1. Art and Diseño

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Teagasc
Advisory
Newsletter
SHEEP
February 2015
Grassland management
Edited by
The relatively mild winter has led to
significant quantities of grass on
fields that were closed up last
autumn. This grass will be
welcomed by the freshly lambed
ewe flocks in the coming months,
but the challenge will be to keep
grass growing and to provide
sufficient high quality grass for the
ewes during March and April.
February is the time to start
considering spreading fertiliser or
slurry to boost spring growth. Any
fertiliser/slurry applied will
facilitate growth when
environmental conditions are
conducive to grass growth. Once
soil temperatures reach 6oC, and
provided that ground conditions
are suitable for a tractor to travel,
then the first application of
chemical fertiliser should be made.
Where soil samples indicate that
there is a deficiency of phosphorus
(P), potassium (K) or lime, this
Head of Sheep
Michael Gottstein,
Programme
In this issue
Once soil temperatures reach 6oC, and
provided that ground conditions are
suitable for a tractor to travel, the first
application of chemical fertiliser should
be made.
should also be rectified. Failure to
do this will result in much of the
fertiliser being applied ending up
locked in the soil and useless to
the grass plant.
Remember that if you apply ground
limestone, you cannot use urea
fertiliser for a period of four to six
months afterwards. Check the
weather forecast, as there is no
point in spreading chemical fertiliser
if there is heavy rain forecast for the
following 48 hours.
n Grassland
management
n Late pregnancy
nutrition
n Flock healthcare
n Scanning telling a
good story
n Pre-lambing
feeding regime
n Prevent crushing
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SHEEP
Late pregnancy nutrition
energy value of the various ingredients are listed
in the table below.
Pregnant ewes need high quality concentrate feed that
consists of high and medium quality energy inputs and a
good quality protein source.
Similar to last year, indications from farmers and
scanners are that sheep have scanned very well
this year and that litter size is up on most farms.
Make sure you adjust your feeding routine to
take account of this. Ewes with multiples (twins,
triplets and quads) should be segregated and
fed according to litter size. Ewes with triplets
and quads should have been started on
concentrate feed eight to ten weeks out from
lambing depending on forage quality. Look at
the ingredients in your sheep feed. Pregnant
ewes need high quality concentrate feed that
consists of high and medium quality energy
inputs and a good quality protein source. The
best protein source is soyabean meal and the
Table 1. Guide to energy contents per kg
as fed in feedstuffs commonly used in
sheep rations
UFL
High
Maize
1.05
energy
Distillers grain, maize
1.03
Soya bean meal, hi pro
1.02
Citrus pulp
1.01
Barley
1.00
Unmolassed sugar beet pulp 1.01
Wheat
0.99
Medium Maize or corn gluten feed
0.92
energy
Soya hulls
0.91
Oats
0.89
Rapeseed meal
0.88
Low
Palm kernel meal (expeller)
0.86
energy
Cotton seed meal (extracted) 0.83
Cane molasses
0.76
Pollard/wheat feed meal
0.70
Grass meal (imported)
0.60
Sunflower meal 25% CP
0.59
Good hay 85%DM, 60DMD, 0.59
(Source: O’Mara, 2000)
All concentrate feed should be balanced for
vitamins and minerals.
Flock healthcare
Clostridial vaccinations are due four to six
weeks pre lambing. In most situations these
should be given four weeks before the target
lambing date for first ewes in the flock. Don’t
forget to give the rams and any replacement
ewe lambs a booster shot at this time also.
Clostridium sordellii is becoming more common
as a cause of sudden death in sheep. It is not
covered by the eight-in-one vaccines, so if you
have had a problem with this you should
consider using one of the 10-in-one vaccines.
The full two-shot primary course will be
required to ensure that the sheep have
adequate protection.
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FEBRUARY 2015
BETTER FARM UPDATE
Scanning telling a good story
Ciaran Lynch, Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Teagasc Athenry,
Co. Galway, reports on latest progress.
The lowland flocks will be gearing up for
another round of lambing. However, they are
also planning for another grazing season. Each
of the farmers, along with their advisers, will
examine their soil results from previous years
and plan out their fertiliser and, in some cases,
lime applications for 2015.
