Tailor your ration mix to control ewe feed costs

Greater reliance on home-grown feeds is attracting renewed interest in total mixed ration diet feeding for housed ewes – and according to Northumberland beef and sheep producer John Guiry, it’s giving him more control over feed costs and a better way of rationing his 500-ewe flock.

“It’s a system you’ve got to adapt to suit your individual situation and your type of ewes. It’s working well for us, although we had an initial hiccup when ewes gorged on the mix because it was just too palatable. We’ve now settled into a regime that suits us and the sheep.”

Mr Guiry of Glanton Town Farm, near Alnwick, started feeding a TMR diet in 2005. The farm was putting up a new sheep shed and had been using a Keenan feeder for cattle rationing for five years.

“With the chance to design the building to fit the feeding – and because we already had the diet feeder – taking the TMR route with the ewes seemed a good option. But you can’t just set off by putting a mountain of food in front of a shed full of ewes and expecting it to work from day one. We found that out to our cost.”

The initial ration – fed to a mixed flock of Scotch Half-bred and Suffolk-cross ewes – comprised whole-crop wheat, barley and soya.

“It was just too good and the ewes gorged themselves and then felt very uncomfortable. We had our share of digestive problems and prolapses, so we had to review the mix,” says Mr Guiry.

Last year the late-March lambing ewes were housed for around nine weeks pre-lambing – this year 150 ewes will lamb in February – and fed a mix (per tonne) of 860kg of silage (including 50kg of straw), 40kg soya, 60kg barley and 40 litres of molasses. The cost was £38 a tonne.

The barley and soya were gradually introduced from around 0.25kg a head a day. Intakes of the entire mix were 4.5-5kg a day at the start of housing.

The mix was altered about a month before lambing to (per tonne) 770kg silage (including 35kg straw), 70kg soya, 80kg barley, 50kg molasses and 25kg of a mineral containing some by-pass protein. Late pregnancy reduced intakes to around 3.5kg a day.

“The molasses made a big difference. We fed it not for its energy content but for the way it improved the digestibility and helped the mix to pass easily through the ewes.”

Last year the flock was blood-tested approximately three to four weeks pre-lambing to assess energy and protein levels with the intention of being able to adjust the feed accordingly.

“The blood profiles showed us that we’d got the diet right so there was no need to make any changes in the latter part of the pregnancy.”

He believes the system is the least stressful way of feeding pregnant ewes although feet have to be monitored. Foot-bathing is undertaken routinely. Ewes are usually turned out immediately after lambing and initially offered a barley/soya mix at grass.

Far-off lambers in good condition

• 5 kg high-quality medium dry-matter grass silage @ £70/t DM
• 0.25 kg molasses @ £110/t
• 0.1 kg Hi-Pro soya @ £220/t
• 0.02 kg high vitamin E mineral @ £390/t
• Total feed cost 14p/head/day
• Close-up lambers/far-off ewes in leaner condition or carrying triplets
• 4 kg high-quality medium dry-matter grass silage @ £70/t DM
• 0.35 kg barley @ £150/t
• 0.25 kg molasses @ £110/t
• 0.25 kg Hi-Pro soya @£220/t
• 0.02 kg high vitamin E mineral @ £390/t

Total feed cost 21p/head/day

Target the diet to suit your lambing circumstances

TMR diets can be formulated to incorporate a broad spectrum of ingredients, producing typical diets that can cost 14p to 21p per head per day.

The aim is to feed a ration that will get ewes in body-condition score 3 by week 15 of pregnancy or six weeks pre-lambing.

Says Keenan Rumans nutritionist Donald Brown: “If ewes are well below that or well above it they need their diet TMR diet from week 12 of pregnancy or nine weeks pre-lambing.

“Although TMR diets are conventionally fed to housed ewes it is possible, if ground conditions allow, to feed it outside on the ground or in wire mesh boxes. The assumption that TMR diets enable savings to be made on trough space, thus allowing more ewes to be housed in the same space, is not true and can be counter-productive.”

The quality of the silage used is an important factor in achieving the best results from TMR rationing. The higher the D-value the easier it is to balance.

Palatable silage of more than 67 D-value only needs to be balanced with molasses, soya and minerals. The lower the D-value the greater the need to add feeds such as barley.

“The high palatability of cereal whole-crop can be an issue and starch intakes can be high causing digestive disorders. It’s advisable to include the entire stubble or control the intake with additional chopped straw.”

Nutritionists say soya is the key to in-lamb ewe diets, claiming it will not only boost milk yield but also have a beneficial impact on the immune system.

“It will reduce the level of worm eggs shed by the ewe at pasture in early lactation. The reduction in the lamb worm burden will justify the cost of the soya,” says Mr Brown.

Keenan Rumans recommends two TMR feeding strategies depending on ewe body condition and expected lambing percentage.

• A two-ration strategy which involves a base ration fed to all ewes in good body condition up to two weeks pre-lambing and a higher energy higher/protein ration fed for the last two weeks to all ewes – although the leaner ones or those carrying triplets go onto it sooner. This can be undertaken with one fill of the mixer – part being fed to the far off lambers then topping up with additional concentrates before feeding the close up and leaner ewes.
• A single-ration TMR which involves one ration fed to all from 6 weeks pre-lambing. This is a very simple system but does involve close body condition management from tupping to housing.