Making every lamb count this season
Meticulous planning, proactive flock management, and using a premium milk replacer that offers flexibility will help sheep producers maximise their return on investment per lamb to counteract the increased pressures of the ongoing Bluetongue outbreak and drought affected grazing areas. Dr Jessica Cooke, from Lamlac, explains that although there may be a reduced number of lambs on the ground next spring, adopting a high-quality lamb rearing system, with good hygiene and husbandry practices, will ensure that every animal thrives. “Whether you have just a few surplus lambs each spring or plenty needing rearing support away from the ewe, an essential part of the system should be using a high-quality milk replacer to deliver a return on investment and simplify feeding of surplus lambs. “Feeding and caring for orphan or surplus lambs can be a time-consuming process but using a milk replacer, such as Lamlac, that offers easy mixing, consistent growth rates, and the flexibility to be fed cold or warm, will help producers optimise their time input whilst still delivering healthy lambs that meet growth rate targets.”
Dr Cooke points to trials at Harper Adams University (HAU) and Reaseheath College demonstrating feeding Lamlac milk replacer (mixed at 200g powder to 800ml water per litre) alongside ad-lib water, creep feed, and forage, delivered a 0.34kg average daily gain and a 16.9kg weight. Similarly, the trial at Reaseheath College achieved a 0.35kg daily pre-weaning growth rate and a 16.8kg weight, with both trials abruptly weaning at 35 days. A single lamb reared artificially to weaning at 35 days of age will require a minimum of 9.5kg of Lamlac (equating to 47.5 litres of reconstituted ewe milk replacer). “These trial results show the opportunity for producers to make a return from these valuable newborns and the potential to increase the number of lambs reared from flocks with a high prolificacy rate. Every lamb will count this season, and it’s essential to have stocks of in-date Lamlac milk replacer on farm before the season begins. “The flexibility to mix and feed Lamlac cold and still achieve similar growth rates to warm milk feeding should be a consideration for producers this season. This is especially useful where a shortage of labour can place added time pressures during an already busy period, or where warming milk isn’t possible,” concludes Dr Cooke.
Source: industry press release.