Choosing a rearing system for orphan and multiple lambs that matches labour availability and numbers in combination with providing the right nutrition is key to success.
Systems range from hand rearing to automatic feeders but all rely on a feed that allows lambs to thrive.
“Hand rearing pet lambs requires a higher degree of labour and effort compared to a ewe who rears her own lambs but there are different rearing options available, depending on the amount of labour available and of course the amount of pet lambs on the ground,’’ explains Dr. Amanda Dunn, of Bonanza Calf Nutrition.
If cross-fostering lambs is not feasible, a replacer made from ewe’s milk is the safest and most natural feed once lambs have received adequate colostrum – 50ml colostrum per kilogram of bodyweight every six hours during the first 24 hours.
‘Stronger drinking reflex’
Shine Ewe-reka, manufactured by Bonanza Calf Nutrition, contains antibodies from ewe’s milk which are specific to common lamb diseases in early life.
“Lambs love it because it tastes and smells just like their own mother’s milk, which encourages a stronger drinking reflex,” says Dr. Dunn.
Ewe-reka contains five vegetable oils – coconut, linseed, rape, soya, and palm – and plant extracts to minimise clostridia bloat and scour in young lambs. Ewe-reka replacer is mixed at 20% solids dry matter to mirror the solids level in ewe milk.
“If bottle feeding, this is going to be somewhat restrictive in the amount of milk than can be fed in one feed and it is also quite time consuming especially if there are lots of lambs,” says Dr. Dunn.
Cold ad lib feeding is a very simple and low cost and yet an effective way to feed pet lambs, she adds.
“A bucket, one or two teat lines and a non-return valve is the only equipment needed for this system to operate. It requires minimal labour and lambs have 24/7 access to milk.”
It is best practice to train the new lambs on lukewarm milk. “It is important to spend some time with the lamb for the first few days to ensure it has found the teat and suckled adequate volumes of milk three to four times a day,” Dr. Dunn advises.
“Generally, if there are already older lambs in the pen then the younger lambs will learn much quicker and not require as much training.”
Lambs can achieve liveweight gains of up to 500g/day on this system and can be finished at 100 days on ad-lib concentrates.
Pitfalls to avoid
Dr. Dunn says there are pitfalls to avoid.
“Never let the milk supply run out as this can result in the lambs gorging too much milk when the bucket is refilled and this can cause bloat and other digestive upsets.
“Keep tubes clean and flushed out regularly – don’t allow build-up to occur as this can encourage bacteria to grow.
“At the beginning, when lambs are young, only mix up enough milk for that day to avoid milk sitting for long periods.”
Consistency is extremely important when feeding pet lambs, she adds. “They thrive on uniformity so mix milk at exactly the same concentration as previous feeds, at the same temperature, the same volume and to the same sanitary hygiene practices.”
In larger flocks with many surplus lambs, automatic feeders are commonly used.
“Again, Ewe-reka is ideally suited to this method of feeding and lambs can achieve high levels of performance,” says Dr. Dunn.
Recent trials have shown average weight gains of 550g/day from 0-8 weeks-of-age when lambs are fed Ewe-reka on an automatic ad-lib feeding system alongside water, creep and forage.
“These results have proven better than twin lamb weights reared on their own mother,” Dr. Dunn points out.
‘Massive’ labour saving results from Ewe-reka feeding system
Pet lambs at a Co. Kildare farm are being reared with minimal labour and maximum efficiency.
Each year, Emmet and Mark and Oisin Doyle buy 55 pet lambs at approximately two to three days old to rear alongside the offspring from their flock of 85 commercial ewes at Ballymore, Eustace. Suffolk cross ewes are mated to Belclare rams and lambing gets underway on March 17.
In 2020, Mark and Emmet reared the 55 pet lambs and six of their own lambs on Ewe-reka ewe milk replacer. They were placed into pens where they were trained to drink Ewe-reka milk replacer through the Ewe-reka ad-lib feeder.
Emmet (father) and Oisin Doyle (son)
The milk was mixed in batches of 20L – the feeder was kept full at all times. The feeder is cleaned every four-to-five days to ensure pipes and non-return valves are kept clean.
Mark and Emmet say Ewe-reka is very easily mixed and feeding through the feeder compared to previous methods had resulted in a “massive’’ labour saving. None of the lambs fed Ewe-reka experienced bloat, they report.
Water and ration were made freely available – they were consuming approximately 200g/head/day before weaning abruptly at day 35. After weaning, lambs were housed for a week to allow them time to adjust to consuming the diet of ration and straw only.
Subsequently, they were turned out with the main flock of ewes into a small paddock they were continually fed ration to allow the digestive systems time to transition onto grass.
Mark and Emmet plan to retain all the ewe lambs for their commercial flock whilst the male lambs will be slaughtered in the local abattoir when they are factory fit.
They are impressed with the simplicity of the Ewe-reka system.
“Ewe-reka allows lambs to be reared with minimal labour but maximum efficiency as lambs have access to milk at all times up until weaning,” says Emmet.
