Ewe lamb segregation: A significant issue each spring is ewe lambs destined for slaughter turning up in lamb. This is an animal welfare concern, as ewe lambs are typically not suitable for breeding, while unsuitable breeds are often the sires of these pregnancies. These situations at best end up with lost performance in ewe lambs, but regularly lead to veterinary intervention, lamb mortality and a hogget that realises a lower sale value.

Now is the time to take action to ensure these issues do not materialise. Segregating ewe lambs and male lambs is the optimum management practice at this time of year. There is often a tendency to leave light ewe lambs running with male lambs at this stage, due to the belief that they are too light to go in lamb. Ewe lambs will reach puberty at a lighter weight as the year progresses and therefore the risk of ewe lambs going in lamb increases significantly.

While you can have a level of confidence in mixing homebred wether lambs with ewe lambs, there is always a risk with purchased lambs that a lamb will be incorrectly castrated and thus capable of putting ewe lambs in lamb.

Mid-pregnancy nutrition: In terms of energy, a ewe weighing 70kg liveweight in mid-pregnancy will require 0.8UFL to meet maintenance demands. Looking at this in terms of feed availability, access to a good supply of moderate-quality grass, such as grazing off paddocks or heavier covers, will meet these demands, as will silage ranging in quality from 67DMD to 70 DMD.

A ewe weighing 70kg liveweight will typically require a dry matter intake of 1kg DM to 1.1kg DM, so if allocating supplies, it is important to ensure that this is taken into consideration, along with grass utilisation, ranging anywhere from 70% in swards with wet underfoot conditions to over 80% on drier lands.

It is also vital that grass supplies earmarked for grazing post-lambing are not used to buy a few extra weeks feeding.

Temporary grazing: There have been a few requests to repeat a summary of the requirement to notify the Department of temporary grazing agreements. Where sheep are moving on to a farm with no stock, then sheep can be moved to and from temporary grazing without notifying the Department.

Where sheep are moving to a farm where there are livestock already present, then the Department must be notified. As there is no change in ownership however, the onus lies with the owner of the sheep to do so. The Department’s regional veterinary office can be notified by sending the pink copy of the dispatch document. Notification of the return from temporary grazing is completed by sending the white copy of the dispatch document, clearly marked “return from temporary grazing” to your local veterinary office. Where sheep are moved onwards from temporary grazing to a mart, factory or another holding, then the dispatch document relating to this move will suffice to record the onward movement.

A regular exception to the above situation is where sheep are moved to a farm where there are livestock present, but are then moved to a separate land parcel where animals are located. In these circumstances, sheep can be moved to the separate land parcel without notifying the Department, provided there are no other animals present.