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The recent Teagasc open day in Athenry did not only present studies into different finishing scenarios, there was also a wealth of invaluable practical tips delivered to farmers from speakers including Barbara Good, Brian Garry, Ciaran Lynch, Damian Costello, Frank Hynes, Ivan Kelly, Michael Gottstein and Philip Creighton.
Health advice
There is no room for passengers. Unhealthy lambs do not perform and significantly increase finishing costs. Address health concerns first before transferring lambs on to an intensive finishing diet.
Worms, liver fluke, lameness and clostridial disease vaccination are the main factors to consider in a health programme. Regular foot bathing every two to three weeks is recommended to prevent problems establishing. Beware when administering health treatments to take account of withdrawal dates and the expected date lambs will be fit for slaughter.
Introducing meal feeding
Train lambs to eat first if possible. Where doubt exists that some lambs may not be eating, Teagasc advises to start from the same base and introduce concentrates gradually, starting at a low level of 100g to 200g daily.
Watch lambs closely. With hill lambs, there will inevitably be some shy eaters that may need to be removed into their own pen for special attention. Build up to ad-lib meals, increasing by 200g every two or three days until ad-lib. This will take a week to two weeks to achieve depending on the starting point.
Feed space and trough management
Remember feeding space is critical and an allocation of 300mm to 400mm will need to be given to horned lambs until they become accustomed to an ad-lib diet. Trough management is critical – avoid offering too much feed, resulting in feed going stale or too little that lambs become hungry and the risk of acidosis is reintroduced.
Roughage and fibre content
Offer lambs access to a small quantity of roughage (hay, silage, straw) at the outset. This can be continued, but reduce it to a small level as offering too high a quantity will only serve to displace meal intake.
Roughage can in theory be cut out as long as the crude fibre content of the concentrate offered is over 7%. Lambs on trial in Athenry are offered a small quantity of silage, with about half the 400g fresh weight offered per lamb generally consumed.
Access to water
Water is crucial at all times. Troughs should be checked regularly to ensure water is clean and flowing OK. Remember to account for small lambs that may not easily reach the water bowl. Placing a couple of blocks in front of the drinker will aid lambs in reaching the required height to eat.
Diet formulation
Focus on high-energy ingredients, avoiding too high of a percentage of finely ground ingredients or very high starch diets that will break down fast. Whole cereals work well in a ration in slowing down digestion. There are advantages and disadvantages of pelleted versus coarse rations. Birds can be an issue with coarse rations, while lambs can sometimes segregate ingredients and focus on the most palatable ones. Don’t forget to add minerals and vitamins.
Teagasc advises to include ammonium chloride at 0.5% for male lambs on feed long-term to prevent urinary calculi. Some concentrates include a higher content of salt to promote greater water intake, which in theory will prevent urinary calculi developing. This was highlighted as being risky if lambs are not drinking sufficiently for any reason, with the typical cost of €5/t for ammonium chloride seen as very worthwhile for peace of mind.
Intake, performance and drafting
There is huge variation between intake and performance, with intake ranging from 0.5kg concentrates to 1.8kg to 2kg at the top end. This influences performance, with daily liveweight gain as low as 80g, rising to 400g to 500g in the highest-performing lambs. The average is 200g to 250g for Scotch Blackface and Cheviot and 270g to 350g for crossbred lambs. Lambs starting the intensive finishing period at heavier weights need to be weighed regularly in order to draft at paid weight limits, while fat cover is also an important factor that needs to be monitored, with wether lambs most prone to going overfat.
Shorn vs unshorn
Results from trials undertaken show no effect from shearing lambs on average daily gain, feed intake conversion efficiency or final carcase weight. Kill-out was 1.2% higher in shorn lambs by merit of lower weight with no wool.
If shearing for management, it is advisable to do earlier in the season to get a benefit from lower risk of flystrike and lambs not becoming caught in briars, etc. It may have a role in keeping lambs cleaner where lambs are being finished outside on catch or root crops.
Other concerns
Horned lambs seem to be more prone to injury stemming from getting horns trapped in gates, slats, etc. Teagasc also advises to monitor horn growth on lambs as there will be a significant number that may need to have the tips of their horns cut to stop them growing into lambs eyes/head.
Watch: cracking the store lamb finishing equation
Lamb finishing study 1: light lambs
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