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Ewe Feeding does pay!! 

After a period when sheep prices have been very poor it is easy to think reducing inputs may help to increase the small profit which has been available. The average lowland ewe eats 57 kgs of concentrates and the upland ewe eats 49 kgs of concentrates. The very large increase in feed prices (£40 per tonne) has meant feed costs have risen by £2.28p and £1.96p accordingly.

For the sheep breeder profit is directly related to the number of live lambs sold fat or retained for further breeding programmes. Lamb mortality, (lambs born dead or dying within 4 days of birth) runs at around 15% in this country at an estimated cost of £120 million. 55% of these losses are due to poor ewe nutrition putting the cost of incorrectly feeding the ewe at £66 million.

 Most costs are incurred before lambing and therefore the number of lambs surviving is the most critical factor when profitability is considered.

  The energy density of the overall diet has to increase very rapidly as lambing approaches. The lamb grows leaving less space for nutrient intake and requiring the energy density to increase from a minimum of 5MJ/KG  to 13.6MJ/KG

Thin ewes:

·    lead to weak and light lambs with poor survival rates

·    are weak ewes which are more likely to have difficulty giving birth through    exhaustion

·    are more likely to show impaired maternal behaviour towards their lambs

·    will have reduced production of colostrum and milk. 

A well fed ewe will produce a total lamb weight of 7.9 kgs and produce 2080 litres of total colostrum compared with an underfed ewe producing only a total lamb weight of 6.43 kgs and 990 litres of colostrum (source Mellor 1990). Lamb birth weight is critical when it comes to survival. A 3kg lamb has a 70% better chance of survival than a 2kg lamb. A 5.5kg lamb will finish at approximately 10kgs heavier than a 3kg lamb.

 Feeding recommendations 

Concentrate input should start two weeks earlier at .5 lb/day higher than those shown in table when:

1.       ewes are in poor condition

2.       silage quality is below average

3.       silage is not precision chopped.

 Ewes fed over a .5kg per day would benefit from feeding twice daily feeding. An alternative to the above for ease of management is to feed at .5kg per day for the last 6-8 weeks before lambing. 

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