Regina lamb lovers

[Sheepwheat]

If you need lamb, ours is now in the Regina Farmers Market online store, (we will also do some summer markets, see you there!), and a new store in Emerald park called Farmer Johns, opening tomorrow I believe.

Just a heads up. I think this is marketing? Haha.

[Landdownunder]

Supermarket prices here. All prices per KG

Lamb cutlets around the $25 to 27

Lamb roasts $18

Steak t bone $35 to 40

Rib eye $50 plus

Lambs I sold the other week worked out $8 per kilo dressed including skin. Dressing % around 43.

[woodland]

Supermarket prices here. All prices per KG

Lamb cutlets around the $25 to 27

Lamb roasts $18

Steak t bone $35 to 40

Rib eye $50 plus

Lambs I sold the other week worked out $8 per kilo dressed including skin. Dressing % around 43.

Hmmm I thought lambs would dress higher than that. Used to fat cattle at 60% or so. Just curious…..

[Sheepwheat]

Hmmm I thought lambs would dress higher than that. Used to fat cattle at 60% or so. Just curious…..

Ours are generally 50%. High 40’s to 52%. Breed, amount of fat cover etc. Of course you know this already!

[Landdownunder]

12 mm fat cover.

Ideal 10 to 15mm

Buyer don’t like super fat as you guys know.

Seperfat heavy weights dress up to 47%

[Sheepwheat]

12 mm fat cover.

Ideal 10 to 15mm

Buyer don’t like super fat as you guys know.

Seperfat heavy weights dress up to 47%

How do you finish your lambs? Because of how we market our lambs, we only are feeding up ten or twenty at a go. That maybe helps as we pick the cream of the crop throughout the year. We want year round lamb meat inventory and so this helps.

We use barley for finishing.

[Landdownunder]

Lupins mostly mixed with a little barley.

Some guys use faba beans and barley

Mostly paddock feed and they have add lib feeders.

Not sure if you have them there, but border Leicester cross white Suffolk merino cross are there with best for feed conversion. 1/2 border 1/4 Suffolk 1/4 merino

Our feed probably harder than yours more band for your buck per kg of pasture eaten whereas your might be soft watery stuff. Hope ya get my drift

[shtferbrains]

Are your paddock browned off dry? Not normaly green and actively growing when you are finishing lambs?
By ad lib you mean free choice or rationed?

[Sheepwheat]

Lupins mostly mixed with a little barley.

Some guys use faba beans and barley

Mostly paddock feed and they have add lib feeders.

Not sure if you have them there, but border Leicester cross white Suffolk merino cross are there with best for feed conversion. 1/2 border 1/4 Suffolk 1/4 merino

Our feed probably harder than yours more band for your buck per kg of pasture eaten whereas your might be soft watery stuff. Hope ya get my drift

Our lambs finish in hay feeding season. I love growing fabas. I was going to use a barley faba blend next time I grow them.

Yes, we have lush pastures here in the rain pocket. I do know what you mean. When I get more fences in place I hope to graze them on corn for some of the winter.

[Landdownunder]

Feed budgeting in the dry period is inherently difficult due to the variability of the quality of dry feed and the value of the subsequent portion that the sheep choose to eat. The decline rate, pasture height differences between different pasture systems and the amount of grain available in stubbles also affect the amount of energy sheep can gain from grazing dry residues.
The dry residues of annual pastures like subclover, medic and serradella, along with weeds such as ryegrass and capeweed, usually have a digestibility of about 55% at the start of summer. This level can vary considerably and will decline over time, especially after hot weather and rainfall that damages the finer leaf fraction of the pasture. Most of the decline from above 70% to below 50% happens in three to six weeks, with hotter weather causing a quicker decline than cool weather.

The amount of feed that can be eaten by a sheep on a daily basis is related to the digestibility of the feed (often called quality). The lower the digestibility, the lower the feed intake by the sheep. Dry feed with a digestibility below 55% – approximately 8 megajoules per kilogram (MJ/kg) – will, at best, only maintain liveweight regardless of the feed on offer level as the sheep can’t eat more than one kilogram on a daily basis.
Table 1 The metabolisable energy intake (MJ/day) from a dry annual pasture by a medium framed ewe. Note: Feed on offer measured in kilograms of dry matter per hectare (kg DM/ha)

For young sheep, a dry annual pasture with about 50% legume content can only provide growth rates of one to two kilograms per head, per month for one to two months. This is because it is only slightly above a maintenance ration.
It is recommended that sheep are regularly assessed for condition score over the season to ‘let the sheep do the talking’ on how much and what quality of feed is being eaten.