OUTSIZE LAMB AND CALF

Southland Times, Issue 23676, 26 November 1938, Page 19

OUTSIZE LAMB AND CALF

It is well known that the size and condition of a young animal at birth is an indication of its ability to grow and thrive. This fact has been very clearly brought out by investigation and experience at Lincoln College, particularly in sheep. It was found that the heaviest good conditioned lambs at birth were the first ones to become fat off the mothers at good weights, and also that a big proportion of lambs of this nature could be produced, by carer -Frilly "balanced feeding of the ewes dur—ing the pregnancy period. Acting upon the information mentioned a number of farmers in this province have this season obtained most satisfactory results. Up to the present comparatively few farmers have taken the trouble to experiment with the weighing of a number of lambs as a check of farm conditions. However, at Gummies Bush, the flock of Mr W. B. Hopcroft has produced a number of very big lambs, one of which turned the scales at 14Jlb at birth. It is possible that this weight is something of a record. The lamb in question had a good deal of difficulty in making his appearance and unfortunately gave up the struggle a day or so later. An outsize in calves was bom.at Wyndham many years ago on Mr Peter Campbell s farm. A 10 months calf when bom weighed 1221 b. This bull calf grew at a very rapid rate and was of exceptional size and quality when killed as a steer at two years old.