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Know How / Sheep / Feed and nutrition

Careful feed and nutrition management in the flock is essential to control a ewe’s body condition score and ensure she produces adequate colostrum for her lambs. See the latest in grazing management and advice on rations formulated from a balance of protein, energy and supplements.

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AHDB resource

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Case studies

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GRASSLAND MANAGEMENT

How an upland farm is adapting to unpredictable seasons

Flexible grazing, stores of good-quality silage and better ewe body condition are among measures used to mitigate against increasingly unseasonal weather at a research farm in the Grampian foothills. Glensaugh…

SHEEP

What a Carmarthenshire farm did to lift profits by 52% a ewe

Monitoring ewes and managing their body condition score (BCS) has helped reduce the rate of barren and aborted ewes by 6.4% in a Welsh flock, helping to lift profit margin…

FEED AND NUTRITION

Video: Beet and grass mix gives 57p/day winter for grazier

There are many benefits to outwintering cattle and sheep on a diet of forage grass and beet. We speak to sheep and beef farmer James Drummond in Alnwick and farmer…

MAIZE

How maize undersown with grass provides two-fold benefit

For the past six years, David Pursey has undersown maize with Italian ryegrass to protect against soil erosion and provide a post-lambing spring bite for ewes and lambs. “We decided…

SHEEP

What to consider when growing lucerne to graze sheep

David Cross set up an Innovative Farmers field lab to look at the practicalities of grazing his sheep on lucerne on his north Norfolk farm. He wanted to see if…

BREEDING AND FERTILITY

How a farmer improved shearling ewe management

Managing shearlings as a separate group has improved scanning percentage by 10% at a Wiltshire sheep farm. Rob and Anna Hawke had run their Romney and Romney cross Highlander shearling…

Practical advice

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LIVESTOCK

Three-cut silage: Go for leaves, not bulk

Three-cut silage systems can take first cut a week earlier next year and still get the same yield, plus better quality. Scheduling all three cuts in the clamp before the…

HEALTH AND WELFARE

How to stop losses when grazing youngstock on herbal leys

A fundamental misunderstanding of how to manage stock grazing herbal leys has caused heartache on some farms this summer, as more yearling cattle and weaned lambs have died from twisted…

HEALTH AND WELFARE

Acorn poisoning: Symptoms, treatment and prevention

Last autumn saw an increase in cattle and sheep deaths with either confirmed or suspected acorn poisoning. This was because 2022 was considered a “mast year” for oak trees. A…

SHEEP

Why moving weaning date can improve ewe scanning rate

Sheep farmers should consider adjusting weaning dates to limit the impacts of poor ewe condition to one production year when faced with challenging summers. This is the message of AHDB…

GRASSLAND MANAGEMENT

5 tips for managing livestock and grazing in drier weather

Droughts are predicted to become more frequent occurrences, presenting an issue for livestock farmers who rely on grazing in the summer. Without intervention, this could result in poor growth and…

FEED AND NUTRITION

Tips for feeding and managing ewes for lambing success

Nutrition plays a fundamental role in successful sheep breeding and can make the greatest difference when it comes to preventative health management and flock productivity – for both the ewe…

Insights

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HEALTH AND WELFARE

Why keeping ewes in good condition can help save on wormers

Keeping ewes at a good body condition score (BCS) in the weeks before and after lambing minimises worming requirements at a key point in the year, a new Welsh study…

GRASSLAND MANAGEMENT

Winter grazing crop outperforms brassicas in sheep trial

A winter grazing crop of Italian ryegrass, berseem clover and forage rape can finish more than twice as many lambs as an equivalent acreage of brassicas, a farm trial has…

GRASSLAND MANAGEMENT

Multispecies leys show seasonal advantage in Welsh uplands

Multispecies leys can perform as well as traditional ryegrass in upland regions, a three-year study by the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) Wales has found. Seed mixes incorporating meadow fescue, Timothy…

LIVESTOCK

Better silage allows for soya strategy at lambing

Producing an 11ME silage can allow ewes to be fed a sixth of the amount of feed three weeks pre-lambing through supplementing rumen-protected soya, saving £3-£12 a ewe. This is…

Alternative ewe protein offers cost-effective solution

Sheep farmers looking to top up protein in late-pregnancy ewe diets can use alternatives to soya without affecting animal performance. According to a project funded by Eblex, HCC, Adas and…

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