Displaying items by tag: lambing

With lambing underway in many regions, Beef + Lamb New Zealand is encouraging farmers to put together a wellequipped lambing kit to help minimise lamb losses, particularly in bad weather.

Scanning is a great time to start identifying and managing groups of ewes based on feeding priorities. Wormwise's Mary Bowron discusses some of the possible reasons ewes lose condition in early winter - and it's not necessarily internal parasites.

With weaning soon to get underway, some simple management strategies can help prevent the economic losses associated with pneumonia and pleurisy.

Improving lamb survival rates is a key focus for New Zealand farmers, especially this time of year.

Lambing is now well advanced around much of New Zealand, including in areas where drought-like conditions are presenting real challenges for farmers, on top of a poor run of prices for their product.

A Christchurch manufacturer of woollen covers for newborn lambs says his covers pay dividends in survival rates and liveweight gains, especially at a time when farmers are feeling the economic pinch.

Ewes' feeding requirements increase in the latter stages of pregnancy and even more so during lactation.

Farmers traditionally reliant on Bionic Plus capsules to manage internal parasites in ewes over lambing are being warned they may need to plan to farm without the product this year.

With lambing and calving about to start, Beef + Lamb New Zealand is reminding farmers of the importance of providing ewes and cows with suitable, well-sheltered areas for lambing and calving.

The ewe is under her greatest nutritional and metabolic stress in late pregnancy and in early lactation.