West Otago lamb rearer Lyn Chittock has experienced a significant decrease in lamb mortality from bloat over the last three seasons, having lost 40 out of 230 orphan lambs in 2015. She’s also regularly exceeding her weaning targets.
So, what’s changed?
Lyn switched her lambs to AgriVantage’s Sprayfo Primo Lamb whey milk replacer in 2016.
Lyn describes her lambs as happy and healthy with a good amount of fat on their backs.
“We came across Sprayfo on the recommendation of our Farmlands team” explains Lyn.
“Warren from AgriVantage talked us through the benefits of whey milk replacer for lambs and why it was a safer option for rearing. It sounded really good, so we decided to give it a go.”
Sprayfo Primo Lamb milk replacer is specially formulated for lambs.
Being whey-based, it’s non-curding and easily digested in the gut, moving through a lamb in 2-3 hours compared to the 5-8 hours it takes for lambs to digest traditional curding (casein) milk powders.
Furthermore, it contains hydrolysed wheat protein, which is proven to have better digestive properties than other commonly used protein sources, such as soy.
Therefore, Sprayfo Primo Lamb doesn’t cause bloat and is much safer for lambs to feed on.
“I am so glad we changed to Sprayfo” says Lyn. “The product not only exceeded our expectations in terms of solving the bloat issue, it also made rearing so much easier.”
In 2017, Lyn had a new shed built for the lambs, designed to maximise the sunlight. At the same time, on Warren’s recommendation, she added an automatic milk feeder, enabling the lambs to feed adlib from the time they enter the shed (at about 2-3 days old).
Lyn’s lambs have access to hard feed and hay adlib from about 4 days old.
The rapid digestion of the whey-based milk replacer encourages earlier intake of concentrates into the rumen.
“They are nibbling on feed as soon as they come into the shed” confirms Lyn. “And they have fresh water every day too.
Lyn says she’s seen a big increase in growth rates since changing to Sprayfo.
“Pre-Sprayfo, we were weaning at about 10kg, normally at about 8 weeks old. In 2016, we advanced to weaning at 13kg within 6 to 7 weeks.
“My notes from 2017 indicate that lambing started on September 5. 36 lambs were weaned on October 31, weighing in at between 16-20kgs.
“I highly recommend Sprayfo” concludes Lyn. “We don’t see bloat in the lambs and it’s excellent for growth.”