Livestock Management Options During

Dry Times

Tiffany Bennett

Livestock Consultant

Livestock Decisions

•Feed

•Sell

•Agist

Feeding Considerations

• Costly to feed particularly for long periods of time

• Can still earn some income

• Restocking costs

• Time consuming and mentally taxing

• Potential to introduce weed seeds and damage

paddocks

• Maintain genetic base and breeding cycle

• Must feed stock to requirements particularly young

animals

Agistment Considerations

• Digestive upsets/nutritional disorders from rapid

change in diet

• Toxicity issues

• Transport and agistment can be costly but often

cheaper than hand feeding

• Biosecurity risks

• Stock theft

• Retain genetics

• Protect soils and pasture

Agistment Considerations

• Less taxing mentally than feeding

• Written agreement

• Difficult transporting late pregnant and lactating

females

• Check your stock regularly

• Inadequate handling facilities

Selling Considerations

• No cash outlay and provides cash

• Free up conserved fodder for remaining livestock

• Young animals can be the most expensive to feed in a

drought but often have the best genetics

• Reduce pressure on soils and pastures

• Costly to restock and if a widespread drought difficult

to source

• Loss of income

• Tax liability

• Disease and weed issues from replacement stock

Feed/Sell/Agist Calculations

Why Confinement Feed

• Degradation of pastures from over grazing

• Importation of weeds from purchased fodder

• Reduced soil fertility due to erosion

• Sacrifice paddock/area can be used instead

• Areas recover more quickly if some ground

cover is maintained

• Re-establishment of pastures is costly and

results in ‘lost’ grazing whilst paddocks are

being reestablished

Why Confinement Feed

• What little energy is gained by overgrazing

paddocks is soon utilised by the animals

search for feed

• Purpose built facilities may be utilised later

to opportunity feedlot (Need council

approval if facilities become a fully stocked

permanent feedlot)

Site Selection

• Ideally located near yards, silos, hay sheds and

water

• Located away from water ways to prevent pollution

(500 meters)

• A slope of 3-4% to aid run off

• Ideally clay clay/loam type soils that will compact

and reduce dust issues

• Existing shade structures should be incorporated if

possible (trees may need to be protected)

Mob Size/Stocking Density

• Lambs (up to 41 kg) – 1 m2 per head

• Adult Sheep – 1.3 m2 per head

• Weaner Calves – 9-10 m2 per head

• Yearling Cattle – 12-14 m2 per head

• Dry Cows – 15-25 m2 per head

• Late pregnant and lactating females should be

fed in sacrifice paddocks

• Maximum 500 sheep per mob

• Maximum 250 cattle per mob

Feed Troughing Cattle

• 25-30 cm/head weaners

• 30-40 cm per head yearlings

• 40-60 cm per head adult stock

• Cable or pipe placed 45-50 cm above trough will prevent

stock pushing through

• Troughs should be 45-60 cm wide and 60 cm from the

ground

• Advantage to have troughs 8-15 cm higher at the back

• Self feeders are less suitable for maintenance rations

Feed Troughing Sheep

• 10-15 cm per lamb

• 15-20 cm per adult sheep

• In sheep with wool longer than 2 cm use the

upper end of the scale

• Edge of the trough should be 40 cm from the

ground

• Concerte, gravel or timber aprons 2-3 meters

wide help prevent bogging or erosion

Water Requirements

• Locate water at least 10 m from feed troughing

to reduce contamination

• Water troughs should allow for at least 10% of

the animals confined to drink at any one time

• Allow 3 cm space for every head of cattle

• Allow 1.5 cm per sheep for one sided trough

access

• Ensure adequate flow rate

Water Troughing

Returning to the Paddock

• Pasture may be lacking in fibre

• Ensure sufficient paddock feed is available

• Limited grazing each day to acclimatise

rumen

• Supplement hay when released into

paddocks

• Never release hungry stock into a paddock

Feeding Guidelines

• Frequency of feeding is determined by the type of animal

• Dry stock and pregnant stock up to 6 weeks prior to lambing/calving may be fed every second to third day

• Feed roughage source first in situations where hay is not fed everyday

• Stock in late pregnancy, with lambs/calves at foot or young growing animals should be fed daily and ideally in a sacrifice paddock.

