On Blackfern Farms, approximately 20-40 orphan lambs are hand-reared each year. A mix of abandoned lambs, twins, and triplets.
Launchpad18™ colostrum powder, Sprayfo lamb milk replacer, and a super-star neighbour are Angela and Adrian Dempster’s keys to success.
2021 being her third season rearing orphan lambs, Angela says it was her best year yet. Lambing started on 20th August, and all were weaned by 1st December. “All the orphans were over 18kgs with some weighing in at 24kgs!”
Blackfern Farms set-up
Farm type: Sheep, beef and deer
Location: Umutoi, Apiti
Stock numbers: 1200 sheep Textra (texel/east fresian/coopworth composite), 200 cattle, 550 deer
Products used: Launchpad18, Sprayfo Primo Lamb
Target weaning weight: 18kg (lambs)
Pauline is Angela’s neighbour; her place is the nursery. Once lambing starts, warm bottles of Launchpad18 colostrum are at the ready. Every orphan is fed colostrum first, some are also bathed, dried, and put by the fire.
“I swear by Launchpad18” says Angela. “I guess it’s more expensive, but you get what you pay for. And we know exactly how much colostrum and antibodies each lamb is getting.”
Pauline agrees. “Launchpad18 is number one on our list. We lost very few lambs last year. Initially they are cold and wet with no energy, but the majority come around. I watched some go from flat out in front of the fire to being on their feet and bleating in half an hour.”
Pauline notes that she tends to dilute the thick and creamy reconstituted Launchpad18 to get it down the little ones more easily. And some lambs are given half a feed to begin with and the other half within a few hours¹.
After colostrum, Sprayfo Primo lamb milk replacer is bottle fed for the first few days. Angela has reared lambs with Sprayfo Primo lamb milk replacer since she started out. She chose the product based on advice from a friend who rears over 100 lambs each season.
Once the lambs can survive on their own, they move from Pauline’s nursery to rearing pens, where Angela takes over.
Sprayfo Primo lamb milk replacer is fed 4 times daily through Stallion feeders. The lambs also have adlib access to water, muesli and hay.
“Sprayfo is super convenient” says Angela. “Whether mixing a whole batch or enough for one, mixing is easy and there’s no lumps in the milk.
“As long as the lambs have the meal, they are well satisfied” she adds. Being whey-based, Sprayfo Primo is quickly digested encouraging the animals to seek out concentrates earlier.
“2021 was our best year ever” she says. “The lambs were weaned in 2.5 months. All the orphans went with our first cut on 15th December, which was much earlier than previous years. They averaged 16.4kg on the hook.
“I kept five of the ewe lambs as replacements, and they were the best-looking lambs I’ve ever had.”
This season, the Dempsters are trialling a later lambing date, hoping to hit a feed curve to better support the ewes through lactation.
More rearing tips from Angela
- Apply iodine to navels twice daily for three days.
- “We are pedantic with iodine application, but we don’t see joint ill. We picked up lambs out of rain, snow and mud and didn’t see a single case of joint ill last year.”
- Neck bands for identification in the first couple of weeks. Angela and Pauline use a neckband colour system to identify:
- Which lambs have not had a full feed of colostrum.
- How much a lamb is drinking.
- Use lamb covers for the first few days.
Note
If you are having problems tubing/feeding smaller animals, try mixing half the amount and watering it down slightly, therefore giving the animal two smaller feeds. See https://www.agrivantage.co.nz/launchpad-18-feeding-schedule/ for more details.
Products used by Blackfern Farms
Launchpad18 Colostrum
Our premium, whole colostrum replacer with high levels of IgG.
Sprayfo Primo
Our premium lamb milk replacer for optimised growth.