Feeding hill ewes

Outwintered hill ewes have endured a difficult week. In some cases the weather limited opportunities to get ewes fed, while the harsh circumstances are having a negative effect on body condition. In the worst-affected areas, it may still be some time before farmers in hill and mountain areas in Wicklow, Waterford and Tipperary, in particular, can access ewes in exposed areas with extreme snow drifts. Farmers continue to fear high losses. Your safety should remain the priority and while it is understandable that farmers are anxious to reach stock, taking risks should be avoided.

Where access is available to sheep it is important that supplementation levels are increased as required to get animals back on the right track. Where introducing concentrate supplementation from scratch, do so gradually to avoid digestive upsets. The best option where snow is likely to remain on the ground is to introduce silage/hay and concentrates, or feed buckets. The latter may be more suitable where access remains restricted. It is not just in areas where heavy snow fell that flocks may need more preferential treatment. Scanners and farmers report the winter being harder on outwintered animals in all areas. Ewes with multiple births and aged ewes showing the effects of the tough winter should be grouped at an earlier stage for preferential treatment. Delaying taking action will only result in far more problems and higher losses at lambing.

Rising prices and hogget ewes

Sheep prices continue to increase on the back of tight supplies and strong market demand. Prices have reached a level that is presenting a good opportunity for farmers to cash in on poor-quality ewe hoggets that are not likely to make the grade as replacements. Taking a price of €5.80/kg, good hoggets achieving a carcase weight of 22.5kg to 23kg will return a price of over €130/head. The return will be far higher if prices reach €6/kg, which looks likely. This compares favourably, with poor-quality hoggets only securing a similar price last autumn. Therefore, it is worthwhile reviewing your hoggets and segregating those that will be better off sold now. It is likely hoggets that have been stored over the winter will require a period of feeding to improve kill-out and hit fat cover targets. Where building hoggets up to a high level of feeding, remember to do so gradually. At current prices, building animals up to 0.8kg to 1kg, or even to ad-lib levels, will make sense financially. Where feeding high levels, it is important to monitor weight and fat cover regularly to prevent animals going overweight and obtain the maximum return.

Hygiene

The weather over the last week created numerous challenges for farmers who are currently lambing. Retaining ewes and lambs indoors for longer put significant pressure on facilities, with the additional labour input required putting pressure on hygiene and keeping lambing pens cleaned. With conditions getting back to normal, it is important to address hygiene and get pens cleaned out and disinfected. Washing lambing areas with a disinfectant or applying lime before a fresh bed of straw will help to keep a lid on disease getting established. It is also worth reviewing straw supplies with higher quantities used during the cold snap.