Farmers will easily remember the fodder crisis that was gripping the country at this stage last year. Many flock owners were forced to creep feed mid-season born lambs in an attempt to maintain satisfactory levels of lamb performance. For those who had early-born lambs gone before the middle of May and mid-season lambs gone before August, there was an opportunity to cash in on higher prices on offer.

However, all too often we have seen prices collapsing by 50c/kg to 60c/kg in the space of a week to two weeks, leaving producers with high costs very exposed. In 2013, the lamb price collapsed by 50c/kg in the middle of May and stabilised at about €5/kg before progressing on a downward trend from August onwards. In 2012, a similar price collapse occurred but from a 40c/kg to 50c/kg higher starting point and three to four weeks later. It is also important to note that Ramadan is falling two weeks earlier this year, starting on 28 June and finishing 27 July.

Farm circumstances

Creep feeding will reduce the slaughter age but it has to be pointed out at the outset that it represents a significant cost to the system. Keeping production costs in check is very important but other farm-specific factors also have to be taken into account. These can range from increasing demand for grass from other stock groups, pressure on available grazing due to closing silage ground, limited availability of good quality grazing or labour availability later in the season.

Teagasc research carried out in Athenry shows that creep feeding has the potential to reduce slaughter age by 28 days.

This is detailed in Table 1, which also shows the impact of level of supplementation and sward height. Comparable levels of lamb performance were achieved from offering lambs the recommended sward height of 6cm as with lambs grazing a grass height of 5cm and supplemented with 300g concentrates per head per day.

This shows the benefit of high levels of grassland management and the opportunity to reduce costs while also maintaining satisfactory lamb performance. Looking at it from a different perspective, it also shows that creep feeding can be used to maintain performance during times of tight grass supplies.

Grass supplies are currently very variable. Producers on dry, free-draining soils have seen a spike in grass growth in the last week. Growth on heavier, colder soils or on more marginal areas remains largely depressed with trafficability issues restricting opportunities to get fertilizer applied. As such, grass supplies remain tight on heavier farms. Once lambs reach five to six weeks of age, it is more economical to feed them directly as opposed to continuing to supplement ewes heavily. Creep feeding can be used to overcome a difficult period and discontinued once grass supplies recover.

Creep grazing

Creep grazing can deliver similar levels of performance to creep feeding without the additional costs. It will not work on fragmented lands or land with inadequate fencing but offers potential where the farm layout is suitable and lambs can graze ahead of ewes in a three- to four-paddock rotational system. It has been shown to improve weaning weights by up to 2kg and also works excellently with creep feeding lambs as lambs can be supplemented in troughs rather than in creep feeders where the strongest lambs tend to consume the majority of concentrates.

It can be easiest achieved by placing the creep feeder beside a creep gate or placing the feeder the far side of the creep gate to encourage lambs to graze forward.

Readers’ Q&A

Will I get better performance from feeding cooked or crunch lamb creep feeds over a standard ration?

Crunch or cooked rations have the advantage of being more palatable and as such will encourage higher intake faster. However, once lambs become accustomed to creep feeding, there will generally be no significant difference between performance from a standard high-energy ration and specialised feeds. Standard feeds, or high-cereal diets, have the advantage of being lower cost.

Can I feed barley ad-lib to lambs?

There is no maximum rate at which barley can be included in a ration. However, as barley contains a rich source of starch, there is an increasing risk of acidosis at higher inclusion rates and especially where lambs have free access to ad-lib creep. Feeding whole barley reduces the risk of acidosis and some farmers experience fewer problems by splitting the barley allocation between whole and rolled barley. As a guide, the maximum recommended inclusion rate of barley when offering higher feeding levels (above 300g to 400g per head) is 35% to 40%. The ration should be balanced for fibre and protein.

What level of protein do I need in creep feed?

Where finishing lambs on grass, a simple cereal-based ration with a protein percentage of 13% to 14% is sufficient. A higher protein content will not cause any harm in growing lambs. The protein content can be reduced back as lambs approach finishing weight. Lowering the protein content and feeding a high-energy diet will boost fat cover on lambs.

What is the cost effectiveness of increasing the meal allocation to lambs post weaning? I am currently feeding 1lb (0.45kg) of meal per head but am considering increasing to 2lb per head. These lambs are on very good grass.

The return on investment from feeding meal will depend on the daily feeding rate, price of concentrates and carcase selling price.

On the first point, the feed conversion ratio will decline as the level of concentrates fed increases.

For example, at 300g supplementation on good grass, it will range from 6kg to 7kg concentrates to put on a kilo of liveweight. On ad-lib meals, the feed conversion will be about 13kg to 14kg meals to gain 1kg liveweight. As such, the cost per kilo of carcase gain will be far higher on the ad-lib diet.

A higher meal supplementation will significantly reduce days to slaughter while also improving the kill-out percentage by 2% to 3%. This holds greater significance early in the season, with prices generally following a downward trend as more mid-season lambs come on stream.

Farm circumstances will also need to be taken into account – by this I mean if there is a high stocking rate or grass demand is increasing (from suckler cows and calves, for example), there will be value in moving lambs quicker and allocating grass to other stock groups.