Lambs Thriving or Not!

Media Article

Sheep farmers put in a huge effort each year to have as many lambs born and kept alive as possible. Having heavier and healthy lambs at birth will also contribute to a faster overall growth rate. If ewes have higher milk production and minimal infections, this will result in getting lambs away from the farm earlier in the season. This usually results in higher prices and better carcass quality. In addition, there will savings made on treatments and reducing overall annual workload.

Well that is the plan but it then can go astray with the ewes and lambs at grass. What are the issues? There can be numerous factors that will reduce lamb thrive and sometimes it is difficult to identify the underlying cause. These could be management, genetic, nutritional levels, weather, parasites, mineral status, or a combination of these.

Management would include monitoring lambs and noticing that something is not right. Ewes and young lambs need to be well bonded when going into larger groups to avoid any mismothering. We also need to know what to expect in performance. With good weather conditions in spring we would be hoping a young lamb should be gaining 280-300g/day (2 kilos week) and more if receiving creep feed. Lambs will not achieve anything near this unless the nutritional levels are high for the ewe and lamb from very good quality grass or with supplementary feeding which will be more costly but is required at times, especially if grass supply is low.

Parasites can also arise mainly with the lamb and it is very important to know the correct treatment regime by identifying the cause. Do this in consultation with your vet or advisor. This can reduce unnecessary costs and possible incorrect chemical/veterinary treatments. An example here is dosing for all stomach worms in early spring when treatment may only be required for one worm that may be present (Namatodirus). Sometimes it can be difficult to identify this worm from another parasite coccidia which requires a different treatment regime. Orf is another problem that could arise and can be farm specific. If it’s an annual problem again you should talk to vet.

Another possible cause reducing thrive when other issues are ruled out is the mineral status of the animal or the farm. This can be very complex especially as there are interactions between different minerals and there can be a difference in response between individual animals/breeds. Depending on your area, cobalt deficiency can arise as we go through the grazing season especially when lambs are consuming more grass after weaning but it may be an issue on some farms before this. Oral supplementation is best if required. Twin lambs should gain 150 g/day from grass alone post weaning. This equates to one kg live weight gain per week. Another possible indicator of mineral issues on the farm is the overall lamb mortality and the levels of general infections.

The main message is- to know when your lambs are or are not preforming as they should and then to try to eliminate or control the problem. This will usually require some outside expert help in diagnosis from fellow farmers your vet or advisor.