General sheep thread

ganmo

roosky wrote: »

Thanks so it’s just 2019 book he will want ....I made a mistake in that my 2017 scanning happened in January 2018 and I scanned again in feb 2019 so I technically never scanned the ewes in the 2018 scheme period of 01/02/18 to 31/01/19

Ya the scheme start date is a pain for the scanning

MeTheMan

We were out at John's farm for teagasc. He was stocked at 14 ewes to the ha then. Serious money spend about the farm. Great sheds put up. It's a clean, well run operation.

390kid

Has anyone on here used a goat to rear pet lambs?

DJ98

How many small square bales of straw would be in 1 round bale? How long or many small squares would be required to bed 25 ewes?

Westernrock

DJ98 wrote: »

How many small square bales of straw would be in 1 round bale? How long or many small squares would be required to bed 25 ewes?

Can vary quite a bit, anything from 14-25 depending on how the square baler is set and how fast the straw is fed into it! Know a few dealers re-baling round bales and they get over 20 out of a round so they make a fortune selling them. So likewise it will vary quite a bit how long a square bale will last your 25 ewes, 1good tight bale/day would be a rough guess but if it’s soft or smaller bales could take 2+

therunaround

Going for an extra wide ridge cap on top of shed rather than spaced sheeting in the end after speaking to people with both, if the shed is high and isn't full then straw likely to get damp.

Vaccinating for orf today, two months from lambing;
One Ewe lamb I bought turned out to be in lamb so she has two one week old lambs at foot now.

Should I scabivax her and the two lambs, or just the lambs? The packet instructions are contradicting each other a bit.

Thanks.

wrangler

therunaround wrote: »

Going for an extra wide ridge cap on top of shed rather than spaced sheeting in the end after speaking to people with both, if the shed is high and isn't full then straw likely to get damp.

Vaccinating for orf today, two months from lambing;
One Ewe lamb I bought turned out to be in lamb so she has two one week old lambs at foot now.

Should I scabivax her and the two lambs, or just the lambs? The packet instructions are contradicting each other a bit.

Thanks.

Treating the ewes with scabivax doesn't protect the lambs.
Do you vaccinate ewes and lambs, we never do the ewes

therunaround

wrangler wrote: »

Treating the ewes with scabivax doesn't protect the lambs.

Thanks, I'll do the 2 lambs anyway I was just worried if I do the mother as well she might form lesions on her Teats and they'd stop sucking but I'll chance her and see I think

ganmo

Theres a new fox after moving in around here and I've never seen one as active, hes crossed the same field 5 times today already

Birdnuts

ganmo wrote: »

Theres a new fox after moving in around here and I've never seen one as active, hes crossed the same field 5 times today already

Tis the peak of the mating season now so he probably got the scent of a new female in town;)

Farmer_3650

I have a few lambs there that are about 6 weeks old. Was very happy with how they were thriving up until the last few days, but lately I don't think they seem to be doing as well as they should be. Anyone have any idea what it might be thats stopping them from thriving? The lambs have no scour, orf or lameness so not really sure what is holding them back.

wrangler

Farmer_3650 wrote: »

I have a few lambs there that are about 6 weeks old. Was very happy with how they were thriving up until the last few days, but lately I don't think they seem to be doing as well as they should be. Anyone have any idea what it might be thats stopping them from thriving? The lambs have no scour, orf or lameness so not really sure what is holding them back.

Are they eating meal well, is it a good quality ration, ewes milk yield will be reducing from now on

Farmer_3650

wrangler wrote: »

Are they eating meal well, is it a good quality ration, ewes milk yield will be reducing from now on

All lambs eating well. Feeding grennans 18% ewe and lamb (13 ewes and 21 lambs getting a bag per day).. They dont have access to much grass now, but we are feeding Hay. Might consider creep grazing lambs.

wrangler

Farmer_3650 wrote: »

All lambs eating well. Feeding grennans 18% ewe and lamb (13 ewes and 21 lambs getting a bag per day).. They dont have access to much grass now, but we are feeding Hay. Might consider creep grazing lambs.

