WAIMARINO FARMERS SHOULD DELAY LAMBING

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 1, Issue 17, 27 September 1983, Page 13

WAIMARINO FARMERS SHOULD DELAY LAMBING

Last week's Bulletin raised the problem of milk fever in ewes. A major cause of milk fever is stress brought about by shortage of feed. Will Wilson, Farm Advisory Officer for the Waimarino, has conducted research on lambing in this area. As a result of this he suggests that many farmers could solve a lot of problems by delaying their lambing. For various reasons, he said, many Waimarino farmers are lambing too early. Farmers are timing their lamb drop to coincide with the 'false spring' commencing mid-August. In fact pasture cove'r and pasture growth at this time are inadequate to meet the extra demands placed on the ewe. Early lambing does not necessarily mean lambs are. ^^fcfted to the works earlier. ^^lained Mr Wilson. Few lambs are drafted fat off the mother. In Mr Wilsons opinion early lambing causes rnbre problems than its worth. Early lambing causes stress on the lamb through lack of milk; weight loss in the ewe; increased costs through the need for supplementary feed and increased chances of losing stock because of the stress caused by feed shortage.

Sheepfarmers should have two major objectives when deciding on a lambing time. — 1. ensure that ewes lamb on 1200- 1400kg of dry matter per hectare, which is 5cm to 7cm of grass. — 2. ensure that once lambed, the extra feed requirements of the ewe can be met by pasture growth. If these objectives are met, farmers will achieve a fourfold benefit. Firs.t when the ewe lambs she does not have to move from the lambing site to get a feed. This results in less losses at lamb drop and prevents losses through mis-mothering. Second - as a result of good feed availability. ewes provide maximum milk production resulting in good live; weight gains and survival rate in lambs.

Third — there will be much lower ewe losses through such things as milk fever because the stress factor is reduced. Fdurth — costs are reduced because of the reduced need for supplementary feed. The accompanying graph highlights the fact that early lambing ewes in the Waimarino are being underfqd. Later lambing closely matches sheep feed demands with pasture growth. 'Mr Wilson suggests that rams should be put out between April 15th and 20th, so that lambing will coincide with the spring pasture growth.