Dosing lambs

Username John

Hello,

I think I read in the journal that they recommend dosing lambs at 5 weeks, and again at 14 weeks when weaning.

Just wondering what people's thoughts are on dosing plan / times are for lambs.

I felt last year that our lambs could have been better. So want to be on top of it a bit better this year, and wanted to see what people thought the best dosing plan is.

All replies appreciated.

Thanks.

snowman707

we are creeping them fairly hard, (got no choice no grass), ...the first batch will be killed on fri or mon.

we most likely won't dose until may and hope to have most of the early batch gone at this stage.

personally I wouldn't be in favour of dosing at 5 weeks but that's just me.

copper and cobalt deficiencies are often overlooked, and cause ill thrift in lambs,

need to be careful giving copper though especially to texels, rouge etc'

Username John

snowman707 wrote: »

we are creeping them fairly hard, (got no choice no grass), ...the first batch will be killed on fri or mon.

we most likely won't dose until may and hope to have most of the early batch gone at this stage.

personally I wouldn't be in favour of dosing at 5 weeks but that's just me.

copper and cobalt deficiencies are often overlooked, and cause ill thrift in lambs,

need to be careful giving copper though especially to texels, rouge etc'

Hello Snowman,

Killing Friday or Monday - you must have had early lambs. I hope you get on well with them. What weight do you expect them to be?

I gave em cobalt all right last year, but maybe it was a bit late, as I had already started to see signs of ill thrift. As for copper, I would be a bit uneasy giving them copper - they have access to minerals all the time, so there should be enough copper in that for em.

I agree with you - 5 weeks does seem v young to be dosing em. We would have dosed em at around the 10 - 12 week mark previously, but I wasnt too happy with this last year.

Thanks for feedback, and I hope your lambs kill well.

Oh - just to be nosey - when you say "creeping fairly hard" how much are you giving them?

sea12

Username John wrote: »

Hello,

I think I read in the journal that they recommend dosing lambs at 5 weeks, and again at 14 weeks when weaning.

Just wondering what people's thoughts are on dosing plan / times are for lambs.

I felt last year that our lambs could have been better. So want to be on top of it a bit better this year, and wanted to see what people thought the best dosing plan is.

All replies appreciated.

Thanks.

Hi John,

I am lambing now but generally dose at 8 weeks and again at 15 weeks.
I think the doses you use are also very important. There seems to be more reistance to the doses and I need to change the type of dose around.
I always dose them every 3 weeks from July onwards with cobalt. If i dont I notice lambs sufering fairly quick from a defiency.
I am reseeding some ground at the moment as I was the same as you. My lambs were not great last year but I think the wet summer played a part in that.
Hopefully the new clean grass will benefit them.
Hope your lambing is going well!

Username John

sea12 wrote: »

Hi John,

I am lambing now but generally dose at 8 weeks and again at 15 weeks.
I think the doses you use are also very important. There seems to be more reistance to the doses and I need to change the type of dose around.
I always dose them every 3 weeks from July onwards with cobalt. If i dont I notice lambs sufering fairly quick from a defiency.
I am reseeding some ground at the moment as I was the same as you. My lambs were not great last year but I think the wet summer played a part in that.
Hopefully the new clean grass will benefit them.
Hope your lambing is going well!

Hello,

Thanks for info - I might try to be a bit better with the cobalt this year. When you say change the dose around - how often do you change it?

Lambing is all finished for me - didnt go too bad, could have gone a bit better I suppose. I only had around 1.4 lambs / ewe, which was a bit disappointing. But didnt have to call the vet, and had no major problems. So could be worse too.

Hope your lambing is going well. At least there is a bit o grass coming for em when they go out now.

Thanks.

snowman707

Username John wrote: »

Hello Snowman,

Killing Friday or Monday - you must have had early lambs. I hope you get on well with them. What weight do you expect them to be?

I gave em cobalt all right last year, but maybe it was a bit late, as I had already started to see signs of ill thrift. As for copper, I would be a bit uneasy giving them copper - they have access to minerals all the time, so there should be enough copper in that for em.

I agree with you - 5 weeks does seem v young to be dosing em. We would have dosed em at around the 10 - 12 week mark previously, but I wasnt too happy with this last year.

Thanks for feedback, and I hope your lambs kill well.

Oh - just to be nosey - when you say "creeping fairly hard" how much are you giving them?

1 ton between 175 lambs approx last 5 days , hope fully will have grass in a week to 10 days and will back off then,
managed to grab a couple of the bigger ones and they are handling very well , reckon 38 to 40 kgs


taking out the bigger lambs gives the remainder a chance to pick more also
had a lot of singles in the beginning ( first week of january)

the feb born lambs are getting no meal but we have them on the out farm and they have a little grass not stocked as tight also,
as for worms maybe get the vet or if you know any reps for the dosing companies to take a few dung samples

I like the texel for the later lambs as I think they are more resistant.

good luck lambing . just the ewe lambs left here

sea12

Username John wrote: »

Hello,

Thanks for info - I might try to be a bit better with the cobalt this year. When you say change the dose around - how often do you change it?

Lambing is all finished for me - didnt go too bad, could have gone a bit better I suppose. I only had around 1.4 lambs / ewe, which was a bit disappointing. But didnt have to call the vet, and had no major problems. So could be worse too.

Hope your lambing is going well. At least there is a bit o grass coming for em when they go out now.

Thanks.

Hi John,

Sorry for so late in coming back to you but was am in the middle of lambing at moment. I try to switch between the 3 three different type of doses consecutively to help reduce immunity. I saw an column in the farmers journal this week on dosing sheep but havnt got around to reading it fully yet. Apparantly a new type of dose available this year first new type in 30 years. Only on Perscription though for the moment.