Early lamb flocks
Lambing went well for John Doyle’s, Tomas
O’Leary’s and Peadar Kearney’s early lambing
ewes. Although conditions were difficult during
January, the flocks in Wexford and Louth got the
ewes turned out onto pasture that was rested
up from the previous late September/early
October. These ewes are being supplemented
post turnout at a rate of 0.5 to 0.75kg until the
lambs are consuming sufficient amounts of
concentrate themselves. The farm in Kerry, as in
previous years, is maintaining the flock indoors.
This is a trade off as the demand for early spring
grass will be greater in early March for this midseason flock and beef enterprise. Here ewes
rearing twins are receiving 1.5kg of concentrate
per day alongside high quality forage.
Mid-season flocks
With scanning complete in January for the
remaining flocks, the farmers can now better
meet the nutritional demands of the ewes. The
scan results have improved this year for
individual flocks, and the results for the eight
lowland flocks are summarised in Table 2.
There was a big improvement in scan for the
five farmers with ewe lamb flocks, as
summarised in Table 3. These lambs were
heavier this season going to the ram and in turn
have scanned with a better crop. On average
the scanning rate is 0.36 lambs higher this year.
Each of these flocks has been supplementing
these lambs since January and will now
supplement those with multiples accordingly.
Hill flocks
The hill flocks in the programme will gather
the ewes this month for scanning. At this
stage the flocks will be split into those carrying
twins and singles for feeding purposes. Some
of the thinner ewes carrying singles will also
be retained with the twin ewes to receive
extra supplementation.
Table 2. Mid-season flocks scan results
Scanned litter size
Scanned pregnancy rate
Scanning rate
Average
2.01
96.8
1.95
Table 3. Scanning results for the ewe lamb flocks
O’Connell
Spillane
Leitrim
Tipperary
Scanned litter size
1.44
1.57
Scanned pregnancy rate
90.0
93.8
Scanning rate
1.30
1.48
Range
1.83-2.2
92.7-100
1.78-2.16
Nicholson
Kilkenny
1.58
84.8
1.34
Doyle
Wexford
1.67
83.8
1.40
O’Leary
Kerry
1.61
92.5
1.49
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SHEEP
RESEARCH UPDATE
Pre-lambing feeding regime
Philip Creighton, Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre,
Teagasc Athenry, Co. Galway.
Ewes were scanned in early January.
Preliminary analysis shows a scan rate of 1.78
in the medium prolific flocks with the high
prolific groups averaging 2.10. Stocking rate
has had little effect on scanned litter size,
which is an improvement on last year when
the 14 ewe/ha stocking rate groups had a
lower litter size compared to the 10 and 12
ewe/ha stocking rates. Ewes are in good body
condition averaging 3.3 BCS. The 10 ewe/ha
stocking rate groups were housed in mid
January. Ewes are now being offered grass
silage (73 DMD) and have been grouped
according to scanned litter size and lambing
date as predicted by raddle colour, which was
changed weekly during mating, and will be
offered concentrates as shown in Table 4. Over
winter grass growth rates have been in the
region of 3-5kg DM/ha/day and so grass
+
covers on the first paddocks closed are now in
the region of ~700-900kg DM/ha (6-7cm).
Nitrogen in the form of urea will be blanket
spread on all farmlets at a rate of 23 units/ac
(half bag) once soil temperatures are above 67oC in early to mid February to help boost
grass covers prior to turnout in March. The
pre-lambing clostridia booster will be
administered in mid February ahead of a
lambing start date of March 6.
Table 4. Feeding regime for ewes pre lambing
Weeks pre lambing
7
6-5
4-3
2-1
Total
Concentrates (kg/ewe/day)
Singles –
–
0.3
0.6
13
Twins
–
0.35
0.55
0.75 23
Triplets 0.2
0.35
0.65
0.95 29
HEALTH & SAFETY
February is a month where considerable yard
work is carried out. Some 60% of farm
workplace deaths in Ireland were associated
with farm vehicles, with the majority
involving crushes or blows in the farmyard.
Being crushed at the lungs is particularly
dangerous because the victim of the accident
cannot breathe. Adopting safe behaviour as a
routine is the key to preventing this type of
accident. Stop the tractor safely, make the
load safe and, in particular, apply the
handbrake.
For further information on any issues raised in this newsletter, or to access other
enterprise newsletters, please contact your local Teagasc adviser or see www.teagasc.ie.
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Prevent crushing