Feeding outdoors

jd06

Hi all
Starting at Christmas iv to start feeding 50 hoggets nuts outside
I done it last year too and it was a mess
Everyday I went out to the field the throughs were destroyed with muck and water and the field all round troughs were in muck
I have no yard or concrete near them.
Anyone any ideas on a better system!!

Username John

jd06 wrote: »

Hi all
Starting at Christmas iv to start feeding 50 hoggets nuts outside
I done it last year too and it was a mess
Everyday I went out to the field the throughs were destroyed with muck and water and the field all round troughs were in muck
I have no yard or concrete near them.
Anyone any ideas on a better system!!

We always used to do the same - messy at times all right...

Move the troughs often.
Wait til the ewes are finished eating every day and turn upside down - good to keep the birds away and keep the water outa the troughs. Awkward turning back the next day all right when the ewes are all milling around you

Not sure what else can be done...

jd06

Username John wrote: »

We always used to do the same - messy at times all right...

Move the troughs often.
Wait til the ewes are finished eating every day and turn upside down - good to keep the birds away and keep the water outa the troughs. Awkward turning back the next day all right when the ewes are all milling around you

Not sure what else can be done...

Thanks john.if done what your saying but troughs are heavy steel ones and like you say they'd knock you down.
Plus waiting for them to finish is tricky I work full time and by time I get home and do the jobs it's just dark 10 min is a long time when it's getting dark!!!
No simple answer I think . Thanks

Green farmer

When you say hoggets , as they for fattening or breeding ?

ganmo

is the ground too wet to just put it on the ground?
small piles as ya walk along

jd06

Green farmer wrote: »

When you say hoggets , as they for fattening or breeding ?

Ewe lambs they will be sold as hoggets next year for breeding

jd06

ganmo wrote: »

is the ground too wet to just put it on the ground?
small piles as ya walk along

Unfortunately it is.
It's a pity there's no kind of walk through troughs for sheep

rangler1

I bought a new Advantage feeder this year for the lambs and I'm using it now to give the ewe lambs .5kg/hd/day.
Unfortunately it probably isn't economical to buy one for 50, it can be set to feed any thing between .25kg/day and ad lib

jd06

rangler1 wrote: »

I bought a new Advantage feeder this year for the lambs and I'm using it now to give the ewe lambs .5kg/hd/day.
Unfortunately it probably isn't economical to buy one for 50, it can be set to feed any thing between .25kg/day and ad lib

Thanks maybe you could out up a pic if u get a chance

rangler1

jd06 wrote: »

Thanks maybe you could out up a pic if u get a chance

This is the one I have, cost about 1100, which isn't a lot dearer than ordinary creep feeders,
There's other ones taht you can use with cattle or sheep, more expensive but hold more, I put about 10 - 12 bags in mine,does about 4 days with 150 ewe lambs
http://www.3in1feeders.co.uk/downloads/3in1_500_FEEDER.pdf

There's the better(more expensive) ones
http://www.3in1feeders.co.uk/

Green farmer

jd06 wrote: »

Ewe lambs they will be sold as hoggets next year for breeding

If you had any access to hay or silage, would be cheaper and less labour intensive. You'd have to feed em once every 5 days

kk.man

Folks whats your views on the Cormac Creep feeder?..would it be suitable for hoggets?...that's the small plastic green hood round round one???

ganmo

kk.man wrote: »

Folks whats your views on the Cormac Creep feeder?..would it be suitable for hoggets?...that's the small plastic green hood round round one???

you'd have to pull out the bars so that they dont get stuck in it. not a big job

Username John

kk.man wrote: »

Folks whats your views on the Cormac Creep feeder?..would it be suitable for hoggets?...that's the small plastic green hood round round one???

Am sure they'd do the job, but are they hoggets for breeding next year?

I would think if they aren't for fattening then would they be eating too much from a creep feed?
Or am I just being mane?

kk.man

ganmo wrote: »

you'd have to pull out the bars so that they dont get stuck in it. not a big job

Thanks for that. Are they a good buy ..would you recommend them?

Username John

jd06 wrote: »

Ewe lambs they will be sold as hoggets next year for breeding

What and how much are you feeding em JD?

