Developing weaning programs

for your Katahdin flock

SUSAN SCHOENIANSheep & Goat SpecialistUniversity of Maryland Extension

sschoen@umd.edu www.sheepandgoat.comwww.sheep101.infowww.wormx.info

www.slideshare.net/schoenian/ or go to www.sheepandgoat.com and choose SlideShare from the Social media drop down menu

What is weaning?

• Removing lambs from the milk diet provided by the ewe or milk replacement.

• Is usually accompanied by separation of lambs from ewes.

• Weaning can be stressful to both ewes and lambs.

Why wean? Ewes

• Milk production peaks at 3-4 weeks, after which time milk production declines rapidly.

• Weaning eases lactational stress, especially of high producing ewes or yearlings.

• Weaning assists prolific ewes in raising their lambs.

• Weaning allows ewes to return to breeding condition earlier (especially important for accelerated lambing)

• Weaning allows you to cull ewes earlier in the season.

Why wean? Lambs

• It is more efficient to feed lambs directly than to feed ewes and lambs as a unit.

• If good quality forage is in short supply, e.g. drought.

• Farm lacks of safe pastures; pastures are highly contaminated with worm larvae.

• Predator risk is high.

• For artificially-reared lambs, labor and cost of milk replacer are reasons for early weaning.

• Sometimes, disease management

Weaning age

• Varies from as early as three weeks to as late as 5-6 months or later (natural weaning).

▫ In 2011, average weaning age for lambs (in US) was 15.6 weeks (109 days)

▫ Average weaning weight was 66.7 lbs.

(NAHMS 2013)

When to wean

• Weight is more important than age when deciding when to wean.

• Minimum of 45 lbs. is a rule of thumb, though it depends on breed.

• The heavier the lamb is the greater its ability to cope with stress.

• Lambs should be consuming approximately 1 lb. of creep feed.

Early weaning

• Usually less than 90 days

• ~60 days is most common.

• Early weaning is most common with lambs born in the winter or early spring (March).

• Early weaning is most common with shed lambing and jugging.

• Early-weaned lambs are commonly creep-fed and finished in dry lot or sold at Easter.

Late weaning

• Usually more than 90 days

• ~120 days is most common.

• Late weaning is most common with lambs born in the spring (April-May).

• Late weaning is most common with pasture/range lambing.

• Late weaned lambs are usually grazed with their dams and sold directly off of grass or transitioned to grain diets after weaning and/or prior to marketing.

Early weaning (less than 90 days)

PROS CONS

• Not necessary to castrate ram lambs.

• More efficient to feed lambs directly.

• Eases lactation stress.

• Allows ewes to return to breeding conditional earlier.

• Cull ewes can be sold earlier.

• Lambs can be sold earlier.

• Save pasture for ewes.

• Maintain more ewes on farm.

• More stressful to ewes and lambs

• Risk of mastitis

• Extra pens and fields are needed to maintain ewes and lambs separately.

Late weaning (more than 90 days)

PROS CONS

• More “natural”

• Less stressful to ewes and lambs

• Less risk of mastitis

• Can keep ewes and lambs together: less pens/fields needed.

• Takes advantage of available forage

• Pasture gains may be more economical.

• Lambs have to compete with ewes for pasture

• Greater parasite risk

• Greater predator risk

• Disease risk

• May need to castrate ram lambs.

Creep feeding with

early or late weaning

• Creep feeding is means of supplying extra nutrition to nursing lambs.

• Is beneficial when milk production and or pasture quality/quantity are limiting factors.

• Creep feeding (grain) hastens rumendevelopment.

• Creep feeding eases stress of early weaning.

• Purpose is to increase gains and profitability.

• May not be an economical practice on all farms.

Creep feeding with

early or late weaning

• Lambs should be started on creep feed at 1-2 weeks of age.

• Lambs gain access to creep area though exclusionary gate.

• Creep ration should be fresh, palatable, highly digestible, and high protein (18-20%).

• Creep rations do not need to be complicated.

• Textured feed or crumbles will be consumed better than pelleted creep rations.

• Creep grazing gives lambs access to cleaner, better quality pasture.

Recommendations for early weaning

EWES

1-2 weeks before weaning

• Remove protein from grain.

• Remove grain from diet.

• Switch to lower quality hay.

• One day prior to weaning: restrict water; be cautious in hot weather.

After weaning

• Move ewes to another location.

• Restrict access to feed for 24-48 hours

• Keep ewes on low quality hay or straw until their udders begin to shrink and dry up.

• Drylot ewes until they are sufficiently dry.

• Do not put ewes on spring pasture, as it is high in protein, water, and digestibility.

• Monitor udders.

• Cull ewes with udder problems.

Udder problems after weaning

SWOLLEN, FULL, HARD MASTITIS

• Hand milk until udder is soft and

pliable.

• Don’t milk completely out, as this

will stimulate milk production.

• Leave on low quality diet until

udders begin to shrink and dry off.

• Hand-milk until udder is soft and

pliable.

