Will, Stephen and Alan Vose farm with their father Bill at Blundell House Farm near Ormskirk where the main enterprises are arable crops including maincrop potatoes and a 1000 ewe flock, split into January and March lambing groups. The Suffolk x Mule ewes are put to Hampshire tups and average 1.65 lambs sold per ewe […]
A developing ovine foetus does nearly 70% of its growth in the final 6 weeks of gestation. As the unborn lamb grows, so does the energy demand placed on the heavily pregnant ewe. The more lambs she carries, the greater her daily energy requirement. Twin lamb disease (pregnancy toxaemia) results from an inadequate dietary energy […]
Forage is still one of the cheapest available feeds for cattle and is capable of sustaining good levels of animal performance even in the autumn and winter. But forage provides an inconsistent source of nutrients and without a balanced nutrient intake, feed digestion and animal performance will suffer. Growing youngstock, including bulling and in-calf heifers […]
FLUSHING & TUPPING WITH CRYSTALYX EXTRA HIGH ENERGY Nutrition during the weeks before mating should ensure all ewes are in the correct body condition score by the time they join the ram. Why bother? Because over fat or thin ewes never perform well: They take longer to come on heat when rams are turned in […]
NEW APPROACH OFFERS RESPITE FROM TAIL-BITING Tail biting continues to present a drain on pig producer margins but a new nutritional supplement is helping reduce the extent of tail biting behaviour which could have big benefits. There is no single factor that causes pigs to begin tail biting, but once they start it can become […]