home'n dry.....again

andybk

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Mendips Somerset
well i tried straight crimped alkawheat last winter , would never give wheat to ewes and lambs normally , the ones on it finished well carefully introduced ,i did get caught with two lambs that came in late with others and had a guts full they did blow a bit and were off food for a few days,
i think they needed a bit more fibre . Treated whole barley i think will be better and intend to do 4 - 5t shortly , will dribble in a bit of wheat with it as well to keep energy up (neighbour does about 300t a year for dairy )
I think the 1t minimum order is hurting their sales , put out through mole valley or wynnstay to sell by the bag , they would sell a lot more as you could treat the odd tonne or ten as it came in . 1t is quite an investment as a new or small user .
 
I finished lambs on just that last year, ad-Lib Alkabarley with hay in a rack. They didn’t take much hay, but did nibble on a bit, as well as their bedding straw obviously.

Do make sure you add minerals though. I let it lapse and they almost stopped growing overnight. Palatability certainly wasn’t an issue.

I used the same ration in the 2018 drought, and wouldn’t hesitate to do so again. It doesn’t look like I’m going to be flush with winter fodder crops this year, whilst ewe numbers are up, so I will probably house and finish hoggets in Jan/Feb, as my lamb contract gives a decent price at that time.
What sort of minerals do you use with it?
 

Humble Village Farmer

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Essex
well i tried straight crimped alkawheat last winter , would never give wheat to ewes and lambs normally , the ones on it finished well carefully introduced ,i did get caught with two lambs that came in late with others and had a guts full they did blow a bit and were off food for a few days,
i think they needed a bit more fibre . Treated whole barley i think will be better and intend to do 4 - 5t shortly , will dribble in a bit of wheat with it as well to keep energy up (neighbour does about 300t a year for dairy )
I think the 1t minimum order is hurting their sales , put out through mole valley or wynnstay to sell by the bag , they would sell a lot more as you could treat the odd tonne or ten as it came in . 1t is quite an investment as a new or small user .
Sorry but it just sounds like something to sell us when we have already got a decent feed. I have finished lambs before on whole wheat and beans with a bit of hay and they did ok. I'm sure they would do better on bought grub but the margin might not be as good.
 

spin cycle

Member
Location
north norfolk
well i tried straight crimped alkawheat last winter , would never give wheat to ewes and lambs normally , the ones on it finished well carefully introduced ,i did get caught with two lambs that came in late with others and had a guts full they did blow a bit and were off food for a few days,
i think they needed a bit more fibre . Treated whole barley i think will be better and intend to do 4 - 5t shortly , will dribble in a bit of wheat with it as well to keep energy up (neighbour does about 300t a year for dairy )
I think the 1t minimum order is hurting their sales , put out through mole valley or wynnstay to sell by the bag , they would sell a lot more as you could treat the odd tonne or ten as it came in . 1t is quite an investment as a new or small user .

yeah you're spot on....i'dve taken the plunge a lot sooner
 

andybk

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Mendips Somerset
Sorry but it just sounds like something to sell us when we have already got a decent feed. I have finished lambs before on whole wheat and beans with a bit of hay and they did ok. I'm sure they would do better on bought grub but the margin might not be as good.
Not really , bought in is nearly £50-100t more expensive ,(barley @130 +20 h&d ) what is bought in now ? , was quoted nearly £300 few weeks back . and alka grain means no changeover period , you only simply mix it in to make it up , you dont need protein like beans or soya , though i did add a bit of barley which is where the bloat may have come from ? the crimped wheat i bought was £170 , (150 +£20 for treatment ),
big advantage is feeding at grass , as acidity from normal grain works against rumen bacteria , so theres always an upper limit to a finishing ration outside before you loose benefit of grazing
 

Humble Village Farmer

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Essex
Not really , bought in is nearly £50-100t more expensive , and alka grain means no changeover period , you only simply mix it in to make it up , you dont need protein like beans or soya , though i did add a bit of barley which is where the bloat may have come from ? the crimped wheat i bought was £170 , (150 +£20 for treatment ),
big advantage is feeding at grass , as acidity from normal grain works against rumen bacteria , so theres always an upper limit to a finishing ration outside before you loose benefit of grazing
I take your point but what I mean is that there's always something for us to buy to make us better off, so we do, even if it doesn't. I suppose it's better than buying and feeding 100% cake.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
What sort of minerals do you use with it?

I just used FA sheep GP minerals from Wynnstay, either chucked in the hopper when I filled it (a bag to a ton... ‘ish), or free access in a bucket sat in a tyre.

No idea if that’s the best to use, but it’s what I had to hand. They stood still as soon as I stopped it for a bit, and took off again when I put it back in.
 

andybk

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Mendips Somerset
my bet is its already in the finishing cake , and why you have to buy a tonne at a time , Feed companies putting the pressure on H&D , They dont want joe blogs treating a tonne or two and doing away with bagged feed , See it all the time in other industries and minimum orders or trade only . cant really see any other reason not to supply likes of MVF though they are selling feed as well lol
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
I take your point but what I mean is that there's always something for us to buy to make us better off, so we do, even if it doesn't. I suppose it's better than buying and feeding 100% cake.

I used home grown whole barley, straight off the heap, mixed with the H&D pellets and sheeted for 10-14 days.
It makes a high starch alkaline ration (so no acidosis) with a 15% CP for about £30/t over the value of the grain, by the time I’d allowed for the mins.

I can’t imagine a ration that was cheaper, easier or safer tbh, and the lambs do well on it.
The grain would need processing for cattle obviously.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Can you not just mix feed grade urea as you mill it? surely be a lot cheaper, then just add some soya when you feed it if you want.

No need to mill it for sheep, just mix, sheet and feed.

It is just urea processed into small pellets with a bit of soya added. The pellets would be easier to mix, as the last thing you want is urea in the final feed.

But yes, I dare say you could save a few pennies.
 

ISCO

Member
Location
North East
We used H&D last year. Mixed with bucket into bale clamp. It worked very well for fattening lambs.
Don't think we will be doing any this year as Spring barley germinated 6 weeks apart and is still 2 weeks off roundup. We intend to crimp for cattle feed. We also want to reseed field.
 

Cornish

Member
Location
Cornwall
, H&d about £20 bag , urea £14 bag . best bit is you can use high moisture grain (up to 27% i think) so saves drying if you grow your own
Sorry more of a cattle man so always get the mill out.
Urea is £10 for bag here (mvf) so a fair saving. It’s the urea that makes it alkaline I think so not sure what extra you get from using h&d.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
my bet is its already in the finishing cake , and why you have to buy a tonne at a time , Feed companies putting the pressure on H&D , They dont want joe blogs treating a tonne or two and doing away with bagged feed , See it all the time in other industries and minimum orders or trade only . cant really see any other reason not to supply likes of MVF though they are selling feed as well lol

The manufacturer, Dugdales, is a feed company themselves.
Several local feed mills already blend and sell the treated product, but obviously charge for doing it.
I dare say you could buy a few tonnes of treated product if you didn’t want to buy a ton of pellets, but I doubt it would be cheap once it’s been moved twice, handled and a margin made.
 

Goodbeef

Member
If anyone is interested in barley made into alkagrain 30, then please get in touch as I can supply it. Can do wheat too but not much call at the moment as the price difference is quite large. Saves buying a pallet/tote of Home n Dry if your not using large quantities. I am UFAS registered and have 20 years experience of using Home N Dry. Either PM me or call me on 07576 759850. Thanks Andrew.
 

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