fattening lambs..advise

eorna

been trying to fatten the lambs that are left, have them at 0.7kg of a mix of straights (barley and soya hulls). Up to last week there were putting 1 kg x week which i was happy with. I weigh them this morning and lambs did not put on weight at all and a few look like they lost a bit and all..the problem is that the grass i had for them is nearly gone...so should i increase the rate of feeding and by how much?? or should i add more protein to the feed??or any suggestions welcome

Lastin

Worms, fluke, minerals or another underlying disease perhaps, I don't know how good soya hulls are for sheep

eorna

lambs wormed, minerals sorted too, fluke shouldn't be an issue this year around here..i suppose i should just up the feed to as much as they can take and see how they get on..

razor8

i would fec sample them and see if anything shows up, will only cost you €20

iverjohnston

Or if your grass is gone , sell them and be done with it.
What weight are they at?

rancher

eorna wrote: »

been trying to fatten the lambs that are left, have them at 0.7kg of a mix of straights (barley and soya hulls). Up to last week there were putting 1 kg x week which i was happy with. I weigh them this morning and lambs did not put on weight at all and a few look like they lost a bit and all..the problem is that the grass i had for them is nearly gone...so should i increase the rate of feeding and by how much?? or should i add more protein to the feed??or any suggestions welcome

Putting lambs here onto adlib meal when they reach 36kgs, they eat about 1kg/day and gain 2kg/wk.
Weight gain was reduced over the last week and they had got dirty, so did a FEC.... Count was750, so should have been dosed a week ago.
Lamb performance hasn't been great all year here, but it has matched athenry and a couple of sheep farmers here on boards are disappointed as well

tommy5678

could you start feding small lambs around 20 kgs a kg of meal a day our would it make them too fat

rancher

tommy5678 wrote: »

could you start feding small lambs around 20 kgs a kg of meal a day our would it make them too fat

A lot of farmer have lambs on meal from birth to slaughter and it doesn't seem to make them overfat....depends on the breed I suppose.
I start the lambs here when they're 36kg because I get a good kick from the meal for 4 -6 weeks, but the weight gain really tails off then and I don't believe it's worth feeding meal after that this time of the year......no problem at easter when lambs are making €140

tommy5678

would my lambs make 140 at easter our would they be too old then

rancher

tommy5678 wrote: »

would my lambs make 140 at easter our would they be too old then

Too old for the easter lamb trade anyway, Yours will be hoggets then... don't know what the hogget price will be

Username John

tommy5678 wrote: »

would my lambs make 140 at easter our would they be too old then

rancher wrote: »

Too old for the easter lamb trade anyway, Yours will be hoggets then... don't know what the hogget price will be

Have a look here

Hog prices was around 5euro/kg in early march this year, then went a bit higher.

I have a few runty things that I'll be holding onto and selling sometime into the new year. They'll come on slowly over the winter on grass...

rancher

Username John wrote: »

Have a look here

Hog prices was around 5euro/kg in early march this year, then went a bit higher.

I have a few runty things that I'll be holding onto and selling sometime into the new year. They'll come on slowly over the winter on grass...

Hope they make €5 again

tommy5678

what is the weight limit for a hogget in the factory

Dickie10

they usually take up end of jan as lambs get very thin on the ground that time of year, im feeding intensive lamb nuts from keirnan milling, getting a good response there between 35 and 44 kg, I want them 45-46 kg before slaughter to make the kill out 22-22.5kg carcass weight, am I trying to get them to heavy? bought them as stores at 58 euro and around 30 kg, that's why I wanna get them to kill out cut off

AnFeirmeoir

I'd say you're about right trying to get them to 46kg.

I've always found lambs on grass and silage up to jan and feb, don't do well. Its hard to get any sort of finish on them.
At that time of the year, your left with the worst ones and they don't do that well even with meal. They'll get there but with twice the meal a good lamb would need.

Dickie10

they were prob the best stores we ever got, no hornys all Suffolk x, texel x and Hampshire down x. sourced around killorglin/kenmare area. first time none have died .TOUCH WOOD!

Dickie10

feirmeoir- are u in the public sector?!!what has u online this time of day?:D

AnFeirmeoir

lol. Have to move with the time Dickie... always online with my new fancy iphone.

Dickie10

im in college that's my excuse , cant bate the ifone alrite

tommy5678

can a hogget weight more than a lamb for the factory.

razor8

would think they need to be around 50kg+ to kill out average of 22kg IMO

tommy5678

what is the highest weight for a hogget for the factory

razor8

theres none but there is a limit that they will pay you for, it changes through out the year to suit themselves, can be up to 23kgs in the spring time