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Performance will typically be much higher, ranging from 300g to 350g per day. The kill-out in these lambs will also be at the higher levels mentioned above (47% to 48%) and it is important to draft lambs on a combination of weight and fat cover. Lambs on ad-lib meal will be consuming anywhere from 1kg to 1.3kg concentrate and Teagasc recommend including 0.5% ammonium chloride in the ration to mitigate the risk of urinary calculi.
Typical intake in such a system will range from 75kg to 85kg, reaffirming the importance of drafting lambs at the correct stage. Meal intake can be reduced by turning lambs to grass and joining with lambs post-weaning. There will be an initial setback in growth and the benefit of adopting this system is more questionable where lambs are not a significant distance from reaching slaughter-weight. Performance at grass can range anywhere from 150g to 250g and the merits of progressing down either route should be taken with account to the current weight of lambs.
Watch: top finishing tips for store lambs
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