Lynley Wyeth rears 350-500 lambs annually. In her first few years she had consistent trouble with abomasal bloat. Yoghurtising milk was sometimes successful, but not always. Another challenge was weaning lambs from milk onto concentrates.
Searching for a solution, Lynley came across AgriVantage’s Sprayfo Primo Lamb in 2013. Roll onto 2021 and Lynley remains a firm Sprayfo and AgriVantage advocate. In addition to Sprayfo, her rearing toolbox includes Launchpad18 colostrum, Biopect prebiotic and Stalosan F biosecurity aid.
Lynley and her husband Matt own Spring Valley Enterprises in North West Masterton. 80 per cent sheep and 20 percent Angus breeding cattle, they run 15,000 stock units. The orphan lambs are a collection of triplets, quads, quins, any that are mismothered or have lost their mothers and those affected by severe weather events.
For Lynley, Sprayfo Primo Lamb was a game changer.
“Switching to Sprayfo solved our abomasal bloat issues straight away” she says. “I haven’t lost a single lamb to bloat since we started using it.
“There was also a considerable drop in nutritional scours cases and weight gain was more consistent and higher than before.” Lynely notes the lambs gain 200-220g/day on average pre-weaning.
She adds that transitioning the lambs onto a pellet became so much easier too. Being whey-based and quickly digested, Sprayfo Primo Lamb helps to enhance rumen development because the animals seek out concentrates sooner.
The lambs initially come into nursery pens where they are closely monitored. Most are fed Launchpad18 colostrum on arrival, followed by Sprayfo Primo Lamb supplemented with Biopect for days 2, 3 and 4.
“Launchpad18 is the one product that’s more consistent with ewe’s colostrum” Lynley says. “It mixes well and goes through the feeder easily, despite being quite thick.
“It’s cost-effective too. One feed delivers the right amount of immunity to the lambs and they transition straight onto Sprayfo; there is no need to do half and half feeds (which saves on labour).
“Biopect sits well as a preventative” continues Lynley, “it’s great for perking up any lethargic lambs.”
Stalosan F is spread regularly in the nursery pens.
“One of the key advantages with Stalosan F is its ability to absorb moisture. Plus, a little goes a long way.”
Ad-lib feeding with Sprayfo.
Once Lynley is happy that a lamb is thriving, it moves onto the rearing shed and an automatic feeding system. Ad-lib feeding was only introduced a couple of years ago, prior to that they used calf feeders adapted for lambs. Lynley notes that Sprayfo Primo Lamb has worked well with both systems.
“Sprayfo is easy to mix manually and easy to clean” she explains. “It goes through the automatic feeders easily and is easy to clean out too. There’s no blocking of tubes; even if a tube doesn’t get sucked, the milk doesn’t solidify in the tube.”
Lynley concludes with a comment that support from the AgriVantage team has been invaluable to their operation.
“AgriVantage had huge input into our shed setup and constantly feed us good information, tips and tricks. I remember when we started with the automatic feeder and the lambs were chewing the teats off. Their advice was to try recessed teats – it changed my life!
“If I have a question about rearing, I only have to pick up the phone and call AgriVantage.”
The AgriVantage products Lynley uses
Sprayfo Primo Lamb
Stalosan F
Launchpad 18
