The Rural Voice, 1990-10, Page 451
i
ADVICE
FEEDING LAMBS TO
MARKET WEIGHT
In a presentation for the Ontario
Sheep Nutrition Workshop, Steven
Umberger, Extension Animal Scientist
at Virgina Tech, outlined the three main
objectives he keeps in mind when de-
signing a program to feed market lambs:
A) Design a feeding program that
promotes superior lamb gain and feed
efficiency, minimizes death loss and
maximizes profitability;
B) Design a feeding program that
minimizes labour (grinding, mixing,
feeding, etc.) and takes advantage of
free -choice feeding of lambs;
C) Design a breeding and feeding
program that gets lambs to market
weights of 115 to 125 pounds with
backfats of 1/4 inch or less.
To achieve these objectives, Um-
berger indicates the factors to consider:
1. Assuming lambs are gaining
weight at an acceptable rate, feed cost
per pound of lamb gain is the primary
factor affecting profitability.
2. To calculate feed cost per pound
of lamb gain, you must know the cost of
the feed and the lamb's feed efficiency.
3. By knowing your feed costs per
pound of lamb gain and your average
feed efficiency values, you can evaluate
other feeding programs as potential al-
ternatives to your current one.
4. For top performance and efficient
use of labour and facilities, place lambs
on a free -choice feeding program.
5. To prevent overeating disease and
acidosis, adjust gradually from one diet
to another and never run out of feed.
6. Maintain a Ca:P ratio of at least
2:1 to prevent urinary calculi. Feed
grade limestone is an inexpensive
source of calcium. Also, ammonium
chloride or ammonium sulphate can be
added at 0.5 per cent of the diet.
7. Know the total digestible nutri-
ents (TDN) and crude protein values of
your complete feed.
8. At 50 pounds live weight and up,
lambs can utilize non -protein nitrogen
(NPN) sources such as urea.
9. Diets should contain an iono-
phore, such as Bovatec, for the preven-
tion of coccidiosis and to improve aver-
age daily gain and feed efficiency.
10. Lambs should be adjusted to a
.1 ale
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OCTOBER 1990 41