General sheep thread

Lambman

Anybody using haystack.ie? It's a done deal type idea but all farming related stuff and it's free till place ads (for now anyways) not much on it so far. Don't know how long it's running or never heard it advertised.

ganmo

Lambman wrote: »

Anybody using haystack.ie? It's a done deal type idea but all farming related stuff and it's free till place ads (for now anyways) not much on it so far. Don't know how long it's running or never heard it advertised.

It's been up a few months, been run by agriland

Lambman

Alright just heard about it today took a short look there same layout as DD probably will catch on if it stays free. Then again could soon fill up with crap if it's free aswell.

RobinBanks

Sorry if this is a really dumb question but what’s the difference between butcher lambs and factory fit lambs

Siamsa Sessions

RobinBanks wrote: »

Sorry if this is a really dumb question but what’s the difference between butcher lambs and factory fit lambs

About 5kg!

Factories usually want 43-46kg but butchers traditionally prefer 46-50kg.

Depends on time of year, breed, butcher, price, weather, etc

ganmo

Lambman wrote: »

Alright just heard about it today took a short look there same layout as DD probably will catch on if it stays free. Then again could soon fill up with crap if it's free aswell.

I can't stand the call for price though.
when done deal started you had to put a price in which I reckon is why it took off

DJ98

ganmo wrote: »

I can't stand the call for price though.
when done deal started you had to put a price in which I reckon is why it took off

Or ads that state no time wasters but also have no price

Green farmer

I had a ewe lamb go down with suspected clostridial issues two weeks ago. Been treating her with ab and she's come out the other side of it. Only issue is because shes been sitting down for two weeks her legs have seized up and she's unable to stand. Any ideas how to get her back on feet again ?

Buford T. Justice XIX

Green farmer wrote: »

I had a ewe lamb go down with suspected clostridial issues two weeks ago. Been treating her with ab and she's come out the other side of it. Only issue is because shes been sitting down for two weeks her legs have seized up and she's unable to stand. Any ideas how to get her back on feet again ?

Put her across an bale of hay or straw so she has the movement in her legs without the weight of her body on them. A small bit of physio by yourself in moving the legs and getting blood flowing back into them again would be a help too.

Green farmer

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

Put her across an bale of hay or straw so she has the movement in her legs without the weight of her body on them. A small bit of physio by yourself in moving the legs and getting blood flowing back into them again would be a help too.

Thanks, worth trying

Ard_MC

I have lambs in feeding...getting 1kg of meal split between 2 feeds and some hay. Have stopped eating the meal since yesterday and only picking hay. Any ideas why they have stopped the meal?

Tileman

Ard_MC wrote: »

I have lambs in feeding...getting 1kg of meal split between 2 feeds and some hay. Have stopped eating the meal since yesterday and only picking hay. Any ideas why they have stopped the meal?

When did u start feeding them. Might be sickened if you built it up too quickly

Ard_MC

Tileman wrote: »

When did u start feeding them. Might be sickened if you built it up too quickly

No they have been built up gradually. Probably up to a kg for the last 10 days.

wrangler

Ard_MC wrote: »

I have lambs in feeding...getting 1kg of meal split between 2 feeds and some hay. Have stopped eating the meal since yesterday and only picking hay. Any ideas why they have stopped the meal?

Have they water,
It sounds as if they're sick but not easy to diagnose from here,
are you feeding them for only ten days
or are they eating a kg/day for ten days/
It's important to empty any thing that's left in the trough after about 5 mins if you're training to troughs, Usually what happens is that you sicken 20% of the group and then the rest gets overfed.
For some reason you can put a creep feeder full with them all the time when you're training (at least we never sickened them)and they never get sick but training to troughs is very easy to sicken

Just edited to say if they are sick, their stomach will be sensitive now and you'll have to go back to the start and have to build up much more slower this time

Ard_MC

wrangler wrote: »

Have they water,
It sounds as if they're sick but not easy to diagnose from here,
are you feeding them for only ten days
or are they eating a kg/day for ten days/
It's important to empty any thing that's left in the trough after about 5 mins if you're training to troughs, Usually what happens is that you sicken 20% of the group and then the rest gets overfed.
For some reason you can put a creep feeder full with them all the time when you're training (at least we never sickened them)and they never get sick but training to troughs is very easy to sicken

Just edited to say if they are sick, their stomach will be sensitive now and you'll have to go back to the start and have to build up much more slower this time

Yip they have water. No they have been getting meal since mid Oct and built up to kg day which they have been on for 10 days. I think I'll give them hay for a day or 2. And start them again. A few of them were planned to go on Monday. Not sure what to do now.

wrangler

Ard_MC wrote: »

Yip they have water. No they have been getting meal since mid Oct and built up to kg day which they have been on for 10 days. I think I'll give them hay for a day or 2. And start them again. A few of them were planned to go on Monday. Not sure what to do now.

