Place For Early Weaning In Time Of Feed Shortage

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29330, 8 October 1960, Page 8

Place For Early Weaning In Time Of Feed Shortage

'E’ARMERS visiting Canterbury -*■ Agricultural College’s light land farm at Ashley Dene a year ago saw lambs that had been weaned at eight to nine weeks of age. This week Professor A. H. Flay, head of the farm manage ment and rural valuation department at the college, was questioned about the practice of early weaning.

Early drafting off the mothers and early weaning were both expediencies in management in times of feed shortage on medium and light land farms, he said. From the farm management point of view early weaning was only a means of conserving for the use of the lambs a limited quantity of lamb fattening feed If there was adequate feed of fattening quality for lambs as well as their mothers there was ho point in early weaning. A supply to the lambs plus as much grazing of fattening quality as they were able to consume was preferable to this feed without the milk. This was something that was well recognised by all practical fat lamb producers, but the real point was that everyone was endeavouring to stock to capacity and where there was no other source of income it was right that they should stock to capacity. This, however, meant that in adverse seasons such as late springs and dry Octobers and Novembers, as had been experienced In the last two seasons, the practice of early weaning became necessary in the interests of the drafting of the maximum number of light-weight fat lambs off a limited supply of quality feed.

Where under these conditions there Was not sufficient of this feed for both ewes and lambs, lambs had been weaned at Ashley Dene as early as at eight and 10 weeks o fage and a few farmers had done this*also.

“The important point,” said Professor Flay, “is that the lambs must go on to high quality wilting clovers (subterranean, etc.) and drying off or maturing reasonably short lucerne. Lambs weaned at eight weeks of age at Ashley Dene last year when put on to such ’feed were drafted fat two to three weeks later at light weights even though they were omitted by the buyer in his actual drafting of all lambs that would kill as firsts or seconds on the various killing dates.”

Professor Flay said that between 30 and 50 per cent, of the lambs weaned early and fed in the way mentioned had killed out as seconds and these lambs had averaged about 29 to 301 b. “It is not recommended that lambs be killed at 29 to 301 b if the feed supply is sufficient to carry them through to 32 or 341 b. Early drafting off the mothers and early vteaning are both expediencies in times of feed shortage on medium and light land farms where moisture deficiency is already evident and where there is little carry over of hay, as at Ashley Dene for instance. Replacement of this hay is vital to maintaining carrying capacity and so it can be said now that many light land farmers should draft fat lambs early and wean reasonably early so as to safeguard their lucerne and other suitable pastures for hay for use next winter.”