New Friends
by Kathy Bassett
Title
New Friends
Artist
Kathy Bassett
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
The lambing season is on with vigor on this local farm. This lucky weanling had some extra comfort from a pony that was fenced in next to a watering area with shared water bucket. Weaning is a crucial time in the management of ewes and lambs. It is the practice of removing from lambs the milk diet provided by the ewe (or a milk replacement diet). From the milk diet, lambs are moved onto forage or grain-based diets. The separation can be stressful for both ewes and lambs. It should be the goal of all producers to minimize stress at weaning.When to wean Weaning age varies greatly in the sheep industry and depends upon many factors including availability of pasture and other feed supplies and target market. Lambs have been weaned successfully as early as 14 days, while some lambs are allowed to wean naturally, staying with the dams for six months or more. In fact, some lambs are marketed before they are weaned.Early in life, the lamb cannot digest anything but milk. However, by 3 weeks of age, the developed rumen makes the lamb more efficient than the ewe. Typically, the ewe's milk production peaks 3 to 4 weeks after lambing and steadily declines to about half as much by 10 weeks. About 74 percent of all milk is produced in the first 8 weeks of lactation.
Uploaded
April 14th, 2013
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