we are geting a lamb in about one week for my daughter to show at the fair and send to auction. this is her first year. my question is do i start him/her on grower? or on finisher? I'v read stuff saying you want to start them on about 1/4 lb of grain plus a 1/2 flake of hay and up the grain as they grow but im not sure whether to buy a bag of grow or finisher. I do not know her age yet she's gona be around weeaning age.
feeding for 4h show?
- Thread starter scooby
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ksalvagno
Alpaca Master
I would think you would want to start the lamb on grower. Is there a 4H club that you have already joined and can ask the leader?
aggieterpkatie
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Find a grower or developer feed.
When is your Fair that she has to be ready for? We start with the high protein number on our lamb pellets, 21% I believe. They get the pellets mixed with oats and cracked corn along with hay and pasture. We have two lambs at a time so Daughter can do individuals and Pen in Fair competition.
What does the lamb weigh now? What breed is it?
Locally market lambs should be black faced with black legs, white wool. This usually means a Suffolk or Hampshire or crosses that have that color. Kind of petty, but lambs of other colors just do not place well in the Fairs around here. Your goal weight for Fair weigh in should be around 130-140 pounds. This gives you some cushion if they get stressed at Fair, maybe not eat or drink well. Even losing a few pounds, lamb is still in good flesh for the Sale. That weight average is what professionals expect market lambs to weigh around when buying. Yes lambs may weigh more or less, but you may get penalized in judging.
We start out feeding new purchased lambs with hay only for a few days, let them get unstressed in new setting, hauling. Usually there is little reaction to hay, no runs to dehydrate the lambs. After about 5 days we start with the mix of pellets and grain. Usually hand fed, maybe half a cup or less per day for each lamb, which gets the kid working with lambs and they start taming down. Start small with quantity, diet changes can cause problems. We increase quantity very gradually, making sure lambs clean up what is offered. Maybe increased every 3 days if lamb poop stays solid, no runs. If they get runny, we back off on grain quantity. Again hay is safe, will get the poop solid if you remove the grain feed. Increases of grain should be maybe a 1/4 cup at a time, see how they do.
I move our lambs outside on grass if possible, let them graze. They get brought back in for nights, to prevent problems with stray dogs. I don't want them getting wet or chilled. Ours stay inside if weather is bad, with some hay to munch on. I am rather strict on keeping pens cleaned, no deep bedding for our lambs. We have cement floor so I have Daughter lay down some of those large interlocking foam squares to keep the lambs warmer. Cement is cold, could chill them, so we cover it up, bed on top. We bed with sawdust, so easy to clean up, makes a good cushion to lay on.
We just keep increasing feed as lambs grow, but they are only grained once a day, grazing the rest. I reduce the protien in pellets to 18% by July first. They put on weight pretty well, have reached desired numbers by the end of July when our Fair is. We have them from April till Fair when they are sold.
Some tips we have learned are that lambs who exercise and get forced exercise with daily long walks, have much better muscle tone for the Judge. Judge will do hands-on, to decide best built. They want big rumps, hard fleshed. You only get that with controlled exercise. By the time Fair arrives, daughter is walking her lambs about a mile daily, around the field. With all this handling, they are very tame, easy to handle for showing. Lambs are shown with no halter or lead, just hands on the head, must walk and pose when the Judge is looking. Showing practice with your kid should be done often, so they have control, skills needed to move around the animal when staying out of the Judges way. Child should be neat, hair tied back out of the face, combed if a boy. Nice button up shirt, tucked into belted pants/jeans, work boot shoes for protection.
As warm weather arrives, you need to shorten the wool. Meat lambs do not gain well if they are too hot. We shear them down when daily temps are up around the 70Fs. We shear again every 3-4 weeks to keep them cooler and gaining. Keep an eye on the hooves, might need to be rasped level during ownership.
Remove hay from diet about 10 days before Fair. No hay until after the lamb show at Fair. No hay gives lamb a sleeker look, no belly when showing. We give hay back when done with show, lets the lambs stay busy in their Fair pen, content, no runs.
Lambs here need an over-eating shot, white-muscle disease shots. They may need worming if they start coughing. You have to read the medicine labels, give them when you have enough lead time for butchering safety or don't sell at the Auction.
