General sheep thread

Kevhog1988

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

It was something like 15 ewes or hoggets over 12 months last time but I’m not sure if it’s the same this time

Cheers, I rang the department there and am waiting on them to send out the info. Would ye lads find it beneficial?. I would be meeting at least one of the standards they set out anyway from each list so sounds like money for feck all??.

Is the requirement where they are asking you to feed lambs meal after weaning not a strange one?. If a man had oceans of grass he wouldn't necessarily need meal to finish his lambs?

k mac

Do you have to be lambing down ewes for this scheme? I have around 30 store lambs but intend going lambing this year or next so am I ruled out

Kevhog1988

k mac wrote: »

Do you have to be lambing down ewes for this scheme? I have around 30 store lambs but intend going lambing this year or next so am I ruled out

I think you need to have ewes over a yr old to be eligble to claim the grant but not sure. Maybe ring and ask? 0761064420 is their number. it may depend on if your a new entrant or not too

wrangler

Kevhog1988 wrote: »

Cheers, I rang the department there and am waiting on them to send out the info. Would ye lads find it beneficial?. I would be meeting at least one of the standards they set out anyway from each list so sounds like money for feck all??.

Is the requirement where they are asking you to feed lambs meal after weaning not a strange one?. If a man had oceans of grass he wouldn't necessarily need meal to finish his lambs?

But you're only paid up to the number you had in the reference year which at the moment is your number on the census of 2014 I think but looking like it'll be changed to 2017 now

wrangler

k mac wrote: »

Do you have to be lambing down ewes for this scheme? I have around 30 store lambs but intend going lambing this year or next so am I ruled out

they're not eligible

joe35

What's people's thoughts on feeding fodder beet to sheep pre lambing. We would feed it just whole in the field. Put out a scoop of beet when we're putting out a bale of silage/hay. So we would be more or less feeding it adlip. I'm thinking it's too expensive but the father thinks it's very handy and keeps stock in good form.

What's people's thoughts

Kevhog1988

wrangler wrote: »

But you're only paid up to the number you had in the reference year which at the moment is your number on the census of 2014 I think but looking like it'll be changed to 2017 now

From speaking to the person in the department they said as a new entrant (first yr of herd in own name) they consider my census from this yr as my reference number?.

Siamsa Sessions

joe35 wrote: »

What's people's thoughts on feeding fodder beet to sheep pre lambing. We would feed it just whole in the field. Put out a scoop of beet when we're putting out a bale of silage/hay. So we would be more or less feeding it adlip. I'm thinking it's too expensive but the father thinks it's very handy and keeps stock in good form.

What's people's thoughts

It can be awkward to find space for around the yard. And awkward to get out to a field but if you’re bringing out bales already, then you probably have that angle covered.

Do you have many old ewes with poor teeth? They might struggle with it, especially if you’re not splitting big ones.

It’s about the same price as rolled oats per kg of DM, but the ewes might not be able to eat as much beet as they get close to lambing coz their stomachs get smaller as the lambs grow bigger inside them.

joe35

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

It can be awkward to find space for around the yard. And awkward to get out to a field but if you’re bringing out bales already, then you probably have that angle covered.

Do you have many old ewes with poor teeth? They might struggle with it, especially if you’re not splitting big ones.

It’s about the same price as rolled oats per kg of DM, but the ewes might not be able to eat as much beet as they get close to lambing coz their stomachs get smaller as the lambs grow bigger inside them.

Never seem to have problems with teeth. It is handy feeding and keeps them in good condition. I sometimes think it would be more economical to spend less on beet and more on ration.

But again very easy fed

Ard_MC

Kevhog1988 wrote: »

Cheers, I rang the department there and am waiting on them to send out the info. Would ye lads find it beneficial?. I would be meeting at least one of the standards they set out anyway from each list so sounds like money for feck all??.

Is the requirement where they are asking you to feed lambs meal after weaning not a strange one?. If a man had oceans of grass he wouldn't necessarily need meal to finish his lambs?

That option only for hill flock. Suppose idea is get a few kg on them to help them in the store ring. And also beneficial to whoever is going finish them later in the year. To have them trained to eat.

arctictree

Young95 wrote: »

See the sheep welfare payment reference year is being changed to 2017 . Personally I’m annoyed that there going back to far back in the years . Was hoping for minimum 2019. Anyone else see or read anything I missed ?

They should average it out over a number of years - or is that too much to ask? This ****e of using one year is very unfair to some lads. For example, this year I sold most of my breeding ewes in October. Then I bought a big batch of ewe lambs and put them with the Ram. So according to the census, I have about 10 breeding ewes!

Young95

arctictree wrote: »

They should average it out over a number of years - or is that too much to ask? This ****e of using one year is very unfair to some lads. For example, this year I sold most of my breeding ewes in October. Then I bought a big batch of ewe lambs and put them with the Ram. So according to the census, I have about 10 breeding ewes!

