Iv got 100 big Suffolk cross lambs that I want to tup, iv got enough seeds for 4 weeks then fodder beet to graze. Has anyone had experience putting them on beet a couple of days before the tups go in?
Tupping lambs on beet
- Thread starter Estate fencing.
- Start date
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
As above, low protein and diet change will mean they don’t do very well. However, with ewe lambs, that might work to your advantage in that they will already have decided whether they are big enough to cycle and a poor diet might mean they only conceive/carry singles?
I don’t suppose the beet is next door to the grass? Fortunately mine is next door to the parkland where my main mob will be tupped and, aswe’renogoung to have enough grass to hold them, I will probably give them access to some beet while they’re still tupping, but while they’ve still got plenty of grass.
I’ve just started feeding good silage bales to try to keep them going until tupping.
I don’t suppose the beet is next door to the grass? Fortunately mine is next door to the parkland where my main mob will be tupped and, aswe’renogoung to have enough grass to hold them, I will probably give them access to some beet while they’re still tupping, but while they’ve still got plenty of grass.
I’ve just started feeding good silage bales to try to keep them going until tupping.
Thanks. I will probably put the small ones on there then and tup on anther field of seeds that I was going to run the small ones on. Iv never grazed before, usually lift and feed out in fields but the farm want the muck.As above, low protein and diet change will mean they don’t do very well. However, with ewe lambs, that might work to your advantage in that they will already have decided whether they are big enough to cycle and a poor diet might mean they only conceive/carry singles?
I don’t suppose the beet is next door to the grass? Fortunately mine is next door to the parkland where my main mob will be tupped and, aswe’renogoung to have enough grass to hold them, I will probably give them access to some beet while they’re still tupping, but while they’ve still got plenty of grass.
I’ve just started feeding good silage bales to try to keep them going until tupping.
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
Whenever I’ve tried grazing lambs on beet, they’ve just stood still. The Kiwis claim you can get a dlwg of about 100g/day iirc, but I certainly couldn’t. You need to supplement protein to get any meaningful growth I would think.
Well managed, strip grazed beet can support a ewe’s maintenance requirement cheaply, but that’s about all. It’s really not a great diet, unfortunately.
Well managed, strip grazed beet can support a ewe’s maintenance requirement cheaply, but that’s about all. It’s really not a great diet, unfortunately.
- Location
- Ceredigion
I would worry ewe lambs would get to fat on beet, fantastic for ewes if they have grass runbacks , that's all my sheep ever had was , beet or swedes and grass
michael N123
Member
Lambs won’t eat beet until next year when it’s soft
I hand pull a bucket full every week for each fat lamb field on hoppers and they just nibble at it
I hand pull a bucket full every week for each fat lamb field on hoppers and they just nibble at it
michael N123
Member
Lots of store lambs finished on beet fields round here but there’s also lots of hoppers in the fields
- Location
- Ceredigion
I used to fatten lambs on beet but they had tops as well
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
They will finish on beet tops, as they are very high in protein. The roots however are far too low and growing lambs will not thrive on them, let alone fatten, without protein coming in from elsewhere.
They are very palatable, so it's no harder to get lambs onto beet than it is onto any other root crop. Once they start they will scoff it down plenty readily enough.
To get a protein level high enough for ewes then you need to strip graze with breaks of no longer than 3 days (& preferably more often), in order that they take tops & roots together. Even that isn't sufficient for lambs to do any better than stand still though.
Some of those grazing beet are taking heed of NZ work, using higher levels of N, with later applications, in order to grow more top. Most of the existing UK reccs are based on sugar beet growing, where top isn't wanted and probably detracts from sugar yield. We are getting far more top yield following that advice, and hopefully better frost protection. Putting the fences up in the crop might be fun this year however!
michael N123
Member
I feed a lot of beet but they don’t seem to want to eat it until new year when it’s softened abit I hand pull a little bit to try get them on it but they won’t eat much yet
- Location
- Ceredigion
I used to harvest mine and feed it to them in the grass fields , had all the Kit to do it , beet precision seed drill right through to my own harvester , bought it all cheap at Cambridge Machinery Sale , Kept 3000 ewes and fattened all the lambs , never tasted cake , just roots and grass