Lambing bucket boost energy and colostrum quality

A new, high-energy Lambing Bucket, providing ewes with sustained energy and improved colostrum, has been launched.

With contents including molasses, soya, Omega 3 and 6 and vegetable oils, the Farmway “Northern Pride” Lambing Bucket, manufactured by feed specialists Dallas Keith, also provides a full range of minerals, vitamins and trace elements.

The new lambing bucket is just in time for this seasons’ lamb crop, says Chris Willett, ruminant sales specialist at Dallas Keith. “With many farmers lambing later and outside, with a greater reliance on home-grown forage, we feel there’s a need for a more concentrated source of nutrients to provide ewes with a constant flow of energy.

“Ewes, especially those with twin lambs, can be on a knife edge. This four-fold, gradual release of energy, fed four to six weeks before and after lambing – and available 24 hours a day – keeps the ewe’s system topped up. We’ve also added Alltech’s Bio-Mos, which is proven to maintain gut health, which in the ewe improves both colostrum quality and quantity.”

Derived from a specific strain of yeast, Bio-Mos feeds the gastro-intestinal tract, reinforcing natural defences, reducing the incidence of intestinal diseases and improving nutrient availability.

The effects of including Bio-Mos in any ruminant diet have been scientifically proven, confirms Graeme Smith, National Ruminant Manager with Alltech. “In ewes, fed during gestation, they include more and better quality colostrum and milk and, as a result, faster lamb growth with better feed conversion.”

Brian Healey, feed sales specialist at Farmway, is convinced of the practical benefits. “Bio-Mos gives lambs the benefit of better-quality colostrum and milk and has been proven to improve slaughter weights by 2kg. Also, with selenium, which crosses the placenta, lambs are up on their feet and suckling quicker: the sooner the better for their immune system. All in all, you get a healthier, more vigorous lamb that thrives. With feed prices as they are – and the value of lambs – farmers are determined to improve cost-effective production.”