Vit and mins for in lamb ewes

[tepapa]

Not planning on feeding a sheep lambing pellet, only grass + oats/soya if necessary so how best to supply vits and mins to ensure thrifty lambs at birth. Can't seem to find a purpose made powder lambing minerals but few lambing mineral tubs.
Any advice what to look for?

 

[Bury the Trash]

Bolussed some of our ewes 3 weeks before they were due with 2 nettex micro boluses (same as mayo i think) cob/iod./sel says on the tub its got vits,D,A and B12 in it as well ...

i guess depends a bit what else they are being fed . good meadow hay has bits and bobs in it....

 

[tepapa]

Was Also thinking of vit E and calcium in some form or another.

 

[Man_in_black]

Be worth blood checking a few to see what needed/lacking? Then tailor to suit. Bolus be guaranteed each getting same rather than some gorging on tubs & others ignoring (not starting the old 'they know if they need it debate') And bolus make more sense £/head than tubs.

 

[Bury the Trash]

i got it a bit wrong it says actually theres vit E in it (not A) .. and D and B12

 

[Yale]

Was Also thinking of vit E and calcium in some form or another.

We have put out free access mag buckets from scanning through to mid summer.

Mag helps ewes to mobilise calcium and then covers for staggers.

Having them out a good while trains them to eat them.

 

[tepapa]

Be worth blood checking a few to see what needed/lacking? Then tailor to suit. Bolus be guaranteed each getting same rather than some gorging on tubs & others ignoring (not starting the old 'they know if they need it debate') And bolus make more sense £/head than tubs.

Blood tested for copper selenium and cobalt. Only Cobalt low. Ewes bolused for cobalt at tupping and could do with again now (thanks for the reminder, could have done them when Heptavacing on sunday) dreched with vit and min drech in January. Thinking more along the lines of calcium and Vit E, as both important at lambing and neither covered in many boluses.

 

[JD-Kid]

alot of mins work with or against each other it's a black cat witchcraft at times
know with mag salt blocks there was only a short time frame ewes ate them late few weeks pre lamb then went back to standard blocks
A,D,E has some major efect on Ca in ewes along with iodine sel
lolly blocks etc i would not trust amounts are too low in them better to drench ewes with a good multy min product at the right times or long acting injections

 

[Al R]

alot of mins work with or against each other it's a black cat witchcraft at times

It’s a complete minefield but with a lot of time it can be worked out, what the levels are between everything working in balance and not is huge!