I have 60odd out on stubble at the minute. They are getting about 0.2kg nut every day.

I have em a bale of silage about 10 days ago, and they didn't do much with it. I'll give em hay for a while, til I feel they're eatthing enough to go through the silage bale quick enough...

I must say, our place has never been drier for feeding outside. We haven't seen proper rain in weeks down these parts and I haven't had to move the troughs at all yet - and am feeding em since 1st Nov... tis a pleasure - very different from the normal mire... but am sure that'll come in time too, tis a while til the 1st March yet

kk.man

Username John wrote: »

Am sure they'd do the job, but are they hoggets for breeding next year?

I would think if they aren't for fattening then would they be eating too much from a creep feed?
Or am I just being mane?

Well i have fattening lambs,ewe lambs and say mid season lambing. I was hoping I could do add lib in it for fattening at present and use it to bring forward my lambs in late summer early autumn from mid season flock. The ewe lambs for breeding will not get any meal till January and just for that month only.

Username John

kk.man wrote: »

Thanks for that. Are they a good buy ..would you recommend them?

Can only speak from my own, very limited experience...

If you have big numbers, then creep is prob the way to go. As trough feeding is a no no with big numbers, plus you get to buy ration in bulk...

With small numbers, it's better to trough feed very day or twice a day... I found they put on more weight, for less ration bought (as long as there is some grass as well)

If you don't have the numbers, or the time to be feeding lambs - then I would nearly look at the store trade, rather than spending money on a creep feeder...

But - maybe ranglers creep feeder there gets around all these. At 1100 it's not that expensive compared to other simpler creep feeders...

ganmo

kk.man wrote: »

Thanks for that. Are they a good buy ..would you recommend them?

ya they're a good job if you want to adlib, we have a bucket upside down in the middle of ours as the cone in the middle didn't push the meal out far enough

the way we have them set up at the min is with a few troughs, put a shake into the troughs and the rest into the feeder, gives all the lambs a chance to get some

Green farmer

There's mine in the field now

roosky

Green farmer wrote:

If you had any access to hay or silage, would be cheaper and less labour intensive. You'd have to feed em once every 5 days

I bought two of the covered silage feeders that keep the bale about a foot off the ground, keeps silage dry and clean. If you went with silage or hay it would beek the hoggets ticking over until the grass picks up in march and they would be 100%. Feeding meal when its not the only option (inlamb ewes) is seriously time consuming and is a lot of hardship in the system your describing

Green farmer

I've lambs that I want gone asap on ablib meal. Everything else, i.e long keep stores and inlamb ewe lambs on silage. Reckon the silage is 5 times cheaper then adlib meal.

Username John

roosky wrote: »

I bought two of the covered silage feeders that keep the bale about a foot off the ground, keeps silage dry and clean. If you went with silage or hay it would beek the hoggets ticking over until the grass picks up in march and they would be 100%. Feeding meal when its not the only option (inlamb ewes) is seriously time consuming and is a lot of hardship in the system your describing

What do you do for minerals when feeding silage roosky?

I think even the smallest bit of meal is great to get minerals into em... but again - you'd want to do your sums...

sea12

Op this is what I did for last few years when dad feeding ewes before I brought them into shed for lambing. Fed 90 ewes no problem without them knocking you over. Once feeding was over at the end of the season just take it down again

sea12

sea12 wrote: »

Op this is what I did for last few years when dad feeding ewes before I brought them into shed for lambing. Fed 90 ewes no problem without them knocking you over. Once feeding was over at the end of the season just take it down again

Sorry pic won't work will try later on pc

roosky

Username John wrote: »

What do you do for minerals when feeding silage roosky?

I think even the smallest bit of meal is great to get minerals into em... but again - you'd want to do your sums...

Anything that is dry (replacements and stores etc) don't get minerals, I don't think they are under enough pressure to warrant extra minerals.

The ewes get minerals in the meal from 7 weeks pre lambing and get a bolus pre mating

Siamsa Sessions

Green farmer wrote: »

I've lambs that I want gone asap on ablib meal. Everything else, i.e long keep stores and inlamb ewe lambs on silage. Reckon the silage is 5 times cheaper then adlib meal.

