image of sheep farming than high mortality rates in many paddocks.” Tim says that includes feeding sheep appropriately, differentially managing pregnant ewes depending on the number of foetuses they are carrying, understanding how paddock selection can influence survival rates and tightening up lambing times to assist with animal management.
Making more informed decisions, which sometimes means discarding traditional farm management decisions, will then improve farm profits and go a long way to improving the image of agriculture to the wider community. “It’s not rocket science to know that if you improve lamb survivability and reduce ewe mortality you will make more money,” Tim says.
Most simply, Tim says that means producers paying more attention to sheep and paddocks at critical times during the year to reduce the rates of mortality on farm. “Improved animal welfare outcomes come from good lamb and ewe survival percentages and getting that right can simply be a matter of looking a bit harder at what you’ve got in front of you. “And if we can improve the survivability of our animals, then sheep producers will be viewed more favourably by the wider community. “The image of lots of happy little lambs and their mothers in paddocks goes a long way in improving the public
Paddock selection, Tim said, can have a huge influence on lamb survivability, and producers need to just start paying attention to whether there is a pattern on their farms as to whether survival rates are higher or lower in particular paddocks. Keeping good paddock to paddock data on survival is key. “It might be that year on year, twinbearing ewes in a lush feed paddock have terrible survival rates, and so maybe next year, look at not using that paddock to lamb down in and instead use the feed earlier at prelambing, and then using it at weaning time, rather than a lambing paddock,” Tim says. “Just because it maybe a cracking pasture does not mean it’s a cracking lambing paddock.
“Understanding why they are better, such as the way prevailing weather conditions impact them, the ability of the ewe to lamb in a quiet place and consider using the paddocks with better lambing survival rates multiple times in the year.”
To improve his ability to manage ewes in that critical time period, Tim has shortened up the joining period of ewes as part of his Paradoo Prime operation significantly, meaning all of the ewes are at the same point at the same time.
Understanding that the 90-95 percent of ewe mortality happens in the last few days of pregnancy and first days of lactation should also be considered when joining ewes, Tim believes.
“It is much easier to manage ewes when you know accurately where they are up to. With a short joining period you can manage their needs more precisely… its less of a guessing game.
“If you have a joining over five or six weeks, it is very difficult to manage ewes in that critical time frame when individuals could be in week one of lambing or week four of lambing.”
“With a tight joining period, you can dial up the best paddock, the right feed and have her in the right condition for the best results. We need to line up all the ducks that are within our management capabilities. “A wider joining window means the ability to manage sheep precisely is lost. “Understanding that ewes also need to be managed differently in terms of nutritional needs, depending on whether they are carrying singles, twins or triplets, is also key to ensuring the survival of both the ewe and her lamb(s),” Tim says.
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Tim Leeming, Paradoo Prime, is an advocator of producers more precisely using what knowledge they have to improve their farm operations.
“And to do that, a producer usually just needs to use their existing knowledge in a better way.”
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iscarding tradition and making informed animal and farm management decisions is key to prime lamb producers increasing their profitability and improving farming’s public image.
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Tim believes that means producers should not necessarily focus on scanning and lambing percentages, but instead focus on the animal survival percentages “We have pregnancy scanning technology at our disposal so we must utilise this and discard tradition joining lengths as a thing of the past.” Paradoo Prime rams are available from the October 1 by appointment. For more information on Paradoo Prime visit www.paradooprime.com For more information on lambing management visit www.precisionlambing.com.au
ABOVE: Commercial lambs have averaged 145% scanning over the last 3 years.
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