Preparing for lambing amid predicted shortages this spring

disinfecting the navels of newborn lambs.

Navel dressing is an important tool to prevent disease in neonatal lambs, however research shows most cases of joint ill or similar conditions follow bacterial invasion via the tonsils or intestinal tract. This occurs when the newborn lamb is exposed to a heavily contaminated environment and/or has inadequate colostrum intake.

If you are lambing indoors, good ventilation and drainage can reduce the bacterial load in your shed. Keep group pens well-bedded and ensure individual pens are cleaned, disinfected and rebedded between ewes. Lambing outdoors, if managed appropriately, can help reduce the spread of infectious diseases.

With a possible strong iodine shortage on the horizon, it is more important than ever to go back to basics and ensure your lambing protocols are up scratch ahead of the busy season, writes Emily Collins-Wingate

After a year of shortages and supply issues with vaccines, consumables and veterinary products, the Sheep Veterinary Society has warned that there is a risk of reduced availability of strong iodine for navel dressing of lambs this spring.

Production of strong iodine (10%) has ceased at the main source in Chile, causing some prices to quadruple. Lower iodine concentrations (below 7%) may be more readily available, but these are less e ective at drying and

Lambs need 50ml/kg of good quality colostrum within two hours of birth, followed by 200ml/kg in the rst 24 hours. “Colostrum is gold” and it cannot be overemphasised how essential this rst feed is. Newborn lambs have no antibodies, so are dependent on those contained in the ewe’s colostrum to provide protection against disease. This is arguably the most important time in a lamb’s life, so it is always worth reviewing your colostrum policy ahead of lambing.

The body condition and nutrition of pregnant ewes plays a vital role in the quality and quantity of colostrum they produce. Seventy- ve per cent of lamb growth occurs in the last six weeks of pregnancy, so correct nutrition in this period is essential for good lamb birthweights and quality colostrum production.

Tools such as forage analysis and metabolic pro ling can be used in late pregnancy to check the ration being supplied is meeting requirements. Metabolic pro ling should be completed 3–4 weeks before lambing; this assesses whether the energy and protein levels in the diet are su cient. The target body condition score six weeks pre-lambing should be 3–3.5 for a lowland breed. Contact your vet to discuss how these tools can help prepare your ock for a successful lambing.

Blanket antibiotic treatment is not appropriate, even in the event of an iodine shortage. Tetracycline antibiotic sprays should not be used to dress navels as they do not dry them e ectively. Oral antibiotics should not be used prophylactically. Speak to your vet if you see an increase in disease in your newborn lambs. FG

For a new approach to feeding lambs visit: trouwnutrition.co.uk/elm

Neonatal lamb mortality cut by 7.5% in supplement trials

Colostrum quality, milk production, ewe hoof and udder condition, mothering ability and lamb mortality rates all improved in ocks fed a combination feed and mineral bucket supplement pre-lambing.

Providing Lifeline Lamb and Ewe in the nal six weeks leading up to lambing made a signi cant impact on short and long-term ock health and performance by lling critical nutrient gaps, according to independent trial work by SAC.

It was found to increase colostrum immunoglobulin IgG content by 25% more than a standard energy bucket. IgG content is an important measure of colostrum quality that infers passive immunity of antibodies from the ewe to newborn lambs to ght o bacterial and viral infections. Furthermore, in a farm trial, feeding Lifeline Lamb & Ewe with Zinpro Availa Zn was found to reduce neonatal mortality rates by 7.5%.

According to Dr Alison Bond, nutritionist for Rumenco, this increase in IgG was in uenced by balanced energy, protein, minerals, vitamins and trace elements formulated in the lick bucket.

“In the last six weeks of pregnancy, over 70% of foetal growth occurs. For context, a lamb weighing 4.5kg at birth only weighs 800g in the eight weeks before being born. It has a huge amount of growth and development to do in a very short space of time to get to a lamb ready for birth,” explains Dr Bond.

