John J Cannon

Triclabendazole and Closantel.

Ewe Feeding

Ewe body condition will be assessed at housing and a feed strategy drawn-up. Thin ewes will be fed some extra meals from housing. “I know from past experience that once the ewes are scanned around January 10 it’s too late to get significant improvements in body condition,” explains Michael.

“I got my silage analysed and the results show the pit silage at 72 DMD, some bales at 70 DMD and another cut of bales at 63 DMD which I do not regard as being a true reflection of that material. I am putting it down to a sampling error”. Further updates on this will follow in the February report.

2017 Lamb Sales

Michael did not purchase any store lambs this year due to a combination of off-farm work, high store lamb price and the wet autumn.

As of November 23, he only had 23 lambs left. All these are indoors on expanded metal slats. In early November his remaining 48 lambs were on ad-lib concentrates and gaining 419 grams per day.

The range in weight gain was from 60-670 grams per day so gut-fill factors may be playing a part here. Table 2 shows the lamb sales pattern on the Duffy farm to date in 2017.

Finally may I wish all you readers a relaxed and safe Christmas season and continued good wishes for 2018.