General sheep thread

stantheman1979

orm0nd wrote: »

first casualty of '20 , ewe threw premature lamb and then proceeded to put out her intestines, vet was in the yard treating a cow and done the needful

and yes she was a texel X

Sorry to hear about that. Thankfully I’ve only ever seen it happen twice here even tho we keep a lot of sheep. Like rangler says it’s not a pretty sight to find them still alive and in so much pain

Young95

Anyone here buy any crystal x buckets here yet this year ? What did youz pay per bucket ?

Sheep breeder

DJ98 wrote: »

Had a ewe that was housed yesterday abort her lamb this morning, single, was stress free housing and loads of room, anyone any ideas of the cause and what precautions should be taken?

We had a ewe at scanning time who was loosing one lamb and the other healthy. She lambed last week with a good lamb and a ball of white mass. The dead lamb. The scanner picked this ewe up and marked here for this problem.

Lambman

Anybody know about BLF lick buckets? Local merchants must have recieved sample buckets that were offered to me at very handy money. 3 different types there green lid that says mineral bucket yellow lid that says mineral bucket but has hi mag sticker on side and purple buckets that says protien/mineral bucket.

DJ98

What protein % would be needed in meal for in-lamb ewes?

Sami23

DJ98 wrote: »

What protein % would be needed in meal for in-lamb ewes?

And how far out from lambing do lads normally start feeding Ewes that are outside?

wrangler

DJ98 wrote: »

What protein % would be needed in meal for in-lamb ewes?

To go by the advice a ewe carrying multiples needs 200gms protein/day for the last 2 weeks before lambing to ensure milk supply, quality of colostrum,at lambing

One kilo of 20% P ration has 200 gms protein in it, if they're getting good grass or good silage they'll be getting some protein which would lessen the requirement form the ration

wrangler

Sami23 wrote: »

And how far out from lambing do lads normally start feeding Ewes that are outside?

If grass / silage is poor you need to be feeding from 5 or 6 weeks out. if grass/silage good from a mth out, this is for ewes carrying multiples.
Ewes carrying multiples need to be built up SLOWLY to kilo/day at lambing with poor grass/silage

DJ98

wrangler wrote: »

To go by the advice a ewe carrying multiples needs 200gms protein/day for the last 2 weeks before lambing to ensure milk supply, quality of colostrum,at lambing

One kilo of 20% P ration has 200 gms protein in it, if they're getting good grass or good silage they'll be getting some protein which would lessen the requirement form the ration

Would it be right then wrangler to say that ewes carrying twins need a kilo of meal, with singles getting a little less and triplets a little more, feeding good quality hay aswell

wrangler

DJ98 wrote: »

Would it be right then wrangler to say that ewes carrying twins need a kilo of meal, with singles getting a little less and triplets a little more, feeding good quality hay as well

The weeks before and after lambing is the most important time of the year to feed ewes, we'd build the ewes here up to over a kilo/day with straw, so a kilo with hay should do a good job. .5kg is enough in each feed, we'd be feeding three times/day for the last few weeks but that doesn't suit everyone.
Triplets should be fed earlier, we find that when the lambs get bigger in them they physically haven't enough room for the feed, sometimes they wouldn't be able to eat as much as the doubles so feed better for longer would be the advice there, some people start feeding some meal to triplets from scanning so they're in good condition coming near lambing

Farmer_3650

Anyone have their ewes fasting the day before scanning?.. we don’t do it ourselves but hear of a lot of people doing it.

Western Pomise

Farmer_3650 wrote: »

Anyone have their ewes fasting the day before scanning?.. we don’t do it ourselves but hear of a lot of people doing it.

It’s meant to help with the accuracy of the result as lambs are easier to see but an experienced scanner can pick up the lambs in a ewe full of grass.

DJ98

wrangler wrote: »

If grass / silage is poor you need to be feeding from 5 or 6 weeks out. if grass/silage good from a mth out, this is for ewes carrying multiples.
Ewes carrying multiples need to be built up SLOWLY to kilo/day at lambing with poor grass/silage

What would ewes carrying twins want to be started out on, 6 weeks from lambing.

wrangler

DJ98 wrote: »

What would ewes carrying twins want to be started out on, 6 weeks from lambing.

https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/animals/sheep/feeding-ewes.jpg

There's a good chart, you can judge the quality of what roughage you're feeding with it
It's probably right but I'd be feeding a bit more,
Unless hay is cut very leafy it wouldn't even be 65% DMD

stantheman1979

I keep it simple here. 1lb for singles 2lb for twins and 3lb for triplets. Feeding precision chopped silage (never tested it) Thin ewes get moved to the next group to get a bit extra. We’ve did it this way for years and never have problems with ewes milking.

Lambman

Having trouble getting on the cormac tagging website anybody else having trouble?

ganmo

Lambman wrote: »

Having trouble getting on the cormac tagging website anybody else having trouble?

I just tried it and got onto it ok

Lambman

Yea got it sorted now thanks anyways. Got my lambing essentials in local merchants there and went on agridirect till price them for the craic they were €24 more expensive only 1 thing was cheaper the prolapse harness everything else was dearer.

