Sheep winter fodder

memorystick

Is it safe to give cattle fattner ration to store lambs? I'm conscious of the copper but these should be finished in 2 months.

kk.man

memorystick wrote: »

Is it safe to give cattle fattner ration to store lambs? I'm conscious of the copper but these should be finished in 2 months.

I'm not saying its safe but i did it this year. I had some cattle fattening cubes left over from the last lot of cattle i finished. However I brought a few small bags of lamb ration and mixed it together. No problem all gone and got good money for my finished lambs.
I wasn't comfortable doing it but hey life is a chance!

ganmo

memorystick wrote: »

Is it safe to give cattle fattner ration to store lambs? I'm conscious of the copper but these should be finished in 2 months.

What breeding is In the lambs and what type soil are you on?

memorystick

I bought them in Baltinglass. Land is good grassland but always give copper to cattle as soil can be high in molybdenum. They have loads of grass. Bought 10 ton of meal earlier for the heifers but it mightn't be all used.

kk.man

Brought in, in lamb ewes yesterday they are due March 10th. Was going to do it this week, glad I did now given the weather that is forecast.

Siamsa Sessions

I'm planning to house the ewes on Friday afternoon (due to lamb from 12th March) but the forecast says now tis supposed to rain Friday morning.

I know they're supposed to be dry going into the shed, but how big a deal is this?

Do they *have* to be dry, as in don't house them unless they're dry? Or is it a case of, it'd be better if they were dry but sure they'll be grand anyway.

wrangler

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

I'm planning to house the ewes on Friday afternoon (due to lamb from 12th March) but the forecast says now tis supposed to rain Friday morning.

I know they're supposed to be dry going into the shed, but how big a deal is this?

Do they *have* to be dry, as in don't house them unless they're dry? Or is it a case of, it'd be better if they were dry but sure they'll be grand anyway.

Better not going in saturated, damp is no problem, an airy shed will dry them.

Siamsa Sessions

wrangler wrote: »

Better not going in saturated, damp is no problem, an airy shed will dry them.

Tis good and airy alright!

Touch wood the rain won't be too bad. Was planing on giving them Ivomec and footbath in advance so don't fancy getting too wet myself out in it either

wrangler

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Tis good and airy alright!

Touch wood the rain won't be too bad. Was planing on giving them Ivomec and footbath in advance so don't fancy getting too wet myself out in it either

Yea you're right, housing can be stressful too, better not to do too much the one day, also be careful if you're changing diet....you probably know all that anyway

charolais0153

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Tis good and airy alright!

Touch wood the rain won't be too bad. Was planing on giving them Ivomec and footbath in advance so don't fancy getting too wet myself out in it either

Pouron or injection? Im not convinced of their merits in sheep imo. A plunge dipper is the best way about it imo

Siamsa Sessions

wrangler wrote: »

Yea you're right, housing can be stressful too, better not to do too much the one day, also be careful if you're changing diet....you probably know all that anyway

Thanks again. They’ve been getting a little beet outside and will be getting the same when they go in so hopefully not too much upset. But I’ll be watching them all closely for the first few days. Lost one last year after housing to twin-lamb and don’t want to lose another this year.

Re Ivomec: I was looking at our supplies this evening and there’s not enough to do them all so I’m re-considering this side of things. It would have been an injection of Ivomec Classic and they’ll be already get an injection of Tribovax as their annual booster for clostridia. I’m thinking now maybe one injection would be enough stress in the one go and I’ll skip buying more Ivomec (though it’s not that expensive in fairness)

wrangler

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Thanks again. They’ve been getting a little beet outside and will be getting the same when they go in so hopefully not too much upset. But I’ll be watching them all closely for the first few days. Lost one last year after housing to twin-lamb and don’t want to lose another this year.

Re Ivomec: I was looking at our supplies this evening and there’s not enough to do them all so I’m re-considering this side of things. It would have been an injection of Ivomec Classic and they’ll be already get an injection of Tribovax as their annual booster for clostridia. I’m thinking now maybe one injection would be enough stress in the one go and I’ll skip buying more Ivomec (though it’s not that expensive in fairness)

Very easy stress a sheep, Tommy the vet (Heffernan) had an interesting theory saying they are still wild, They don't show any weakness even if they are feeling rotten. That's why you'd imagine they drop dead for no reason,
I think he might have a point.
Two injections probably wouldn't be any harm though even at housing if you handle them gently, but if I was doing it I'd leave a week between housing and injecting but you'd really need to be getting the vaccine in this weekend so do it all together......carefully

kk.man

wrangler wrote: »

Very easy stress a sheep, Tommy the vet (Heffernan) had an interesting theory saying they are still wild, They don't show any weakness even if they are feeling rotten. That's why you'd imagine they drop dead for no reason,
I think he might have a point.
Two injections probably wouldn't be any harm though even at housing if you handle them gently, but if I was doing it I'd leave a week between housing and injecting but you'd really need to be getting the vaccine in this weekend so do it all together......carefully

I completely agree with the above theory.

I had one with twin lamb already I didn't like the lifeline stuff plus the expense of it. I gave her a grovite type dose and alaymin. It was looking dodgy for a day or so but she's back to herself this evening.

White Clover

kk.man wrote: »

I completely agree with the above theory.

I had one with twin lamb already I didn't like the lifeline stuff plus the expense of it. I gave her a grovite type dose and alaymin. It was looking dodgy for a day or so but she's back to herself this evening.

Is she far off of lambing?
Mine are still out, had 2 on their backs today, got to both on time thankfully.

kk.man

White Clover wrote: »

Is she far off of lambing?
Mine are still out, had 2 on their backs today, got to both on time thankfully.

Could be up to 4 weeks. It's hit n miss ..some u win.
You were lucky with those two. I put out double cattle troughs with legs in the fields..don't know if it helps but another option for them to scratch standing up!

charolais0153

kk.man wrote: »

Could be up to 4 weeks. It's hit n miss ..some u win.
You were lucky with those two. I put out double cattle troughs with legs in the fields..don't know if it helps but another option for them to scratch standing up!

Havent lost a sheep on their back for a few years now, last time there was 2 on their back only 20 yards from each other. Saved one of them

Sheep breeder

Always when housing ewes we put down a good bed of straw and don’t dose etc on that day, this year the ewes went in wet and lay down for nearly 24 hours due to the bad weather and then were bone dry. As for what tommy the vet says I’d take it with a pinch of salt. No longer a vet and more a YouTube personality.