Over the last year we have been rotationally grazing sheep across part of the farm. However this means the sheep have always been going into a decent cover of fresh grass and have never really been pushed nutritionally. They are now 8 weeks out from lambing and I think they are overfit and concerned about risk of prolapse later in the pregnancy. They are lleyns, first time mums and punching 80kg +. They've had nothing but grass their whole lives and are now inside on silage and hay. My immediate concern is feeding regime for the next 8 weeks. I was going to reduce the silage offered and start transitioning them onto meal in order to reduce the volume of feed they are inhaling and gut fill to reduce pressure on the abdomen and hopefully reduce risk of prolapse while maintaining nutrition. Clearly comes at a big cost and the irony of trying run a regenerative grazing system and then having to feed them cake as a result isn't lost on me... What would others do?
My next concern is grazing plan for next year and not ending up in the same situation. Rotational grazing I felt was a key ingredient for the farm here to drive grass growth off fewer inputs and to reduce parasite burden by not grazing the base of the sward. Perhaps I need some sacrifice fields for them to sit on over the summer so they lose a bit of condition before flushing in the run up to tupping. Perhaps sheep just aren't suited to mob stocking and rotational grazing. That would be a shame as they are now very well trained on electric fencing and work away behind a single strand of polywire. Do others have a similar issue and how do you manage it?
They don't look big to me Will. If they are lleyn, they will have a higher rate of multiples and will eat accordingly, in general ewe lambs need more energy than hoggets so a molasses energy bucket is a good idea as well. What are they in lamb to? They are housed quite early, they would be better outside on flat ground, more risk of prolapse if they have restricted movement. Also prolapse is more related to genetics and/or tails being docked too short.
Did you have a problem with uterine or vaginal prolapses in the past, if you kept lamb replacements from ewe lines subject then you should watch those offspring carefully. If you do have vaginal prolapse, sheep can lamb past a vaginal prolapse, you just need to make sure they can pee, if it is a major uterine prolapse then you will need the vet. You can use a plastic prolapse T and tie onto their wool if needed (only use a harness if absolutely necessary, in fact my policy is never to use one).
Re feeding before going to tupp, the old way is to put them on bare ground then flush them on full sward before going to the tupp, my experience is the best policy is to let them eat as much grass as they want all year whatever way you can.
My thoughts are not necessarily correct but I wouldn’t worry too much about them being over fed, don’t believe it’s directly related to prolapse. Bigger danger as you said is too much intake off forage/dry matter. A bucket of molasses and tight ration of silage would keep this safe but to be honest if they were mine and 8 weeks to go they’d be still out at grass with a bucket of molasses. But maybe this won’t work for other reasons.
I find sheep difficult in a long rotation system for the young lambs need nice young grass to do best, but then I am working on very marginal land.