If there's magnesium in the ration you'll sicken/kill the ram lambs,
read the brochure linked to here, it says to feed a specific lamb creep from 2-3 weeks of age.
https://grennans.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/sheeprations.pdf

wrangler

I don't know why they call rations ''Ewe and lamb'' the ewes need magnesium to prevent grass tetany but magnesium kills the ram lambs.
We're feeding the 20% ration and there's magnesium in that so it's surely in the 18% ration

ganmo

wrangler wrote: »

I don't know why they call rations ''Ewe and lamb'' the ewes need magnesium to prevent grass tetany but magnesium kills the ram lambs.
We're feeding the 20% ration and there's magnesium in that so it's surely in the 18% ration

I presume ewe and lamb started as ewe IN lamb but it morphed over time

wrangler

ganmo wrote: »

I presume ewe and lamb started as ewe IN lamb but it morphed over time

Very misleading anyway, I think millers even include something in lamb creep rations to protect them from urinary calculi, always better to feed the specific rations

MIKEKC

wrangler wrote: »

I don't know why they call rations ''Ewe and lamb'' the ewes need magnesium to prevent grass tetany but magnesium kills the ram lambs.
We're feeding the 20% ration and there's magnesium in that so it's surely in the 18% ration

Magnesium wouldn't be needed for pre lambing feeding

wrangler

MIKEKC wrote: »

Magnesium wouldn't be needed for pre lambing feeding

It's for feeding before and after lambing, as I say it's in the 20% ration.
Farmer 3650 might check the label on his ration for us

Farmer_3650

wrangler wrote: »

It's for feeding before and after lambing, as I say it's in the 20% ration.
Farmer 3650 might check the label on his ration for us

Checked it there this morning, says 0.7% Mg.

wrangler

Farmer_3650 wrote: »

Checked it there this morning, says 0.7% Mg.

It'd be better to change them on to a proper lamb creep if they're going to be eating a lot of meal,
They're at the age now for coccidiosis so watch for scouring.
As I said the ewes are reducing milk now, you say they don't have grass so they will need supplementation,
If they're just nibbling the Ewe and Lamb while the ewes are eating they won't get enough Magnesium to do them any harm but if it's being fed adlib it will sicken them

DJ98

Wanting to update lightning in 2 lambing sheds, 3 bay round roof and 3 bay lean to, what type of lights would be best? Was thinking flood lights for round roof, perhaps 50w led and led batons for lean to, would the ones below be suitable?

https://www.screwfix.ie/p/twin-4ft-led-batten-white-36w-3200lm/2297r

Westernrock

DJ98 wrote: »

Wanting to update lightning in 2 lambing sheds, 3 bay round roof and 3 bay lean to, what type of lights would be best? Was thinking flood lights for round roof, perhaps 50w led and led batons for lean to, would the ones below be suitable?

https://www.screwfix.ie/p/twin-4ft-led-batten-white-36w-3200lm/2297r

They would probably be grand, but I was reading up as I’m changing a few lights myself at the minute and someone said ip65 is only dust proof and ip66 is waterproof, maybe someone who knows more could let us know??

blackcard

Sorry lads. Thought this was another thread about the electorate

wrangler

Grennan have started making Ewe and Lamb cobs or rolls, I'd say we'll be using them post lambing here as there's no grass or no sign of any growth either, We've used Corby Rock cobs before and found them great in the snacker, troughs are a pain with ewes and lambs.
It was difficult to get them from Corby rock unless ordering three ton

serfspup

Smyths from Donegal do hill ewe cobs 16% with glucose in 25kg bags I use them to feed in individual pens (gave up buckets/troughs) or for feeding out, troughs are a boll!cks just make muck, disease confusion and weeds

Ard_MC

serfspup wrote: »

Smyths from Donegal do hill ewe cobs 16% with glucose in 25kg bags I use them to feed in individual pens (gave up buckets/troughs) or for feeding out, troughs are a boll!cks just make muck, disease confusion and weeds

Bought a tonne today. And I thought it said 18% on the bag. Wasnt paying much attention must look tomorrow.

wrangler

serfspup wrote: »

Smyths from Donegal do hill ewe cobs 16% with glucose in 25kg bags I use them to feed in individual pens (gave up buckets/troughs) or for feeding out, troughs are a boll!cks just make muck, disease confusion and weeds

What's the glucose for, never heard of that

DJ98

wrangler wrote: »

What's the glucose for, never heard of that

Would it be to keep the energy levels high and prevent twin lamb disease? Hill ewes wouldn't have access to as good if quality feeding as lowland.

ganmo

DJ98 wrote: »

Would it be to keep the energy levels high and prevent twin lamb disease? Hill ewes wouldn't have access to as good if quality feeding as lowland.

Youd need to be careful of acidosis with the glucose