Winter feeding

Green farmer

Anyone doing anything different this winter, then previous years as a result of certain feeds being better value this year ? Or anybody feeding ewes anything out of the ordinary ?

Username John

Green farmer wrote: »

Anyone doing anything different this winter, then previous years as a result of certain feeds being better value this year ? Or anybody feeding ewes anything out of the ordinary ?

Going to get some more fodder beet.

Got some last year, as was short of feed - and found it very good. Wasnt going to get it again, as tis messy to be dealing with. But I went against my plans and ordered some more there last week

Ewes will be in a bit longer this year then before, more cos it suits me than anything else. Prob bring in em end Feb, for lambing end March.

Feed em fodder beet outside for a bit before they come in, to make sure they're all used to it. But they should be, as they got it last year.

Inside, they will be fed hay & fodder beet & a bit of ration - the amount of ration will depend on the scanning. But I might try to give the singles as little as possible. Hay & fodder beet I'd say might do em, but want to get em used to a small bit o feed too for after lambing)

Thats it. Nothing too extraordinary.

Yourself Green?

Green farmer

Username John wrote: »

Going to get some more fodder beet.
Feed em fodder beet outside for a bit before they come in, to make sure they're all used to it. But they should be, as they got it last year.
Inside, they will be fed hay & fodder beet & a bit of ration "quote"]




Let us know how you get on , you feeding it hole or chopped ? Do you have to buy it buy a few tonne minimum or have you local access to it ?

I Made a lot of silage this year. First time making it. Got stung last year making small square bales , they all over heated on me, so all silage this year. I used molasses last year to improve poor hay so thinking about getting it in again this year. Looking into a blend of it that has added protein and minerals. Any one else out there use it ?

Username John

Green farmer wrote: »

Let us know how you get on , you feeding it hole or chopped ? Do you have to buy it buy a few tonne minimum or have you local access to it ?

I Made a lot of silage this year. First time making it. Got stung last year making small square bales , they all over heated on me, so all silage this year. I used molasses last year to improve poor hay so thinking about getting it in again this year. Looking into a blend of it that has added protein and minerals. Any one else out there use it ?

I feed it whole, thrown out in the field, or else on the straw.
Local lad grows it, so will get a few ton.

Molasses? How will you feed it? How much do you feed?

Green farmer

Username John wrote: »

I feed it whole, thrown out in the field, or else on the straw.
Local lad grows it, so will get a few ton.

Molasses? How will you feed it? How much do you feed?

I get it by the ibc tank, with a tap on it. Then just put a bucket under it and pour a bucket over the bale. The sheep go mad for it. Nothing to scientific, but I think you can give up to .5 kg per head a day if you want. You can also buy lick wheel feeders if you want to feed it ad lib. Find it gives the sheep a boost of energy in the cold wet winter. I suppose it's just something abit different.

tomwaterford

Username John wrote: »

I feed it whole, thrown out in the field, or else on the straw.
Local lad grows it, so will get a few ton.

Molasses? How will you feed it? How much do you feed?

How much per sheep per day do you feed the fodder beet

Username John

tomwaterford wrote: »

How much per sheep per day do you feed the fodder beet

The plan is
- start feeding em around mid jan. That'd be 6-7 weeks before lambing.
- start em on about 0.5 beet / head
- move it up to 1 beet / day after 2 weeks
- bring em in about 3 - 4 weeks before lambing
- maybe up the beet to 2 beet / head. I'll see how they're eating it. might give em one morning and evening.

The big question then - is how much ration to feed em along with the beet?

rangler1

Username John wrote: »

The plan is
- start feeding em around mid jan. That'd be 6-7 weeks before lambing.
- start em on about 0.5 beet / head
- move it up to 1 beet / day after 2 weeks
- bring em in about 3 - 4 weeks before lambing
- maybe up the beet to 2 beet / head. I'll see how they're eating it. might give em one morning and evening.

The big question then - is how much ration to feed em along with the beet?