Was reading a Teagasc paper last night and it said something similar about saving on meal by feeding good quality silage to in-lamb ewes.

Obvious question but would good hay do the same job as good silage?

rangler1

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Was reading a Teagasc paper last night and it said something similar about saving on meal by feeding good quality silage to in-lamb ewes.

Obvious question but would good hay do the same job as good silage?

They were likely referring to 75 DMD silage, You'd be lucky to get 65% DMD hay, theres even a major difference between the meal requirement in those two fodder qualities.

rangler1

Green farmer wrote: »

I've lambs that I want gone asap on ablib meal. Everything else, i.e long keep stores and inlamb ewe lambs on silage. Reckon the silage is 5 times cheaper then adlib meal.

You're in a good position now to compare weight gain on adlib meal and adlib silage....be interesting to see which is value

Green farmer

rangler1 wrote: »

You're in a good position now to compare weight gain on adlib meal and adlib silage....be interesting to see which is value

Yes and no. I've ewe lambs on ad-lib for the local butcher and ram lambs tucked away in silage for the march factory market. I'd cautiously say , like for like I'm getting nearly the same thrive on silage as maybe around 0.8kg-1.0kg of meal. Thrive on meal is disappointing with anything up to 1kg of meal and you'd need to be given the 1-5kg plus to get them really moving. Getting ewe lambs to eat more then this is challenging though. Financially I'll do much better out of the ram lambs, but the ewe lambs are keeping the wolf from the door.

eorna

Even if lw thrive is similar the dw of ad lib meal should b superior... so is hard to compare..
Have a few lambs on a bit of meal outside ranging from 30-37 kg that will start pushing on and finish indoors ad lib.. some of them want more time to grow but will need them gone by the end of jan.

Green farmer

eorna wrote: »

Even if lw thrive is similar the dw of ad lib meal should b superior... so is hard to compare..
.

I know you couldn't compare the two , but just feels that I won't have much margin on meal fed lambs at €4-80, whereas I think I'll do better on the silage ones next March.

Lambman

Would none a you guys be tempted holding onto some ewe lambs as hoggets till sell later on the year seemed big money for hoggets this year early on like June July time?? If your feeding anyways it would only be another months 6 weeks feeding till the grass would be good enuf till keep them anyhow??

ganmo

Lambman wrote: »

Would none a you guys be tempted holding onto some ewe lambs as hoggets till sell later on the year seemed big money for hoggets this year early on like June July time?? If your feeding anyways it would only be another months 6 weeks feeding till the grass would be good enuf till keep them anyhow??

The most I heard regularly was 200 -220
Those could of been sold as ewe lambs the previous august for 130 -150

So for 70 quid you have to feed them for the winter etc and you'd have to carry less ewes.

Lambman

Yea I no Wat ur saying but if they were worth that money in august they must be big heavy lambs that wudn take much till winter them just silage or hay no meal and few doses maybe few licks till grass comes on so €70 a head sounds good till me... if u are fit till carry them?

ganmo

Lambman wrote: »

Yea I no Wat ur saying but if they were worth that money in august they must be big heavy lambs that wudn take much till winter them just silage or hay no meal and few doses maybe few licks till grass comes on so €70 a head sounds good till me... if u are fit till carry them?

Not really, we sold ewe lambs for 130 that were 40kg.

The 70 quid is the best case scenario, many lads bought ewe lambs and sold them as hoggets and made 30 quid...it's a tight game

Lambman

Some money for them Wat part you from?? Yea it's all a tight game hard till know wat till be at... I kept 60 ewe lambs this year need some for replacements anyhow and gona sell some as hoggets see how it works out for me... alot off the time you can buy hoggets scanned in lamb carrying twins due end off march for not much more than you'd pay for good hoggets in September

ganmo

Lambman wrote: »

Some money for them Wat part you from?? Yea it's all a tight game hard till know wat till be at... I kept 60 ewe lambs this year need some for replacements anyhow and gona sell some as hoggets see how it works out for me... alot off the time you can buy hoggets scanned in lamb carrying twins due end off march for not much more than you'd pay for good hoggets in September

Dublin

Lambman

Must be good sheep 2 Wat breed do u keep?

ganmo

Lambman wrote: »

Must be good sheep 2 Wat breed do u keep?

