finnsheep feeding

[finnsfinnsheep]

I chose the finns not because we share a name but because of their litters and boost in fertility when crossbred. But I have found that my 2 finn rams, 1 ewe and my one finn/X ewe are just constantly on the thin side or at least thinner than I'd like them to be, do the finn breeds need more food than sheep who give singles? When I try to look at body condition scores online it always references meat sheep/market lambs, are wool sheep supposed to score the same as the meat breeds? Am I underfeeding? They get daily hay on top of access to pasture and browse, plus a 1x daily 16% NCA sweet feed. I am still working on converting my property into better grazing options hence why they get hay on top of grazing. They were dewormed with in June + corrid treatment, famachas all look good, as well as having a salt block & loose NCA mineral. Should I just be giving them more hay and more feed?

 

[Baymule]

Welcome to the forum, i look forward to learning more about your sheep! I raise Katahdin hair sheep. Those are good questions about your sheep’s condition. Can you talk to the people you bought them from?

Also, you might want to take a fecal sample to the vet for analysis. I do my own fecals and sometimes the FAMACHA scores can look good but they still have parasites. What were they wormed with and does it kill tapeworms? Some wormers do not kill tapeworms. Were they wormed once or a second time 10-14 days later?

Would love to see pictures of your sheep!

 

[farmerjan]

Sheep, goats, cattle should all get free choice roughage... HAY or grass. Until they are full, laying around chewing their cud, they are not full. That said, the only way they can lay on any body fat, and gain is by having enough to eat. Finn sheep from what I have seen and talked to a lady in this area that has had them forever it seems, they do tend to have a higher metabolism, and are a little bit slimmer... but she has free choice hay in front of them at all times... even when on pasture.
Once they get all they want, and are not constantly grazing, then you assess their body condition and then can restrict their feed intake if needed, so they don't get obese.
I am thinking that your sheep are just not getting enough to eat to gain body weight. And any sheep that consistently has multiple lambs will need significantly more feed to maintain, and to produce milk.

I agree with @Baymule on getting a fecal sample done on them to make sure nothing else is affecting them that your worming may not have gotten. Sheep worms have developed a high resistance to most wormers and they are a hard thing to get rid of. Plus, rotating their grazing area to help to break some of the cycles is better. Worm larvae will "climb" up the grasses and are present in the lower 12 inches... usually in the lower 6 inches of grass... sheep continually grazing their "favorite" spots can be constantly ingesting larvae.... and sheep eat close to the ground....

 

[finnsfinnsheep]

I will ask the woman I bought the girls from, I don't have contact info for my rams anymore. My white finn had just weaned her lamb when I picked her up (so her being hollow in the hips wasn't a bother to me) and they were wormed earlier in the spring but I wormed again. I think I only wormed everyone once so I will go ahead and send a fecal to the vet and prepare to do another round before the last of our grazing season : ) Here is Nettle (badger face finn/cotswold) and Snickerdoodle (white finn) doing some yardwork for me

 

[finnsfinnsheep]

Sheep, goats, cattle should all get free choice roughage... HAY or grass. Until they are full, laying around chewing their cud, they are not full. That said, the only way they can lay on any body fat, and gain is by having enough to eat. Finn sheep from what I have seen and talked to a lady in this area that has had them forever it seems, they do tend to have a higher metabolism, and are a little bit slimmer... but she has free choice hay in front of them at all times... even when on pasture.
Once they get all they want, and are not constantly grazing, then you assess their body condition and then can restrict their feed intake if needed, so they don't get obese.
I am thinking that your sheep are just not getting enough to eat to gain body weight. And any sheep that consistently has multiple lambs will need significantly more feed to maintain, and to produce milk.

I agree with @Baymule on getting a fecal sample done on them to make sure nothing else is affecting them that your worming may not have gotten. Sheep worms have developed a high resistance to most wormers and they are a hard thing to get rid of. Plus, rotating their grazing area to help to break some of the cycles is better. Worm larvae will "climb" up the grasses and are present in the lower 12 inches... usually in the lower 6 inches of grass... sheep continually grazing their "favorite" spots can be constantly ingesting larvae.... and sheep eat close to the ground....

It makes sense to me that a sheep that has litters of lambs would need more to eat just to maintain weight letalone feed all the babies, I just wanted to be sure I wasn't doing anything wrong. I'll get on the fecal and triple up the hay for all !

 

[farmerjan]

Picture doesn't look like they are thin to me..... but it is feeling the body that is the tell tale since wool can hide alot .

 

[finnsfinnsheep]

Picture doesn't look like they are thin to me..... but it is feeling the body that is the tell tale since wool can hide alot .

They feel thinner than they look or at least their toplines are horrible. I would assume I should not be able to feel bones under the wool?

 

[farmerjan]

Not really feeling individual bones... just the structure but it should have a cover of "meat" ... muscle and flesh over the bones. If you are feeling bones, then they are too thin and I suspect there are more worms here than your wormer got rid of...

 

[finnsfinnsheep]

Not really feeling individual bones... just the structure but it should have a cover of "meat" ... muscle and flesh over the bones. If you are feeling bones, then they are too thin and I suspect there are more worms here than your wormer got rid of...

Okay so i'm not crazy then and they are too thin LOL I will give the vet a ring when they open tomorrow

 

[farmerjan]

No, you're not crazy. I also give you credit for thinking there is something not right and trying to get at the root of it... Especially if you are new with sheep in general.
Let us know what the vet says..... hope it is just needing a good worming, thinking it might need to be a different class of wormer...