Daughter makes a profit on her lambs, we can't afford to buy them! We buy other kids lambs who don't sell for as much. Our Fair has a lot of good buyers who support the Market Lamb program. Lambs sell well there, better than neighboring Fairs. You need to have a total of what you have invested, purchase price, feed, to know what total price per pound lamb should sell for. If kid's lamb is not selling for that, you buy it back to eat at YOUR table. Other wise you are throwing money away, not teaching the kid lessons needed. Kid gets the Fair check, so you sit down and have a lesson in expenses they owe you.
Selling a 130# lamb for $1 a pound is probably NOT going to pay your expenses, especially if lamb is kept confined, fed ONLY lamb pellets and grain as some folks do to prevent hay belly look. You will have more in feed than that! Grazing ours allows us a bigger profit margin, much less in expenses. We have enough grazing that lambs can be kept outside. Price of show lambs around here is HIGH. $100-150 each, for animals capable of being Grand Champion, selling for the big money. You can't sell lambs for that $1 a pound, investment is a dead loss, you are subsidizing other folks meals!!
Have "the talk" with the kid WAY ahead of the Fair and Auction sale. Have it several times, so kid is clear on final destination of the animals, their good life with you, final purpose as a meat animal. We always cry when saying goodbye, but they had a darned good sheeps life with us. Someone was ALWAYS going to eat them.
What does the lamb weigh now? What breed is it?
Locally market lambs should be black faced with black legs, white wool. This usually means a Suffolk or Hampshire or crosses that have that color. Kind of petty, but lambs of other colors just do not place well in the Fairs around here. Your goal weight for Fair weigh in should be around 130-140 pounds. This gives you some cushion if they get stressed at Fair, maybe not eat or drink well. Even losing a few pounds, lamb is still in good flesh for the Sale. That weight average is what professionals expect market lambs to weigh around when buying. Yes lambs may weigh more or less, but you may get penalized in judging.
We start out feeding new purchased lambs with hay only for a few days, let them get unstressed in new setting, hauling. Usually there is little reaction to hay, no runs to dehydrate the lambs. After about 5 days we start with the mix of pellets and grain. Usually hand fed, maybe half a cup or less per day for each lamb, which gets the kid working with lambs and they start taming down. Start small with quantity, diet changes can cause problems. We increase quantity very gradually, making sure lambs clean up what is offered. Maybe increased every 3 days if lamb poop stays solid, no runs. If they get runny, we back off on grain quantity. Again hay is safe, will get the poop solid if you remove the grain feed. Increases of grain should be maybe a 1/4 cup at a time, see how they do.
I move our lambs outside on grass if possible, let them graze. They get brought back in for nights, to prevent problems with stray dogs. I don't want them getting wet or chilled. Ours stay inside if weather is bad, with some hay to munch on. I am rather strict on keeping pens cleaned, no deep bedding for our lambs. We have cement floor so I have Daughter lay down some of those large interlocking foam squares to keep the lambs warmer. Cement is cold, could chill them, so we cover it up, bed on top. We bed with sawdust, so easy to clean up, makes a good cushion to lay on.
We just keep increasing feed as lambs grow, but they are only grained once a day, grazing the rest. I reduce the protien in pellets to 18% by July first. They put on weight pretty well, have reached desired numbers by the end of July when our Fair is. We have them from April till Fair when they are sold.
Some tips we have learned are that lambs who exercise and get forced exercise with daily long walks, have much better muscle tone for the Judge. Judge will do hands-on, to decide best built. They want big rumps, hard fleshed. You only get that with controlled exercise. By the time Fair arrives, daughter is walking her lambs about a mile daily, around the field. With all this handling, they are very tame, easy to handle for showing. Lambs are shown with no halter or lead, just hands on the head, must walk and pose when the Judge is looking. Showing practice with your kid should be done often, so they have control, skills needed to move around the animal when staying out of the Judges way. Child should be neat, hair tied back out of the face, combed if a boy. Nice button up shirt, tucked into belted pants/jeans, work boot shoes for protection.
As warm weather arrives, you need to shorten the wool. Meat lambs do not gain well if they are too hot. We shear them down when daily temps are up around the 70Fs. We shear again every 3-4 weeks to keep them cooler and gaining. Keep an eye on the hooves, might need to be rasped level during ownership.
