FEEDING ENSILAGE TO SHEEP.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XL, Issue 4, 22 April 1930, Page 251

FEEDING ENSILAGE TO SHEEP.

SOME SUCCESSFUL EXPERIENCES BY FARMERS. Many hundreds of New Zealand farmers are successfully and profitably feeding ensilage to dairy cows. This fact is prompting numbers to ask whether it is advisable to feed ensilage to sheep. Much light will be thrown on this matter by relating what had already been the experience in New Zealand of certain farmers who have fed ensilage to sheep. South Island Experience. Mr. C. V. Dayus, District Superintendent, Live-stock Division, Dunedin, gives the following particulars : ■ Otautau. Mr. R. Greenslade, of the Otautau district, Southland, fed oats and peas ensilage, at the rate of about 2 lb. daily, to sheep during the winter of 1929. The sheep did well, and Mr. Greenslade intends to continue using ensilage in this manner. Queenstown. — Messrs. H. McKenzie and Sons, of the Queenstown district, also fed ensilage to hoggets during last winter. They are of the opinion that the hoggets did much better on it than other sheep did on hay, and they intend to make more ensilage in future. Myross Bush. — Mr. H. C. Stevens, Myross Bush, near Invercargill, fed ensilage to 400 sheep during last winter, and intends to increase his ensilage supplies. In respect to Mr. Steven’s experience, Mr. G. W. Wild, of the Fields Division, Invercargill, reports as follows : In July it was decided to commence feeding out the ensilage. This proved to be of an excellent sweet green type from top to bottom. A mob of 400 in-lamb ewes had been selected for feeding. A timely fall of snow proved most opportune, as the ensilage, when thrown along the gorse hedge, was

quickly sampled and found palatable by the hungry ewes. _ Hoggets showed less inclination to take readily to the ensilage at the start, but this soon changed to wholesale liking. A V-shaped hay-rack constructed of wire netting was next erected. It was decided to use half of this rack for hay and half for ensilage, the total length being approximately a chain. About 2 lb. of ensilage per ewe was allowed each day. The. ewes showed decided preference for the ensilage. Mr.; Stevens’s opinion of the results he obtained with the ensilage may be judged from the fact that this season he has saved some 140 tons of grass ensilage in place of the 80 .'tons saved in the preceding year. Mr. J. Kerrigan, District Superintendent, Live-stock Division, Christchurch, advises : • . - -

South Canterbury. — Mr. Allen, of the Mackenzie County, who fed ensilage to hoggets, is of the opinion that they ate it readily and did very well on it.

North Island Experience.

Mr. W. C. Barry, District Superintendent, Live-stock Division, Wellington, forwards the following notes : Hastings. — Messrs. Thompson Bros., of Ngatarawa, Hastings district, have fed considerable quantities of ensilage to their sheep, and are of opinion that by doing so they have practically doubled the carrying-capacity of the farm. Mr. Thompson, who supplied the information, does not claim that he can fatten-sheep by feeding them on ensilage, but considers that it tends to keep them ,in good health. He thinks there has been less “ bearing ” trouble among the breedingewes since feeding with ensilage, and that the quality of . the' wool has improved. Ensilage from one pit fed 2,500 sheep from April to October. Mr. Thompson says the taste for ensilage by sheep is what might be termed an acquired one, but that once sheep have acquired it they come readily whenever they see the daily supply of ensilage arriving.

Karioi. Mr. Black, of Karioi, Raetihi district, has been feeding 1,500 ewes on ensilage placed in racks situated in the run-off paddock from turnips. He states that the ewes do much better on it than when he was feeding hay with the turnips. . Taranaki. — In this district Mr. A. Turnbull has. fed ensilage to sheep for several years, and states that slight digestive disorders have been experienced occasionally when feeding it to in-lamb ewes; in such cases has had to discontinue feeding, it for short periods., Mr. Turnbull and another Taranaki farmer who has been feeding ensilage to sheep agree that it is necessary to have ordinary grazing for the sheep . as well, the ensilage alone not being satisfactory.

Feilding lnvestigation of the experience of Mr. A. S. Brewster, Makino, Feilding, by Mr. R. P. Connell, of the Fields Division, disclosed the following most instructive results : . Mr. Brewster wintered on his farm, which, is devoted wholly to sheep, 1,110 four- to five-year-old crossbred Romney ewes. Up to docking- there were thirtyone ewes lost by death. The lambs tailed represented 104 per. cent, of all ewes wintered. Lambing difficulties did not. at all show any unusual features. The wool obtained this season averaged 9|lb. per ewe, and was of good quality and not characterized by breaks. The sales of fat lambs were the most striking feature of the farm. The

