Lambing: How one Northern Irish farmer is maximising his crop

Beef and sheep farmer Eoin Kelly, of Crockataggart Farms, discusses the key to boosting lamb survival rate and flock profitability with Provita technical sales director George Shaw.  

Eoin Kelly farms a large-scale sheep and beef enterprise in Co. Derry, Northern Ireland. Prior to this, he spent seven to eight years gaining invaluable experience working on and managing various sheep and beef farms across Great Britain before returning to the family farm, where he works in partnership with his father and twin brother, Jonathan, as Crockataggart Farms.

The first tups are due to be put in mid-November to commercial flock with an April lambing suiting the predominantly hill and mountain grazing platform at Crockataggart.  Eoin will be hopeful for a good scan in 2021, yet he knows the greater importance of lamb survival rate, and any improvements to reduce losses will have a positive impact on flock profitability.  Careful balancing of ewe nutrition is essential to providing a good birthweight lamb born with relative ease, at the right birthweight, to good mothering ewes so they stand the best chance of getting up quickly and suckling within 15 minutes of birth.

With the best endeavours, all lambs at Crockataggart Farms will receive colostrum in sufficient quantity, quality and quickly. Each lamb should receive 50ml/kg bodyweight in the first two hours after birth, and a total of 200ml/kg over the first 24 hours.

Provita Lamb Colostrum Concentrate is always to hand to supplement lambs if required, with three or more lamb crops supplemented and any other lambs suspected of poor colostral intake, to provide extra cover and energy.  Also, Provita Lamb Response is administered to every lamb to establish good gut health, improve early life gains, and reduce the incidences of gastro infections to boost lamb productivity.

Monitoring of macro- and microminerals levels in ewes is important to ensure that lambs in the womb or via colostrum are then supplied sufficiently. The most common deficiencies to be vigilant for are:

• selenium/vitamin E – white muscle disease
• copper – swayback
• iodine – late pregnancy abortion, stillbirths, and weakly lambs.

Supplementation of ewes with a quality vitamin and mineral drench pre-lambing is an advisable practice.  That is why Eoin will supplement ewes at six weeks pre-lambing with Provita ProVitaMin Sheep Drench to improve ewe condition to help at lambing time, provide extra vitamins and minerals to the rapidly growing lamb to improve vitality at birth and also improve maternal colostrum quality.

Also, any lambs with a difficulty birthing and lacking vigour will be supplemented with Provita Jump Start to provide readily available energy and essential vitamins/minerals to counteract any deficiencies.

Lambing will always be a busy period at Crockataggart Farms so every step and preparation is taken to give each lamb born the best chance of reaching its potential to boost the overall flock productivity.