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More Lambs equals More Money: Preparing for Lambing

More Lambs = More Money: Preparing for Lambing

With current lamb and sheep prices being at staggering heights, producers should be putting plans in place to ensure mortality rates in ewes and lambs are minimal and lambs have the best start to life.

While good nutrition is important during the entire gestation, it becomes critical in later gestation. Limiting feed intake affects the growth of the placenta in mid-gestation which in turn can limit the capacity of the foetus to grow in the final trimester of pregnancy. The foetus grows rapidly from day 100-150 (final stage of gestation) with the ewe’s energy requirement also escalating during this period. The strategic use of supplementary feed from 100 days in lamb improves birth weight and hence survival. 

Single bearing ewes should be lambed in a body condition score (BCS) 3 and twin bearing ewes slightly higher. To maintain the BCS and energy and protein intake, pregnant ewes need to consume nutrient dense feeds as their capacity to eat and digest sufficient nutrient poor forage to meet their demands is limited. If sufficient protein and particularly energy are not consumed, sheep will begin to lose weight and body condition. If this occurs in late gestation, and with twin bearing ewes, they will begin to mobilise fat from their body in an attempt to meet the energy requirements of the foetus and their own. When fat is mobilised it is broken down by the liver into fatty acids and ketone bodies, which can result in pregnancy toxaemia or “twin lamb disease”.

Using the right feed at the right time gives a return in both the ewe and the lamb’s body weight. Quayle Milling’s 16% EWE & LAMB NUTS provide protein, energy, minerals and buffers in a highly digestible pellet form to fit this strategic feeding plan.

Did you know? The loss of 0.5BCS in early-mid pregnancy in merino ewes increases the progeny fibre diameter by 0.2 micron in both single and twin lambs.

Please enquire here for our 16% EWE & LAMB NUTS feed.

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