How long would 3 tonne of beet feed 30 sheep for?

DJ98

How long would 3 tonne of beet feed 30 sheep for? Or roughly how much beet is there in a tonne?

solerina

How long is a piece of string
a few more details would be handy.

Username John

Was some discussions about beet before on here - see below...

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=88534109

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=88306502

DJ98

What other details to you want?

Cran

Think DM of fodder beet is about 15%, so very rough calc 3 ton would be about 450kg DM. ewe eats about 1kg of DM a day, so 30 ewes about 15 days.

Username John

Cran wrote: »

Think DM of fodder beet is about 15%, so very rough calc 3 ton would be about 450kg DM. ewe eats about 1kg of DM a day, so 30 ewes about 15 days.

Jesus... would that not be about 6kg of beet / day / ewe...

I got about 6 / 7 ton of beet last week... for 50 ewes.. they're on grass, but will get a bit of beet every day from now on. I would hope that the beet will last til around Feb or so. Til I start feeding em ration...
That would only be a kinda top-up on grass, if it was just fodder beet you were giving em, they'd need more I imagine...

I find it good after lambing as well, handy to be able to throw it out into the field and leave em be working away on it...

Cran

Username John wrote: »

Jesus... would that not be about 6kg of beet / day / ewe...

I got about 6 / 7 ton of beet last week... for 50 ewes.. they're on grass, but will get a bit of beet every day from now on. I would hope that the beet will last til around Feb or so. Til I start feeding em ration...
That would only be a kinda top-up on grass, if it was just fodder beet you were giving em, they'd need more I imagine...

I find it good after lambing as well, handy to be able to throw it out into the field and leave em be working away on it...

Feed turnips here to ewes and DM is about 12% I think, and DM calcs always worked out close enough. Normally out by difference in yield to what was used in calc.

If feeding restricted roots you d really want hay with them or good grass cover to make up the difference.

DJ98

Is it ok to feeding beet with hay?

Username John

Cran wrote: »

Feed turnips here to ewes and DM is about 12% I think, and DM calcs always worked out close enough. Normally out by difference in yield to what was used in calc.

If feeding restricted roots you d really want hay with them or good grass cover to make up the difference.

Yes, agree.

Ewes will move around now til they go into the shed, and hopefully they'll have ok-ish grass in front of em all the time... but that's all very weather dependant...

Green farmer

Without looking at the links, I seem to remember you got great mileage from the beet last year john :pac:, I suppose it's like everything else, a good setup and easy access to buying it is half the battle.

IH784man

Is it possible to substitute meal for store lambs or lambs out on grass earlier in the year with beet instead?

How much is beet

Bullocks

IH784man wrote: »

Is it possible to substitute meal for store lambs or lambs out on grass earlier in the year with beet instead?

How much is beet

Good question, for my small few I'd say the nuts is as handy for them . I don't think the beet can replace grass/ hay anyhow on its own

Username John

IH784man wrote: »

Is it possible to substitute meal for store lambs or lambs out on grass earlier in the year with beet instead?

How much is beet

Paid 200e for a trailer delivered, something around 6 ton.... Maybe a bit more...

IH784man

Not to expensive at that,Do sheep thrive on it,are you feeding it in field or shed?
Is it as good as meal

Username John

IH784man wrote: »

Not to expensive at that,Do sheep thrive on it,are you feeding it in field or shed?
Is it as good as meal

I find it good - but use it as a bit of extra feed to stretch grass more than anything...

Feed it outside, just thrown into the field over the ditch / gate...

Is it as good as meal - I think so, but the amount I'd feed would only be the equilivamt of about 0.2kg/day meal... Just enough to keep em topping along...

Don't feed it when the ewes are inside, I find meal handier then.

IH784man

Username John wrote: »

I find it good - but use it as a bit of extra feed to stretch grass more than anything...

Feed it outside, just thrown into the field over the ditch / gate...

Is it as good as meal - I think so, but the amount I'd feed would only be the equilivamt of about 0.2kg/day meal... Just enough to keep em topping along...

Don't feed it when the ewes are inside, I find meal handier then.

I'm thinking in the way of store lambs next year to push profits,could I substitute meal with the beets or beets and a little taste of meal on top?

Username John

IH784man wrote: »

I'm thinking in the way of store lambs next year to push profits,could I substitute meal with the beets or beets and a little taste of meal on top?

Never fed it to stores to be honest.

Am sure it'd do the job - you'd still need a bit of meal on top I'd say. But am only guessing...

Working out how much beet you'd need plus meal vs the cost of meal alone, not sure how you'd go about working that out.

I should add as well, good bit of beet grown around here, so might be that bit cheaper. Not sure where you are, but it might be more expensive....

IH784man

Username John wrote: »

Never fed it to stores to be honest.

Am sure it'd do the job - you'd still need a bit of meal on top I'd say. But am only guessing...

Working out how much beet you'd need plus meal vs the cost of meal alone, not sure how you'd go about working that out.

I should add as well, good bit of beet grown around here, so might be that bit cheaper. Not sure where you are, but it might be more expensive....

Would it be hard got in Donegal?Could you use other root veg for the job?Heard of people chopping up carrots with spades and feeding to Cattle

rangler1

Username John wrote: »

Never fed it to stores to be honest.

Am sure it'd do the job - you'd still need a bit of meal on top I'd say. But am only guessing...

Working out how much beet you'd need plus meal vs the cost of meal alone, not sure how you'd go about working that out.

I should add as well, good bit of beet grown around here, so might be that bit cheaper. Not sure where you are, but it might be more expensive....

Probably have to chop them. lambs would be losing teeth at that age, are your ewelambs able to scoop them

Username John

rangler1 wrote: »

Probably have to chop them. lambs would be losing teeth at that age, are your ewelambs able to scoop them

Spot on rangler - some of the ewe lambs are picking away at em, some aren't... Will have to keep an eye on the ewe lambs...

rangler1

Username John wrote: »

Spot on rangler - some of the ewe lambs are picking away at em, some aren't... Will have to keep an eye on the ewe lambs...

I wouldn't like to be scooping beet with loose teeth anyway.
There's a theory that ewelambs are more prone to listeria for that reason, ie The holes in the gums after losing teeth allowing the bacteria in the silage into their bloodstream.
They're definitely more prone to abortion any way

Green farmer

rangler1 wrote: »

There's a theory that ewelambs are more prone to listeria for that reason, ie The holes in the gums after losing teeth allowing the bacteria in the silage into their bloodstream.
They're definitely more prone to abortion any way

Bursting my bubble here rangler, I've 50 hopefully pregnant ewe lambs on a silage only diet. Other thing is its not really a accurate science at what age they loose the teeth. Fingers crossed mine won't loose them until next April.
On a side note, his weather cannt be helping the pregnancy retention rates much either

rangler1

Green farmer wrote: »

Bursting my bubble here rangler, I've 50 hopefully pregnant ewe lambs on a silage only diet. Other thing is its not really a accurate science at what age they loose the teeth. Fingers crossed mine won't loose them until next April.
On a side note, his weather cannt be helping the pregnancy retention rates much either

I referred to that on the ''taking the rams out'' thread, vicious weather for mating and the few supposedly quiet weeks after