Helping ewe to gain weight

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mystang89

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Hey gang, I'm still working on a ewe from last year's lambing, trying to get her to gain weight. Since I'm along on here, you can probably tell I'm failing at this.

What do you all use when you have aewe that is too thin and needs some pounds put on? She has access to grass and hey and sweet feed want putting any weight on her.
 
Mike CHS

Mike CHS

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We will do a fecal on a ewe that isn't maintaining/gaining weight. We have one yearling that isn't keeping up with the others but when I give a small amount of grain to the whole flock in the afternoon I will keep the bucket in a position where only she can eat out of it. That way she can get more than the others get.
 
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Thanks Mike. I forgot to mention that the vet did a fecal on her and she was clean.

Do you just use regular sweet feed for sheep that you can get from a mill? Nothing special?
 
Mike CHS

Mike CHS

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We have a custom blend that we get in bulk but any sweet sheep food should work. Just don't let her get too much unless she has already been on grass/hay. I don't use a large bucket so it's easy to guide the other sheep away just by pushing their heads away because they will try to take over the bucket.
 
Goat Whisperer

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Have you looked into rice bran pellets?
Dyne is a good product too, if the sheep likes it. We’ve used both of these with our dairy goats.
 
Sheepshape

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Good luck.

Just to say that when all pathology is excluded, there are some animals who, like people, are naturally thin. I've got a few thin ewes amongst the otherwise well-covered. They generally are big eaters who are quite tall and active animals. They produce big lambs and have lots of milk....so I guess that is just the way they were made.
 
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I think one of the reasons she is still selling is because her 9 month old daughter is still taking time to nurse for a few sec..... I saw her do that yesterday and was dumb founded. I thought the mom weaned them herself after a while but apparently she likes the quality time?
 
Goat Whisperer

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Yep :thumbsup

Start slowly! It is a supplement and you don’t want to give more than a cup or two (for large breed dairy goats anyway- I don’t know much about sheep. You don’t want to overload them!)
 
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