Siamsa Sessions

Had a ewe prolapse here this morning but put the spoon in to hold it and she seemed OK.

Checked her this afternoon though and she’d pushed the spoon and the prolapse out again. The spoon is tied tight enough on both sides of her but she seems to have flipped it out.

I’ve used the spoon before and it works but previously the ewes were a few weeks from lambing. This one this morning is only a few days from lambing.

Is she just too strong for the spoon or is she just too close to lambing and she’s got the habit now of pushing it?

wrangler

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Had a ewe prolapse here this morning but put the spoon in to hold it and she seemed OK.

Checked her this afternoon though and she’d pushed the spoon and the prolapse out again. The spoon is tied tight enough on both sides of her but she seems to have flipped it out.

I’ve used the spoon before and it works but previously the ewes were a few weeks from lambing. This one this morning is only a few days from lambing.

Is she just too strong for the spoon or is she just too close to lambing and she’s got the habit now of pushing it?

Harness is better,The first thing they do with the spoon in them is try to force it out, you can well imagine how much the spoon irritates and makes them push, I'd usually put the harness on and if she persisted I'd put the spoon in as well for about 12 hrs....belt and braces job.
If the spoon is in for a week they can get infected as well with the movement of the spoon inside them as they get up and down.,
Some on here make a harness with baling twine or cotton rope. maybe they'd tell you how, you'll get it hard to buy a harness at this hour

video of fitting a prolapse harness, there's probably better if you search
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3iE-_aybdA

Lambman

Prolapse harness probably one off the best things I ever bought here for sheep. Bought 2 new ones today €15 each. Never actually lambed a ewe with it on but heard they can easy enough.

Buford T. Justice XIX

Not around the yard much in the last few weeks except for the bare minimum but was catching up on a few jobs this evening when it was just turning dark.

Walking up the yard, I surprised a fox outside the sheep house, the fecker:mad:

Time to take care of that problem before the sheep go out.

Siamsa Sessions

Thanks for the replies Wrangler and Lambman re prolapse. I heard people talking about harnesses before but it’s only when you have an issue that the meaning lands!

I’ll see if I can make one for now, but will buy one ASAP

Edit: found this link so will try it - https://youtu.be/truL-rD7fv4

orm0nd

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Thanks for the replies Wrangler and Lambman re prolapse. I heard people talking about harnesses before but it’s only when you have an issue that the meaning lands!

I’ll see if I can make one for now, but will buy one ASAP

Edit: found this link so will try it - https://youtu.be/truL-rD7fv4

we never use bought harness,

something similar to the you tube link you posted but instead on trying to wool, we run the rope around the ewes chest just behind the front shoulders , knotted on top and bring the 2 ropes along the back to the tail head, knotted again there just like 0.55 in the link & follow the video from there

if they are forcing hard you may need to tie them up very tight for a hour or so until they relax, and then slacken

found some nice soft rope on line a few years back

wrangler

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Thanks for the replies Wrangler and Lambman re prolapse. I heard people talking about harnesses before but it’s only when you have an issue that the meaning lands!

I’ll see if I can make one for now, but will buy one ASAP

Edit: found this link so will try it - https://youtu.be/truL-rD7fv4

The advantage of the harness going up around the neck is that when they force it seems to tighten the whole harness, the neck pulling the harness does seem to discourage them from forcing

joe35

I do the twine harness, bit hard to describe but I'll give it a shot. Knots are a simple knot, just 1 lope round that wil move very easy. Keep a tight pull at all times. I'll 5th
Have a roughly 4m length of rope. 3/4 bale twins.

Stand the ewe up and wrap the rope around the ewes kneck, do this low enough as not to joke her

Tie a knot down her back at the base of her kneck/top of her legs.

Tie another knot down about 6inches
Repeat this until you tie the last knot at the top of her tail.

Lift her tail and tie a knot underneath her tail
Tie a knot at the top of her vaginas and 1 directly below it. This should leave about a 2 to 3 opening for her to pee through.

Tie a knot below her vaginas and loup the rope in under her leg and pull tight and tie to the rope running down her back.

Check the the skin from the vaginas is pulled out between the 2knots.

No need to remove the ropes as sheep can lamb through them.
Always works here but make sure and take the ropes off her as the can cut into her

Siamsa Sessions

Thanks again folks

Prolapse was back in this morning but I’m not taking any chances and will make up the harness as described above, plus leave the spoon in place for the full belt and braces job as Wrangler called it.

Will let you know how it goes.

Sami23

Anyone know what actually causes Ewes to prolapse ?

ganmo

Sami23 wrote: »

Anyone know what actually causes Ewes to prolapse ?

Poor muscle strength
Poor ligament strength
Lack of space inside

Buford T. Justice XIX

ganmo wrote: »

Poor muscle strength
Poor ligament strength
Lack of space inside

Previous history of prolapse, we cull anything that prolapse here and their lambs too as there's a genetic link to it as well.

Thankfully haven't had a prolapse in years now.