Salt. Blocks pre lambing

[clod hopper]

I have returned to sheep in the last few years after a long time dairy farming.
I have always taken min salt blocks away from ewes 1-2 weeks from lambing as I did with dairy cows as it increases chances of milk fever. Does salt affect ewes the same?
They have salt available the day after lambing

 

[Downton_shep]

I’d say no. We leave salt in front of them all the time.

 

[An ancient git]

Use Rock Salt here , all year access . No probs encountered ....

 

[Gator]

Use road salt here, all year round, they love it

 

[neilo]

Use road salt here, all year round, they love it

Do you collect it from those handy heaps the Council leave by the side of the road?

 

[clod hopper]

Thanks fellas, feel reassured now

 

[Gator]

Do you collect it from those handy heaps the Council leave by the side of the road?

Nar...I just go to the UUs yard at the end of our lane wi the skiddy when I've run out and help myself

 

[neilo]

Thanks fellas, feel reassured now

You can be reassured that, despite what certain rock salesmen might tell you, the trace element levels in it, particularly at the minuscule intake levels they will have, are so low that they won’t cause any antagonism at all.
I’m sure it tastes very nice though.

 

[liammogs]

Biggest help I've seen with rocksalt is about a week or so after lambing putting it out to help combat against orf, but other than that it's available to my ewes all year but how much of a difference it makes I'm not sure

 

[clod hopper]

Something I've noticed over the years is any animal that's been sick , had injury or given birth has a need for salt also with lactating cows increases milk production a little maybe makes them drink more

 

[Al R]

Never given rock salt to ewes ever? What does it have in it mineral wise and what sort of cost per ewe per month is it on a 80kg ewe?

 

[neilo]

Never given rock salt to ewes ever? What does it have in it mineral wise and what sort of cost per ewe per month is it on a 80kg ewe?

The only thing in it of note is Sodium, which I suspect you may have enough of already.
The other minerals/impurities in it are in such minute quantities as to be irrelevant if you have any kind of deficiency.

 

[Al R]

The only thing in it of note is Sodium, which I suspect you may have enough of already.
The other minerals/impurities in it are in such minute quantities as to be irrelevant if you have any kind of deficiency.

I’ve got fields on the coast which are 2/20 on the sodium on a broad spectrum soil analysis Yet the last few weeks on more than a dozen occasions the fields have been black with salt and gates greasy to touch

 

[Global ovine]

I have returned to sheep in the last few years after a long time dairy farming.
I have always taken min salt blocks away from ewes 1-2 weeks from lambing as I did with dairy cows as it increases chances of milk fever. Does salt affect ewes the same?
They have salt available the day after lambing

YES. If the following:

1. If your soils are high in K and your ewes are outside prior to lambing and soil temps are under 5 degrees C.
2. If your soils are high in K and your conserved feeds are low in Mg due to K ferts being applied before harvesting that feed which is fed indoors in late pregnancy.
3. If no or very little grain based supplements are fed, as these turn alkaline rumens towards acid (normal) that enables Ca to be mobilised from the bones. A blood Ca shortage can lead to both Milk fever or Prolapse.
4. In flocks where a history of both or either of these problems occur, Mg supplementation is recommended.
5. Applying high N ferts on late winter pastures in high risk flocks is also increasing the risk significantly.
6. Winter grown pasture is also very low in Sulphur. Sulphur salts also lowers pH of the rumen. Salt blocks on such pastures after lambing carries additional risk.

Sheep and cows have very similar metabolic reactions to the cation/anion balance of what they consume.
Increasing the soil pH enables a longer period of pasture growth where the Mg uptake by plants assists animal health, especially those outcomes explained above. Soil pH of 6.0 to 6.5 also reduces K content in pastures.
Conserved pasture boosted by K and N preharvest add much risk when fed to ruminants in late pregnancy.

