Grain and loose stool

Rob30 · #1 02/04/08, 01:38 PM

I have a group of ewes ready to lamb soon. I have been gradually upping their grain (oats and peas). Now the one that looks like she will be first to lamb is haveing loose stool. No funny colours or smells. I noticed a few of the others are on the verge. They have pellets at times and clumpy paddies other times. I am not feeding that much grain. About 1 lb each per day. They have been getting grain now for about 3 weeks. I have a variety of ewes, but most are rideau or romonov. So I am expecting large numbers of lambs. It is going to be pretty hard to give more grain when they can't handle whatr they get now. The ewes out side are going to lamb next month. They are recieving half the grain as the one inside. The are having good stools. But some of them could use a bit more to get in better condition before lambing. A few are a little on the thin side.
Any sugestions on how to increase feed with out causing the loose stools?

**Ross** · #2 02/04/08, 04:36 PM

You can add baking soda with an increase in grain but I'd wonder if they don't need a worming. Mine will be getting Safeguard soon.

Bearfootfarm · #3 02/04/08, 04:36 PM

Personally, I wouldnt increase it above a lb per ewe until after they lamb.
Id want them to be eating as much good hay as possible.
If they get too fat before lambng , it increases the risk of pregnancy toxemia

They cant eat as much with the lambs inside them anyway, so they need a low quantity/high nutrition diet until they lamb

I would also consider replacing the oats with corn, which has a higher feed value.

It might also pay to seperate any that need extra feed.

veme · #4 02/04/08, 05:24 PM

I agree with BF.
Don't overfeed.
1lb a day before lambing seems like a lot to me unless they are very big sheep.
Corn is good for energy & so is the best alfalfa you can find.

Back when I had big sheep, I fed 1 or 2 of those cheap peanut butter sandwich cookies (#3 for $1) or a couple of slices of bread once a day to the ones that I thought needed it.
Some of the ones who didn't need it - thought they did

My pockets were never safe.

I have Border Cheviots now & they can stay fat on broken glass & cardboard

**Ross** · #5 02/04/08, 08:03 PM

Not to be arguementative but 1 pound ..... a lot? My ewes will make good use of the three pounds they'll work up to as they get closer to lambing. I'll cut that in half right after lambing and slowly build them back up. Heck when we were milking they got close to 5 pounds of straight wheat! Rideaus and Romanovs are big on triplets and quads I'd make sure they were parasite free and on as good a ration as you can manage. Where on earth did you find peas? I'd luv to add peas to my ration next year!

Rob30 · #6 02/04/08, 08:21 PM

We only grain feed for the last 3-4 weeks before lambing. Because when full of lambs they have a hard time getting enough out of hay. Plus it gets them adjusted to the grain before they need it to produce milk. We bought these ewes from a pretty intensivly run farm. Some were not in the greatest condition before breeding. Most have a body condition score of about 3. Which I have been led to believe is low for late gestation ewes. If I can get away with less grain thats more money in my pocket. Our hay is medium in quality. No alfalfa. It does not grow well here. We have seperated the ewes according to condition and stage of gestation. We can try worming but they were just wormed in the fall. And they show no signs of a worm load.

Rob30 · #7 02/04/08, 08:29 PM

Our management style seems to be related to yours Ross. As far as the peas go. We are buying them from a dairy farmer next door. We plan on planting the same mix this spring. We possibly will add barley and adjust the pea level to suit. We can not grow corn here. The soil and season are not good enough.

FairviewFarm · #8 02/04/08, 08:40 PM

My flock will get loose stools when they receive too much protein. Cattle will do the same thing.

Recommendations for late gestataion I try to follow are:
Maintain a condition score of 3+
balance the ration for 15-16% crude protein
feed 3-5% body weight on a dry matter basis
use energy dense feeds
free choice mineral with selenium (we're in a deficient area)
consider a bypass protein such as fish meal or soybean oil meal) if the hay analysis is low in crude protein.

We are in the midst of very late gestation with most of our lambing flock. Hampshires averaging 200 lbs. Currently they're receiving 5-6 lbs. first cutting legume-grass hay and 1/2 lb. per head per day. Most are at or above our target conditon score. Post lambing our ewes receive half first cutting hay and half second cutting hay with 1 lb. whole shell corn per lamb nursed. Once I add that second cutting hay which increases the protein in the ration is when I notice their stools become globs (almost cow patty like) instead of pellets.

In addition to Ross' recommendation to deworm, I might consider coccidiosis. It too can cause loose stools.