• Avoid sudden changes to the ration

• Ideally supply a mineral pellet with a buffer to dry rations or mineral loose with a buffer mix to wet rations

• Offer a 50/50 mix of salt and limestone in a tub at a minimum if not offering a mineral pellet/mix

Returning to the Paddock

• Pasture may be lacking in fibre

• Ensure sufficient paddock feed is available (minimum of 500kg DM/ha)

• Limited grazing each day to acclimatise rumen

• Supplement hay when released into paddocks

• Never release hungry stock into a paddock

• If not done properly will result in a large break in the wool

500 kg/DM/ha

Stock Health

• All animals entering a droughtlot/containment feeding situation should be vaccinated against colstridial diseases particularly entrotoxaemia/pulpy kidney

• Vaccinate animals three weeks before entering the containment area

• Animals that have not been vaccinated before require two vaccinations 4 weeks apart

• All animals should be drenched upon entering and exiting a containment area.

Health Issues After

Confinement • Highly digestible young pasture can trigger the

onset of pulpy kidney ensure stock are fully

vaccinated

• Rapidly growing phalaris can induce phalaris

staggers

• Rapid growth of improved pastures, grasses,

cereals and broadleaf weeds can lead to

nitrate/nitrite poisoning

• Legume dominate pastures can cause bloat

Lesson’s Learnt from Previous

Droughts • Acidosis is the biggest killer next to shy feeders

• Animals must be introduced to grain slowly and

adequate fibre provided

• Take care when releasing animals back into the

paddock because of rapid diet changes

• Shy feeders should be removed from mobs

• Incorporate existing facilities where possible

• Feed Limestone

• Dust is an issue

Lessons Learnt

• Mob sizes that are too large suffer high mortality

rates and decreased production/ability to maintain

weight

• Must have adequate trough space/access to feed

• Changing from one feed type to another during

confinement feeding caused problems

• Disease can spread very quickly e.g. pink eye

• Weaners are the most difficult to manage

• Most people who have confine fed before would do

it again (AWI survey found 98%)

Benefits Early Weaning

• Sale value of ewes/cows is potentially

better due to selling females earlier than

other producers

• Weaners quieter

• Weaners potentially do better if weren’t

receiving adequate milk from mothers

anyway

Age for Early Weaning

• Lambs and calves can be weaned at 8 weeks

• Rumen developed enough

• By 8 weeks pasture is a major component of the diet and milk contributes around 10% nutrients

• Calves should ideally be 100 kg and no less than 80 kg

• Lambs should ideally be 15 kg and no less than 10 kg

• If weaners are to be used as replacements management decisions will impact on lifetime productive capacity

Efficient Feeding

• Ewes and cows benefit by converting the additional

energy available to maintaining bodyweight and

maximising joining for the following year.

• A ewe and lamb or cow and calf fed separately

require less feed than if fed as a unit.

• Feed does not need to be processed through

mother into milk for the lamb or calf.

• Ewes or cows that are not required can be sold or

sent away on agistment

Requirements

Class of Stock MJ ME Required

per day

DSE Rating Totals

Cow and Calf

(450 kg)

119 13.2 DSE 13.2

MJ ME 119

Dry Cow

(450 kg)

54 6

Weaner Calf 34 3.8 DSE 9.8

MJ ME 88

Ewe and Lamb

(45 kg)

14 2.4 DSE 2.4

MJ ME 14

Dry Ewe

(45 kg)

7 0.9

Weaner Lamb 5 0.8 DSE 1.7

MJ ME 12

Diet Requirements

• Need high protein and energy diet – 18% min protein and 11 MJ ME min

• At least one third of the ration needs to have a legume grain

• Hay and silage alone are often inadequate to reach requirements

• Introduce calves and lambs to grain whilst on their mother (3 weeks prior to weaning) to train weaners and start adapting rumen

• Feeding lambs at least four times with their mothers before weaning (imprint feeding).

