Empty Manger Syndrome: Why Sheep Need Feed Constantly Available During Late Gestation
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- čas přidán 18. 05. 2024
- Minimizing lambing disasters on your sheep farm and the importance of maintaining full feed troughs for the well-being of your sheep are the focus of our sheep farming vlog today especially during gestation and post-lambing.
As lambing season unfolds for most sheep farmers, we express our concern regarding the prevalence of empty feed troughs and the distressing number of lamb and sheep mortalities observed in the industry. While challenges are part of the process, it is crucial to acknowledge that these incidents should not be commonplace but rather opportunities for growth and improvement.
Join us as we discuss the impact of proper feeding practices on the health and performance of your flock and how proactive measures can lead to a more prosperous future for your farm.
#SheepFarmingInsights #LivestockWellness #farmmanagement
🛒 Be sure to check out our merch shop at Https://ewetopiafarms.myspreadshop.ca
📩 ewetopiafarms@gmail.com
00:00 Introduction
01:28 Talking About Trimming Hooves
04:00 Never Leave A Trough Empty Of Hay
10:55 High Casualty Rates During Lambing Are Not Normal
15:34 For Every Problem, There Is A Solution
25:39 Ideally What We Would Do Differently
27:27 Ruminants Need To Graze
Such a great conversation! Thank you for another great video. Making a judgment based on experience/education is not being judgmental. You Lynn are a very bright spot in sheep videos on CZcams and are the first thing i watch every morning.
Wow, thanks. I seriously didn't want this video to be about us but about animal welfare and not treating them like machines. ❤
Those rams look so good! They really love their second cut hay. I like how you keep the manger full all the time.I'm so sorry about the ewe With mastitis. I'm so glad that you haven't had disasters this year. You must be doing something right. I like how you don't cedar your ewes. Your ewes do so much better. Every problem does have a solution. I'm so happy that Mooney is feeling better now. Cupcake is soo cute! I'll be happy for you to retire one day even though I will miss your farm the way it is now I'm sure that you'll still keep a few sheep for yourselves. You weren't being judgemental at all Lynn. You have experience to share and people listen to you. Have a nice day, see you tomorrow!
Thanks for your kind comments and support 🥰🥰
Ok, that was probably the best sheep class yet at Ewetopia University. So much food for thought. You and Arnie never leave a viewers mind(manger) empty either.
Sorry about the ewe, yet glad there haven’t been any other “issues”
THANK YOU!!
Yes, all information is just to give viewers food for thought. Honesty in videos should also show alternatives, innovation and forward thinking so we don't stay in the same old rut.
I know that I was one of the ones that thought I never wanted sheep. I thought it was full of tragedy and never wanted any part of it. Now, after watching you and Arnie I'm rethinking this.
Lynn, you are always telling your sheep that they are special. You care so much for your animals - you are special too❤
Thank you 😊
That's another thing i like about your farm. A lamb like Little Mister is/was a 100% bottle baby, BUT he wasn't separated. He's learning proper sheep behaviour instead of learning only with lambs. Your topping up system for the others works really well. You're in with the lambs, seeing what they need, and boy they grow steady! Others take so long to get in good shape.
Im glad I found your channel. Disasters happen, but should never be the norm.
They are grazing animals by nature, so yes, making sure there is always a bite ready when they need it.
Farmers like ewe 😉 are what our country is lacking.
Thank you 😊
@@EwetopiaFarmsagree that having babies with the mom, even when topping off makes better babies.
As I have said before to you. That I watch allot of sheep channels. And as I said before your animals look the best. Healthy,happy and producing the same in the babies. And without all the technology. Great job. Love your channel and I'm so happy I found yall a while back. See you tomorrow
Wow, thank you
This is why I love your videos ! ❤
The way you take
care of your animals, it's with common sense and love not just for the sheep but for the job. From the barn checks all night ( not just turning off the lights walking away until morning) to making sure the lambies get fed.. Every sheep in your barn has value, and because of this, there is very little drama . what wonderful sheepherds you both are . 😊
Thank you so much ❤
Yes, DRAMA IS BAD. (Louder for the folks in the back.)
🤣🤣🤣@@alisoncummins2726
Nope Lynn... you are doing it right. Breeding natural times, outdoors when they can, taking care of them. You treat your animals well and breed for conformation, not for cute colours etc.
Very impressed with you and Arnie.
UK farming is very different for sure, but for Canada I'd say you are the best I've seen on CZcams and also in the fields near me.
Thank you so much!
Well said !
