 

[will6910]

You’ve hopefully found the reason for your lamb finishing problems.[emoji106]

I really hope so. It’s made me so disheartened every year watching lambs have plenty of grass and all the issues lambing to then not fatten and thrive

 

[will6910]

Another issue if lamb thrive wasn’t bad enough grass growth isn’t great in places here. I do know that I have been very lucky and got rain and warmth finally compared to many places. This field in pic I slurried half of it with a light coat of hen slurry just over two weeks ago and no aminos was grazing it for a week before that. If it can’t grow in moister and warmth there’s not much chance for it at rest of times