Feeding ewes carrying triplets

nagshead

I wondering what ideas anybody has on how much of what to feed triplet bearing lleyn x ewes 3-4 yr old lambing 1st march . I have them in the shed at the moment on average at best haylage and 0.5kg/head/day of 17% ration with soyabean meal as main protien source, they looked in fantastic condition but when we brought them in and handled them id say only bcs of 3. Would it possible to over feed ewes carrying triplets.? thanks in advance.

serfspup

keep the energy level in the diet up without overdoing the protien .
the more protien they are fed the bigger the lambs will be which can be great but it can be a double edged sword as it can lead to twin lamb disease.

we used to have a lot of triplet ewes and found feeding molasses along with 1kg meal was a good way of keeping the energy high
we used a watering can along the trough twice a day they licked it off the boards.
or there are automatic ball/wheel licks available.
getting molasses may not be so simple.

crystalic hi enegy blocks are easy option but not really as good

the down side is the sheep rub the stuff on themselves and are sticky if you have to catch them

rangler1

nagshead wrote: »

I wondering what ideas anybody has on how much of what to feed triplet bearing lleyn x ewes 3-4 yr old lambing 1st march . I have them in the shed at the moment on average at best haylage and 0.5kg/head/day of 17% ration with soyabean meal as main protien source, they looked in fantastic condition but when we brought them in and handled them id say only bcs of 3. Would it possible to over feed ewes carrying triplets.? thanks in advance.

they can't be let go below BCS of 3, we're feeding 1kg/day to our march lambers at the moment, problem with triplets i find is that as the lambs get bigger in them, they physically don't have enough room to eat enough to maintain condition, so ilike to feed them well from a good few weeks before lambing and they can afford to lose condition in the last 3 weeks. Too much protein won't be an issue with 17% rations, I'd like it to be 19 for the last 3 weeks of pregnancy.....but then doctors differ.
On overfeeding, you're unlikely to make triplet lambs too big so you can feed on, However don't feed anymore than .5kg in a feed,

nagshead

Thanks for replies, also i forgot to say that i have crystalyx high energy blocks in with them.