Lynn I agree with you 100% with what you see with a lot of these sheep farmers on CZcams. I think you and Arnie do a great job on raising your sheep. 😊😊😊
Thanks ❤
I just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate how well you run your farm. I started watching you about eighteen months ago, and I was surprised how calm it was. I remember that you had the listeria that claimed three ewes and how the mother of the little Suffolk ram lamb Lionel ( I think) passed. Otherwise, the lambing went so well. It was so great not to see lamb after lamb perishing. When I found out you kept the bottle babies with their mothers , I was hooked on your videos. I prefer not to watch other channels that feature so much death, drama, and uncaring behavior towards their livestock. Peace✌🏻
Thanks for staying with us for so long, Lauralee. We really appreciate it 🙂
Wow! That info about paying off coveralls was super interesting, definitely worth the investment, such a good environment for the flocks, no matter age of sheep.
Agree I’ve stopped watching a couple other shepherds channels because I can handle the mess, every lambing.
So, that’s why I’ve wandered into following you folks. You’re right. Watching some of the other sheep farm sites was kinda depressing. I just didn’t realize until now. Lots of disasters like every lambing the ewes are having three and four lambs and losing them. That’s depressing. I just figured out how it was affecting me! So, here I am enjoying you, Arnie and your sheep. Thank you Lynn! And if I was closer I’d come help out for nothing! Not the important jobs just maybe washing and mixing bottles, carrying water, unrolling bales of hay, pooping the floors, anything just to take the load off. I’m a retired nurse but not dead. I’ve got to find work! Thank you for sharing your animals and your work.
Thanks, Donna. I'm glad you're enjoying our channel. I wish you were closer too. It's those little tasks that bog us down!🙂
Good afternoon Arnie and Lynn. Home from Minnesota. Was visiting my sister and we went to a quilt retreat. Missed my daily sheep fix. Bet you missed me 🤣🤣🤣. Thank you so much for a wonderful talk about the sheep. I always learn from lessons by the professors from Ewetopia farms. You guys are rock stars in my opinion and I do watch other sheep videos. I feel sorry for ewes that are birthing 4 5 or 6 lambs. Such pressure on those ladies. And dead lambies or unformed lambs just make me feel bad. Sorry about the ewe with mastitis. Take care and I will catch up on the past videos. And as always big big hugs to you both. 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰😉😉😉❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Actually Patricia, I did miss you! When you "talk" with someone every day for years, you almost take it for granted that they will be there but when they suddenly are not, it almost makes you start to worry 😁 I am glad you got to go on a quilt retreat. Maybe a sheep themed quilt is in your future! I hope you had a fun but relaxing time!🥰🥰🥰🥰 Oh, and glad to have you back!
@@EwetopiaFarms Well I really missed not seeing the videos. They are my number one favorite. I have Allen in love with the sheep with all their quirks and beauty. And I admire the care you guys give your animals. Big hugs for sure. 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
Good morning!
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I have loved this video you farm your ewes as they should be farmed there are folks who are not ethical the way they breed these poor animals there are folks on utube that I no longer watch as it’s so distressing to see how they farm. Totally unacceptable behaviour from people who should know better
Yep. I haven’t been able to watch Lynne’s “neighbour” since I discovered Ewetopia Farms. It’s just so depressing.
Same here I cannot watch daily stillbirths anymore! I only watch Ewetopia for my sheep fix🐑
That was a great video! I learned so much! You guys explained everything so well and without judgement! I wish I lived closer because I would volunteer my time for sure, just to even learn or snuggle a baby! 🥰
Glad you enjoyed it!
Very informative video.... meye thoughts exactly... ❤
Loved this video
I'm so glad you touched on this situation about other sheep practices. I thought many times "what in the world?" I couldn't imagine losing so many ewes and lambs. I just play around with my Jacob sheep so I'm not in it to make a living. I breed a lot of animals here at my place, I raise all kinds of poultry, pigeons, cage birds and dogs. I hear stories of disasters that happen and I've had a few in my time believe me but like you said, it should never be the norm and you evolve your practices and your husbandry to make things better and to fix the problems. I hear many dog breeders losing pups and moms and I think why in the world did you let that happen when it was from negligence. I know a bunch that are hands off and say they've been doing this for thousands of years themselves. True but untrue, our animals are domestic and need our supervision and intervention. I couldn't imagine a puppy dying from something so simple from the sack not breaking and mom giving all her attention to one pup and not paying attention to the just born one. It would take all the joy away from raising these animals. Farmers need live babies to get paid. Like you I have a set of things I do to ensure that things are done right and the babies thrive. I think a lot of people are afraid of what others will say if they change their practices but people have to do what's best for the animals, bottom line.😊
Bingo! I was so worried about voicing my opinions in this video, but I just couldn't understand how no one was seeing the true picture that is right in front of their eyes. But so many of us are raised to turn the other cheek and try not to offend anyone. However, I felt that so many people are getting the wrong impression of sheep farming. Like you with the dogs, there is no excuse for certain things happening. The bottom line is that we are here to care for these creatures, not exploit them. I am glad that you understand what I am trying to get across. 🥰🥰
Lots of information
Thank you for all interesting Information about Sheep. I love to learn from you ❤
Our pleasure!