 

[clod hopper]

YES. If the following:

1. If your soils are high in K and your ewes are outside prior to lambing and soil temps are under 5 degrees C.
2. If your soils are high in K and your conserved feeds are low in Mg due to K ferts being applied before harvesting that feed which is fed indoors in late pregnancy.
3. If no or very little grain based supplements are fed, as these turn alkaline rumens towards acid (normal) that enables Ca to be mobilised from the bones. A blood Ca shortage can lead to both Milk fever or Prolapse.
4. In flocks where a history of both or either of these problems occur, Mg supplementation is recommended.
5. Applying high N ferts on late winter pastures in high risk flocks is also increasing the risk significantly.
6. Winter grown pasture is also very low in Sulphur. Sulphur salts also lowers pH of the rumen. Salt blocks on such pastures after lambing carries additional risk.

Sheep and cows have very similar metabolic reactions to the cation/anion balance of what they consume.
Increasing the soil pH enables a longer period of pasture growth where the Mg uptake by plants assists animal health, especially those outcomes explained above. Soil pH of 6.0 to 6.5 also reduces K content in pastures.
Conserved pasture boosted by K and N preharvest add much risk when fed to ruminants in late pregnancy.

Thanks mate ?, just what I thought. As I hadn't had any problems thought I was over thinking it.
Just one thing, half of my property is very wet at lambing time so am I right in thinking it will be low in Sulphur?

 

[haybob]

Just wondering would a lump of salt in a bucket , sprinkle some mineral powder over it be a useful addition in the lambing shed??

 

[Global ovine]

Thanks mate ?, just what I thought. As I hadn't had any problems thought I was over thinking it.
Just one thing, half of my property is very wet at lambing time so am I right in thinking it will be low in Sulphur?

Not if you have been monitoring S and made appropriate corrections. But as S is quite soluble, it will leach out rapidly.
On heavy ground that has drainage impediment the problem won't be the shortage of S that is the major cause of risk around lambing time, but the high availability of K and the inability of plants to take up Mg when soil temps are low. This is made worse on dull and rainy days. Mg is not stored in any organs, so what they eat that day is reflected in the blood.

Sulphur is largely a forgotten element in much of the UK's pastoral industries, as up to Maggie Thatcher's time, heavy industry kept most of the UK supplied adequately. In fact acid rain was then the worry. Sulphur is the central element of amino acids, the building blocks of plant proteins, so it should not be ignored. Legumes respond to S application and these are the central plant components of productive sheep pastures. Low S in silage made later in spring/early summer can be part of the problem if K is high and then fed in late pregnancy.

When drainage, soil chemistry balance and pH is corrected enough to get really good clover growth, most of the problematic metabolic incidence in ruminants disappears, because collectively they are the cause of Milk Fever and/or Prolapse. Better to treat the cause than fiddle around with the symptoms. White Clover is a great barometer plant, i.e. farm for clover and the clover will farm your grasses and livestock.

 

[clod hopper]

Not if you have been monitoring S and made appropriate corrections. But as S is quite soluble, it will leach out rapidly.
On heavy ground that has drainage impediment the problem won't be the shortage of S that is the major cause of risk around lambing time, but the high availability of K and the inability of plants to take up Mg when soil temps are low. This is made worse on dull and rainy days. Mg is not stored in any organs, so what they eat that day is reflected in the blood.

Sulphur is largely a forgotten element in much of the UK's pastoral industries, as up to Maggie Thatcher's time, heavy industry kept most of the UK supplied adequately. In fact acid rain was then the worry. Sulphur is the central element of amino acids, the building blocks of plant proteins, so it should not be ignored. Legumes respond to S application and these are the central plant components of productive sheep pastures. Low S in silage made later in spring/early summer can be part of the problem if K is high and then fed in late pregnancy.

When drainage, soil chemistry balance and pH is corrected enough to get really good clover growth, most of the problematic metabolic incidence in ruminants disappears, because collectively they are the cause of Milk Fever and/or Prolapse. Better to treat the cause than fiddle around with the symptoms. White Clover is a great barometer plant, i.e. farm for clover and the clover will farm your grasses and livestock.

Thanks, lots to think about going forward ?

 

[clod hopper]

Just wondering would a lump of salt in a bucket , sprinkle some mineral powder over it be a useful addition in the lambing shed??

You can bet your life your mineral powder has salt in it to make it paleatable.

 

[Bury the Trash]

You can bet your life your mineral powder has salt in it to make it paleatable.

More likely to have molasses in to do the same.