Inlamb ewe lambs

[Smokey16]

Weve bought are ewes and ewe lambs in for lambing they are housed all together they got enough feed trough space for cake but the ewelambs ain't interested in cake they just go to the haylage

 

[Al R]

Weve bought are ewes and ewe lambs in for lambing they are housed all together they got enough feed trough space for cake but the ewelambs ain't interested in cake they just go to the haylage

Should’ve taught them in troughs outside with some ewes mixed in to get them used to it. Feeding straight oats which is hardly the most flavoursome feed and in 4 days I got 20 ewe lamb twins to eat from the troughs, 5 ewes were with them to keep them quieter and to help bring them to the troughs.

 

[Smokey16]

Ah I see never thought of that as we dont feed cake to the ewes until lambing. Will it hurt if the ewe lambs dont eat cake they got high in energy buckets with gd haylage

 

[tr250]

Weve bought are ewes and ewe lambs in for lambing they are housed all together they got enough feed trough space for cake but the ewelambs ain't interested in cake they just go to the haylage

I’d separate them so there is no bullying at the troughs. We brought our ewe lambs in a few days ago they don’t need to come in and they are lambing outside but we bring them in for 2 or 3 weeks solely to teach them to eat. If we don’t they will come in next year as thieves and a few of them will get twin lamb when mixed with the ewes

 

[M-J-G]

Ah I see never thought of that as we dont feed cake to the ewes until lambing. Will it hurt if the ewe lambs dont eat cake they got high in energy buckets with gd haylage

I'd say they'd be fine without, if ours only ate haylage and energy buckets I wouldn't be stressing about it.

 

[Al R]

Ah I see never thought of that as we dont feed cake to the ewes until lambing. Will it hurt if the ewe lambs dont eat cake they got high in energy buckets with gd haylage

Might have been worth doing it with the ewe lamb twins and some of the thinner ewes or ewe triplets before coming in to get them into it. Only some triplets ewes and some ewe lamb twins are fed with me, mainly so if they ever get short of food in their lives they’ll be spread throughout the flock in the future and they will know what hard food is This year for 25 head I put 4 troughs out in a tight square near a hedge with a mineral tub in the middle. They are attracted to the mineral block so go to it but can’t get to it without stepping over a trough and they dip their head in and have some food

 

[Smokey16]

Thanks. Lucky the ewe lambs are all singles.

 

[Smokey16]

I’d separate them so there is no bullying at the troughs. We brought our ewe lambs in a few days ago they don’t need to come in and they are lambing outside but we bring them in for 2 or 3 weeks solely to teach them to eat. If we don’t they will come in next year as thieves and a few of them will get twin lamb when mixed with the ewes

I might be wrong but iv been watching them all when coming out to feed and around mineral buckets and I cant see any bullying going on the ewe lambs are bigger then the ewe

 

[Smokey16]

I'd say they'd be fine without, if ours only ate haylage and energy buckets I wouldn't be stressing about it.

Thanks. They are tucking into the high energy buckets and they are in good condition in my eyes they are fat. Plus they ain't small ewe lambs they are the same size as the ewes

 

[Al R]

Thanks. They are tucking into the high energy buckets and they are in good condition in my eyes they are fat. Plus they ain't small ewe lambs they are the same size as the ewes

Don’t let them have cake then. Haylage alone is good enough! Been there done that with well fed ewe lambs and having 50% alive and a lot of pulls, now I have them on good grass until scanning, singles mediocre after scanning until 2 weeks before when on sacrifice fields on bales only

 

[Smokey16]

Don’t let them have cake then. Haylage alone is good enough! Been there done that with well fed ewe lambs and having 50% alive and a lot of pulls, now I have them on good grass until scanning, singles mediocre after scanning until 2 weeks before when on sacrifice fields on bales only

Thanks AI R just vet does are ewe feed plan and he was pushing me to feed cake to the ewelambs and shearlings.

 

[JSmith]

He’s a vet though, not a farmer or a nutritionist!! Worst place I ever went to was a farm run by a vet, was like a feckin horror show!!

 

[puppet]

Thanks. Lucky the ewe lambs are all singles.

As above, no cake to singles especially hoggs or you will just get big problem lambs. My experience is that it is harder to train them outside. I can gently go round them to feed with others but they just move away.
If they are fat then too late to get weight off but don't put more on. Save the cake until after they lamb for milk supply until grass comes.
How much are they supposed to get and I presume separate from twins?

 

[Smokey16]

As above, no cake to singles especially hoggs or you will just get big problem lambs. My experience is that it is harder to train them outside. I can gently go round them to feed with others but they just move away.
If they are fat then too late to get weight off but don't put more on. Save the cake until after they lamb for milk supply until grass comes.
How much are they supposed to get and I presume separate from twins?

Lucky this year we only kept back 40 ewe lambs and they are all singles

 

[Jerry]

He’s a vet though, not a farmer or a nutritionist!! Worst place I ever went to was a farm run by a vet, was like a feckin horror show!!

Ive a vet student here at present on lambing. Shes been here 3 years on the trot now. First year they would not accept me as a placement as I lamb outside. So her efforts that year were discounted as far as her records were concerned. Second year they seemed to bend to the view that lambing outside had its merits and they signed off on her two weeks OK.

This year she came back as she just enjoyed the whole process so much more than a second placement she did after she left me last year...that was inside lambing.

She is very much a convert to outside lambing now, and wants to see ewes in right condition so they dont need intervention. I feel slightly guilty that shes here and not lambed many ewes in the last week and those she has lambed, all bar one, would have lambed them selves fine anyway.

(shes got good at putting up electric fencing this week...doubt that will help her vet studies mind...LOL)

 

[puppet]

It seems odd that a student attachment isn't approved because of a lambing system which much of upland UK prefers. You can spend all day 'lambing' indoor ewes who would have done it themselves and learn little or you can find a wild Blackie with a swollen head out and no legs which will teach you a lot more.

 

[M-J-G]

Thanks AI R just vet does are ewe feed plan and he was pushing me to feed cake to the ewelambs and shearlings.

Vets aren't usually very good with nutrition IME.

 

[Smokey16]

Vets aren't usually very good with nutrition IME.

Thanks M J G. Another thing my sister has bought 4 texel inlamb shearling the last one lambed yesterday morning and not one of them has a mothering instinct to them just wondered why they never took to there lambs all 4 of them lambed on there own

 

[Bucks Boy]

He’s a vet though, not a farmer or a nutritionist!! Worst place I ever went to was a farm run by a vet, was like a feckin horror show!!

I know a vet who runs a suckler herd and flock of sheep. Good vet and farmer.

 

[JSmith]

I know a vet who runs a suckler herd and flock of sheep. Good vet and farmer.

They are out there I don’t doubt, our vet is very level headed, my point was really that just because their title is vet doesn’t mean there word is gospel