Good Morning from Florida 🐊
❤ Cupcake 😊
Can yall help the ewe get up on her feet poor thing her babies love her .Great info. ARNIE and Lynn ,will yall be breeding the same next year to have lambing this late ?
She can't stand. This is the time of year we always lamb 🙂
They start breeding in late July! They go in shifts , gradually adding breeding groups, and they leave the rams in for extended periods. After three months they might switch out the ram for a new and exciting “cleanup ram” to catch any stragglers who weren’t into the first ram.
Stragglers can also happen if a ewe reabsorbs a first pregnancy and goes into estrus again, if the ram happened to be tired on days she was in estrus, or if she’s not an out-of-season breeder.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😊
I would like to know more about mastitis how are you treating it and with what medication. This is something that i have trouble with.
You really need to consult with your vet about specific medications in your area
As fairly new sheep farmers my biggest qualm with this industry is judgement being passed on how others run their operations. There are many ways to run a successful operation and I think to encourage more young producers to join the sheep industry we need to stop this my way or the highway nonsense. Share your story but there is no need to make jabs at other producers or other management styles.
Absolutely! You should look at how everyone runs their operation and find what fits best with your own ideas of raising sheep
20:35 I agree I think she knows what the problem is too many lambs in the womb and preg tox issues but continues to act like she DOESN'T and still uses breeds of sheep that have multiples, I think her local Vet gave her advice when she was having so much mortality and stillborns in the lambs of her flock and she hasn't taken the advice I could be wrong though sorry if i'm wrong, But she seems to be having the same issues over and over again with stillborns and preg tox
Yes, I an not picking on one breeder but generalizing. The key take away point is that if something is not going well, there are real solutions if you want them. Some people don't truly want to change but portraying these issues is misleading and makes the sheep industry look bad. Most farmers jump on mortality issues immediately and demonstrate good sheep practices and management. This is the norm and viewers need to support good practices not be in it for the drama and misery
That is why I stopped watching those other sheep CZcamsrs !
It gets frustrating to constantly yell at the video because of the stupidity, and I find Ewetopia farms videos relaxing..
Definition of crazy is: doing the same thing over and over expecting different results .
Love ya Lynn & Arnie ❤
@@EwetopiaFarms Is there more than just the one very well known youtubeing sheep farmer that uses CIDRs? Interesting...
@pfrank2176 thanks 😊. If you want to do the same thing over and over again, at least be honest with the viewers that this is your choice and not just constant bad luck
In Canada, practically all Rideau breeders use CIDRs@@jocastaguyon6857
I would ask myself this: What would sheep do if they were wild? Would they eat at certain times or would they eat constantly? That would answer anyone's question of feeding. The animals themselves know what they need i should think?
Yes, watch your animals' behavior. They tell you everything. But in order for them to tell you what they need, they have to have options. It is very easy to say my sheep won't eat grain or won't go in a barn when they have never experienced those things. Animals are creatures of habit but we are their shepherds and responsible for their care
Sheep are designed for two lambs. Yet with prime lamb prices going up, I get the temptations to stimulate ovulation, select for multiples and increase production to averages of 3 lambs. But then you start seeing more quads and quints. But a careful program of measuring every cost on a spreadsheet: from supplimental feed, automated milk nannies, losses in lambs, shortened production life of ewes, drug intervention, labour and so forth - must erase profits pretty quickly. After watching a number of sheep farming channels over the past few years, I think Lynn and Arnie are onto an excellent formula. I've haven't seen better health, uniform growth and happier sheep than this flock.
Not to mention you get paid by the weight of your lambs not the number on the truck. Those triplets and above also take longer to get to market weight
If you have fewer singles you have more twins and multiples. Twins are more profitable than singles, and the extra lambs in a litter of multiples are break-even so you might as well err on the side of multiples.
But to me, “erring on the side of multiples” would mean a highly-prolific breed *or* CIDRS, not both. That’s erring on the side of high multiples which is a really big error.
