Finishing pet lambs

eorna

Do people here finish pet lambs ( bucket fed) inside or outside with creep or just grass??
(I found through years just grass leave small ish slow lamb who'll need to be fed at the other end of year anyway).. So considering my options this year

razor8

I start mine on pellets from a few days old and stay in with access to hay and water and are usually all gone around 6 months old. It's not a very profitable enterprise but if all survive it makes it worth while. They are weaned off milk around 5 weeks old and if plenty of grass they will go out and join the twin lambs from ewe lambs

Username John

If ye don't me asking lads - how much does it cost to raise a pet lamb? In or about...

How much milk replacer and ration would they eat?

EDIT : and another off topic question - do you always leave twin lambs on ewe lambs razor? Would it not be too much on em?

rangler1

Username John wrote: »

If ye don't me asking lads - how much does it cost to raise a pet lamb? In or about...

How much milk replacer and ration would they eat?

EDIT : and another off topic question - do you always leave twin lambs on ewe lambs razor? Would it not be too much on em?

I'd agree, it's hard to keep ewe lambs milking, but you get sick of feeding the doubles as pets too. A neighbour takes the front off his creep feeder and lets both ewes and lambs into it for the first six weeks......he claims he has both good ewes and good lambs at the end of the year naturally he only does that for the doubles.

eorna

razor8 wrote: »

I start mine on pellets from a few days old and stay in with access to hay and water and are usually all gone around 6 months old. It's not a very profitable enterprise but if all survive it makes it worth while. They are weaned off milk around 5 weeks old and if plenty of grass they will go out and join the twin lambs from ewe lambs

Thanks razor are the twins from ewe lambs in ad lib creep or a bit of meal a day or just best grass??

orm0nd

best of January pet lambs will going to abattoir next week @ between 38 to 44 kgs

have cost about 60 euro ..15-16 kg powder, 25kgs lamb creep, 50 kgs lamb finisher, top quality straw ad lib. in racks.. no silage or hay

all pets raised here are finished indoors

only keep early February born ewe lambs for breeding, they get no meal until within 6 weeks of lambing down. they usually rotate behind the dairy cows,
rear 2 lambs no problems with no meal , some had had 3's this year & 1 set of 4.

lambs are weaned in July and ewe allowed build up condition before mating
our 2yo's lambed down just under 200% this year,

we cannot justify feeding meal unless the lambs are drafted in May,

sold stores last Sept, was pondering mealing & finishing b4 Xmas, on hindsight I would have made 5 a head on them & Liffey Mills 13 :rolleyes:. The grass was worth more to me by leaving it for the Jan. lambers.

razor8

Username John wrote: »

If ye don't me asking lads - how much does it cost to raise a pet lamb? In or about...

How much milk replacer and ration would they eat?

EDIT : and another off topic question - do you always leave twin lambs on ewe lambs razor? Would it not be too much on em?

€60 a lamb would be the max. Worked it out last year but can't find the info. I only take a twin off if their constantly sucking at the ewe. Once they start consuming enough creep it takes the pressure off the ewe lamb.

Had 20 sucking twins last year and they scanned 1.75 this year and all went back in lamb.

Weaning is the key IMO and giving them preferential treatment after that so that they recover for tubbing time

razor8

eorna wrote: »

Thanks razor are the twins from ewe lambs in ad lib creep or a bit of meal a day or just best grass??

Lambs are ad lib mothers are fed for 5 or 6 weeks as well morning and evening depending on grass supply which is almost gone with all this rain and cold