Grain Supplementation

• Increase grain slowly: 50gms every couple

of days for lambs and 100 gms every

couple of days for calves

• Ensure mineral and vitamin

supplementation especially calcium

• Buffers to prevent acidosis is important

• Monitor dung daily and aim to have 50% of

calves/lambs chewing cud

Growth Targets

• Extended joining periods may require two

weanings. Weaners that are too young or too

light will do poorly and have increased deaths

rates.

• Weigh a sample of identified individuals

regularly and access condition score.

• Lambs should gain 200 gm per day until they

reach 30 kg and calves should gain 600 gms

until they reach 250 kg

Water Savings

• Access to clean, fresh water at all times

essential.

• Overall water consumption can be saved

e.g Cow and Calf unit will drink 80-100

litres of water plus 10 litres for calf vs

weaner calf drinking 15 litres and dry cow

drinking 45 litres (110 litres vs 60 litres)

Trough and Yard Space

• Allow 4m2 for small calves (80-100 kg)

and 8 m2 for larger calves (150 kg)

• Allow 1.5m2 (10-15 kg) for small lambs

• Provide 30 cm trough space for calves and

10cm trough space for lambs

Early Weaner Health

• Do not combine marking with early weaning as

increases susceptibility to disease and reduced

weight gain as a result of stress

• Ensure mulesing is carried out at least 4 weeks

prior to early weaning to allow recovery and

wounds to heal.

• Vaccinate with a 3 in 1 avoid pulpy kidney a big

threat when high amounts of grain fed.

Early Weaning

• If not confident to do will all lambs/calves

do it with a portion of the herd eg. maidens

or oldest animals

• First calve heifers and maiden ewes are

often the most difficult to get back in calf or

lamb and should hold the best genetics.

• Worm control can be provided early and

weaners will not be grazing pasture

contaminated by their mothers.

Delay Joining Ewes

• If autumn lambing you may delay lambing

if:

– Feed reserves are tight and you will not have

adequate feed in March/April

– Move joining from Nov/Dec to January

– Lamb in June rather than April/May

– Lambs born to ewes with adequate nutrition

will always be better lambs

Delay Joining Ewes

• There are some pitfalls and points to consider if you

are going to delay lambing:

– Grass Seeds

– Over fat ewes at lambing if there is an early break

– Ewes are normally in better condition in Nov/Dec

than in January

– Weaners may be weaned onto dry feed instead of

green feed

– More lamb losses due to cold weather

– Feed wrinkle

Delay Joining Ewes

• More pitfalls to consider:

– If green feed and stubbles are limited for weaners

other options for finishing lambs may need to be

considered i.e. Fodder Crops, Irrigation, Feedlotting

– Selling lambs as stores

– Higher incidence of flystike on lambs at

mulesing/marking

– Change crutching/shearing times

– More foot abscesses in fatter ewes during wet

winters

Mating in Confinement

• Excellent results can be achieved

• Response to better nutrition and access by rams to

ewes particularly maidens

• Must manage heat stress to prevent infertility issues

and providing shade is recommended

• Carefully introduce rams to grain ration to avoid

acidosis and fertility issues

• General principles of joining still apply

Health Concerns in a Drought

• Acidosis

• Pulpy Kidney/Entrotoxaemia

• Salmonella

• Urea posioning/urea toxicity

• Pinkeye

• Coccidiosis

• E. Coli

Health Concerns in a Drought

• Pneumonia

• Worms

• Water belly/Urinary Calculi

• Pregnancy Toxaemia

• Milk Fever/Hypocalcaemia

• Sand Impaction

Heat Stress

• Animals in confinement suffer greater heat

stress due to radiant heat, less shade and

less air movement

• Highly digestible and high energy diets

reduce the metabolic heat load

• Sheep and cattle will reduce dry matter intake

on hot days which may increase the risk of

acidosis in confinement feeding situations

Heat Stress

• Avoid transport of movement in extreme heat

• Provide cool clean drinking water at all times

• Do not over crowd confinement feeding pens

• Obstacles can cause restricted air movement

• Use of sprinklers in pens??

Welfare of Animals

• Moral and legal responsibility

• Must be fit to load if going to be

transported

• If confinement feeding follow guidelines

• Monitor condition and health

• Destroy humanely

Questions or Further

Disscussion?

Connecting people in the business of sheep