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Poor grass growth rates and heavy rainfall continue to present massive challenges on sheep farms.
Where grass reserves are reducing, Teagasc advises supplementing ewes suckling young lambs with 0.5kg to 1kg of concentrates to stretch existing supplies. Where grass supplies have fallen below 3cm, the advice is to increase supplementation rates to 1.5kg during periods of wet weather where grass utilisation is also likely to be an issue.
Creep feeding
Once lambs have reached five to six weeks of age and ewes have reached peak milk yield, the economics of offering heavy supplementation to ewes comes into question. In such a case, it is more beneficial to offer feed directly to lambs through creep feeding. Be careful not to overly restrict ewes, particularly those in poor body condition.
Research undertaken in Athenry shows creep feeding has the potential to reduce age to slaughter by 28 days.
The table details the effect of concentrate feed levels and grass availability on lamb performance from birth to weaning. As can be seen, comparable levels of lamb performance were achieved with lambs grazing a grass height of 6cm without creep supplementation and lambs grazing grass height of 5cm and supplemented with 300g per day. This shows that creep feeding can be used when grass supplies are tight to maintain performance and removed when grass supplies recover.
There is no need for expensive cooked or crunch creep feeds. Once lambs are eating sufficiently, a standard cereal-based ration with high energy values will suffice
It should be noted, however, that creep feeding longer term will represent a significant cost. The scenario where lambs were supplemented with 600g concentrates per day at a grass height of 5cm resulted in lambs consuming on average 52.9kg. With a meal cost of €275/t and €320/t, for example, it will cost about €14.50/animal and €17/animal respectively to supplement lambs.
Feeding mid-season lambs ad-lib levels should be avoided as it can quickly accumulate to lambs consuming 50% to 100% more concentrates.
There is no need for expensive cooked or crunch creep feeds. Once lambs are eating sufficiently, a standard cereal-based ration with high energy values will suffice. It is important to weigh up the costs and the potential benefits for your farming system before progressing down the route of creep feeding.
2kg benefit with creep grazing
Creep grazing does not suit systems with fragmented lands, inadequate fencing etc. However, where it can be practised, forward creep grazing lambs ahead of ewes will have a significant benefit where grass supplies are tight and on boosting lamb performance. Lambs can be offered the best grass available while ewes can be retained on tighter grass supplies for longer. This may have a role to play when grass supplies recover, allowing lambs to switch from creep feeding to creep grazing.
Offering lambs priority grass has been shown to improve weaning weight by 2kg, with creep grazing returning a similar benefit to creep feeding, without the additional costs. It will also help to reduce demand on the grazing area and to build grass supplies. Creep grazing can be achieved by replacing the existing field gate with a creep gate that has 225mm or 9in spacings.
Sheep management: hill ewes, creep feeding and cashflow
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