During this time, ewes are under a lot of stress as large amounts of nutrients from their diet are partitioned to rapid foetal development and colostrum production – increasing their protein and energy requirements and doubling them when carrying twins. This high energy demand remains postpartum as 38% of milk production occurs during the rst four weeks of lactation.

“Lifeline Lamb & Ewe provides ewes with 13MJ ME/Kg DM to ll those high energy requirements. It also contains quality sources of by-pass protein to ensure protein makes it through the rumen to support colostrum quality, milk yield and udder development,” says Dr

Bond. “A balance of calcium helps protect ewes from hypocalcemia and the inclusion of key trace elements, vitamins and minerals support lamb development, ewe and lamb immunity and lamb vigour.”

Lifeline Lamb & Ewe now includes Zinpro Availa Zn, a highly available, organic zinc that is proven to support the lifetime performance of both ewes and lambs.

“Compared to typical inorganic trace mineral sources found in feed supplements, Zinpro Availa Zn is far more metabolically available, leading to greater absorption in the small intestine – therefore increasing utilisation,” explains Dr Bond.

When fed to ewes in late pregnancy, Zinpro Availa Zn has been shown to increase dry matter intake, early lactation milk yields and improve mothering ability. It has also had a signi cant impact on hoof condition, with ewes fed Zinpro Availa Zn for 60 days over the lambing period found to have a 43% decrease in foot lesions compared to ewes not supplemented. Zinpro Availa Zn also contributed to gut development in lambs which led to increased diet utilisation and increased growth rates. FG

Number lamlac.co.uk

As pioneers in the development and manufacture of high-performance milk formulas, Volac created the first instantised milk replacer for lambs: Lamlac® For over 50 years we have taken our passion for animal nutrition and continued to research formulation and processing developments, ensuring Lamlac® remains the UK’s number one selling formula. We understand, we’ve done the science.

UK lamb prices are expected to continue the trend of the last couple of years, remaining rm in 2023 due to the low domestic supply combined with solid demand within the EU. Sheep industry commentators believe it will still pay farmers to rear as many healthy lambs as possible come lambing time. This will also mean e ectively rearing healthy orphan lambs and any taken from triplet and twin-bearing ewes to preserve breeding sheep condition, according to Volac R&D manager Dr Jessica Cooke. “However, farmers tell us that when they purchase a ewe milk replacer product to do this, they want to buy one validated by independent feeding trial data.”

Volac’s most recent independent lamb rearing studies (spring 2021) showed both small numbers and large groups of surplus lambs can be reared highly successfully on ewe milk replacer, Dr Cooke added.

Trial work conducted at Harper Adams University (HAU) and Reaseheath College, con rmed that there is an opportunity to make a margin from surplus lambs, and to increase the number of lambs reared from ocks with a high proli cacy rate, Dr Cooke said.

“While lamb prices remain strong, it makes sense to rear as many as you can. Indeed, when well- nished lambs have been commanding more than £100 each – as they have done for a large part of the last two years – there’s certainly still a signi cant payback on an investment in good quality ewe milk replacer,” Dr Cooke said.

At HAU, 20 Su olk Mule cross Texel surplus lambs were reared o the ewe on Lamlac using a Volac Ewe2 thermostatically-controlled warm milk bucket.

After early life colostrum feeding (50ml/kg birthweight), lambs were fed on restricted warm milk from 24 hours of age until trained to feed independently from the feeder, then received Lamlac ad lib thereafter.

“Intakes and growth rates were good, with lambs consuming on average two litres per day up until weaning, with a mean total intake of 73.7 litres. On average, the lambs weighed 16.9kg on abrupt weaning at 35 days of age and achieved an average daily live weight gain up to weaning of 0.34kg per day.”

At Reaseheath College, 59 surplus third lambs (largest lamb removed; leaving a balanced pair on the ewe) from triplet-bearing North Country mules were reared on a computerised Volac Eco Feeder machine.

