MAXXIMISE LAMBING PERCENTAGE AND PROFITABILITY

Lambing percentage continues to be one of the key factors determining profitability on farm, with the major factor affecting lambing percentage being ewe body condition before and during tupping and through early pregnancy.

Analysis of 12 independent tupping studies from around the country, covering both lowland and hill flocks and conducted under a wide variety of conditions, demonstrates an increase in lambing percentage (up to 22%) when bucket supplements were offered at tupping time. Furthermore, scanning data from these trials showed that the increase in lambing percentage was largely down to a rise in the number of twin-bearing ewes and not an increased number of triplets.

Proper preparation will always offer a better opportunity of success and therefore, preparing ewes for this critical time of year is vital. Traditional ground or trough feeding of concentrates or cereals is not recommended around tupping time. These feeds tend to flush the liver clear of

the hormone progesterone which is needed for the ewe to recognise pregnancy.  Therefore, switching to a dehydrated, molassed bucket will not only reduce the workload of the producer, as they do not need to be put out daily but will also reduce stress on the animals, poaching around feeding areas, enable better forage utilisation through positioning in

grazing areas and prepare the ewes at this crucial time in the sheep calendar.

Rumenco Maxx Energy, is a low moisture feed bucket suitable for feeding both ewes and tips from two weeks pre-tupping for eight weeks. The high energy level helps ewes to achieve, and maintain, the correct body position for optimum reproduction performance and the controlled intake with Maxx, low moisture buckets, means one bucket can feed up to thirty-five ewes for eleven days

A ewe needing to gain, or even hold body condition has similar energy requirements to a twin-bearing ewe in the run up to lambing so relying solely on autumn grass plus a mineral supplement she may struggle to meet such requirements and in addition to energy and protein, low moisture molassed buckets provide key elements such as cobalt and selenium which are also important during this key season.

In practice, the target is for seventy-five percent of ewes to hold to their first oestrus cycle and we know more ewes hold to this first cycle when they are well prepared and in good body condition score. Through targeted feeding to ensure correct condition at tupping and into early pregnancy, lambing rates can be improved and the lambing period tightened which offers all manner of management and easier feeding benefits over a long-drawn-out affair making the whole lambing process both more profitable and shorter.

Those sheep most likely to benefit from good nutritional preparation pre-tupping are young sheep, which are still growing, plus thin and older ewes retained for a final time. However, the research using buckets pre-tupping has shown repeated, consistent benefits to performance and profitability – something producers cannot afford to ignore.