Ocean Harvest sheep buckets act to reduce lambing difficulties while boosting lamb vitality

His predominantly Suffolk cross ewe flock is split into January and March lambing groups.

He commented: “All the sheep have performed well over the past 12 months. All the lambs are brought through to finishing weights.

“Normally, we would have a number of lambs left on the farm at this time of the year. But this was not the case in 2024.

“All the home bred stock have been sold. In turn, this has given me the opportunity to buy-in a number of store lambs. We have plenty of grass on the farm at the present time. And they, too, are performing well at the present time. “

Thomas lambs all his ewes indoors. And he is very conscious that January 2025 is not that far off.

“Ewes are put out to grass with their lambs as soon as possible after birth. I don’t care how cold it is: if the ground is dry and grass is available, the young lambs will thrive with their mothers.

“If conditions are very wet then I will keep stock indoor until the lambs are that little bit bigger and stronger.”

Thomas has been using Ocean Harvest Sheep (Ewenique) buckets with his flock for the past 10 years.

He commented: “I have not had a single issue with twin lamb disease since I started using the buckets.

“They are put in with the ewes two months off lambing. Earlier this year, I kept the buckets out with the lambing group from January through until May, at which time the weather started to pick up.

“Grass was scarce at the time and it was a case of providing the animals that extra nutritional boost. And the approach worked tremendously well.”

Ocean Harvest’s Richard Owens was a recent visitor to the Chambers’ farm.

He explained: “There are two types of seaweed in the Ewenique bucket. There is the seaweed meal, which is complemented by the acid buff acting seaweed.

“Both seaweed source combine to improve the efficiency of the grazed grass and other forage sources made available to breeding ewes and lambs.”

He added: “As a result, there is a greater level of nutrition available to the ewe. In turn, this reduced the number of twin lamb issues that can occur during a lambing season.”

Fish oil is also included in the specification of the Ewenique buckets.

Richard Owens: “This complements the naturally occurring trace elements with the seaweeds. The bucket is also a rich source of protein, specified at 16% on a dry matter basis.

“And again this is adding significantly to the levels of nutrition available to breeding ewes.”

He concluded: “The Ewenique buckets specifically acts to improve the quality of the colostrum available from the ewes. This provides the all-important start for new born lambs.”

The Ocean Harvest range has a strong and proven record in minimising difficulties at lambing while also boosting lamb vitality levels. The buckets contain chelated zinc and selenium. In addition, the entire mineral content of the seaweed base is naturally chelated.

Three top buffering ingredients are also included in the specification, including calcium oxide and an organic form of calcium, which buffer against acidity.

Finally, a green seaweed meal base has therapeutic and digestive properties. The combined seaweed sources contain a total of 32 minerals and vitamins.

For further information, contact Richard Owens on: 07990 690857.