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COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • NOVEMBER 2017 Good breeding, feeding are keys to strong replacement ewes


Treat lambs like athletes in training, producers hear


by BARBARA JOHNSTONE GRIMMER


VICTORIA – What would


you feed an athlete for optimum performance? Not just anything, according to Paul Liumes, professor of animal nutrition from the University of Guelph. “Animals are athletes,” says


Liumes, speaking to sheep producers from all over the province at the BC Sheep Symposium in Central Saanich at the end of September. “They are bred and fed to be athletes. We expect them to perform and to be productive for a long time.”


The stages of a sheep’s life and its ultimate purpose should guide producers in how they feed, according to Liumes. This is especially critical when raising replacement ewe lambs. Lambs are often raised together, weaned together and fed a single diet for maximum growth before market lambs are shipped, and replacements selected from the biggest ewe lambs, using the eye as the judge. “This is a mistake,” says


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Liumes. Replacement ewe lambs


fed high-energy diets all the way through can become too fat and this could have a negative impact on udder development, resulting in less milk for their own lambs. They could also have more trouble lambing if they’re too fat. Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing for sheep, too.


Liumes recommends that lambs should receive a diet balanced for optimal rumen development. They should receive milk first to stimulate the growth of the rumen, then solids to stimulate rumen development with sufficient fibre to promote expansion and proper rumen function. Growth should be rapid as a pre-weaned lamb and at weaning, ewe lambs selected for potential replacements should be separated from the market lambs. This initial selection should be based on the way the lambs look on paper. Their pedigree can tell you a lot. Does the dam have multiple births, lamb easily, have a good udder and feet? What is


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Producers should play favourites when selecting replacement ewes. PATTI THOMAS PHOTO


the genotype for scrapie resistance? What is the adjusted weaning weight by type of birth? The next step is to select for good conformation, especially frame, muscling, legs and feet. “Selection should be accurate with no preferential treatment, no favourites,” says Liumes. The weaned ewe lambs should be fed a diet designed to grow the lamb’s frame while slowing growth enough to keeping her from becoming too fat. Market lambs, on the other hand, can be grown with a higher energy diet to maximize their growth. “The shorter the period to get a lamb to market, the less time for things to go wrong,” advises Liumes, who adds that the pre-wean period for all lambs should include creep feeding – the practice of offering feed to lambs that are still nursing – by one week of


age to get them off to a good start.


The tendency for market lambs to be grown and finished on diets high in grain can also damage the rumen, reducing its function and the sheep’s long-term performance. Any sheep to be kept for replacements – rams included – should be given enough hay to develop and maintain good rumen function. Feedstuffs can vary so long as they provide the required energy, nutrients, minerals and fibre, and are palatable. As a rule of thumb, lambs should be provided with milk along with creep feed and forage or pasture up to 60 lbs., then replacement ewe lambs should have forage and may have some grain (no more than a pound per day) up to 120 days of age, with the goal of reaching 60-70% of mature ewe weight at breeding and 75% of mature weight by one


year. This should produce ewes with good frame development. After 120 days, feed levels can be increased and replacement ewe lambs can display compensatory growth, eventually reaching their genetic potential. If they are 75% of their mature weight by lambing time, ewe lambs can be bred. “Breed your youngest ewes


to your best rams,” advises Liumes. Ewe lambs should be better than older ewes, if selected on their genetic potential rather than on their conformation, and fed for their maternal role, says Liumes. Knowing the mature


weights of your ewes and keeping good records are key. The BC Sheep Symposium is an annual event held in conjunction with the BC Sheep Federation AGM and the BC Purebred Sheep Breeders’ Association AGM.


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