Pregnancy Feeding of Ewe

We at Drummonds have always focused on manufacturing high performance, highly palatable ewe and lamb rations. The key to any good ration offered to sheep is to keep it simple, consistent in quality and of wholesome nature. For these reasons alone, our formulations ‘are delivering great results on farm’.

Our range consists of:

• Supreme Ewe 18%
• Supreme Ewe HS 20%
• Ewe 18%
• Lamb Creep (18%)
• Lamb Finisher (15%)

Supreme Ewe 18%

This is our flag-ship ration for feeding ewes. This PROVEN feed works extremely well – so well in fact that we are very slow to make changes to it! This ration never fails to deliver!

Typical Ingredients: Rolled Barley, Hipro Soyabean Meal (minimum 20% inclusion), Whole Oats, Sugarbeet Pulp Nuts, Rolled Field Beans, Molasses, Hi-Spec Sheep Mineral/Vitamin Supplement, Sweetened Cal-Mag.

The level of supplementation offered to ewes in late pregnancy should be based on lambing date, forage quality and expected litter size.

To prevent excessive use of the ewe’s own tissues the diet needs to provide all the nutrients she needs. Also, if feed requirements are met, it will help to prevent other problems such as hypocalcaemia (milk fever) and pregnancy toxaemia (twin lamb).

The ewe also needs nutrients for:

• maintaining and growing the unborn lamb(s)
• developing the udder and milk production
• producing good quality colostrum
• to avoid metabolic disorders, such as twin lamb disease.

Thin, pale fore-milk indicates poor pre-lambing feeding whilst thick, yellow colostrum suggests the ewes have been well-fed.

Appropriate nutrition and management during late pregnancy is one of the key factors influencing flock productivity (lambs weaned per ewe joined), and thus profitability. Each additional 0.1 lamb reared per ewe joined is worth approximately €9.50/ewe.

In the ewes’ diet energy is the 1^st limiting nutrient, in the last 8 weeks pre-lambing, a ewes energy requirement doubles and her intake capacity reduces by 30%. The roughage intake of twin and triplet bearing ewes declines in late pregnancy and concentrate supplementation (containing essential minerals) must be introduced, and gradually built up. In months 4 + 5 of pregnancy 85% of foetal growth takes place.

As a rule of thumb Drummonds’ feed specialists recommend that for the last two months of pregnancy twin bearing ewes should gain approx. 1kg liveweight per week. For ewes carrying a single lamb a liveweight gain of 0.5kg will suffice. Protein requirements increase 3 weeks before lambing reflecting the needs of the growing foetus, together with the growth of the udder, and the production of colostrum. For the final three weeks we recommend you feed a 17-18% ration twice daily (ie. no more than 0.5kg in a single feed).

A guideline feeding programme for a 65kg ewe, carrying twins, on good quality hay or silage.

N.B. For single bearing ewes reduce by 0.2 kgs.For triplet bearing ewes increase by 0.2 kgs + introduce feed 2 weeks earlier.

Thin or over fat ewes carrying multiple lambs can be at risk of suffering from Twin Lamb Disease due to inadequate levels of available energy.

Ensure:

• all ewes are at optimum body condition
• stress is minimised
• all sheep are getting their share of concentrates.
• dividing ewes into groups depending on the number of lambs they are carrying and feed accordingly.
• young ewes and shy feeders may need to be kept in a separate group.