Sounds like the meal now doesn't it, like they were used used to the ration and now they're not

Ard_MC

wrangler wrote: »

Sounds like the meal now doesn't it, like they were used used to the ration and now they're not

That's actually in the back of my head as it's new order of meal that seems to started it. Same brand and supplier that they were getting just a new batch.

kk.man

Ard_MC wrote: »

I have lambs in feeding...getting 1kg of meal split between 2 feeds and some hay. Have stopped eating the meal since yesterday and only picking hay. Any ideas why they have stopped the meal?

IMO 1kg is too much. That's 0.5 kg per feed. The most I ever did was 0.3 per feed and even at that there was an odd one sick. Watch them close you could have a a few fallers.

memorystick

kk.man wrote: »

IMO 1kg is too much. That's 0.5 kg per feed. The most I ever did was 0.3 per feed and even at that there was an odd one sick. Watch them close you could have a a few fallers.

Stupid question. How long is it feasible to feed lambs for? I’ve nice little lads but might start to push them after Christmas with a view to selling in early March.

Siamsa Sessions

memorystick wrote: »

Stupid question. How long is it feasible to feed lambs for? I’ve nice little lads but might start to push them after Christmas with a view to selling in early March.

Not sure about the financial feasibility of it but I prefer to wait til the lambs are at least 35kg before feeding. They have a big enough frame then to lay down the extra muscle/meat. Under that weight they tend to convert extra feeding into little pot bellies and just get fat

memorystick

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Not sure about the financial feasibility of it but I prefer to wait til the lambs are at least 35kg before feeding. They have a big enough frame then to lay down the extra muscle/meat. Under that weight they tend to convert extra feeding into little pot bellies and just get fat

The lightest weighed 25 Kgs on October 1. Going to get them in over Christmas and handle them. They have loads of grass. I’d imagine they’d put on 1 kg per week. Maybe I’m wrong.

Siamsa Sessions

memorystick wrote: »

The lightest weighed 25 Kgs on October 1. Going to get them in over Christmas and handle them. They have loads of grass. I’d imagine they’d put on 1 kg per week. Maybe I’m wrong.

Sounds like a plan - check them over Christmas and go from there. Most should have put on 1kg/week. And if you have small enough numbers it wouldn't do that much harm to feed them all, rather than splitting into groups. The under 35ks ones will just look a bit pot-bellied.

Lano Lynn

Ard_MC wrote: »

I have lambs in feeding...getting 1kg of meal split between 2 feeds and some hay. Have stopped eating the meal since yesterday and only picking hay. Any ideas why they have stopped the meal?

add baking soda to the water and beet pulp to the meal helps settle the gut

DJ98

Bought in ewes this year and im not sure if they are on the heptavac p programme or not, should I vaccinate these ewes twice or just give them the booster 6 weeks before lambing

wrangler

DJ98 wrote: »

Bought in ewes this year and im not sure if they are on the heptavac p programme or not, should I vaccinate these ewes twice or just give them the booster 6 weeks before lambing

If I wasn't sure I would do them twice, once is just not sufficient for protection

Ard_MC

Lano Lynn wrote: »

add baking soda to the water and beet pulp to the meal helps settle the gut

Thanks for the tip. They are backing eating the hay like there's no tomorrow this evening. I'll introduce the meal slowly again from Saturday morning I think.

kk.man

Ard_MC wrote: »

Thanks for the tip. They are backing eating the hay like there's no tomorrow this evening. I'll introduce the meal slowly again from Saturday morning I think.

I did baking soda in a plastic drench gun before for ones that were completely off their food but I can't remember the mix. It worked well though.

You would give 1kg a day to heavy pregnant big ewes weighing twice the weight of fat lambs.

wrangler

kk.man wrote: »

I did baking soda in a plastic drench gun before for ones that were completely off their food but I can't remember the mix. It worked well though.

You would give 1kg a day to heavy pregnant big ewes weighing twice the weight of fat lambs.

We opened the feeder here for the last few and they were eating well over a kilo.
Feeder is different though

kk.man

wrangler wrote: »

We opened the feeder here for the last few and they were eating well over a kilo.
Feeder is different though

That's ad lib feeder not the two feeds system.

wrangler

kk.man wrote: »

That's ad lib feeder not the two feeds system.

That's why I said that ''feeder is different'', I was sick of the sight of them