rangler1 wrote: » Were you feeding barley, I was thinking of feeding just barley to a bunch to try early in the season
rangler1 wrote: » It has to be nuts or grains, english are mixing what they call protein nuts with the grains , is there such a thing as soya nuts....pencils or pellets are pobably better, the gap for letting them down can is very tight....sheep work hard to get them. I can imagine why they say 'feck that' and go off and graze. But it does work, manufacturers claim you can set it at 100grs, grains might work but i don't know about pellets at that rate, Most of the big models are dual purpose, they do sheep or cattle....very useful on a mixed farm
razor8 wrote: » Would be handy to keep lambs moving around wearing time. Would soya meal work at 100g in one of those feeders?
rangler1 wrote: » Yea theres an adjustable flap that keeps out the ewes, haven't used it yet myself
razor8 wrote: » Can you feed just the lambs with advantage feeder even when there still on the ewes?
rangler1 wrote: » . Yea, used scabivax for the first time last year, should've been using it years ago. When do you give crystalyx and how much A lot of english farmers are changing to the advantage feeders, it's possible to restrict the sheep to 250gms/day of ration. That would be as convenient as feeding blocks, we've one here, bit early to recommend it yet, but it did what it said on the tin last year, Some farmers in England are feeding just round barley through it to lambs
MD1983 wrote: » fed a few hundred hoggets on one of the wheeled advantage feeders all winter, after a while they get a worn patch on their face from pressing up against the feeder trying to get the grain out, so you can tell from that after a while which is feeding and which isnt, i had a few hoggets that never got in the swing of using the feeder, maybe 1%-2%
rangler1 wrote: » You can mix food colouring through a bag of ration and they'll have it on their noses, I used the feeder with the ewe lambs last Dec/jan, they hadn't much grass and was giving them 500g/day through it and it was obvious if they weren't eating and only one out of 150 didn't thrive. Only had to fill it every third day, you have to use nuts or grains, it doesn't work with coarse ration and even dusty nuts aren't the biz either
Lambman wrote: » Would u take them in specifically for a mineral dose or just when there in for a worm dose... what breed u running?
Lambman wrote: » Yea ganmo that's another problem but the bolus doesn't contain any copper anyway... is it blood tests that reveal what lambs are lacking? Wat minerals do u use urself?
Lambman wrote: » Half charrlois half texel outta a mix a ewes mostly hilltex... running on what would be mossy enough ground but reseeded 2 years ago and lined again this year and done with 18-6-12 no sheep on it since September and last year was first sheep on in in a long long time.
Lambman wrote: » Are you a early lambing flock I'm mid March and for the life off me cant see how creeping lambs pays... if your lambing early then I know you need till creep and get the lambs away early hopefully before lamb prices start till drop... till answer your earlier question on lick crystalx buckets they were with the ewes 6 weeks before lambing till 6 weeks after lambing... dono how sore the lambs are gonna be on these orf buckets yet and till be honest cana even mind what i paid for them.
Lambman wrote: » Just googled the advantage looks impressive and if the trails are anything till go by work very well... but how do you know if all the lambs are eating from it? Didn't bother the scabivax this year because wanted till give the buckets a try they were regularly sold out last year in our local suppliers... do u creep lambs from there born or just after weaning?
Lambman wrote: » Bolus them now 6 weeks old and it lasts 6 months be bad if they weren't away long before that... buckets is convenient alright but wouldn't agree with you comparing them by the tonne against ration off course thats gonna work out more expensive... be no ration given here just kept moving onto fresh grass weekly once weaned at 12 weeks... think I'll still bolus them this year but drench them with cobalt every time there in for a dose aswell it's no extra labour really. Do u scabivax the lambs rangler?
Lambman wrote: » Time off year again were we start thinking what can I improve on last year and get the lambs heavyier quicker has me thinking on the minerals as i hope till finish on just grass... well last year i done the lambs with the cobalt bolus just once and there was crystalx lick buckets in the field with the ewes pre weaning that they looked fond off but I never give them buckets once weaned... anyways wasnt overly impressed with the bolus and ended up drenching lambs aswell that were lagging behind... taking lambs in next week with ewes for clipping gona worm dose the lambs and was wondering wats people's opinions on the bolus or drenching and lick buckets... also there is orf buckets with the lambs this year First year i tried it any1 with experience off them?
