FAT LAMBS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 February 1940, Page 11

FAT LAMBS

SOME ESSENTIAL POINTS EARLY DRAFTING. IMPROVEMENT OF PASTURES. ißy W. James. Masterton.) The call by Britain is for more production and as regaids fat lambs we could greatly increase our production if farmers who usually draft their lambs towards the end of November or early in December and get away 30’s to 34’s could hold these for say a further two weeks as. at a conservative estimate, a lamb doing well will put on 31bs of meat a week. This suggestion is naturally subject to weather and feed considerations but if it were adopted however possibly a considerable increase in our weight could be obtained and an early contribution made to increasing our production of meat. Take the case of a farmer who usually drafts some 1000 lambs, in tho first week of December; if he could hold these for a further two weeks he could increase his production by some GOOOlbs of meat and taken over the whole Dominion such increases would in the aggregate moan a considerable increase in our fat lamb production and also a greater monetary return to the farmers. It is essential that the ewe should be well grown- and of sound constitution, a good 4-year-old ewe for preference. The reason for a 4-year-old is that she has been breeding since a 2-tooth and on reaching 4 years if still of sound constitution, should breed a good fat lamb provided that she is mated with a good ram. Good results cannot be expected if an inferior ram is used. It should be impressed upon all fat lamb breeders to use the best of stock. It does not cost any more to keep good stock and in fact it costs less because you can fatten a well-bred lamb much quicker than a poorly bred one and also obtain heavier weights. WINTER FEED To enable us to produce more fat lambs we must be prepared to grow more winter feed in order to increase our carrying capacity. A good feed for winter feeding is swedes and turnips and about 31bs of subterranean clover per acre, the idea of the clover being to provide a feed in case the swedes and turnips should be affected by the white butterfly or Black Diamond moth. Another good practical idea is to sow alternate rows of swedes and choumolier. Black barley, provided that it can be sown before the end of March, will also furnish a good winter feed to put ewes in condition for lambing. For improved pasture the use of suitable manures will also help production if spread at the right time, i.e„ in the autumn. This will help the winter feed and the spring pasture will then look after itself. When the spring growth comes any surplus feed can be turned into ensilage or hay. It is therefore • advisable to make full use of manures and fertilisers as it is not. anticipated that there will be any shortage of these. For early feed for fattening the lambs rape sown with about 21bs of cow grass will provide good feed and if one usually puts in say 10 to 15 acres then if this area can be doubled for the coming year this would enable us to fatten more lambs in the coming season. OLD PASTURES Old pastures carrying a poor sole of grass, would not pay to top-dress and it would be much better to plough and say take off 2 crops and then sow down with good certified seed. There is also a lot of heavy land which could be made to produce more if it were mole drained and limed and in many cases the carrying capacity of this class of land could be greatly increased. On many areas the running of more cattle would improve the pasture for sheep, as bidi bidi can be kept under control by light stocking with sheep and allowing the grass to grow up through tho bidi bidi and then stocking heavily with cattle. The question of foot-rot in sheep is a most important one and one against which every precaution should be taken. A lame sheep cannot be expected to .rear a fat lamb' and under careful management foot-rot can be eradicated. The simplest method is a special hospital paddock and dress until cured. It has been stated that if the paddocks are left free for three weeks the germ will be killed and sound sheep may safely be turned out in any paddocks which have been shut up for three weeks. The foregoing suggestions regarding winter feeding, manuring, draining, etc., are however directly affected by costs and although there is no doubt that increased production can be obtained under these methods, the returns must be at least sufficient to cover all costs and provide some return to the farmer for his services. These suggested methods of increasing production would take some time to bring into operation and unless the farmer can see a sufficient return to cover his costs he may not be keen o adopt these methods as it is not expected that increased production should be obtained at a personal loss to the farmer.