If there is anything to be learned from the experience of the last three years, it is that adequate nutrition pre- and post-breeding and having ewes at the optimum body condition score can deliver big benefits in terms of boosting ewe litter size. This is evident mostly in flocks that historically had a low litter size and benefitted from strong autumn grass growth rates.

Preparation for breeding should start once ewes have been dried off post-weaning. There are usually very little problems with ewes that are in optimum body condition at breeding; rather, it is ewes in poor body condition that are generally at fault of reducing the average litter size or extending the lambing period.

Scottish Blackface ewes in particular are very responsive to improvements in body condition score and nutrition pre-breeding with the potential to increase litter size, improve conception rates and reduce barrenness while also tightening the lambing spread. Lowland ewes will also achieve a good response.

For this reason, it is important to act early as these animals falling well below target will need the full period to regain condition and hit the recommended body condition score of 3.5 at mating for lowland ewes (similar target for hill ewes on lowland pasture, reducing back to a BCS of 2.75 to 3 where these ewes are run on hill and mountain grazing).

Improving by one condition score is the equivalent of gaining about 8kg to 12kg liveweight with the variation depending on ewe breed and mature liveweight. This takes eight to 10 weeks to achieve with access to good-quality grass. Younger animals will generally regain condition faster than older sheep in the flock. If animals fail to regain condition despite preferential treatment, culling may be the best option as these animals will invariably be the problem ewes short of condition in the run up to lambing.

Reports regarding ewe condition are variable with some flocks reporting ewes in good condition while others report ewes feeling the effects of higher litter size or poor-quality silage last winter and going to grass in lower condition than normal.

Regular monitoring

It is important to handle ewes regularly to monitor progress. Ideally, there should be two groups of ewes run, a group in adequate body condition that are fed to maintenance and a group receiving preferential feeding. The latter group can be run with lambs if the number of groups is an issue or grazed for a period after lambs with ewes receiving maintenance feeding used to graze out paddocks and improve the quality of regrowth. Ewes can be switched between groups when required.

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Special focus: sheep breeding and sales season