Remove hay from diet about 10 days before Fair. No hay until after the lamb show at Fair. No hay gives lamb a sleeker look, no belly when showing. We give hay back when done with show, lets the lambs stay busy in their Fair pen, content, no runs.
Lambs here need an over-eating shot, white-muscle disease shots. They may need worming if they start coughing. You have to read the medicine labels, give them when you have enough lead time for butchering safety or don't sell at the Auction.
Daughter makes a profit on her lambs, we can't afford to buy them! We buy other kids lambs who don't sell for as much. Our Fair has a lot of good buyers who support the Market Lamb program. Lambs sell well there, better than neighboring Fairs. You need to have a total of what you have invested, purchase price, feed, to know what total price per pound lamb should sell for. If kid's lamb is not selling for that, you buy it back to eat at YOUR table. Other wise you are throwing money away, not teaching the kid lessons needed. Kid gets the Fair check, so you sit down and have a lesson in expenses they owe you.
Selling a 130# lamb for $1 a pound is probably NOT going to pay your expenses, especially if lamb is kept confined, fed ONLY lamb pellets and grain as some folks do to prevent hay belly look. You will have more in feed than that! Grazing ours allows us a bigger profit margin, much less in expenses. We have enough grazing that lambs can be kept outside. Price of show lambs around here is HIGH. $100-150 each, for animals capable of being Grand Champion, selling for the big money. You can't sell lambs for that $1 a pound, investment is a dead loss, you are subsidizing other folks meals!!
Have "the talk" with the kid WAY ahead of the Fair and Auction sale. Have it several times, so kid is clear on final destination of the animals, their good life with you, final purpose as a meat animal. We always cry when saying goodbye, but they had a darned good sheeps life with us. Someone was ALWAYS going to eat them.
aggieterpkatie
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No no no. Please don't do this if hay is the only source of forage for the lambs. If you only feed grain for 10 days you will have totally screwed up the lamb's rumen. You can cut back on hay, but you need to definitely feed hay (or forage). You can skip hay the day before and the day of the show, and just feed after the show.goodhors said:
Everything else I agree with.
I raised market lambs and did very well in 4-H. Lots of miles spent walking walking walking lambs. 
This thread answered my questions. Great advice here.
DD is having her first year in 4-H too and has 2 lambs. They just got sheared today and we took a weight on them and they are not growing very well.
They are outside in a pen. Get pellets and hay. Water.
She is going to start walking them this week.
What type of hay is suggested?
We have a crested wheat grass.
DD is having her first year in 4-H too and has 2 lambs. They just got sheared today and we took a weight on them and they are not growing very well.
They are outside in a pen. Get pellets and hay. Water.
She is going to start walking them this week.
What type of hay is suggested?
We have a crested wheat grass.
aggieterpkatie
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I'd just find a good quality grass hay, or perhaps a grass/clover or grass/alfalfa mix. I wouldn't go too heavy on the alfalfa though.
What breed are the lambs, how old are they, and how much do they weigh? Shearing should help them...they generally grow much quicker when shorn.
What breed are the lambs, how old are they, and how much do they weigh? Shearing should help them...they generally grow much quicker when shorn.
I have fed straight alfalfa hay to hundreds of sheep in dry lots as well as in combination with pasture... all have done very well on it. I also fed a mixture of cracked corn, wheat and barley with great success.
They were born on 3-7-10.
Both were bums, the ewe died right of way.
The ewe lamb weighed 79# the wether lamb weighed 70# today.
DD finally told me this morning she had run out of pellets. Picked up 2 50# bags of lamb grower.
Feeding a mix of pellets and ground barley and grass hay.
They are suffolk crosses. The breeder used to raise straight suffolk, but is now cross breeding.
Both were bums, the ewe died right of way.
The ewe lamb weighed 79# the wether lamb weighed 70# today.
DD finally told me this morning she had run out of pellets. Picked up 2 50# bags of lamb grower.
Feeding a mix of pellets and ground barley and grass hay.
They are suffolk crosses. The breeder used to raise straight suffolk, but is now cross breeding.
aggieterpkatie
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Those weights arent' terrible. When is the show she's raising them for? How much feed are they getting (in lbs)?herfrds said:
