How to balance spring lambing with drought feeding

With dry weather conditions biting in many parts of Australia, producers are finding themselves in the position of balancing spring lambing with supplemental feeding.

Meat & Livestock Australia sheep and goat productivity program manager Melanie Smith said monitoring ewe condition and nutrition is very important for both ewe and lamb survival during pregnancy and into lactation.

Dr Smith said pasture preparation in the lambing paddock was important, but environmental conditions like producers are currently facing don't always allow for expected food on offer (FOO) in the lambing paddocks, which is why careful nutritional management of pregnant ewes during and after lambing is important and when supplementation can come into play.

"It's a balancing act, we don't want ewes being disturbed during lambing but we want to ensure the ewes, especially twin and triplet bearing ewes, have appropriate nutrition to meet their requirements during this delicate time," she said.

"Different producers have their preferred management techniques, such as trail or lick feeding strategies that they implement when supplementary feeding ewes."

MLA funded research is currently underway through Murdoch University to help determine whether trail feeding or lick feeding techniques impact on twin lamb survival rates and develop practical resources based on the findings for producers feeding supplementation during lambing.

"Irrespective of whether the ewe has had a single or multiple lambs we want to maximise the time that ewes and lambs can spend at that birthing site as research has shown that more time at the site improves the ewe-lamb bond and increases lamb survival rates," Dr Smith said.

"It is important for producers to monitor both available FOO in the lambing paddock and ewe condition score prior to lambing to help make decisions on if supplementation required."

Dr Smith said it is important for producers to monitor ewe condition throughout the reproductive cycle, and prior to entering the lambing paddock. This will help producers determine the overall condition of the ewes and if the food on offer in the paddocks will meet the energy requirements of the ewes during the lambing period.

"Preparation is really important for producers so if it does look like they're going into a tough lambing season and there may be limited food on offer throughout lambing, it's important to make sure those ewes are already in a desirable body condition 3 score prior to lambing starting," she said.

"Monitoring your food on offer and making the call to supplement early pays, with research showing that it takes nearly four times as much energy to increase live weight as it does to maintain it.

"So if you are limited with your energy and protein in your paddocks, making the call to supplement earlier can be a good way to sustain your ewes at a desirable condition score and help with milk production.

"We know that a body condition score maintained on average at 3 improves lamb survival, and ewe survival, as the lambs are stronger and the ewes have adequate reserves to get through lambing and into lactation with adequate milk supply to ensure good lamb growth rates.

"If those ewes start to significantly reduce their body condition score it can have adverse impacts on ewe health, milk production and ultimately survival.

"Additionally, it's going to take a lot longer for those ewes to recover and get back in a good condition, eating away at your productivity and profitability"

JM Livestock consultant Jim Meckiff, based out of Wagga Wagga, NSW said pregnancy scanning for multiples was incredibly important, to allow producers to supplement accordingly.

"We can get away with twin-bearing Merino ewes on 1200kg of high quality feed, it doesn't look like a lot but it's enough to get them through with a little bit of moderate condition score loss," he said.

"Expect to have some condition score loss this spring... it's really important to manage that through supplementation the minute lambing's finished.

"Energy is the key, in the form of cereal grains generally.

"It's not roughage hay, it's not straw, it's not cheap pellets, it's cereal grain or lupins."

Mr Meckiff said it was also important to have a five week joining window for spring lambing.

"The minute you go to six, seven and eight weeks it's very hard to wean early, it's very hard to get in and mark lambs earlier," he said.

Mr Meckiff said he personally preferred trail feeding to lick feeders and that required careful management.

"You don't want to be going into lambing paddocks with feed carts but you might just have to," he said.

"You might have to go 'right, over 80 per cent of the lambing is done, sorry girls we're going to have to disturb you'.

"You just have to make that call, at some point you're compromising lactation.

"If you compromise lactation you don't get it back just by putting feed in two weeks later.

"That lactation curve will cut out very quickly, those lambs will be well underdone, they won't get to a suitable weaning weight that you desire."

The dry conditions can also be expected to factor into decisions at lamb marking time, which Mr Meckiff said producers should plan to do at the six or seven week mark.

"Many producers might be actually forced to not mules this year if they're really feeling the pain," Mr Meckiff said.

"If they're in a real pinch and lambs are quite light, I would err on the side of not mulesing them at this stage.

"If you're nutritionally compromised, your immune system is going to be compromised.... it's not going to be ideal if ewes have stopped lactating or are about to stop lactating."

Mr Meckiff said weaning early at eight to 10 weeks would also be very beneficial.

"That's the quickest way to reduce the energy requirement of the ewe is to wean them... you're looking at 16-18 megajoules of energy [for a lactating ewe] vs eight megajoules of energy [for a dry sheep], so it's the quickest way to halve your energy requirements and put the best available feed in front of freshly weaned lambs, whilst supplementing," he said.