Feeding ewe lambs after tipping

Username John

Hello,

We have never put ewe lambs with the ram, but I am thinking of chancing a few this year.

First, they would be in with the ewes, I know this isn't the best - but I am taking the view "if they go in young, great, if not, nothing lost"
They are around the 50+ kgs, and are reasonably big so I think they should be ok...

Its how to manage / feed them when they are in lamb is where I am in trouble.

My plan for the ewes is they are on the best grass I have now, and will be for about 2 weeks after the rams go out.

Then, they will follow another bunch of dry sheep/lambs that I will be fattening, so they wont get the best grass. The grass should still be good, but I don't want them getting fat...

In this system - should I be trying to fatten the ewe lambs so give them access to the best grass in the first group all the time (as they will still be growing)
Or would I be bringing more trouble on myself, with them getting too fat, and the lambs inside em getting too big?

The paddock system I have isn't super, so running two groups will be about as complicated as it can get... (plus I am getting a bit worried re the amount of grass I have)

So - how best to manage the ewe lambs in this system?

All advise appreciated...

If people think it wouldn't work out, then say so, as I would prefer not to do it, than for it to go wrong...

Thanks.

eorna

ewe lamb is growing all the winter so should be put in good grass, is in the last few weeks of pregnancy that you want to be careful not to overfeed them if they are carrying singles, if they have twins feed away.
i give them as good grass as i have pre and during mating...after that they join the ewes and treat them as normal, as my grass is gone by that stage;).
this year i am giving them 0.2 x head of meal before mating to keep them growing but it's only because they were light ish and there is feck all in the grass..always shear them as helps them grow...that's my view in it anyways

Username John

eorna wrote: »

ewe lamb is growing all the winter so should be put in good grass, is in the last few weeks of pregnancy that you want to be careful not to overfeed them if they are carrying singles, if they have twins feed away.
i give them as good grass as i have pre and during mating...after that they join the ewes and treat them as normal, as my grass is gone by that stage;).
this year i am giving them 0.2 x head of meal before mating to keep them growing but it's only because they were light ish and there is feck all in the grass..always shear them as helps them grow...that's my view in it anyways

Thanks Eorna.

I may be very optimistic with the 'grass forecast'
We'll see... The ewes are demolishing any grass that's put in front of them these days... not so good

But last year, I had the ewes on too good grass I thought, and I felt it caused me problems at lambing...
Altho given the difference in years we have had between 2011 and 2012, I dont think too much grass will be an issue this year

AntrimGlens

Hi John,
What breed and what are you tipping them with? My advice would be to try to run them separately from the main flock if you can, (i know u say u prob cant) but certainly i'd put them onto the better grass once they're tipped and try to keep them ahead of the main flock.. You might find using a teaser would work for you with ewe lambs and bring them into oestrus along with the ewes and not a cycle behind them. If they're fifty kg at the min then they should be ok for tipping but i'd get them scanned and then at least you'll know what to feed accordingly in the springand pull off any that didn't breed

Username John

AntrimGlens wrote: »

Hi John,
What breed and what are you tipping them with? My advice would be to try to run them separately from the main flock if you can, (i know u say u prob cant) but certainly i'd put them onto the better grass once they're tipped and try to keep them ahead of the main flock.. You might find using a teaser would work for you with ewe lambs and bring them into oestrus along with the ewes and not a cycle behind them. If they're fifty kg at the min then they should be ok for tipping but i'd get them scanned and then at least you'll know what to feed accordingly in the springand pull off any that didn't breed

Hi Antrim,

I have Suffolk ewes mostly, and Hampshire Down rams. I can't separate the ewes and ewe lambs.

There is a teaser ram in with em for almost 2 weeks now, he'll be out at the weekend. And the 2 rams going in.

Will be scanning em all right, so we can see then.

Thanks for response Antrim.

rancher

AntrimGlens wrote: »

Hi John,
What breed and what are you tipping them with? My advice would be to try to run them separately from the main flock if you can, (i know u say u prob cant) but certainly i'd put them onto the better grass once they're tipped and try to keep them ahead of the main flock.. You might find using a teaser would work for you with ewe lambs and bring them into oestrus along with the ewes and not a cycle behind them. If they're fifty kg at the min then they should be ok for tipping but i'd get them scanned and then at least you'll know what to feed accordingly in the springand pull off any that didn't breed

