Feeding ewes during late pregnancy 2: Concentrate supplementation

Similar documents
Level II Agricultural Business Operations - Assessment Booklet

Leaving Certificate Higher Level Sheep Production Questions

Replacement Policy and Management Michael McHugh Chief Sheep Specialist, Teagasc, Ballyhaise, Co. Cavan

Practical Beef Cattle Nutrition

FEEDING THE DAIRY COW DURING LACTATION

Creep Feeding Beef Calves Dan E. Eversole, Extension Animal Scientist, Virginia Tech

Heat of combustion (gross energy)

Created by the industry, for the industry. Feed planning for cattle and sheep

Forage Crises? Extending Forages and Use of Non-forage Fiber Sources. Introduction

PRODUCING WHEY SILAGE FOR GROWING

How To Feed Cows In The Winter

6/29/ TDN

Feeding and Managing the Ewe Flock

Full hand feeding of beef cattle quantities

Reducing methane emissions through improved lamb production

CORN BY-PRODUCTS IN DAIRY COW RATIONS

EBLEX BEEF BRP MANUAL 7. Feeding growing and finishing cattle for Better Returns

Effective Fiber for Dairy Cows

Supplementation guide for sheep: Central and southern NSW

Animal Science Research Centre - Beef Unit Trial Results 2005 (a) Evaluation of head-cut whole crop wheat and barley for beef cattle

FEEDING ORGANIC PIGS A HANDBOOK OF RAW MATERIALS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FEEDING PRACTICE

Understanding Feed Analysis Terminology

Consequences of 100% organic diets for pigs and poultry

Swine Feeding and Fitting Guidelines. Ryan Harrell Dec. 2008

How To Run A Blade Farming Scheme

6. JOINING MANAGEMENT

AN ACCELERATED FEEDING STUDY

Grain Finishing Beef: Alternative Rations, Cattle Performance and Feeding Costs for Small Feeders

Distillers Grains for Beef Cattle

Grouping to Increase Milk Yield and Decrease Feed Costs

Sheep Nutrition. Sheep Nutrition. Nutrient Needs. Sheep Nutrition Water. Products Produced. Use of Pasture\Range and Forages.

FARMERS INFORMATION SERIES DAIRY BEEF. Scheme. blade-farming.com

Eastern Kentucky Meat Goat Budget Analysis

CREEP FEEDING BEEF CALVES

BURNETT CENTER INTERNET PROGRESS REPORT. No. 12 April, Summary of the 2000 Texas Tech University Consulting Nutritionist Survey

Feedlot Lamb Nutrition

Ewe efficiency the driver of profitable sheep systems. Dr. John Vipond 5th Nov 2011 Sheep Breeders Round Table

The Ultimate Guide to Pigeon Feed

Most limiting amino acid concept...

Protein and Energy Supplementation to Beef Cows Grazing New Mexico Rangelands

Key performance measures of farm profitability

Introduction. Introduction Nutritional Requirements. Six Major Classes of Nutrients. Water 12/1/2011. Regional Hay School -- Bolivar, MO 1

Livestock Budget Estimates for Kentucky

LARGE BREED COMPLETE DOG FOOD

Supplementary information on the Irish Dairy sector in support of

DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES. Drought Feeding and Management of Sheep. A guide for farmers and land managers

Feeding Corn to Beef Cows

Response of Dairy Cows to Supplements of Energy and Protein in Early and Mid Lactation

Alternative Feeds for Beef Cattle

Corn Stalks and Drought-Damaged Corn Hay as Emergency Feeds for Beef Cattle

Breeding from Ewe Lambs

Understanding CNCPS and CPM: Biology, Modeling, and Best Cost Applications for Balancing the Nutrient Requirements in Dairy Diets

PROCESSING OF WHEAT FOR GROWING-FINISHING SWINE

NUTRIENT SPECIFICATIONS OF TURKEY WASTE MATERIAL

Nepalese organic baby clothing

Can You Make Money With Sheep? David L. Thomas Department of Animal Sciences University of Wisconsin-Madison

THE EVALUATION OF DISTILLERS CO-PRODUCTS IN DAIRY BEEF PRODUCTION

UTI CAT FOOD COMPARISON CHART

Increasing Profitability Through an Accelerated Heifer Replacement Program

RAISING LAMBS ON MILK REPLACER

Feeding Value of Sprouted Grains

An Arvum Group Company SEED TECHNOLOGY MAIZE GUIDE 2013 SUPPORTING FARM INCOME WITH BETTER VARIETIES

What is the Cattle Data Base

Full hand feeding of beef cattle management

Distillery feed by-products briefing

Strategies for Diet Formulation with High Corn Prices

AN EVALUATION OF DEXTROSE, LACTOSE, AND WHEY SOURCES IN PHASE 2 STARTER DIETS FOR WEANLING PIGS 1

EXTENSION CIRCULAR 422 FROM FEED TO MILK: UNDERSTANDING RUMEN FUNCTION

Dr Erhard Briendenhann

FARMING FOR THE FUTURE How mineral fertilizers can feed the world and maintain its resources in an Integrated Farming System

