Barb I would have to agree - we flush out sheep and goats and then cut out the grain and make sure we have good quality grass hay - they comsume more hay - but get more energy out of the hay. A few years ago we had high grain bill, low conseption, and fat sheep. A rancher told us to cut the grain after flushing and they will do better, keep warmer and be better condition for lambing. It seems to work - when we do flush we combine corn and oats. I read about the hay giving them more energy and have been looking for that info. I am seeing the same thing with my St Croix sheep - they do better on good quality grass hay. I am in MN / WI and it get cold -but they do fine. The rancher also said if you feed grain - they will stop eating hay and wait for the grain and not eat hay until they are really hungry - they gap in eating hay changes the rumen - it all makes sense to me.
Nate --- Barb Lee <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Could be I'm just seeing things, but the lambs are > cleaning up more hay > since I started backing off the grain (which was not > a huge quantity in > the first place.) But things are beginning to fall > into place. Like, > for instance, their gains have fallen off from last > year's lambs. > What's the difference? Mainly, I creep fed these > lambs. The creep was > ground grain and soybean meal. Prepared creep feeds > are about 20% > protein, contain a coccidiostat and are expected to > be the lamb's only > feed. They always contain a warning to vaccinate > for overeater's > disease... > > The more I follow prescribed protocols, it seems the > worse results I am > getting. > > Could it be corn? Well, there has to be an energy > component. But the > grazing books say over 0.3% of body weight in corn > (starch) actually > reduces the animal's capacity for dry matter by > shifting the rumen > microbes away from cellulose and over to starch. > Well naturally, the > Corn industry is going to say, well, corn is more > concentrated. Feed > them more corn, less forage, because they can pack > more corn in. Top up > the protein with a little soybean meal or broiler > litter. Oh, but > vaccinate for overeater's disease (enter chemical > rescue) and prepare > for acidosis (enter chemical rescue) and rectal > prolapse. > > Okay, so feed less corn...get the energy component > from a fiber source. > The rate of hay consumption goes up...the digestion > actually improves > instead of declining into acidosis. And in this day > of outrageous feed > prices, what does that do to the bottom line? Beet > pulp and corn are > around $.020 per pound. Top notch 3rd cutting, 18% > protein, 64% TDN > alfalfa is $0.125 per pound. The capacity for > forage intake is > enhanced. The animals need less concentrate, eat > more quality hay. > Getting the grain out of the diet altogether and > using a small amount of > fiber energy feed is making some serious sense. > > The grain feeding and the creep feeding are > beginning to look like a > failing proposition for a blackbelly lamb to me. I > think creep feeding > is still a good idea, but it will probably be an > area where the lambs > can take in alfalfa leaves and beet pulp shreds > without competing with > the ewes, plus pasture. > > The big wild card is what beet pulp does in the > finishing lamb though, > since lamb is notorious for picking up off flavors, > especially as the > emphasis shifts away from protein, onto energy. It > is taking some > effort to get the lambs to accept B.P. Once they're > consuming it > readily, I'll give it about 30 days, then we have a > runt we'll butcher > and give it the taste test. Something tells me > we're definitely on the > fast track to 100% grassfed now. > > Regards, > Barb Lee > Blacklocust Farm > Registered American Blackbelly Sheep > http://www.blacklocustfarm.net > > > > > _______________________________________________ > This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list > Visit the list's homepage at > %http://www.blackbellysheep.info > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ _______________________________________________ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