• Seek competent veterinary expertise

• Treatment options may include

▫ Intramammary injections with cattle mastitis tubes (Rx)

▫ Intramuscular injections of antibiotics (Rx).

▫ Anti-inflammatory drug to reduce fever, pain and swelling (Rx).

• Cull ewes with compromised udders.

Recommendations for early weaning

LAMBS

Before weaning

• Deworming, castration, and tagging should be completed.

• Begin feeding coccidiostat at least 21 days before weaning.

• Lambs should have all their vaccines by weaning.

• Assess lambs for parasites

At weaning

• Wean on a nice day; avoid weather extremes

• Leave lambs in familiar surroundings.

• Keep lambs on same diet.

• Minimize stress.

• Watch lambs closely for health problems.

• Weigh lambs.

Low stress weaning

CALVES AND FOALS LAMBS

• Fence-line weaning reduces stress in calves and foals.

• Fence-line weaning does not reduce stress in lambs.

• In fact, it is often recommended that ewes be moved to a distant area away from lambs, out of hearing range (if possible).

Weaning grazing lambs

FACTORS TO CONSIDER RECOMENDATIONS

• Quality and quantity of pasture.

• Level of pasture contamination (worm larvae).

• Necessity to add body condition to ewes before re-breeding.

• Weaning grazing lambs earlier than 45 days is not advised, as these lambs will suffer growth set-backs, as compared to 60 day old lambs.

• Should delay weaning until after 90 days of age, if plenty of clean grazing is available.

• Regularly monitor lambs for signs of parasitism and need for deworming.

“The ideal age to wean lambs is 100 days or 14 weeks. If

lambing commenced on March 15, with a reasonably

compact lambing spread, mean lambing is likely to

have been March 25. Weaning should take place 100 days

later, on July 2.”

When to weanTEASGASC (Ireland)

Animal Welfare Approved advocates a weaning age

of 90 days or more.

Weaning grazing lambs

Weaning grazing lambs onto grain diets

• Allow lambs to “learn” about grain consumption from their dams in the final weeks up to weaning.

• Allow adequate time (7-14 days) for lambs to transition to a grain-based diet.

• Formulate diets that are high in fermentable fiber (e.g. soy hulls) during the transitional phase.

• Monitor lambs closely during transitional period.

• Vaccinate for enterotoxemia (type D).

• Control coccidiosis

Rules of thumb for weaning

artificially-reared lambs

• Minimum weight of 20 lbs.

• Minimum 2.5 x birth weight

• When lambs have consumed 20 to 25 pounds of milk powder.

• When lambs are eating creep feed, about 2% of body weight (Land O’Lakes).

• When lambs are drinking water.

• 3-6 weeks (older if weaned onto good quality pasture alone).

Weaning artificially-reared lambs

GENERAL RECOMMENDATION

ALTERNATIVE RECOMMENDATION

• The general recommendation is to wean lambs abruptly from milk replacer.

• Land O’Lakes recommends gradually reducing the amount of milk replacer fed over a period of 4-7 days.

• Step down the total volume of milk replacer by reducing number of feedings and/or diluting milk replacer with additional water to lower amount of milk solids.

Weaning weights

FACTORS AFFECTING GOAL

• Age

• Breed or cross

• Frame

• Birth type

• Rearing type

• Genetics

• Parasite challenge

• Pre-weaning nutrition

• 40% of mature weight(12 week weaning age, AU)

• 160 lb. Katahdin ewex 40%= 64 lbs.

It is recommended that lambs be weighed at weaning, so you know how they are doing and which ewes are doing the best job rearing lambs. Weaning weights should be adjusted for type of birth and rearing and age of dam.

Calculating adjusted weaning weights

#1701

• Ewe lamb

• Born March 15

• 5 year old dam

• Born and raised as a triplet

• Birthweight was 8.5 lbs.

• Weaned June 5

• Weighed 70 lbs.

Correct weaning weight to common

age (usually 60, 90, or 120 days)

1. Determine pre-weaning gainPre-weaning gain = weaning weight – birth weight

2. Determine pre-weaning ADGPre-weaning ADG = Pre-weaning gain ÷ age at weaning

3. Determine age-corrected weightAge corrected weight = (pre-weaning ADG x common age) + birth weight

1) 70.0 lbs. – 8.5 lbs. = 61.5 lbs.

2) 61.5 lbs. ÷ 82 days = 0.75 lbs./day

3) [0.75 x 60 days] + 8.5 = 53.5 lbs.

Adjust weaning weight for environmental factors:

sex, type of birth and rearing, and age of dam.

53.5 lbs. x 1.38 adj. factor

= 73.8 lbs.

Adjusted weaning weight = age-corrected weaning weight x adjustment factor.

Be sure to compare lambs in the same contemporary groups.

Weaning is the time make culling

decisions

SUSAN SCHOENIANSheep & Goat SpecialistUniversity of Maryland Extension

sschoen@umd.eduwww.sheepandgoat.comwww.sheep101.infowww.wormx.info

Thank you for your attention. Questions? Comments?

McComb2004-2017