Grass tetany

Green farmer

Keep an eye out for this lads.Spotted a ewe in the early stages of it today.( despite having a regular mineral lick bucket in field ). Administered magnesium and calcium injections , so fingers crossed.

sea12

Green farmer wrote: »

Keep an eye out for this lads.Spotted a ewe in the early stages of it today.( despite having a regular mineral lick bucket in field ). Administered magnesium and calcium injections , so fingers crossed.

Yep I have one down as well green. Though I got her early enough but don't think she will make it . Have been feeding them a bit if meal which I thought would cover them off.

Green farmer

sea12 wrote: »

Yep I have one down as well green. Though I got her early enough but don't think she will make it . Have been feeding them a bit if meal which I thought would cover them off.

Mine when to the spirit in the Sky this afternoon. She has a lovely set of lambs under her, that are still sitting down by her side. A heartbreaking sight. So guess I've new pets as well.

rangler1

Green farmer wrote: »

Mine when to the spirit in the Sky this afternoon. She has a lovely set of lambs under her, that are still sitting down by her side. A heartbreaking sight. So guess I've new pets as well.

Have you high mag buckets out, there's always one that won't take them. There's not enough mag in the ordinary one, it's sometimes hard to get the hi mag ones for sheep too
A burst of growth such as we had today when the lambs are about 3-5 wks old is the high risk time.....and if you have a cold night all the boxes are ticked for a case.
Nearly impossible to cure I find, I've lost one so far, usually lose 2 or 3. sometimes very hard to get the lambs to drink milk, mine were 5 wks old so I just left them

ihatewinter

I have a rented field let up for ewes and lambs. It's very green. I have been feeding the ewes ration, is there enough magnesium in the meal to prevent tetany. My ewes are used to grazing hill grass with lambs so was wondering do I need to put out high mag licks.

eorna

ihatewinter wrote: »

I have a rented field let up for ewes and lambs. It's very green. I have been feeding the ewes ration, is there enough magnesium in the meal to prevent tetany. My ewes are used to grazing hill grass with lambs so was wondering do I need to put out high mag licks.

Yes put high mag licks out. Unless you are absolutely sure your meal contains high level of Mg.. And even at that i'd stick them in

Username John

Ye have me worried lads...

No licks with the ewes, and I must move into good enough grass (albeit old pasture) now tomorrow...

Feeding em a bit of beet as well to stretch the grass (and I have the beet left over)

I hadn't planned on getting high mag buckets - I don't think we ever have used high mag buckets here...

davidk1394

Green farmer wrote: »

Keep an eye out for this lads.Spotted a ewe in the early stages of it today.( despite having a regular mineral lick bucket in field ). Administered magnesium and calcium injections , so fingers crossed.

We lost 2 texels with twins easter sunday.. some heart ache

rangler1

ihatewinter wrote: »

I have a rented field let up for ewes and lambs. It's very green. I have been feeding the ewes ration, is there enough magnesium in the meal to prevent tetany. My ewes are used to grazing hill grass with lambs so was wondering do I need to put out high mag licks.

Highly fertilised grass causes it more than extensive grazing and it's your best milking ewes that are more prone......
''Intensive farming intensifies problems''

Btw, it's often not easy to catch the lambs, but if you build a 8ft by 8ft pen around the ewe and leave a 2ft gap at one corner. come back in an hour they'll be lying beside the ewe in the pen, get up to it quick and close the gap and you have your lambs

Green farmer

rangler1 wrote: »

Btw, it's often not easy to catch the lambs, but if you build a 8ft by 8ft pen around the ewe and leave a 2ft gap at one corner. come back in an hour they'll be lying beside the ewe in the pen, get up to it quick and close the gap and you have your lambs

I'd to pull out my trusted shepherds crook to catch the little rascals yesterday. Beginning to feel my age, I caught them but had to break a sweat in doing it. Might be going your trick in coming years. Also I just had the ordinary mineral buckets out. So obviously not enough to see off the tetany. Picked up uniblock high mag ones this morning. The field I have them in is old pasture that got a bag to acre of fertiliser, which makes it more worrying as just shows how easily the tetany can strike.

Username John

Is this what lads are using?

http://www.stockhealth.ie/mineral-vitamins/buckets/uniblock-sheep-mineral-lick

This lists 20euro - is this the price of em? I thought they were cheaper? (But it might be that I haven't bought one in so long)

Green farmer

Economag is the one your looking for . Paid €15 today for them.