Sheep Industry News July 2023

Sheep Nutrition CLAY ELLIOTT, PH.D., PURINA ANIMAL NUTRITION How Can I Get Ewes To Conceive on the First Service?

T hat’s one of the biggest questions I hear from sheep produc ers this time of year. And while there’s no magic answer, the more you prepare in the pre-breeding period, the fewer headaches you’ll have when it’s time to breed ewes. Implement the following steps now to prepare ewes for breeding season and beyond. PRE-BREEDING MANAGEMENT The less stress ewes have before breeding, the better. Complete management tasks like shearing, hoof trimming and worming early to ensure ewes have time to de-stress from these activities and are comfortable come breeding time. Pre-breeding is also an excellent time to evaluate udders, mouths, hooves, legs and overall animal soundness. Early culling decisions can help you prioritize resources to set your operation up for success at breeding and beyond. BODY CONDITION SCORING Assessing body condition pre-breeding is crucial. Many sheep producers turn ewes out to pasture after lambing and don’t have eyes on them regularly until breeding. If ewes lose too much condition during this time, they have to play catch up, costing you time and resources. It’s recommended for ewes to maintain a body condition score of 2 to 2.5 after lambing. Forty-five to 60 days prior to breeding, increase ewe nutrition – also called flushing – to reach a BCS of 3 at breeding time. Ewes that are too thin at breeding can have challenges conceiving and maintaining pregnancies. There are many ways to flush ewes. A flushing program might be as simple as providing supplemental forages, especially if you’re in a drought area. Or you may need a more aggressive nutrition program to get ewes in ideal breeding condition. Evaluate your flock’s current BCS and work with a nutritionist to develop a flushing program that takes ewes from where they are now to where you want them to be at breeding. PROVIDE SUPPLEMENTAL FAT One of the best ways to help meet BCS goals is to increase fat in the diet. Most supplemental nutrition products range between 2.5

and 4 percent fat, but that might not be enough in the pre-breeding period. Increase fat levels in the diet to 5 to 10 percent in the 45 to 60 days before breeding. Increased dietary fat is even more important for artificial insemi nation or embryo transfer programs than conventional breeding programs. Fat is a precursor to cholesterol, which helps set up the female reproductive hormones in the ewe. Maintaining a 5 to 10 percent fat level isn’t needed – or eco nomical – year-round. Monitor body condition post-breeding to determine when to start decreasing fat in the diet. This is especially important for ewes in confined housing because of the risk of over consumption, leading to over-condition. If ewes have too much body condition, you might start to see challenges at parturition. MINERAL IS A MUST-HAVE Whether ewes are in good condition or need to pack on a few pounds, mineral is a must for any flushing program. Even the high est quality forages can fall short of providing ewes with necessary minerals, including calcium, magnesium, cobalt, vitamins A and E and selenium. AI and ET breeding programs should put extra emphasis on en suring ewes consume enough mineral. These breeding programs put additional stress and energy demands on ewes, so any support you can give them is recommended. In addition to providing free-choice mineral, top dress your nu tritional supplements with mineral. Feeding supplemental nutrition twice a day, top-dressed with mineral, means ewes could consume an extra quarter to half ounce of mineral per head per day. While reducing fat levels in the diet after breeding is recommend ed, that’s not the case with mineral. Feeding a high-quality mineral year-round will go a long way to keeping ewes prepared for not only breeding season, but gestation and parturition as well. Breeding season can make or break the future profitability of your flock. Ensure you’re setting yourself and your flock up for success by focusing on critical management and nutrition steps 45 to 60 days prior to the start of breeding. Visit PurinaMills.com/sheep-feed to learn more. Clay Elliott, Ph.D., is a small ruminant technical specialist with Purina Animal Nutrition. Contact him at CElliott@landolakes.com.

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