Kale & In Lamb Ewes

[D.S.S18]

After some help -

ewes have been on kale since mid feb - iodine / sel / cob bolus -
they have had a run back onto grass, lifeline buckets and currently on 0.7kg 18% high DUP feed.

currently 14 days away from lambing, will be stepping up to 1kg over the next 10 days.

the kale is just starting to flower - will this have an effect on intake / appetite?

 

[Bob the beef]

@neilo is your man to answer this one. There was a thread discussing this couple of weeks ago but can't find it. Consensus iirc was no real problem

 

[MJT]

Shouldn’t be a problem, even if it does end up going to seed and going woody then the 1kg of feed will be plenty to supplement it . They won’t eat it as quick as when it’s fresh but then I always find their appetite decreases as they get heavier and fuller anyway .

Our kale has been going to flower for last 10 days, twin bearing ewes are on a third of a kilo a day and they are doing fine so nothing for you to worry about .

 

[Dkb]

It was I that started the thread a month ago as flowers were starting to appear on turnips. I took the sheep off of it last Saturday exactly a month later with no ill affects

 

[neilo]

I haven't grown Kale much, but graze other brassicas that have started bolting & flowering without ill effect. Germinal put out a press release a month or so ago, warning people to be careful of whatever chemical is produced in flowering brassicas. Only really a problem if sheep that aren't already used to eating brassicas get introduced iirc.

One question.... why are you feeding so much concentrate, when you have enough of a crop that it is effectively going to waste? Brassica fodder crops fed ad-lib will be enough. That's certainly all my in-lamb ewes get, and I've never seen a case of TLD on this system. You aren't supplementing the kale with the concentrates, you're replacing it.