Loss of weight after weaning

grayh0und

We lamb early May and generally haven't weaned our lambs until we sell them around September. I was reading this Teagasc article (https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/nutrition/weaning/) and it suggests weaning them closer to 100 days, which would be around mid July for us.

I understand the lambs fall back quite significantly after being weaned (or so the neighbor tells me), and wonder if they have adequate grass and perhaps a few bags of ration would they recover and continue to thrive before selling in August?

cheers

wrangler

grayh0und wrote: »

We lamb early May and generally haven't weaned our lambs until we sell them around September. I was reading this Teagasc article (https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/sheep/nutrition/weaning/) and it suggests weaning them closer to 100 days, which would be around mid July for us.

I understand the lambs fall back quite significantly after being weaned (or so the neighbor tells me), and wonder if they have adequate grass and perhaps a few bags of ration would they recover and continue to thrive before selling in August?

cheers

After 100 days the ewe is no advantage to them and lambs losing weight has more to do with grass quality deteriorating than weaning.
Weaning the lambs and letting them graze ahead of the ewes ensures they get the best quality grass in the paddock and the ewes then clean it off after them ensuring good quality grass in the next grazing

grayh0und

Cheers, that's what I suspected