The Skinny on Feeding Fat to Horses

Selenium and Selenium Yeast Use in Feed. Division of Regulatory Services University of Kentucky April 25, 2005

The EWpa system, the actualised Dutch net energy system for horses

Fishmeal for PIGS. Fishmeal for pigs a feed with a very healthy future

ALFALFA FOR BEEF COWS

Food Allergy Gluten & Diabetes Dr Gary Deed Mediwell 314 Old Cleveland Road Coorparoo

Creep Feeding Beef Calves

EFFECT OF AGRADO ON THE HEALTH AND PERFORMANCE OF TRANSPORT-STRESSED HEIFER CALVES. Authors:

NUTRITION MANAGEMENT OF PREGNANT AND LACTATING MARES

Effect of Flaxseed Inclusion on Ruminal Fermentation, Digestion and Microbial Protein Synthesis in Growing and Finishing Diets for Beef Cattle

ANIMAL SCIENCE RESEARCH CENTRE

CAPRICORN: A Windows Program for Formulating and Evaluating Rations for Goats

Accelerated Replacement Heifer Feeding Programs

Guide to Cereals. in the UK

Energy in the New Dairy NRC. Maurice L. Eastridge 1 Department of Animal Sciences The Ohio State University

Economic and environmental analysis of the introduction of legumes in livestock farming systems

Land O Lakes Feed DDGS. Nutrients Concentrate: United States Ethanol Outlook. A Growing Opportunity

Effect of different feeding strategies on lactation performance of Holstein and Normande dairy cows

American Grassfed Association. Grassfed & Pasture Finished Ruminant Standards

1st for taste. Complete nutritional excellence for demanding dogs, cats and ferrets. 1st for performance. Where to buy Alpha

Creep-Feeding Beef Calves

Guide to Cereals in the UK

A diet fit for a pig: seven basic rules

... Guidelines for Estimating Lamb Production Costs Based on a 500-Ewe Flock

BEC Feed Solutions. Steve Blake BEC Feed Solutions

Optimal livestock diet formulation with farm environmental compliance consequences. Joleen Hadrich, Christopher Wolf. and.

Farm-fresh products, such as eggs and chickens,

Uses and Abuses of NIR for Feed Analysis

L-VALINE: Release the potential of your feed!

EXCEL FEED FORMULATION AND FEEDING MODELS. F.B. Onwurah

Transcription:

Feeding ewes during late pregnancy 2: Concentrate supplementation Dr. Tim Keady Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Teagasc, Athenry, Co Galway. Introduction Offering ewes the correct plane of nutrition during mid and late pregnancy ensures adequate supply of colostrum post lambing and lambs close to optimum birth weight, consequently reducing mortality and increasing performance and flock profitability. In last week's article the impact of plane of nutrition in late pregnancy on lamb birth weight and mortality was discussed. The impact of silage type and grass silage feed value on ewe and lamb performance was also examined. The objective of this article is to summarise results from recent studies at Athenry on the effects of concentrate feeding management during late pregnancy on ewe and lamb performance. Concentrate feed level Silage feed value [as determined by digestibility (DMD), chop length and intake characteristics] and litter size are the major factors affecting the level of concentrate supplementation required by ewes in late pregnancy. The effects of silage feed value on concentrate requirements of twin-bearing ewes in late pregnancy are presented in Table 1. The rate of increase in the level of concentrate supplementation required increases as silage DMD decreases. Furthermore as silage chop length increases, the quantity of additional concentrate required increases because intake declines. For example, for silages at 79 and 64 % DMD an additional 4 and 10 kg concentrate are required for long chop length silages, relative to precision chop silages, respectively. Concentrate supplementation per ewe can be reduced by 5 kg for ewes carrying singles, whilst ewes carrying triplets should receive an extra 8 kg of concentrate.

