Beef and sheep notes December 2008

Ewes often remain at grass until after Christmas to reduce work load.  This will only work where there is adequate grass cover and where the ewes are not eating grass intended to be grazed after lambing.  In my experience grass height on many sheep farms is only 3-4cms at turnout in spring, instead of the 6-7cms target.  Eating next springs grass now means meal feeding ewes at spring turnout.

Ewes, particularly those carrying twins or triplets will lose further condition in the last four to six weeks of gestation.  Having a high percentage of thin ewes at lambing increases your workload.  Thin ewes produce less colostrum, less milk and more lambs that need help to suckle.  If you want to reduce your workload you must plan ahead and that means having ewes in the correct condition, and marking and culling troublesome ones.  Maintain ewes at condition score 2.5 during mid pregnancy.

Scanning is a useful tool to help identify triplet and single bearing ewes, which will have different feed requirements to twin bearing ewes.  You should scan 80-90 days after ram turn out and ewes should be penned and fed according to litter size.  If you have raddled the rams during the mating season then penning by raddle mark in addition to litter size is good management.

Get the sheep house ready early and check water troughs, feeding rails etc for damage and repair. Good ventilation is a key factor in keeping sheep clean and ewes (on slats) require 1.0–1.2 sqm/hd.

Shearing ewes at housing offers some advantages and should be considered.  Shorn ewes require less space, lambs are heavier at birth and problems are identified easier.

Avoid housing lame sheep during the winter period as close contact between sheep has implications for the spread of lameness.  Before housing, footbath all sheep and identify any lame ones.  These sheep should be pared and turned out into a field for follow up treatment.  Sprinkling some hydrated lime along the inside of the feed barrier a few times a week will also help.

The daily feed cost over the winter on a silage based diet for a finishing steer of approximately 600 KGs is £1.50 to £2.00, depending on the mix of feeds in the diet.  Winter finishing diets should support a daily liveweight gain of 1 KG per day or slightly better where management and disease control is good.  Daily carcase gains should average about 0.7 KG for continental breeds and 0.6 KG for dairy breeds.  At a price of £2.50/KG, a carcase gain of 0.6KG per day is required to cover a feed cost of £1.50 per day.  A reduction of 0.2 KG in liveweight gain over 120 days results in a reduction of about £40 in margin.

High quality silage suitably supplemented with meal is the most cost effective means of winter finishing on most cattle farms.  Where maize silage can be grown successfully or where certain by-products are available less expensive diets can be formulated.  High quality silage of ME 11.0+ with good intake will produce a liveweight gain of 1 KG per day with approx 4.5 KG concentrates per day.

Low quality silage is not a suitable feed for cattle finishing, where high performance levels are required, as the amount of concentrate required makes the daily feed cost uneconomical.  A less expensive option is to feed cattle on an all concentrate diet with a small amount of roughage to maintain regular rumen function.  Using this approach, performance is virtually guaranteed at about 1.2-1.4KG liveweight per day over a 80-90 day feeding period.

High quality silage of ME 11.0+ with good intake will produce a liveweight gain of 1 KG per day

Scanning is a useful tool to help identify triplet and single bearing ewes