Need Advice!

bmarie

Ridin' The Range
Joined
May 23, 2017
Messages
25
Reaction score
17
Points
51
I am new to owning lambs and have bottle raised 2 of them from 2 & 5 days old. They are now 8.5 weeks old and are very close to being weaned. They are eating hay and drinking water well. I know I should supplement grains, but what exactly can I mix up and feed to them? Should I buy a bunch bulk and mix it up or just buy pre made sheep feed? Any information is appreicated. Thanks :)
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1501.JPG
    IMG_1501.JPG
    321.8 KB · Views: 189

Baymule

Herd Master
Joined
Aug 22, 2010
Messages
33,104
Reaction score
98,699
Points
873
Location
East Texas
Welcome to BYH! What breed are your lambs? Do you have any pasture area for them? I have Dorper/Katahdin mixed sheep and they have free choice hay, not much pasture and they get a large coffee can of sheep feed a day. They also get free choice sheep minerals that I get from Tractor Supply.
 

bmarie

Ridin' The Range
Joined
May 23, 2017
Messages
25
Reaction score
17
Points
51
Thank you! They are Suffolk/Polypay/Île-de-France. We have quite a bit of pasture but until they grow up they are just in a panel enclosure by our goats. We aren't sure if we should pasture them with our cows, horses or completely on their own. There are only two so we may look into getting more before turning them to pasture. They get hay every day and I'm just looking into other feed/minerals etc.
 

purplequeenvt

Herd Master
Joined
Aug 1, 2011
Messages
2,500
Reaction score
4,663
Points
373
Location
Rineyville, KY
As long as the horses and cows aren't bullies, the sheep should be ok with them. We often pasture our sheep with our cows.

With only 2 lambs, your best option would be to buy bagged sheep feed rather than trying to mess around with bulk/mixing your own. They won't go through bulk feed fast enough.

Just make sure that any grain you buy is sheep specific OR a general NCA (no copper added) stock feed.
 

norseofcourse

Herd Master
Joined
Mar 26, 2013
Messages
2,653
Reaction score
2,162
Points
313
Location
NE Ohio
Congrats on your lambs, and how well you've done with them so far!

I was typing more of an answer but saw @purplequeenvt and the others gave some good answers. Make sure they can't access the other animal's feed or minerals, as they will have too much copper for the sheep.

If there's enough pasture, they may not need any grain, or very little, unless/until you do something like breed them, that will take more energy. Some people like to feed young sheep extra grain so they gain weight faster, but for others it's not a priority how fast they grow. Will you be breeding them? Raising them for meat, wool, milking?

What state/location are you in?
 

Latestarter

Novice; "Practicing" Animal Husbandry
Golden Herd Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2014
Messages
11,384
Reaction score
17,481
Points
623
Location
NE Texas
Greetings and welcome to BYH from NE Texas. Grats on your two new lambs. Seems like you got some great advice already. Perhaps you could share a couple of pics? So broiwse around and make yourself at home! There's a lot of great advice and knowledge shared in the sheep threads and we have a super group of active Sheeple. You'll "meet" some as you browse. Glad you're here with us!
 

bmarie

Ridin' The Range
Joined
May 23, 2017
Messages
25
Reaction score
17
Points
51
@purplequeenvt - I will look into bagged sheep feed today.

@norseofcourse - I doubt we will be breeding, but maybe in the future I will consider it. The other is a wether so they are just buddies. They are strictly pets, so we will probably just trash the wool when we shear them as I don't think it's worth much around here. I am located in Northern British Columbia, Canada.

@Latestarter - Thank you! I am glad I found this site because it could have really come in handy when I was bottle raising. I will share a few before and after photos and maybe some people will let me know (without being too harsh) how well I've done raising them with no experience. They are pets, but still my babies. We had them at the vets for balding and I was nearly in tears lol turns out it was just ringworm and totally harmless! I feel so welcomed here - thanks a ton!
 

bmarie

Ridin' The Range
Joined
May 23, 2017
Messages
25
Reaction score
17
Points
51
Charlie - 5 days old
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0621.JPG
    IMG_0621.JPG
    311.4 KB · Views: 155

bmarie

Ridin' The Range
Joined
May 23, 2017
Messages
25
Reaction score
17
Points
51
Sweetheart - 2 days old
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0571.JPG
    IMG_0571.JPG
    324 KB · Views: 166

bmarie

Ridin' The Range
Joined
May 23, 2017
Messages
25
Reaction score
17
Points
51
My little bony lambs lol
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0628.JPG
    IMG_0628.JPG
    434.7 KB · Views: 194
Top