Where ewes and lambs are retained indoors for a significant period of time, offering ewes concentrate supplementation will be vital in ensuring they reach their peak milk yield.
Where ewes are supplemented indoors for a short period of time (a few days to a week), twin suckling ewes in good body condition will require 1kg to 1.2kg concentrate supplementation along with access to silage of 68 to 70DMD. Ewes in poor body condition will require 1.4kg to 1.5kg.
Single suckling lambs in good body condition require 0.3kg to 0.5kg, rising to 0.6kg to 0.9kg for ewes in poor body condition. Rates described above will need to be increased by 0.2kg to 0.3kg for longer-term indoor feeding.
Where forage quality is poorer than this, it will only act as a roughage source, meaning better quality forage should be purchased if possible, or alternatively meal feeding will need to be increased to practically ad-lib levels.
Torrential rain halts play in the south and west