The effects of level of concentrate supplementation on the birth weight of lambs from ewes that were offered either medium or high feed-value silage was evaluated at Athenry and the results are presented in Table 2. Increasing concentrate feed level above 15 kg and 25 kg to ewes offered the high (75% DMD) and medium (70% DMD) feed-value silages, respectively, did not increase lamb birth weight. However, feeding the higher levels of concentrate resulted in higher ewe condition post lambing. The results of the studies presented in Table 2 (and Table 3 of last week s article) clearly show there is no benefit from feeding excess concentrate to ewes in late pregnancy. Ewe lambs: Energy is normally the first limiting component in the diet of pregnant ewe lambs. When formulating a ration for pregnant ewe lambs it is essential to make allowances for their requirements for live-weight gain as well as maintenance, wool growth, stage of pregnancy and expected litter size (as determined by ultrasound scanning). Unlike mature ewes, ewe lambs require a plane of nutrition during early and mid pregnancy that sustains a live weight gain (excluding foetal weight) of approximately 80 g/day. This is required to enable ewe lambs reach their normal mature body size. As a general rule, a pregnant ewe lamb requires an extra 2.5 megajoules of metabolizable energy (ME) relative to adult ewes of similar live weight at the same stage of pregnancy and carrying the same litter size. The additional energy allowance is to facilitate body weight gain if it is not provided the pregnant ewe lamb will divert energy from the foetus, and colostrum production, to the meet some of this demand. Ewe lamb management at Athenry: The ewe lambs (most mated in late October/early November) were housed in mid-december, shorn and offered high feed value grass silage (75 % DMD) as the sole diet. In mid-january the pregnant ewe lambs received 200 g of concentrate daily. Concentrate allowance will be increased to 250 g/day in late January. Following pregnancy scanning (late January) the ewe lambs will be penned according to expected litter size and lambing date. Ewe lambs carrying triplets will have their concentrate allowance increased to 300 g/day in mid-february. During the last 6 weeks of pregnancy (mean lambing date late March) ewes carrying singles, twins and triplets will receive a total of 18, 26 and 33 kg concentrate/head.

If the quality of the silage available is poorer than that at Athenry then increased concentrate supplementation would be required from housing to lambing. Concentrate protein For prolific flocks the concentrate should be formulated to contain 190 g of crude protein per kilogram (i.e., 19% crude protein) as the grass silage on many sheep farms has a low protein concentration. Some commentators within the industry suggest formulating low and high protein concentrates for feeding to ewes during the second last and last 3 week periods of pregnancy, respectively. However considering the size of most sheep flocks in Ireland and the fact that ewes are offered low levels of concentrate during the first 2-3 weeks of supplementation, together with the low protein concentration of grass silage on most sheep farms the benefit of using 2 different concentrates is at best marginal. For example, whilst relative to a 19% crude protein concentrate (containing 200 kg soyabean meal per tonne), the reduction in the cost of formulating a 14% crude protein concentrate is reduced by approximately 50/t, this equates to only 1 2 cents per ewe daily during the first few weeks of supplementation, when ewes are offered between 0.2 and 0.4 kg/ewe daily. For every 100 ewes in a flock one tonne of concentrate will last for 50 and 25 days, respectively, when ewes receive a daily concentrate allowance of 0.2 and 0.4 kg/head. Therefore for most farms there is no benefit from animal production, logistics or financially to offering a low protein concentrate during the first weeks of concentrate supplementation. Where maize silage is offered as the forage then concentrate crude protein concentration should be increased to 23%. Also as maize silage normally has lower concentrations of minerals and vitamins, mineral and vitamin supplementation should be increased by approximately 50% during late pregnancy Concentrate protein ingredient source impacts on animal performance. In a recent study at Athenry the effect of concentrate protein source offered during late pregnancy on the performance of ewes and their progeny was examined; the results are presented in Table 3. Two concentrates were formulated to have the same metabolizable energy (12.4 MJ/kg DM) and protein concentrations (18% as fed). The protein sources in the concentrates were either soyabean meal or a mixture of by-

products (rapeseed, maize distillers and maize gluten). Lambs born to ewes that had been offered the soyabean-based concentrate produced lambs that were 0.3 kg and 0.9 kg heavier at birth and weaning, respectively, than lambs born to ewes offered concentrate that contained by-products as the protein source. In the Athenry study the soyabean-based concentrate cost 0.60 extra per ewe. The increase in the weaning weight of lambs from ewes offered the soyabean-based concentrate in late pregnancy (cost ~ 0.60/ewe) is similar to the response obtained from offering each lamb 6 kg of creep concentrate until weaning (cost ~ 3.60/ewe per set of twins). This clearly showing the benefit of having high quality protein protein sources in the concentrate offered to ewes during late pregnancy. Concentrate ingredients As the quantity of concentrate offered to ewes in late pregnancy is modest (depending on silage quality) it should contain high quality digestible fibre, energy and protein sources. Concentrate feedstuffs are generally evaluated in terms of their chemical composition (book values). However, when offered in diets based on grass silage, individual feedstuffs have different effects on digestion of the silage component of the diet. As most ewes that are housed are offered grass silage based diets it is necessary to use data from studies in which grass silage was offered to evaluate the value of the feed stuffs. The current cost, and the relative values of straights, relative to rolled barley at 220/t and soybean at 490/t are presented in Table 4. The current costs used in this paper are based on prices (delivered to farm) prevailing currently. Straights that are value for money at present include rapeseed meal, maize distillers, corn gluten, soya hulls, maize meal and barley. However, as soybean meal is probably the best source of protein available it should be included so as to provide a large proportion of the protein in rations to be offered to ewes in late pregnancy. Examples of simple, high quality rations are presented in Table 5. When purchasing a ration it is important to purchase on known ingredients as well as price.

