Feeding and Parisite advice

[jdhd003]

Hello Hello,
I have looked through a few threads but there is a lot of different information out there so i hope noone minds i added another feed thread.
i recently got 2 lambs to raise for the summer for meat for the winter. I enjoy raising my own meat as much as possible to know that the animals had a good life and were dispatched as humanly as possible.
Before the feed question I noticed Tapeworms in some of the stool, this immediately freaked me out big, however I looked for advice and was told De-worming is a good step but tapeworms are not a huge major problem. Any thoughts?

While getting advice I have been told to give them grain, grain, grain. The reason that I got the lambs is because well its fun, but also to try to feed them naturally or as close as i can. my original thought was hay hay hay. Now I realize that the nutrition may not be all there. I do plan on having 2 pens for them to let grass grow in with each, but it will not be enough.
I give them Hay. and i stop by a pasture every other day and cut fresh grass and forage for them. they get hay and grass throughout the day. I also give them minerals.
The advice i got was that they need more energy and protein. and to give them grain. i am trying for more grass fed than grain fed, I have some soybean meal coming to supplement a little but need to know what should I use for energy? what is most natural, would oats be OK?

any and all advice is helpful, thanks.

 

[mysunwolf]

When you're new to a species, it's best to feed a pre-formulated feed so that you know they're getting the nutrients that they need. I agree that if they are only on drylot and hay, with occasional fresh cut pasture, that nutritionally they probably need some grain. Grain will also help them reach butchering weight by fall. I don't know their size, but we like our lambs larger (at least 100lbs live) and so prefer to keep them a full 12 months before butchering.

Ideally, you'd feed a pelleted ration that also had vitamins and minerals mixed in, in addition to free choice loose minerals. But if you're going to go with whole grains or byproducts, be cautious with soybean meal, you can easily give them scours (diarrhea) if introduced too quickly. I prefer whole roasted soybeans, with hulls added for roughage/fiber, as a good protein source. I've found that whole oats or whole wheat is easiest on the rumens to start introducing them to grain. You can add whole corn as well for extra energy.

Tapeworms are not that big of a deal for adult sheep, but for lambs they can definitely slow growth. I would give the lambs Valbazen, that usually knocks out tapeworms. Around here, it's very wet and our biggest "lamb-killing" worm is barber pole. I would be more inclined to worry about anemia and pale eyelids than tapeworms, since tapes usually won't kill a lamb. Where are you located?

This is my opinion, but I think you'll find that as soon as we domesticated sheep, "natural" went out the window!

 

[jdhd003]

I'm in western mass, I have some valbezan on the way, I don't know about barber pole in the area, I got them from an hour away in upstate ny. I'm hoping the valbezan will take care of whatever they have. Question, a sheep expert told me to double the size on the bottle, is that safe?

I will be picking up some feed, I think I'm going to go with a pellets feed to supplement the hay and forage.
Thanks for the help

 

[Donna R. Raybon]

Yes, I would double dose for Valbazen. Wait ten to fourteen days and deworm them again. The encysted L4 of barberpole can encyst in gut wall and they will then become active after that first deworming. Because they are immature, they do NOT show up on a fecal.

Tapes in and of themselves are not a problem. They are not the dog/cat/flea tapeworm your pets get. Rather they are species which uses snail/slug as intermediate host. The goat/sheep eats grass with an infected snail/slug.

But as a mass, they can block the lumen of the intestinal tract and kill young stock due to having smaller diameter of intestinal tract.

Prepared grain ration is your best bet on keeping them growing and gaining weight. Be careful with the soybean meal!!!! It is about 35% to 42% protein and you can burn their kidneys up as they are herbivores, not carnivores. Also, make sure soybeans are first roasted before you feed them. Usually if you buy meal, it is roasted.

If these two are wethers (castrated males) I would want to be feeding ammonium chloride to prevent kidney stones. Usually anything for 'market lambs' already contain it.

 

[Baymule]

You might cut some fresh browse for them. Mine love cedar, elm, new oak leaves, weeds such as lambs quarters and giant ragweed. Do be careful and research what you plan on giving to them BEFORE you let them have it. Trees that have stone fruits such as peaches, cherries and plums release cyanide in their wilted leaves. So do not feed any stone fruit leaves or branches

 

[Sheepshape]

Tapeworms usually don't cause major grief, but they eat the food destined for the sheep.

If you have any doubt as to what treatments to use, have a word with a local vet who deals with farm animals as parasites and their drug susceptibility vary hugely from area to area.

 

[jdhd003]

Thanks all for the advice o do appreciate it

 

[secuono]

I've been wondering about tapes as well. Some people and vets say to deworm and others say not to bother. =/
They seem to constantly be expelling them, with or without dewormer. First year with this and a buyer was iffy about it and idk if I should be telling them it's no big deal or to keep an eye out and deworm if they seem to need it or what.

 

[Sheepshape]

Ever one to not like waste, I've noticed the chickens fight each other for the tapeworm segments in the poop (when they are not squabbling about the maggots from fly strike!) As sheep tapeworms don't have a secondary host in the chicken, I guess it's all just good protein to them........I hope I haven't put anybody off their breakfast eggs

 

[Donna R. Raybon]

A mass of tapes can block intestines on lambs and kids. The inside diameter of their intestines makes them more at risk than adult. I have known breeders who lost young animals, so I use something to get tapes.