The lambs would be chev x suff

charolais0153

ganmo wrote: »

The lambs would be chev x suff

Should they be the horses I see in blessington is it. Do they have hooped noses and a smart look about them.

ganmo

charolais0153 wrote: »

Should they be the horses I see in blessington is it. Do they have hooped noses and a smart look about them.

Most of them would have a speckled face had a lot of tan faces a couple of years ago, it's down to the ram.

Same day, 4kg heavier and imo better lambs, the tan faced ones made 20 quid less...

kk.man

ganmo wrote: »

Most of them would have a speckled face had a lot of tan faces a couple of years ago, it's down to the ram.

Same day, 4kg heavier and imo better lambs, the tan faced ones made 20 quid less...

+1

razor8

rangler1 wrote: »

This is the one I have, cost about 1100, which isn't a lot dearer than ordinary creep feeders,
There's other ones taht you can use with cattle or sheep, more expensive but hold more, I put about 10 - 12 bags in mine,does about 4 days with 150 ewe lambs
http://www.3in1feeders.co.uk/downloads/3in1_500_FEEDER.pdf

There's the better(more expensive) ones
http://www.3in1feeders.co.uk/

after having some time using your 3 in 1 feeder how are you finding it?

rangler1

razor8 wrote: »

after having some time using your 3 in 1 feeder how are you finding it?

,

It does what it's supposed to,it can be set to feed between half a pound and adlib, It worked well with lambs here in that a small bit of meal improved performance a lot.
We also used it for ewe lambs through the winter....gave them a pound of pellets on grass, Ordinary ration won't work in it, even dusty pellets will block in it, rain blowing into it will block it too so it has to be sheltered from the windy side. we used to turn the end to the wind rather than the side and it didn't block that much.

razor8

rangler1 wrote: »

,

It does what it's supposed to,it can be set to feed between half a pound and adlib, It worked well with lambs here in that a small bit of meal improved performance a lot.
We also used it for ewe lambs through the winter....gave them a pound of pellets on grass, Ordinary ration won't work in it, even dusty pellets will block in it, rain blowing into it will block it too so it has to be sheltered from the windy side. we used to turn the end to the wind rather than the side and it didn't block that much.

Thanks it's next of my purchase list

rangler1

razor8 wrote: »

Thanks it's next of my purchase list

Did you try to buy one yet, mine is out on loan and I'm told the distributor can't get them,It seems he has 100 +sold if he can get them in.
I'm just wondering is my friend avoiding the cost of buying one. Did you make any enquiries
He says lambs on .25kg meal are doing as well as another bunch of lambs on adlib.
He's using crimped barley in the new feeder

razor8

i didnt. was trying to buy it in the north at £720 but seems i cant

cattle man

Could you send me the number of who you bought your one off ranger I'm going to try one this year also.

I only see a email address on the Irish website

rangler1 wrote: »

Did you try to buy one yet, mine is out on loan and I'm told the distributor can't get them,It seems he has 100 +sold if he can get them in.
I'm just wondering is my friend avoiding the cost of buying one. Did you make any enquiries
He says lambs on .25kg meal are doing as well as another bunch of lambs on adlib.
He's using crimped barley in the new feeder

rangler1

cattle man wrote: »

Could you send me the number of who you bought your one off ranger I'm going to try one this year also.

I only see a email address on the Irish website

This is where we bought it.
https://www.nakoo.net/business-directory/684-dunnes-farm-store-and-more-farm-supplies-hoof-care-specialists-callan-co-kilkenny

razor8

rangler1 wrote: »

This is where we bought it.
https://www.nakoo.net/business-directory/684-dunnes-farm-store-and-more-farm-supplies-hoof-care-specialists-callan-co-kilkenny

Rang him after you reminded me, 3 weeks before another batch arrived in from Australia.

Lambs seem to be flying lately, mightn't need one if keep thriving!