Cobalt deficiency in ewes and young lambs

killyon

Our ewes and lambs are showing signs of been very low in cobalt, we have them dosed with cobaly b12, but was wondering is there any mineral bucket out there especially high in cobalt that could be left out with the flock ??

micky mouse

Have not used them myself, but there is a bolus on the market that is suppose to be very good for the sheep.Only heard about it this week,thats why my details are vague

Username John

killyon wrote: »

Our ewes and lambs are showing signs of been very low in cobalt, we have them dosed with cobaly b12, but was wondering is there any mineral bucket out there especially high in cobalt that could be left out with the flock ??

My ewes and lambs are the same...

I am not aware of any block...
This link will tell you whats in the Uniblock mineral buckets. There is some Cobalt, not sure if it would be considered a lot tho?

There are cobalt bolus you can get, not sure what age the lambs would be before yoou could give them a bolus? I used them before, but I wasn't too impressed. I didn't think they did a great job, not as good as dosing every few weeks...

Re the Cobalt + B12. I was told that its not worth the money...
As far as I know, B12 is needed to be able to absorb cobalt. But cobalt can absorbed through the stomach, so a dose works. Whereas B12 should be injected, to be absorbed properly. So the cobalt+B12 is not worth the extra money, as the B12 cant be easily absorbed... So you are better off buying the cheaper cobalt...
So I was told anyways...

I was wondering before if there were additives you could put in the water, to slow release cobalt... But I didn't find anything in my brief google search...

So I am back to dosing every 3 - 4 weeks now... Plan to do it again tomorrow if I can... which reminds me, might need to get another gallon of cobalt...

tabby aspreme

Byrne livestock feeds, near Tullow Co Carlow will make up lick buckets to your spec

Salmonman

I gave ewes cobalt bolus back in September and again in march.Lambs will also get the benefit of it through the milk.You can bolus lambs when there a few months old.Bolus I use is called tracesure.Also give them selenium and iodine bolus

Username John

Salmonman wrote: »

I gave ewes cobalt bolus back in September and again in march.Lambs will also get the benefit of it through the milk.You can bolus lambs when there a few months old.Bolus I use is called tracesure.Also give them selenium and iodine bolus

Hi Salmonman,

I think they're the ones I used before as well... And you find them good do you?

jomoloney

I was dosing the lambs yesterday and noticed some with very slight scaly ears, although they are thriving , any how drenched them cobalt as well, ,

a good few ewes brown on the heads , most likely drench the ewes at shearing and bolus a month B4 mating, we use the animex ones , and have also used mayo health care boluses

Salmonman

Username John wrote: »

Hi Salmonman,

I think they're the ones I used before as well... And you find them good do you?

Ye,I had problems with lambs scouring and very dry dull looking wool but since I started using bolus seems to have improved

eorna

i was told lambs only need cobalt after weaning..I am not sure though and can be a myth but i never drench them before they are weaned..

Username John

Well, I dosed mine (both ewes and lambs) with cobalt this morning...
I think it's good...

Weighed a few of them, and they are doing good enough... So will keep giving em the cobalt every few weeks I think...

sea12

I used the blouses last year but half to say I prefer the dose. They seemed to do better on it.

Conmaicne Mara

If you have them under your hand, dose them. I've found bolus brought up by ewes on two different farms. Not sure about the lamb ones.

rancher

Username John wrote: »

Well, I dosed mine (both ewes and lambs) with cobalt this morning...
I think it's good...

Weighed a few of them, and they are doing good enough... So will keep giving em the cobalt every few weeks I think...

Weighed a bunch of lambs today while dosing, 69ewes and 130 lambs in the bunch so most of the ewes are rearing two lambs and none are rearing three.

born as singles..305gms/day
born as doubles.....300gms/day
born as triplets....288gms/day
I use animax a lot and find it very good

parth88

What price are animax boluses? I see the price quoted for lambs for monday is down 20cent a kg to 5.70. .

Username John

rancher wrote: »

Weighed a bunch of lambs today while dosing, 69ewes and 130 lambs in the bunch so most of the ewes are rearing two lambs and none are rearing three.

born as singles..305gms/day
born as doubles.....300gms/day
born as triplets....288gms/day
I use animax a lot and find it very good

Hi rancher,

How are we doing?

I had the ewes and lambs in the weekend, so the (well, most of em anyways, a few escaped and so missed their go on the weigh scales :mad: )

Singles = 0.361/day
Doubles = 0.298/day
Triplets = 0.269/day

Overall I think they are doing ok, I have one runt (who was a pet) and a few under-performers, I'd say those ewes might get the road this year I'd say...

This is kinda my first year tracking performance to this level. So I would be interested to hear how you think your numbers are compared to other years...

Username John

Just did some googling, and I found this table, which lists "Target lamb pre-weaning daily live weight gain from grazed pasture"

Singles = 0.340/day
Doubles = 0.295/day
Triplets = 0.290/day

Source (page 6)

rancher

Username John wrote: »

Hi rancher,

How are we doing?

I had the ewes and lambs in the weekend, so the (well, most of em anyways, a few escaped and so missed their go on the weigh scales :mad: )

Singles = 0.361/day
Doubles = 0.298/day
Triplets = 0.269/day

Overall I think they are doing ok, I have one runt (who was a pet) and a few under-performers, I'd say those ewes might get the road this year I'd say...

This is kinda my first year tracking performance to this level. So I would be interested to hear how you think your numbers are compared to other years...

Any time they're gaining 300gms is alright, its trying to keep the quality of grass right in june is the problem.....300gms/day is very hard to achieve in june, I'd say lambs are doing well this year and there's lovely grass coming now because it got grazed so bare in may, will be weighing soon so will let you know