Little-and-often the key to feeding pregnant ewes

Lower forage quality and potentially larger than normal lamb crops in some areas are combining to put considerable pressure on shepherds and sheep farmers this spring. According to Rumenco’s David Thornton, ensuring ewes consume enough nutrients to produce both good quality lambs and adequate colostrum is going to rely heavily on supplementary feeding, with a ‘little-and-often’ approach likely to be the most cost-effective strategy.

“Silage analysis results show an average dry matter (DM) of around 35%, with energy and protein levels well below the target of 11MJ ME/kg DM and at least 14% crude protein. Combined with an increase in the number of ewes bearing triplets and twins, the challenge is pretty obvious.”

Few silages will be good enough to feed alone, with many samples having a high ash value, indicative of soil contamination and the risk of Listeria - bad news for sheep. Pregnant ewes also tend to be very fussy over what they eat, limiting intakes if palatability is low, whilst ewes bearing twins and triplets will struggle to consume enough bulky feed as the developing foetuses compete for space with the rumen.

“When it comes to pre-lambing supplements, aim to provide a steady supply of fermentable nutrients to ‘feed’ the rumen microbes,” suggests Mr Thornton. “This ensures a strong rumen fermentation capable of making the most of the forage, with feed blocks and buckets an ideal way to supply nutrients throughout the day without the demands on labour associated with feeding traditional concentrates.”

Rumenco’s Lifeline, in particular, is designed specifically to meet the requirements of the pregnant ewe. As well as being proven in SAC trials to boost colostrum quality and pre-lambing immunity, Lifeline supplies a high dose of vitamin E to improve lamb vigour, plus extra selenium for the conversion of internal brown fat to heat to prevent hypothermia and starvation, which account for around 30% of lamb losses every year.

“Good lamb immunity and vitality is absolutely crucial to a successful lambing season,” continues Mr Thornton. “Farmers feeding Lifeline for the last six weeks of pregnancy have a much easier lambing, combined with much stronger lambs. In fact, many have reported that lambs just a few hours old appear to have the vigour of a two day old lamb, with knock-on benefits right through to finishing.”