AM UNFAVOURABLE SEASON

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23517, 3 June 1938, Page 20

AM UNFAVOURABLE SEASON

WINTER SHOW AND RACING CARNIVAL

•j UNUSUAL DROUGHT CONDITIONS WINTER FEEDING A PROBLEM SHORTAGE OF CUSTOMARY FODDERS Most parts of the province of Otago experienced very difficult climatic conditions during the greater part of the season. With the possible exception of certain parts of North Otago, the whole provincial district suffered from the effects of a prolonged drought which varied in seriousness in different localities. These conditions had a marked effect on lamb fattening, and in addition made it very difficult, in many instances quite impossible, for farmers to make the usual provision of supplementary fodder for the winter months. South Otago and Central Otago were especially hard hit in this respect, and it has only been the mild conditions ruling for the first part of the winter, following on late autumn rains, that have enabled the grazier and the dairy farmer to approach the winter with anything like equanimity. Even as things are, a great many farmers are still uncertain how the winter will finish for them, despite a heavy shortening of stock and the growing of special emergency crops, WINTER FEEDING OF SHEEP When turnip and green-feed crops fail there is usually some anxiety amongst farmers as to the way they are to winter their sheep, because they doubt if it is possible to feed sheep successfully on dry feed for any lengthy period. The results of sheep-feeding trials con-

ducted at Lincoln College have shown that there is no foundation for these doubts and provided reasonable care is exercised in feeding the sheep. It is essential that the fodder available be (1) fed daily, (2) reasonably balanced with regard to the various major food constituents, and (3) fed in sufficient quantity to maintain the body weight of the sheep. It is not intended to convey the idea that feeding on dry feed is the ideal way to winter sheep, but any sheep owner who gives this method a careful trial will not roly in the future so much on turnips.

If dry feeding is to be successful, it must begin before the sheep show any signs of losing condition. This is particularly important where the sheep have not been accustomed previously to eating out of troughs, feeders, or hay racks. Considerable care should be exercised in educating the sheep to eat the dry feed, othenvise some sheep will not receive their share, and will quickly go back in condition.

METHODS OF FEEDING The foodstuffs most likely to be available are oat sheaves, hay, straw, grain, and possibly ensilage. In the case of hay and straw, these may be fed in racks or hay-feeders, or also spread thinly across the paddocks. With feeders or racks there will be less-wastage, but the sheep droppings and feed residues accumulate in one place, and if the weather is wet there is a greater tendency for foot-rot to develop. There is also the difficulty of supplying a sufficient length of feeding area so that all the sheep in a mob may feed at once. Spreading the material in lines across the field overcomes some of these difficulties, but it is essential to see that there are no clumps of feed, otherwise there will be excessive wastage. In the case of straw, if there is an ample supply of it, this wastage on the ground is not harmful, but rather the reverse, as it will help to build up soil fertility. Oat sheaves, and in some cases straw, may be cut into chaff and fed out in troughs or chaff feeders. It is possible to spread the sheaves out thinly in lines across the paddocks, when the bands tying the sheaves should be cut on the dray and the material forked out thinly. There will be some wastage in this method, but each farmer must decide for himself if he has a sufficient reserve of fodder to allow for this wastage, and if the saving in the expenses of chaffcutting, supplying bags, providing troughs, etc., warrants the wastage. If fodder has to be purchased and carted, it will be essential to have it chaffed. FEEDERS If chaff is to be fed, it will be necessary to have a supply of feeding troughs, and it should be realised that where rationing is to be adopted and where large numbers of sheep are to be fed, chaff self-feeders are seldom satisfactory. The provision of a sufficient length of feeder so that all sheep can feed at once is too expensive. The result of using a limited number of self-feeders is that greedy sheep get more than their share, and it is not possible to control easily the amount consumed per sheep per day. There is also a tendency to put out two or three days’ feed at once, and this is frequently eaten the first day, and for the other days the sheep have to go hungry, which is undesirable.

When calculating the length of shallow troughs required to feed a mob, it is usual to allow about nine inches length per sheep. The troughs may be. made either from wood or from manure bags. In the former case an Bin-wide board is used for the bottom, and 6in-wide boards are nailed on the sides to give a trough Sin wide and sin deep.. It is desirable to make the troughs as solid as possible and to have no projecting pieces of timber, especially where they have to be moved about in drays. A good set of troughs, carefully handled, should last several years. About 10ft long is a convenient length for handling and carting. If manure bags are used, they are sewn together end to end, and two lengths of fencing wire, about 6ft longer than the bags, should have their ends sharpened to facilitate threading them along inside the bags. Two posts should be set in the ground a little further apart than the length of the bags, the wire attached to one post, about one foot above the ground, and strained to the other. Spreader battens should be placed in position about 10ft apart to keep the feeder open, and short stakes should be driven into the ground at each spreader to support the weight of the feeder, A third wire should be strained between the posts about one foot above the trough to prevent the sheep getting in to it. A convenient form of hay or straw rack can be made from a 50yd coil of sheep netting. Two posts should be set in the ground about 51 yards apart, and a wire strained between them about one foot above the ground, and two more about 18in higher up. The netting is then tightly stretched between the posts, both edges being attached to the higher wires by ties at 2ft intervals. The centre of the netting should then be attached to the bottom wire, the two top wires spread open by battens, and stakes driven in at intervals to support the weight. PRECAUTIONS One hundred feet of trough will feed approximately 140 to 150 sheep, and when trough feeding it is desirable to have the sheep in lots of not more than 400. A set of troughs placed in a central position, preferably on high ground, may be used to feed in rotation a number of mobs. In all cases of hand-feeding it is desirable to place the feed in the troughs and racks or to spread it out in the paddocks while the sheep are in some other field in order to avoid getting the material into the wool. Where grain is being fed for the first time it is necessary to use care to see that some sheep do not get excessive quantities and become foundered. At the start of the feeding only small quantities should be put out at once, and any left in the trough at the end of 20 minutes should be cleared out. Once all the sheep are eating there is not much likelihood of such a quantity being put out that the greedy sheep will get more than its share. If possible, oat-sheaf chat? or chaffed straw should accompany grain. Where there's difficulty in getting sheep to take any roughage, it should be sprinkled with diluted molasses to improve the palatability. The molasses need not necessarily be continued after the sheep are eating readily, and it certainly should not be used to encourage the sheep to eat excessive quantities of poor quality roughage such as wheat or Italian ryegrass straw. Where troughs are being used, the feed may also be damped Avith molasses, or have sugar, aniseed, salt, or some similar material added to make the food more attractive.