“Here, the farm reported fantastic pre-weaning growth rates of 0.353kg per day on average, with the lambs fed Lamlac achieving a mean 16.8kg at abrupt weaning at 35 days of age,” says Dr Cooke.

On both units, surplus lambs were also given access to fresh water, creep feed and forage ad lib throughout the trial feeding period. Lamlac was mixed at the rate of 200g of powder plus 800ml water to give one litre of mixed milk.

Post weaning, all lambs transitioned onto a forage-based diet along with lambs that had reared naturally on their mothers. All lambs graded similarly at slaughter with no discernible di erence between those reared on ewe milk replacer or on the ewe. FG

Also

Free maize app helps with optimum variety selection

LG Seeds is o ering a free app that promises to cut through the confusion over maize seed selection, by aiding decisions on the best varieties for speci c uses and locations.

A free app from LG Seeds can help farmers to choose the most appropriate varieties for their speci c use and location, maximising the performance of their maize crops and o setting the cost of purchased feed.

“When it comes to choosing which variety to grow, the rst port of call should be to study the

Transporting silage in the fastest, safest way

With the number of self-propelled forage harvesters constantly increasing, and their cutting and chopping capacity increasing in the same way, being able to transport this silage volume in the fastest and safest way is critical.

Joskin says it has, for over 20 years, managed to guarantee this with its Silo-Space silage trailers. And now, the Silo-Space2 brings this to a higher level, Joskin reckons.

The hydraulic driven four-chain oor system allows the operator to unload without tipping. Thanks to its tapered body, which is 40mm larger at the back, and the rear door with large clearance, unloading is even easier and faster.

The hydraulic hinging front wall helps by pushing the load and at the same time breaking the material. The front wall in low position is also useful when independent data provided by the BSPB/NIAB Forage Maize Descriptive List,” explains LG Seeds maize manager, Tim Richmond (pictured above). “Beyond that, growers can also use the free LG Seeds Maize Manager app to determine which variety or varieties are best suited to their speci c location and to ensure their 2023 crop delivers a reliable return on investment.”

The Maize Manager app uses the latest trials data and compares the energy output and milk, meat or biogas production potential of individual varieties within a similar maturity range. Suitable for Android and iOS phones, it is designed to simplify decisions about which varieties to grow for forage, grain or AD purposes.

“The Maturity Manager tool within the App uses postcodespeci c Met O ce data to calculate Ontario Heat Unit accumulations for the speci ed location and processes this information to recommend relevant varieties,” Tim says. “In doing so, growers can select the optimum variety for their location and purpose.”

The app also has a Feed Value Manager tool, which allows users to calculate how much their chosen variety will save by o setting purchased feed costs – either as a result of the variety’s ability to increase milk output from homegrown forage, or in the case of beef rearers and AD plants, how much it contributes to improved daily liveweight gains or increased biogas output.

Another tool helps growers to calculate the optimum seeding rate for their chosen variety, while another determines the optimum date for harvest. Furthermore, the app’s new LG Animal Nutrition (LGAN) tool highlights the cost savings associated with using one of these high yielding, high energy varieties – either in terms of increased milk yields, higher liveweight gains or increased biogas (AD) output.

The LG Seeds Maize Manager app can be downloaded for free from the Apple and Google Play stores or by visiting https://lgseeds.co.uk/maizemanager-app/ FG loading at headlands.

These silage bodies, which have a capacity from 48–59m3 with heap, are made of galvanised shaped steel sheets with an outer plastic paintwork, which stands for a lighter but durable construction.

The hot-dip galvanised chassis comes standard with a hydraulic suspension of axles, which means a maximal stability on the elds and on the roads, even at high speed. It also ensures a 240mm clearance and perfect weight distribution.

Other options like a DuoCover covering system, hydraulic extensions, shredding beaters and more allow each customer to spec the Silo-Space2 according to their needs. FG