I was hoping They’d pick 2019 or on . But 2017 is worth feck all more to me than the current reference year .

arctictree

Lads, just treated a ewe lamb there for lameness. Never seen a foot as bad, basically, the whole hoof was hanging off by a thread. I cut off what was left, cleaned it up, blue sprayed it and started her on a course of Tylosin. Do ye think she'll ever recover? Would the hoof wall grow back from nothing?

weatherbyfoxer

arctictree wrote: »

Lads, just treated a ewe lamb there for lameness. Never seen a foot as bad, basically, the whole hoof was hanging off by a thread. I cut off what was left, cleaned it up, blue sprayed it and started her on a course of Tylosin. Do ye think she'll ever recover? Would the hoof wall grow back from nothing?

wouldnt be keeping her for breeding anyway..trot mare trot foal

arctictree

arctictree wrote: »

Lads, just treated a ewe lamb there for lameness. Never seen a foot as bad, basically, the whole hoof was hanging off by a thread. I cut off what was left, cleaned it up, blue sprayed it and started her on a course of Tylosin. Do ye think she'll ever recover? Would the hoof wall grow back from nothing?

Ya....it should....i used buy alot of lambs etc like that for feeding,and nearly always they would come right

You can get stuff to put over it,to keep out dirt etc,but i used just let them into a clean field on their own and feed meal on the grass etc to em

Siamsa Sessions

arctictree wrote: »

Lads, just treated a ewe lamb there for lameness. Never seen a foot as bad, basically, the whole hoof was hanging off by a thread. I cut off what was left, cleaned it up, blue sprayed it and started her on a course of Tylosin. Do ye think she'll ever recover? Would the hoof wall grow back from nothing?

Yes, I had a few bad ones like that a few years ago and they came right fast enough after treatment. Feed them extra too

OneMan37

arctictree wrote: »

Lads, just treated a ewe lamb there for lameness. Never seen a foot as bad, basically, the whole hoof was hanging off by a thread. I cut off what was left, cleaned it up, blue sprayed it and started her on a course of Tylosin. Do ye think she'll ever recover? Would the hoof wall grow back from nothing?

Sheep’s feet are resilient. I had 2 ewes that I bought during the summer that were really bad. Even smelling. Anyway cut off all the affected hoof, which was pretty much all the hoof and wrapped her foot with a bandage filled with bluestone and kept them inside on dry ground. She was in pretty good shape when I sold her a month later.

DJ98

Feeding ewes here nuts in the morning and beet and then gives them Hay in the evening time and they would still have some left the next morning, would this be enough or would they be wanting to get Hay in the morning aswell?

MIKEKC

MIKEKC wrote: »

Have 40 hoggets (replacement ewe lambs, not in lamb) 6 have gone lame in past week. No footrot or any sign of swelling or hot joints. Any idea if cause

All lambs now perfect. 35 years in sheep never seen this before. Just footbathed no other treatement

White Clover

On the subject of lameness, we'd get a few where a crack would develop between the wall and the sole.
What causes this? Is it a deficiency?
Dirt will get stuck there and cause discomfort, all i can do is pare back the wall until there's nowhere for dirt to get trapped.

wrangler

White Clover wrote: »

On the subject of lameness, we'd get a few where a crack would develop between the wall and the sole.
What causes this? Is it a deficiency?
Dirt will get stuck there and cause discomfort, all i can do is pare back the wall until there's nowhere for dirt to get trapped.

do you use formalin

White Clover

wrangler wrote: »

do you use formalin

I used to up until recently as i didn't have a batch footbath. Using zinc sulphate now.
Would the formalin cause that?

wrangler

White Clover wrote: »

I used to up until recently as i didn't have a batch footbath. Using zinc sulphate now.
Would the formalin cause that?

It hardens the hoof, I used it years ago and had a lot of hooves cracking off, you should get less with Zinc sulphate.
Formalin was used a lot in labs in hospitals and I think it's nearly banned now.
It'll probably be only a matter of time before they stop farmers too

White Clover

wrangler wrote: »

It hardens the hoof, I used it years ago and had a lot of hooves cracking off, you should get less with Zinc sulphate.
Formalin was used a lot in labs in hospitals and I think it's nearly banned now.
It'll probably be only a matter of time before they stop farmers too

Thanks for that Wrangler. It was more of an annoyance than a problem as 2 minutes sorted it. I cant abide seeing a sheep limping.
How often would you footbath your ewes this time of the year when they're housed?

wrangler

White Clover wrote: »

Thanks for that Wrangler. It was more of an annoyance than a problem as 2 minutes sorted it. I cant abide seeing a sheep limping.
How often would you footbath your ewes this time of the year when they're housed?

About every four week, but when I was feeding silage they needed it every fortnight, silage was wet alright

Ard_MC

White Clover wrote: »

On the subject of lameness, we'd get a few where a crack would develop between the wall and the sole.
What causes this? Is it a deficiency?
Dirt will get stuck there and cause discomfort, all i can do is pare back the wall until there's nowhere for dirt to get trapped.

Same happens here and haven't used formalin in a few years. Was told could be zinc deficiency.

MIKEKC

100 days since ram left to ewes . How accurate would scanning results be?

White Clover

Ard_MC wrote: »

Same happens here and haven't used formalin in a few years. Was told could be zinc deficiency.

Did they improve when you went away from formalin?

wrangler

MIKEKC wrote: »

100 days since ram left to ewes . How accurate would scanning results be?

Very accurate with a good operator 80 to 100 days is the optimum

farawaygrass

Ard_MC wrote: »

Same happens here and haven't used formalin in a few years. Was told could be zinc deficiency.

There is a good mineral lick bucket from grennans, sheep 4 in 1. It states it has the highest level of zinc that is allowed. They promote it for lameness.