Feeding Ewes over Mating – Timing is Everything
/Make the most of the feed you put into your ewes over mating by putting it into the right ewes at the right time. Your biggest gains will be in the lighter animals, as they will respond better – increasing body condition with less feed input than a heavier ewe. If you have extra feed make sure it’s going into these priority ewes, and for several weeks before mating and up to a cycle into mating.
For light ewes (BCS <3):
Give additional feed.
Put in a separate mob.
Flush with higher quantity and quality of feed before mating and for the first 14-17 days of mating – this will increase ovulation rates and potentially lambing percentages.
For most ewes (at BCS 3 – 3.5) feeding levels should remain at maintenance or just above as they head into mating.
If they’re being flushed, they can continue to be for the first couple of weeks, but there is no benefit to carrying on past their first cycle (17 days).
Don’t give them a lot of extra feed – use on lighter animals and save it for winter, thus improving spring covers and hopefully lamb growth rates.
Can you over feed ewes at mating?
In some cases increasing the feeding level to over-conditioned ewes – BCS 4.0+ – will actually have a negative effect on their fertility, kind of the opposite of a flushing effect.
Another reason to BCS your ewes before mating – draft off the skinny ones and don’t waste feed on all those at BCS 3 or above.
Bearings:
One of the biggest risk factors for ewe bearings is weight gain in the first trimester of pregnancy (from mating to scanning). Put another way we see a lot more bearings in the spring when there is a feed surplus in late autumn.
With that in mind, tightening up ewes after the first cycle is prudent and provides an opportunity for ewes to do some clean up duties before the demands of later stage pregnancy and winter sets in.