With another lambing season fast approaching, or even underway for some, thoughts turn to how to ensure an efficient and profitable year. How taking tips from competitor markets, can help to ride the storm of a potentially challenging, and expensive, 2022.
Here are few areas to focus on in the build-up and during this year’s lambing season.
Meet Dyfrig Bowen, and his partner Lyndsey, at Pengelli Farm in Cardigan. Their system comprises 40 head of Pedigree Aberdeen-Angus cows and 900 Aberfield-Cross ewes. They also buy in a further 1,500 store lambs and sell their finished lambs direct to slaughter. Around 180 ewes are lambed indoors early on and then the rest are lambed outside in April.
Industry experts have warned of the potential shortages in the supply of antimicrobial treatments used to tackle watery mouth in newborn lambs. Now is a good time to consider other options to help prevent instances of watery mouth occurring this lambing season.
Achievement of lamb growth targets starts with the right preparations ahead of lambing. What happens from scanning through to the first four to six weeks of ewe and lamb nutrition has a huge influence on lamb daily live weight gain (DLWG) and how quickly they can leave the farm.
In episode 3 of Wynnstay Agri-Hub podcast, season 2, I was joined by youngstock specialist Laura Monk and national beef and sheep specialist Bryn Hughes to look ahead to prepare for the upcoming lambing season. We talked through the critical stages which influence lamb success, starting with ewe nutrition during pregnancy.
Whether lambs will be retained for breeding or finishing, it is imperative that they have the correct balance of trace elements in order to thrive. The 4 key trace elements needed for optimal performance are Selenium, Cobalt, Iodine and Zinc. All these trace elements are contained within the ‘Wynnstay Lamb Bolus’, or alternatively if lambs only require Cobalt, then the ‘Wynnstay Cobalt B12’ bolus is a suitable alternative.
Two thirds of all joint ill cases are caused by the bacteria Streptococcus Dysgalactiae – the same bacteria that causes mastitis in cows. The other third of cases are preventable through adequate colostrum uptake.
Weaning can be considered a simple change from milk feeding to solid feeding but in truth it is a balancing act between maximising early feed efficiency and managing rumen development.
In mid-season lambing flocks, the aim is to get lambs to 32 to 42kg as soon as possible, capitalising on early feed conversion efficiency (FCE). Investing in early nutrition to capitalise on this early growth potential will pay dividends.
With the fortnight of Eid celebrations commencing in mid-July, those who lambed early to mid-March need to get lambs finished quickly to ensure they don’t miss market opportunities.
We are all aware of the importance of ewe colostrum as the first feed and antibodies has always been the ‘buzz’ word, however, successful colostrum feeding is a considerably bigger picture.