Lynn’s “neighbour” uses a highly-prolific breed **and** CIDRS **and** PMSG **and** breeds her ewes every nine months. They are utterly exhausted and she can’t keep them more than five years.
@@alisoncummins2726 If I was wanting to get into market lamb farming, I would want to emulate the farming model of Ewetopia. This spring's lambs are so uniform and well developed, a perfect looking crop if breeding sales wasn't the main goal. A perfect looking crop FOR breeding sales! Her "neighbour's" vet advised her to not use PMSG this time, as lamb numbers were plenty. To my eyes trying for big litters instead of twins, seems to be diminished returns. Many more stillborn and loses within days. Not to mention all the extra work with tiny weak lambs. The toll multiples take on the ewe, with preg tox and just wearing them out is costly to both useful years and on the spirit of the farmer. I'm not trying to be judgemental, just observant. This is a very complex business, so dependant on breed, weather, facilities available and farming practice. But as Lynn mentioned, lambs are sold by weight not numbers at auction.
Why do you keep so many rams? If they are to sell for breeding, how long do you keep them before you just take to market?
Some are retired, some we use, and some people prefer yearlings, so we always hold back some of them
I hate to be the guy that comments twice but here goes. I've always wondered why some sheep operations have such frequent issues like preg tox and milk fever. Lynn explained why. Ruminants really have three stages of vital activity in their day: grazing, cudding and sleep. If you watch cows and sheep on pasture, they are eating machines when not asleep. A belly full of lambs must put a huge stress on the mother to get enough proper nourishment while creating new life. Eating small frequent amounts is the answer. It always confused me to hear a farmer talk about preg tox as an issue about "overfeeding". When in reality it's mostly about incorrect feeding. Carnivours are designed for periodic feeding. Lions at Kevin Richardson's sanctuary are fed just twice a week, for example. They binge eat then lay around for a day or so to digest, as they do in the wild. But sheep and cows are designed to eat steady amounts on a regular basis. This is even quite different from other plant eaters like horses. If keeping food available, as Ewetopia does, was not the best method the flock would be grossly overweight for this level of activity. I've seen very little metabolic disease like preg tox or hypocalcemia here. Am I correct in thinking prolapse can be connected to uneven feeding too? The live lamb births and survival rates here are excellent. Thanks again for educating your audience, Lynn and Arnie! You aren't criticizing others, just sharing your years of hard learned experience. Have you given further thought to a book?
Thanks, Greg! We are very far from perfect, but some things are common sense if you just stop and really think about what is happening, be it with sheep, horses, dogs, or anything. Hay is grass and sheep do not get fat on grass. They can get fat on grain. Ruminates need to graze. No rocket science here, just common sense. No books in the future. I truly don't think we are qualified to write a book, but I appreciate your confidence in our practices. We do not have any of those issues. We did have prolapses in the past, usually Dorsets, due to being fat from too much grain. Now, rarely does it happen. Solution...don't feed so much grain. Mistakes happen, but they shouldn't keep happening!
Cidr'ing is just to sync up the ovulation cycle so they are all on the same heat cycle and will lamb(hopefully) within the same time window, its the PMSG that drops the eggs. Just a clarification on the term you used.
That is true but most people using cidrs do use psmg as well 🙂 I actually realized that I should have clarified that point after I published it so thanks for pointing that out. However, I do think, from my experience, that causing them to ovulate at a certain time still does create more lambs w/o the added injections too
Apparently the hormone surge with CIDRs results in extra egg drop even without the PMSG. The PMSG is just extra.
@@alisoncummins2726 Oh? Do you have a link that shows were it says that on the packaging?
@@kala6576
Not packaging.
Translational Animal Science 2023:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10393205/
“Overall lambing rate increased (P ≤ 0.0001) in all treatments utilizing CIDR compared with U ewes”
Ewes treated with CIDRs had an overall increased lambing rate compared to untreated ewes even if they received no PMSG or hCG.
I’ve seen other papers showing the same effect. This is just the first one that turned up on my Google search today.
That's what i understand too. I mean if you are adding hormones to induce them to cycle, that means you are inducing her to drop eggs she wouldn't normally drop at that time. The pregnant mare hormone causes "super" ovulation @alisoncummins2726 @@alisoncummins2726
One dilema on the putting up of cover-alls, too many poor farmers don’t own their land, especially in the UK. Makes it very difficult to use the lambing system they’d choose.
It is a dilemma but I wonder why you'd choose farming if you didn't have at least some guaranteed way of looking after them properly 🤔
🐑😕