Sheep
Surplus lamb rearers missing
a profitable opportunity
More than half the sheep producers in Great Britain are still bottle-
feeding surplus lambs, despite the fact that the practice is extremely
labour-intensive and fails to capitalise on early life growth potential.
» » THAT’S ACCORDING TO RESEARCH
carried out by Volac at the end of 2016 to
examine surplus lamb rearing practices.
More than 580 farms participated in the
on-line survey and while more than 99%
of respondents said that it was important
to rear the maximum number of lambs
possible each year, only around 45%
are taking advantage of modern feeding
technology to boost animal performance
and make their life easier.
“Some of the feedback did surprise
me,” said independent sheep consultant,
Kate Phillips after reviewing the survey
findings, “particularly the fact so many
farms still bottle rear when you can
undoubtedly save on labour and get
better lamb growth rates with ad lib milk
feeding systems. And why spend hours
a day bottle feeding when you could
be prioritising your time on important
tasks elsewhere during a hectic lambing
period?”
‘With good husbandry,
organisation and the right
milk replacer there’s no
doubt you can produce
good quality lambs’
The Volac research gives an interesting
insig