QUICKER FATTENING.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 152, 9 April 1941, Page 10

QUICKER FATTENING.

SUPPLEMENTARY FEEDING OF LAMBS. A typo of feeding which is an innovation as far as ibis country is -concerned, but which is practised extensively overseas, is the feeding of concentrates to lambs for q,uiokor fattening. Tliis has been done successfully by many sheep men. particularly in the South island over the last few years. It is obviously not worth spending Is to 3s per head in feeding concentrates to iambs to fatten them more quickly it they would fatten on pasture of root and fodder i-rops a week cr two later without the extra cost of concentrates. But there are always those backward lan>bs that may not fatten before the harsh weather of winter sets in. To get these lambs a way to the works fat is all important as it saves carrying them through the winter. The alternative is to saci dice them at cheap prices in order to make tho food which they would eat available for the breeding stock on the place.

There may he some difficulty in starting lambs on concentrates, and that is why some of the most palatable foods like Moose Linseed Meal and Nuts are generally fed mixed with oats. Just a little should be fed at the bottom of the troughs for the first lew days—once a few cf the lambs take to the concentrated food the quantities fed can ho gradually increased to Jll) or more daily of a mixture of 1 part Moose Linseed Meal to 4 parts of oats by weight. If root or fodder crops and pasture are poor, this quantity could ho somewhat increased .

Another method of starting lambs on concentrates is to leave a few ewes in with thorn at first. Tho ewes will quickly take to the concentrate and the lambs will soon follow their example. The owes can then be excluded from tho troughs. Again, the mixing of a little salt with the concentrates in tho troughs for a start is sometimes resorted to, or a little molasses, and these' -have both proved very efficient methods.

Considering the fact that for such a small cost per head lambs can be pushed on profitably to marketable weights in much shorter time it is truly remarkable that this class of feeding lias developed in Now Zealand only over the last few years. Til the United Kingdom it is quite tho common practice and again in the United Stales of America, and, though in both those cases conditions are somewhat different, there is no donl.Vt that tho idea adapted for New Zealand may be of great benefit.