How much protein for ewe?

[BrightFarms]

I have an Icelandic ewe in late pregnancy (should lamb between late March/mid-April) and have conflicting advice on how to feed her. The people we bought her from said not to feed her anything with a lot of protein in it, because the lambs will get too big and she'll have birthing problems.

But everywhere I read that late pregnancy it's important to provide enough protein for the ewe and her lambs. I know Icelandic's are suppose to do well without grain, but should I get a protein block for her?

Thanks for any advice, I'm new to sheep. We had a Nigerian Dwarf goat give birth last fall and she did fine (in fact she only took about five minutes to drop twins!), but we were giving her a couple handfuls of grain every day.

Thanks again!

 

[greenmulberry]

Yes the advice for Icelandics is very confusing isn't it??? Everywhere you read about how they don't need grain and be careful to not overfeed, but then you don't want the ewe to go into ketosis either.

The woman I bought my icelandics from said her first year she nearly lost her first ewe because she only fed grass hay, based on the all the caution about overfeeding Icelandics, when the ewe went into ketosis before lambing.

I am feeding my bred Icelandics free choice grass hay, I couldn't get alfalfa (long story) so I am giving them some alfalfa pellets too, this works well as I am trying to tame them and I do it by handfeeding. I also have been giving them some black oil sunflower seeds (couple handfuls each) as treats. Those are really high protein.

I checked their body condition score (there are lots of charts online) and I woudl call them all a 2.5, so I think I am OK as far as not overfeeding. This is my first year so I am far from an expert.

 

[norseofcourse]

This is my second year with Icelandics, and I'm no expert either! But I do the same thing as greenmullberry, mainly going by body condition.

When I first got my two bred ewes last year, they were thin (one so thin we didn't think she was bred). The seller said she fed her ewes soybean meal for the last month or two of pregnancy, in addition to free choice hay (she had grass hay I think).

I feed grass/timothy mix hay. My sheep didn't particulary like the soybean meal, so I eventually phased that out. I fed them 14% protein pelleted feed (non-medicated), and added a little corn. Half cup each twice a day, gradually increasing to a cup each twice a day, and they slowly gained weight. I felt their backbones often, and if I had thought they were getting too fat I would have decreased the pellets/corn. They did well, and I continued the pellets for the first month or so that they were nursing.

Their first due date this year is April 1, and I haven't started feeding pellets yet. They're in much better condition this year than they were last year. They get grass/timothy hay, and free choice minerals. I hope to get a hay feeder built soon, which would make it easier to feed pellets (in the trough of the feeder), so I'll probably start giving them pellets once that's built - again, keeping track of their body condition and backing off if they feel too fat. Right now they're probably about 2.5, and I'm thinking 2.5 to 3 would be a good range for them.

Pregnancy ketosis scares me. I hope that by keeping them in good condition I can avoid it.

 

[SheepGirl]

An Icelandic ewe can weigh anywhere from 130-150 lbs so they need anywhere from 0.40-0.42 lb of protein in their diet for the last 4 weeks of gestation if they are expecting a 130-150% lambing rate. A higher lambing rate (180-225%) requires anywhere from 0.45-0.47 lb of protein for a 130-150 lb ewe in the last 4 weeks of gestation.

How do you figure how much protein is in your ration? Well, let's say you are feeding your 150 lb ewe 3 lbs of alfalfa hay and 1/2 lb of whole corn. Assuming the alfalfa hay is 17% CP and the corn is 9% CP, the ration has 0.555 lb CP which is more than adequate (what you do is you multiply 3 lbs x 17% = 0.51 lb and add it 1/2 lb x 9% = 0.045 lb and you get 0.555 lb). As far as I know there is no issues with over consumption of protein... However there may be.

However, don't worry just about protein, you also need to make sure there is enough Ca, P, vitamins A & E, and energy (TDN).

What I do is I give my ewes 3 lbs each of grass hay and 1/2 lb of 16% sheep feed each in the last 30 days of gestation. Ewes seem to maintain weight or only lose a little--you can tell which ones are carrying lots of babies by the amount of weight they lose in the last month of pregnancy. I haven't had issues with ketosis, knock on wood.

 

[SheepGirl]

Here is a chart with the Daily Nutrient Requirements of Sheep: http://twinwillowacres.webs.com/sheepnutrientrequirements.pdf

 

[BrightFarms]

Thanks for all the help. We feed a mix of grass hay and clover hay (only hay we could get so late in the year, note to self, do not bring home sheep late fall and then wonder where you're going to get more hay) and free choice minerals. Since Mama Sheep isn't due until mid-April, I'll start giving her some grain now.

Thanks again.