Concentrate feeding management To optimise the use of concentrate ewes should be penned according to predicted litter size (based on ultrasonic scanning) and expected lambing date (mating date - raddle colour). As the demand for nutrients increases in late pregnancy supplementation should be stepped up weekly over the weeks immediately prior to lambing. When supplementing ewes the objective is to produce heavy lambs (which will be delivered unassisted) and ewes with adequate supplies of colostrum. The feed schedules required to deliver different concentrate feed levels, varying from 10 to 45 kg per ewe in late pregnancy, are shown in Table 6. During the week prior to lambing ewes receive up to 1 kg daily, clearly illustrating the benefits of penning ewes according to expected lambing date as well as expected litter size. For example, for each extra week ewes are on the high level of concentrate supplementation they would consume ~7 kg concentrate - thus dramatically increasing concentrate usage. Conclusions 1. Correct nutrition during late pregnancy is a key issue impacting on labour requirement around lambing and on flock productivity and profitability. 2. High feed-value grass silage can reduce concentrate requirement by at least 75 % whilst maintaining animal performance. 3. Level of supplementation offered to ewes in late pregnancy should be based on lambing date, forage quality and expected litter size. 4. Supplement with a concentrate containing 19% crude protein and ensure that soyabean meal accounts for a high proportion of the protein. 5. Pen ewes according to expected litter size and lambing date to minimise concentrate usage.

Table 1. Effects of silage quality on concentrate requirements of twin-bearing ewes in late pregnancy Silage DMD (%) 79 72 64 Precision chopped (kg/ewe) 8 17 25 Big bale/single chop (kg/ewe) 12 24 35 Table 2. The effects of concentrate feed level in late pregnancy on lamb birth weight Concentrate offered Silage DMD during late pregnancy (kg/ewe) 70 75 5-4.8 15 4.7 5.0 25 5.2 5.1 35 5.4-45 5.3 - (Keady and Hanrahan 2010) Table 3. The effects of concentrate protein source on ewe and subsequent lamb performance Protein source Soyabean meal By-products Ewe weight post lambing (kg) 53.2 51.4 Lamb birth weight (kg) 4.0 3.7 - weaning weight (kg) 30.9 30.0 (Keady and Hanrahan 2012)

Table 4. Value of feedstuffs (relativetive to barley for energy and soyabean meal for protein) Cost ( /t) Value ( /t) Energy Sources Rolled barley 220 220 Rolled wheat 247 220 Maize meal 248 255 Maize gluten 263 284 Citrus pulp 237 189 Molasses 235 140 Soya hulls 216 225 Sugar beet pulp 289 212 Protein Sources Soybean meal 490 490 Maize distillers 291 347 Rape seed meal 308 407 * where the value is greater than the cost, these straights are value for money eg rapeseed meal is valued at 407/t and costs 308/t Table 5. Sample concentrate mixes (19% protein) for ewes in late pregnancy (kg/t) 1. 225 maize gluten, 200 soyabean meal, 200 barley, 190 soya hulls, 160 maize meal, 25 minerals & vitamins 2. 375 barley, 200 soyabean meal, 200 maize gluten, 200 soya hulls, 25 minerals & vitamins (19.2 % protein) 3. 210 barley, 200 soyabean meal, 200 maize meal, 200 soya hulls, 120 maize gluten, 45 rapeseed meal, 25 minerals & vitamins (19.1 % protein) 4. 375 barley, 190 soya hulls, 180 maize gluten, 150 soyabean meal, 80 rapeseed meal, 25 minerals & vitamins (19.0 % protein)

Table 6. Daily concentrate allowance (kg/ewe) required for different total concentrate inputs prior to lambing Week prior Desired total concentrate input prior to lambing (kg/ewe) to lambing 10 15 20 25 35 45 8 0.4 7 0.4 0.6 6 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 5 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.6 0.8 4 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.7 0.9 3 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.6 0.8 1.0 2 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 1.0 1.0 1 0.6 0.75 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1