Sheep farming management notes

Clean livestock policy

There has been quite a bit of coverage of late on the clean livestock policy for sheep. Heavy rainfall and difficult ground conditions are leading to massive challenges with lamb presentation. There are more reports of plants stepping up their investigation of lamb cleanliness in negotiations with plants clamping down on category C lambs, with the threat of lambs being rejected for slaughter.

The greatest challenge faced by farmers and processors continues to be in presenting lambs dry with clay-soiled fleeces much more difficult to contend with where they are very wet. Housing is the best option but this is not possible in some cases, particularly where lambs are grazing on forage crops and housing is not present on the farm. In such cases, there may be little option but to delay slaughtering along with moving lambs to grass swards for a period where there may be drier underfoot conditions.

This is not a runner for farmers on marginal lands. Where housing, delaying bringing lambs indoors until they have the best chance of being dry will pay dividends in reducing the period of time that lambs need to remain indoors. Where lambs are housed with a very wet fleece, it is taking upwards of a week for them to dry, while if lambs are housed with wet but not soaking fleeces, a period of 24 to 48 hours may be sufficient. This will also depend on the degree to which the fleece is soiled with clay.

It should be noted that sheep with dirty tail-ends or dirty fleeces caused by poor housing conditions are a different challenge to fleeces that are clay-soiled on the animal’s belly and around its legs. Lambs with dirty tail-ends risk falling into category C classification, irrespective of whether the fleece is dry or wet, and these lambs should be dagged before being presented for slaughter. The Teagasc clean livestock policy guides for producers and those transporting sheep can be found at www.teagasc.ie/publications/2017/clean-livestock-policy-for-sheep-a-guide-for-sheep-producers.php.

Sheep welfare scheme

The sheep welfare scheme portal is present in the Department’s agfood.ie facility but is not yet live. This will be rectified in the coming days, at which stage farmers can confirm participation in the scheme for year two. Remember that hardcopy returns for the 2017 sheep census need to be sent back by 31 January 2018 (14 February online).

Weight of concentrates

The importance of formulating a diet that satisfactorily meets a ewe’s nutritional needs in late pregnancy is central to reducing issues at lambing. The level of concentrate supplementation in late pregnancy is based on providing a rising plane of nutrition with incremental increases at 0.1kg to 0.2kg per week.

It is worth noting that the weight of concentrates can vary significantly – pelleted feeds are more dense than cereal-based rations. Therefore, it is advisable to weigh the desired volume of concentrates in buckets or containers used to feed so that the level of supplementation is not under- or overestimated. It is also important to implement precise feeding management and ensure that ewes have adequate space to consume concentrates as they increase in size. Failing to address this will increase the risk of ewes succumbing to metabolic diseases such as twin lamb disease.