Profit from your surplus lambs
With UK lamb prices expected to remain firm into 2023 thanks to low domestic supply and solid EU1 demand, it will pay to rear as many healthy new-borns as possible come lambing season.
Every flock has lambs that need to be adopted on to another ewe or reared by hand. Deciding which rearing route to take will depend on the availability of a suitable foster mother and the physical condition of the lamb.
Volac’s Stacey Bruna, who recommends a ewe milk replacer like Lamlac, said: “Cross fostering will only be successful if the lamb is fit and healthy, has had adequate colostrum and is fostered onto a healthy ewe with plenty of milk and good maternal instincts.
“However, surplus lambs can be reared very effectively and without all the inherent practical problems of fostering onto an unwilling ewe.
“With good husbandry and organisation there’s no doubt you can produce good quality lambs to sell next year alongside those reared on any ewe, as well as save hours of effort and hassle.”
Advice for rearing lambs on ewe milk replacer:
1. Choose your feeding system. There are three main options available: bottle feeding, which is very time consuming; or a variety of labour-saving options like ad-lib feeding of surplus lambs via a thermostatically controlled milk bucket feeder. There is also machine feeding using a computerised feeder.
2. Ensure all newborn lambs receive adequate colostrum within six hours of birth.
3. Specially formulated milk replacers like Lamlac can be mixed cold and are designed to be a complete diet, providing the lamb with all the energy and nutrients it needs.
4. Feeding enough Lamlac alongside fresh water, roughage and small amounts of a good quality creep feed refreshed daily is the key to healthy, profitable growth. A single lamb reared artificially to weaning at an average of 35 days of age will require a minimum of 9.5kg of Lamlac, equating to 47.5 litres of reconstituted ewe milk replacer.
The method you choose will often depend on the number of lambs you are rearing and the facilities available.
Ad-lib feeding of surplus lambs
Ad-lib milk replacer feeding, using a teated bucket like the Volac Ewe2, can feed up to 20 lambs or the Ewe2 Plus, which can feed up to 40 lambs. These bucket feeders are thermostatically controlled.
Newborn lambs should be started on milk at 30°C but once they are trained and drinking well the temperature can be reduced to 18-20°C.
The amount of milk replacer used is approximately 11-12kg per lamb. The Ewe2 and Ewe2 Plus bucket feeders sit outside the lamb rearing pen, ensuring optimum safety and avoiding spillages.
Start lambs on restricted warm milk until trained with one litre spilt into four or five 200-250ml feeds per day. Training normally takes one to three days and then allow ad-lib access.
Using a computerised feeder
Alternatively, using an automatic computerised feeder, like the Volac ECO Feeder, can dramatically cut the time spent mixing milk and feeding lambs.
However, a high level of management and hygiene is essential. Milk is consumed little and often, which means faster growth rates and less risk of digestive upsets. The amount of milk replacer used is approximately 12-13kg per lamb.
Milk may be offered warm, at around 39°C, on a restricted basis during the early training period. Once lambs are sucking well the milk temperature should be reduced to 18-20°C to prevent health problems caused by over consumption. The machine should be cleaned daily and calibrated at least once a week and between batches of milk powder.