fat lambs sold from the flock up to 23rd December last represented 71 per cent, of the lambs reared. A number of these lambs were sold early for butcher’s use, and the weights of these were not ascertained, but the main draft averaged 38-8 lb. ' The previous season’s lambs from this farm averaged 37-7 lb. According to the estimates, of leading local buyers for freezing companies, farms -of similar good character to Mr. Brewster’s were, on the average, disposing of about 50 per cent, of their lambs as fats prior to Christmas, compared with Mr. Brewster’s 71 per cent. Further, whereas generally the lambs drafted as fat were, on the average, 3 lb. to 5 lb. down in weight compared with the lambs from the same farms in the previous season, Mr. Brewster’s lambs were 1 lb. up in weight. Hence, Mr. Brewster’s results ■ this season stand out both in respect to weight of lambs and relative numbers sold. During June and July and right up to lambingtime Mr. Brewster fed ensilage to the ewes at the rate of about 2 lb. daily. He considers ewes should be in good condition when first they are offered ensilage, as he found it necessary to practically starve them for some days before they could be forced to commence eating it, although once they made a start they continued consuming it quite readily, with the exception of a small number, which therefore were drafted out and attended to otherwise. In feeding the ensilage to the ewes prior to lambing, Mr. Brewster ran them in lots of 400 at the rate of approximately 14 ewes to the acre. As the ewes lambed they were drafted into paddocks of fresh grass, which had been spelled for some of the time the ensilage was being fed. In midSeptember Mr. Brewster’s lambs were inspected, and then were very forward in comparison with others in the district. It would seem that the ensilage fed to the ewes acted in a twofold way : (1) The lambs were born in better condition and stronger than they would have been had the ewes been without ensilage ; (2) the ewes were in better condition at lambing, and hence milked better after lambing. Mr. Brewster says of ensilage feeding to sheep : “It seems to me one of the coming methods of wintering a large number. of ewes on a small acreage successfully. I shall be wintering, my ewes on ensilage again this year.”. Waverley.— Mr. F. G. Ell, manager of Dr. Paget’s farm at Waverley, courteously supplied details of his experience to the Director of the Fields Division. Mr Ell, who has been feeding ensilage to sheep for four years, commences feeding it in June and continues it until the end of September. He had some difficulty in getting the sheep started on it the first year. His method is to graze a couple of paddocks very hard with cattle, he then puts a flock of 1,000 ewes in one pad dock and feeds out a ton of ensilage. In the other ' paddock he feeds out T-ton of hay and about 2 tons of carrots, and then changes the ewes from one paddock to the other every second day or so for about a month. He always feeds ensilage in combination with hay or carrots. He estimates that the ewes consume about 2 lb. of ensilage daily. The average mortality among the ewes for the past four years was i| per cent., and the average wool clip lb. The lambing percentages for the past four years were 101 in 1926, 109 in 1927, 117 in 1928, and 105 in 1929.

Rotorua. — At the Prison Farm in the Rotorua district ewes were fed on grass and clover ensilage from the end of June to September. At first the ewes ate little of the ensilage,, but after a week or so they looked for it.

Summary.

From the foregoing record of the experience and opinions it is clear, that ensilage is being fed successfully to sheep in various parts of New Zealand by a number of farmers. Points brought out in the experiences related may be summarized as follows : (1) Sheep, as might be expected, being shy, nervous animals, do not immediately consume a strange fodder such as ensilage, but once having become accustomed to it they consume it readily. Probably one of the best methods of inducing sheep to commence eating ensilage. is to stock a relatively bare paddock heavilyat the rate of fifteen sheep or so to the acre —and then feed out the ensilage. After the first season of feeding there will usually be on hand sheep from the previous season which have consumed ensilage and which will act as leaders ,in eating it to those sheep to which it is being fed for the first time.

(2) Successful experience with ensilage has usually been the feeding of relatively small amounts dailyabout 2 Ib.—in conjunction with other forage. The experience does not disclose definitely whetherlarger amounts of ensilage could be fed with profit and without any danger of trouble, but until it has been shown what quantities can be fed to in-lamb ewes with safety it will be well for farmers giving the method a trial to feed not more than lb. per ewe daily. The Department of Agriculture will be glad to receive details of the experience of any other farmers who have been feeding ensilage to sheep. _—Fields Division.

—Census and Statistics Office.

Utilization of Irrigated Lands. Area irrigated. • Year 1927-28. Year 1928-29. Acres. Acres. Orchards . . •. .. 2,244 2,032 Green fodder and root crops . . . . ■ 3,099 2,985 Pasture .... .. 50.201 53, IO 4 Lucerne . . .. .. ■. ,290 1,061 Oats . . . . . . . . . . . 316 3.65 Wheat . . . . .. . . . . 60 106 Barley . . . . . . . . 16 159 Market gardens . . . . . . . . 6 19 Other crops .. . . .... 8 14 Totals .. . . . . 57.240. 59,845 '

STATISTICS OF IRRIGATED LANDS IN NEW ZEALAND.