If they're carrying a good crop of lambs, you should be aware of the protein requirements in order to have enough beestings/milk for the doubles when they arrive.
A ewe with doubles need 200g protein/day coming up to and after lambing, That's why grass is so important after lambing.
180g protein in a kilo of 18% ration, don't know what's in beet, also be aware that two lambs take up a lot of room in the ewe in the last month and she mightn't be physically able to get in two beet

Username John

rangler1 wrote: »

If they're carrying a good crop of lambs, you should be aware of the protein requirements in order to have enough beestings/milk for the doubles when they arrive.
A ewe with doubles need 200g protein/day coming up to and after lambing, That's why grass is so important after lambing.
180g protein in a kilo of 18% ration, don't know what's in beet, also be aware that two lambs take up a lot of room in the ewe in the last month and she mightn't be physically able to get in two beet

Spot on Rangler.

I think fodder beet is very low in protein, so you'd have to balance that with the ration. Its high in energy (I think)

I'll have to see how we go.

Last year, i fed it outside, but not much when they were in. I think it was very good when out, I guess they had the protein from grass and the energy from the beet.

rangler1

Username John wrote: »

Spot on Rangler.

I think fodder beet is very low in protein, so you'd have to balance that with the ration. Its high in energy (I think)

I'll have to see how we go.

Last year, i fed it outside, but not much when they were in. I think it was very good when out, I guess they had the protein from grass and the energy from the beet.

Yea beet is a great feed, just needs to be balanced, mins and vits too. Googled it there, about 20% DM 6% P, so 60g Protein in 5kgs beet,

davidk1394

We're out wwintering all our ewes.. we grew 14 ac of kale.. but this nearly 4ft high. We grew 7ac of turnips aswell.. save a lot of silage and its not too expensive and is a nice break crop.. we grow tyfon in the summer then for lambs which is good to finish them but a heap of thistles come up after them

gazahayes

davidk1394 wrote: »

We're out wwintering all our ewes.. we grew 14 ac of kale.. but this nearly 4ft high. We grew 7ac of turnips aswell.. save a lot of silage and its not too expensive and is a nice break crop.. we grow tyfon in the summer then for lambs which is good to finish them but a heap of thistles come up after them

How many ewes will that keep?

Robson99

davidk1394 wrote: »

We're out wwintering all our ewes.. we grew 14 ac of kale.. but this nearly 4ft high. We grew 7ac of turnips aswell.. save a lot of silage and its not too expensive and is a nice break crop.. we grow tyfon in the summer then for lambs which is good to finish them but a heap of thistles come up after them

Have a field for reseeding but it hasn't been ploughed in years. Was going to put in a break crop first but not sure whether to go with kale, rape or Tyfon. Which would be the best option??. Want it for fattening store lambs

davidk1394

gazahayes wrote: »

How many ewes will that keep?

Ahh last year we out wintered 250 of te younger ewes until march 2 weeks before lambing and turned them in.. the singles lambed outdoors without feeding any meal at all.. to clean up the last of the turnips we put out 100 replacements on them from March to may.. so it fed them for 6 months

davidk1394

Robson99 wrote: »

Have a field for reseeding but it hasn't been ploughed in years. Was going to put in a break crop first but not sure whether to go with kale, rape or Tyfon. Which would be the best option??. Want it for fattening store lambs

See with tyfon you need the lambs to be 35kgs going in and the field has to be divided to allow regrowth. . You will probly get 3 grazings if well managed but sometimes weeds can be a major problem. Also lambs can suffer from a disease called photosensitivity so they need a run back. The kale is a good option once they get a good start in the field... we taught the turnips were great over the winter because there was heaps if grazing and its easy to grow it.. look if you want any more infor p.m me and we can get in touch because theres a good bit of info on all of the crops I could tell you about

early_riser

feeding good quality chopped silage, and a mix of oats, protein balancer and flake maize plus minerals to the early lambers and march lambing ewes getting just silage at the min and will start giving fodder beet in jan