Rearing surplus lambs
Surplus lambs are a fact of life. These lambs will either need to be adopted onto another ewe or be artificially reared. Deciding which route to take will depend on the availability of a suitable foster mother and the physical condition of the foster lamb.
Fostering will only be successful if the lamb is fit and healthy. Choose the strongest lamb to take away; it must also have received adequate colostrum, and is fostered onto a healthy ewe with plenty of milk and good maternal instincts.
Lambs can be successfully reared artificially without the problems of fostering onto an unwilling ewe. Several methods are available. With any system though, combining a good quality milk replacer, with good husbandry and good organisation can save hours and produce quality lambs.
What are the available milk feeding systems?
1. Bottle Feeding
Bottle feeding is ideal for a few lambs. The amount of milk replacer used is approximately 9-10kg per lamb
- Bottle feeding pros: Individual attention to detail is certain and bottles ensure an appropriate, controlled volume of milk replacer
- Bottle feeding cons: Labour intensive, reduced growth rates due to restricted feeding and increased risk of digestive upsets
2. Ad-lib feeding
Essential to consider for larger lamb numbers - The options are trough or teated bucket supplying milk either cold ad-lib or warm. Both systems sit conveniently outside the pen, ensuring optimum safety and avoiding spill ages. The amount of milk replacer used is approximately 11-12 kg per lamb.
Milk can be fed warm using a thermostat controlled feeder such as the Volac Ewe 2 nest bucket which can rear up to 20 lambs, or the Volac Ewe 2 Plus, which can rear up to 40 lambs. It is recommended that newborn lambs are 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 Ewe 2 sits outside the pen, ensuring optimum safety and avoiding spillages.
- Teated bucket pros: Faster growth, No limit to how much or when lambs can drink, Several lambs can feed at once, Milk can be fed warm or cold, Milk consumed little and often meaning less risk of digestive upsets, Less labour intensive as the milk is made up in bigger volumes, and Relatively low set up costs.
- Teated bucket cons: Disease can spread more easily through shared teats – hygiene is critical
Volac Ewe 2 and Ewe 2 Plus - Milk can be fed warm using a thermostat controlled feeder such as the Volac Ewe 2 nest bucket which can rear up to 20 lambs, or the Volac Ewe 2 Plus, which can rear up to 40 lambs. It is recommended that newborn lambs are 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 Ewe 2 sits outside the pen, ensuring optimum safety and avoiding spillages.
3. Automatic machine feeding
Automatic feeders can dramatically reduce the labour hours required for mixing milk and feeding lambs, but a high level of management and hygiene is essential. The amount of milk replacer used is approximately 12-13kg per lamb. Milk may be offered warm (39°C) on a restricted basis during the early training period. However, once lambs are suckling well from the teat on an ad-lib basis, the milk temperature should be reduced to 18-20°C to reduce the risk of health problems caused by over consumption. The machine should be cleaned daily and calibrated at least once a week and between batches of powder.
- Automatic machine feeding pros: Least labour intensive the machine automatically reconstitutes and dispenses milk; no manual mixing is required, Milk consumed little and often meaning less risk of digestive upsets, Faster growth, and No limit to how much or when lambs can drink.
- Automatic machine feeding cons: Highest set up costs, and disease can spread more easily through shared teats therefore hygiene is critical
Focus on the Volac Automatic Eco Feeder
The ECO feeder automatically mixes a precise volume of powder to a consistent, specified temperature.
- Hopper capacity of 35kg
- Up to 8 stations on one machine
- 20-30 lambs on each feeding station
- Feeds up to 240 lambs
- Electronic heating regulator: ensures the feed is always at the correct temperature
- Easy cleaning: suction hose cleaning system