Lifeline buckets?

[Jerry]

Singles get nothing, I’m probably too mean on them but it works.

They are on stubble turnips till two/three weeks pre lambing with free access to mineral buckets. Then onto bare grass.

Multiples are treated the same but onto good grass also get a lifeline bucket. 2 per 80 ewes.

So far this year buckets are still about 75% full.

Blood tests show I’m short on cobalt. So ewes also get Mayo bolus with cobalt at tupping.

 

[Woolless]

Singles get nothing, I’m probably too mean on them but it works.

They are on stubble turnips till two/three weeks pre lambing with free access to mineral buckets. But on bare grass.

Multiples are treated the same but onto good grass also get a lifeline bucket. 2 per 80 ewes.

So far this year buckets are still about 75% full.

Blood tests show I’m short on cobalt. So ewes also get Mayo bolus with cobalt at tupping.

I kept the singles just on (very good) hay right up to lambing when they were moved onto a bare field. I just felt that they were a bit too lean, so some sort of supplement this year would be in order.

 

[Werzle]

The benefits of a low stocking rate maybe?

On the sheep boy maybe but not the suckler neighbour

 

[neilo]

I think I've got a pretty good grass wedge in front of them, so not worried about protein. Do people think there is a good argument that they still need 'energy' to balance out the protein in twin bearing ewes (i.e. from a lick), or is that a bit of feed sales nonsense?

Feed sales nonsense. If you have sufficient god quality grass then they don't need, and likely won't take, anything else.
I tried Lifeline buckets when we went to outdoor lambing and dropped all concentrates. They hardly touched them, so they had next to no intake of the magical MOS, that is supposed to work all the wonders on colostrum quality.

 

[neilo]

I kept the singles just on (very good) hay right up to lambing when they were moved onto a bare field. I just felt that they were a bit too lean, so some sort of supplement this year would be in order.

Can you have singles too lean (assuming outdoor lambing and not twinning on)?
Treat 'em mean, keep ',em keen, and more likely with live lambs born unassisted ime.

 

[Woolless]

Can you have singles too lean (assuming outdoor lambing and not twinning on)?
Treat 'em mean, keep ',em keen, and more likely with live lambs born unassisted ime.

I take your point but I wasn't happy with them.

 

[Skintagain]

Can you have singles too lean (assuming outdoor lambing and not twinning on)?
Treat 'em mean, keep ',em keen, and more likely with live lambs born unassisted ime.

If you aren’t twinning on they can be lean but not too lean as they still want to milk like a train so you can kill them both in June for top dollar

 

[neilo]

I keep my singles very tight after scanning, apart from about 3 that I have left running with the multiples on better keep. The singles are currently raking over the last scraps of fodder beet, after having run the discs over what’s already been grazed.
I have found far fewer lambing issues since doing that, where the singles always used to be the biggest source of issues.

I certainly don’t intend selling them in June, just because they’ve had a single though, apart from any that have lost a lamb after a few days old, which will soon fatten anyway. Any that have a dead lamb born, come into a shed to have two on, and milk well enough. Spring grass is some magical stuff.

 

[Skintagain]

I keep my singles very tight after scanning, apart from about 3 that I have left running with the multiples on better keep. The singles are currently raking over the last scraps of fodder beet, after having run the discs over what’s already been grazed.
I have found far fewer lambing issues since doing that, where the singles always used to be the biggest source of issues.

I certainly don’t intend selling them in June, just because they’ve had a single though, apart from any that have lost a lamb after a few days old, which will soon fatten anyway. Any that have a dead lamb born, come into a shed to have two on, and milk well enough. Spring grass is some magical stuff.

Are you going soft Neil?

 

[neilo]

Are you going soft Neil?

No, I just don't want to halve my flock each year.

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

Some ewes will manage some wont

Younger ones will, older less likely? And then there's milk after lambing and colostrum quality to think about as well

 

[Cmoran]

Using turbo sheep feed blocks here for years but we would be very slack on grass and only introduce ewe nuts when they come in to shed for lambing which is usually when first one lambs!! Find the buckets great but they are costing €1 per kg this year

 

[Nithsdale]

No, I just don't want to halve my flock each year.

It would be a pointless exercise.


But surely not half your flock - are your Chars and Highlanders THAT bad????

 

[Skintagain]

A lot of singles go on to have singles again and again. This year more singles but last year was a bit of a pig.

 

[neilo]

A lot of singles go on to have singles again and again. This year more singles but last year was a bit of a pig.

No doubt some do. You’ll be needing to record to pick out those that do though, and how many bother doing that?

Outdoor lambing flocks aiming for 170% to minimise triplets will certainly have a decent proportion of singles every year.
If I was still lambing everything indoors then I would certainly still be pushing for 200%+, to try to cover some of the extra costs, but I’m not sure I’d want that %age on a low input, outdoor lambing system.

 

[neilo]

It would be a pointless exercise.


But surely not half your flock - are your Chars and Highlanders THAT bad????

The Charollais are irrelevant in this, as they are an out & out terminal sire afaic (have too many lambs for their maternal abilities anyway, more often than not).
Any outdoor lambing flock doing 160-170% scanning will have a good number scanned with singles (granted not half though).

 

[Nithsdale]

Management has more to do with it IMO. The % only ever managing to have singles would be low.

My ewe lambs are drawn mainly from twin and triplet born lambs - but I still plug away 175-180% scanning because that's where my management takes them

 

[Nithsdale]

The Charollais are irrelevant in this, as they are an out & out terminal sire afaic (have too many lambs for their maternal abilities anyway, more often than not).
Any outdoor lambing flock doing 160-170% scanning will have a good number scanned with singles (granted not half though).

I'm just teasing, although 1/2 the flock singles would leave you below 150% post lambing...

I expect 1/4 - 1/3 the flock (adult ewes, ewe lambs are a different story!) to be singles each year, and aim for 180% scanning

 

[neilo]

I'm just teasing, although 1/2 the flock singles would leave you below 150% post lambing...

I expect 1/4 - 1/3 the flock (adult ewes, ewe lambs are a different story!) to be singles each year, and aim for 180% scanning

When I was looking into moving to an outdoor lambing system, I contacted a few people that had been doing it at scale for some time. One, who was trying to sell me some ewes, told me that I should be aiming for 130%.
Wouldn’t have to worry about triplets at that, or having to pay my rent after a couple of years.

 

[Bairdy]

Always used to use buckets when lambing indoors, but tempted to go with none this year (we now lamb outside)....may bottle it in the last few weeks and buy some for triplets and those in poor nick.

Not sure about lifeline vs other buckets. As far as I can tell, crystalyx, maxx and optilix are all very similar.

Vs those brands, I don't think Lifeline has any urea, and is made softer so should have higher intakes around lambing time....however, I've left one out with the rams as they came back from tupping in back nick. Intake has been ridiculously low and barely touched it (despite having very poor forage in front of them). I think someone else on here made similar comments about lifeline recently.

I'm not sure if lifeline has any mag?

Ive had identical rehearsed comments from both internal and external sales reps about how lifeline made "easy, slippery lambs" vs other brands....obviously with little to back it up other than anecdotes

10% mag