I'm doing a small trial at the moment on my ewe lambs,I always give them mineral boluses when I pick them for breeding, (1st sept) so this year I decided to weigh them at bolusing and maybe at scanning and see do they justify the cost ie €1.40 approx/ewe.......100 ewe lambs..75 bolused...25 not bolused.
Had them in today for dipping, 5 wet weeks after bolusing, and couldn't resist weighing them again.... 75 bolused lambs put on 5.1kg, 25 not bolused put on 3.3kg, early days yet as the boluses are supposed to last 6 mths and it will be interesting to see what way the scanning goes

Username John

rancher wrote: »

I'm doing a small trial at the moment on my ewe lambs,I always give them mineral boluses when I pick them for breeding, (1st sept) so this year I decided to weigh them at bolusing and maybe at scanning and see do they justify the cost ie €1.40 approx/ewe.......100 ewe lambs..75 bolused...25 not bolused.
Had them in today for dipping, 5 wet weeks after bolusing, and couldn't resist weighing them again.... 75 bolused lambs put on 5.1kg, 25 not bolused put on 3.3kg, early days yet as the boluses are supposed to last 6 mths and it will be interesting to see what way the scanning goes

Interesting experiment Rancher. You must keep us informed...

I gave the ewes a bolus last year for the first time, and I wasn't impressed. I have nothing scientific to base that statement on, just I didn't think it was worth it...
I have given them mineral buckets this year (as we always would have done) First bucket gone very quickly, second one is there for a few weeks now (I only have ~80, so we're not talking huge numbers here)

I have found on new reseeds they don't touch the mineral bucket, whereas on older ground, they use it that bit faster.

Rancher - any comments on what to do re my ewe lambs? Would be interested in your opinion.

Username John

rancher wrote: »

Had them in today for dipping

Is it not late for dipping? I would be afraid they would get a chill this time of year?

razor8

rancher wrote: »

I'm doing a small trial at the moment on my ewe lambs,I always give them mineral boluses when I pick them for breeding, (1st sept) so this year I decided to weigh them at bolusing and maybe at scanning and see do they justify the cost ie €1.40 approx/ewe.......100 ewe lambs..75 bolused...25 not bolused.
Had them in today for dipping, 5 wet weeks after bolusing, and couldn't resist weighing them again.... 75 bolused lambs put on 5.1kg, 25 not bolused put on 3.3kg, early days yet as the boluses are supposed to last 6 mths and it will be interesting to see what way the scanning goes

Very interesting, which boluses did you use? What works for one may not necessarily work for another with different land types but im curious

rancher

Username John wrote: »

Interesting experiment Rancher. You must keep us informed...

I gave the ewes a bolus last year for the first time, and I wasn't impressed. I have nothing scientific to base that statement on, just I didn't think it was worth it...
I have given them mineral buckets this year (as we always would have done) First bucket gone very quickly, second one is there for a few weeks now (I only have ~80, so we're not talking huge numbers here)

I have found on new reseeds they don't touch the mineral bucket, whereas on older ground, they use it that bit faster.

Rancher - any comments on what to do re my ewe lambs? Would be interested in your opinion.

Saw your post alright, but thought if your ewe lambs are over 50kgs you were doing alright on your own.
There's no right or wrong minerals, its different on every farm, depends on your deficiency
A lot of people got trouble with lambing ewe lambs this year because of the good quality grass in march and it really grew the lambs inside the ewes,
You have to be very careful of ewe lambs carrying singles in their last month/six weeks of pregnancy.....early grass..80% DMD..you wouldn't get as good in a bag of meal, My ewe lambs wouldn't get that sort of grass until after they lamb.
I don't feed meal at mating, It increases the no. of doubles and I don't want that ,one is enough for a ewe lamb. I put the ewe lambs in a bunch of their own for mating, ewe lambs are very flighty and the rams won't bother chasing them if there is mature ewes available.
They lamb in april,give them 1/2 lb meal feb, put them in 1st march, with straw I build them up to 1 1/2 lbs for the singles and 2-21/2lbs for the doubles, if you're feeding good silage, you'd get away with less meal than that.
About dipping, when we had compulsory dipping it was always october november, I put them in for 24hrs beforehand( keeps the dip clean and less weight to pull around) so they're getting done tomorrow
This is the way I do it, mightn't work for you

rancher

razor8 wrote: »

Very interesting, which boluses did you use? What works for one may not necessarily work for another with different land types but im curious

Animax

Username John

The boys are in with the ewes & ewe lambs just over 2 weeks now...
They have a good few of the sheep tipped, and a few of the ewe lambs tipped as well... Well - 6 out of 8 ewe lambs, its hardly massive numbers...

But I was kinda preparing myself for none of the ewe lambs to be tipped at all, when the ewes were there as well...

Of course we'll have to see if they'll hold - but for now, better result than I expected at this stage.

Happy enough