Jones, J. H.

Nisbet, W. R.

Texas A&M University


FOREWORD
Texas has an extensive range sheep
business. It is operated very largely on a
ewe and lamb basis. With some 10112 mil-
lion of sheep in the state, approximately 5
million lambs are produced annually.
Though some of the lambs are marketed
directly from the range as grass fat spring
lambs, and some are retained for replace-
ment, the bulk of the annual lamb crop
moves to market through the feedlots of
other states.
It is sound economically to expand
lamb feeding for fattening in Texas. Texas
markets need, and will welcome with good
prices, a greater volume of fat lambs.
Texas feeder lambs are capable of making
good and economical gains and of produc-
ing choice carcasses. Lambs can compete
favorably with other kinds of livestock for
the feed and labor many farmers have at
hand.
Lamb Feeding
By W. R. Nisbet, Animal Husbandman
Texas A. and M. College Extension Service
J. H. Jones. Animal Husbandman
Texas Agricultural Experiment Station
Purchasing Feeder Lambs
One of the major factors feeder-buyer can expect to
contributing to successful pay the going market price.
lamb feeding is that of reach- The purchaser must know
ing the feedlot with the right what he wants, and in paying
kind of lambs. Nearness to the market price he should
the source of supply offers be sure of getting lambs that
Texas farmers some advan- meet his requirements.
tages in purchasing the feed- Most of the lambs avail-
ers. Though range lambs are able as feeders in Texas are
thought of as being produced • of fine wool breeding. A de-
in large numbers, actually sirable fine wool feeder Iamb
there are more small flocks is fairly free of neck folds,
than large ones. Lambs can short legged, and has a
be purchased in lots of single smooth compact body. The
cars or truck loads. There is desirable weight range is be-
a great deal of variation in tween 50 and 65 pounds for
feeder lambs with respect to dry lot fattening on average
age, weight, type, thrift, fill good rations. Lambs weigh-
and exposure to parasites. ing less than 50 pounds or
The purchaser should be able more than 70 pounds are less
to recognize such differences desirable for general feeding.
as they affect the value of The heavy Iambs are often
the feeders and in this con- coarse and may not finish
nection may often use live- at a desirable weight, while
stock commission agencies the light lambs, although
to good advantage in getting making good gains if thrifty
the right kind of feeders. and if fed quality feeds, re-
The spread in price between quire a long feeding period
feeder and fat lambs, the to fatten to the desirable
price of wool and pelt credits market weight of 85 to 95
and the kind of available pounds. Thrifty lambs are
feeds and their cost. must be strong, have pink skin, clean
considered in the selection of noses, free from scours, and
the feeders. However, there are alert. Unthrifty Iambs
is generally a going price for must be properly conditioned
the feeders which are avail- before being placed on fat-
able and because of this the tening ration.
3
First Care
Whe:-:. the feeder lambs are soft with a non-irritant
first received they should grease and a good leafy hay
be given 2 to 3 days rest in should be fed. Also before
the pens with access to cle::ln getting under way with the
water, granulated salt and a feeding, other than hay, most
good dry hay, before they ar3 large groups of lambs should
worked. The feeder should be sorted according to thrift
know whether the lambs have and flesh, into about three
been vaccinated for sore lots: heavy, fleshy lambs;
mouth, and whether they are medium lambs; and culls, in-
comparatively free of para- volving the undersized and
sites or not. If they have crippled. This sorting will
not been vaccinated and if save subsequent handling
they are not free of stomach when the heavier lambs are
worins then, in connection ready for market ahead of the
with, or following the rest lighter ones. Too, lambs of
period they should be vac- near equal size and weight
cinated for sore mouth and have equal opportunity to
should be treated for stomach· consume the required amount
worms. If sore mouth ap- of feed. It is obvious that the
pears during the rest period wool blinded ones need the
or is already present, vacci- wool sheared from their faces
nation should be hurried up
and those with sore mouths and that any sick or crippled
should be penned separately. lambs need individual atten-
The mouth sores may be kept tion.
Feed Lots and Equipment
In all but the far western a feeder cannot know too
and the Panhandle sections much about the degree of fin-
of the state it is desirable ish his lambs are attaining.
that lambs be fed in barns It requires a minimum of
or under sheds. When fed one linear foot of trough room
under favorable conditions for each lamb. If feeding
with respect to sheds it is operations are carried on un-
advisable to shear them be- der shed the minimum floor
fore placing them on feed. space required per lamb is
Lambs out of the wool make approximately four square
more economical use of barn feet.
room and feed trough space. A few inches of traw bed-
The investment in the lambs ding spread over the floor at
is materially reduced through the beginning of the feeding
the early sale of the wool. period and supplemented daily
The average person can tell by the refuse from the hay
n10re about the condition of will maintain good floor con-
lambs with the wool off and ditions.
4
The combination grain and
hay trough or feed box plan
given in this bulletin meets
that requirement. Hay tends
to keep the box dry, and that
coupled with the use of an
old broom ahead of each grain
feeding gets the cleaning job
done.
A water trough 12 feet
long, 12 inches wide, and 10
inches deep is an ideal size.
A larger trough might cause
some people to hesitate to
empty and scrub it as often
as desirable. Lambs consume
approximately a half gallon
of water per head daily; no
great volume, but it is im-
portant that they have every
encouragement to drink their
fill regularly.
Lot room should be avail-
able for holding the lambs
away from the feed boxes
while the feed is being dis-
tributed.
Methods of Feeding
Feeding methods and prac- consume. As the grain por-
tices are developed through tion of the ration is increas-
experience, and are calcu- e-M, the lambs naturally con-
lated to meet common feed sume less roughage. Too
lot problems. Lambs, at the much grain or irregularity in
start, have a small capacity the grain portion of the ra-
to handle feed and the feeder tion will result in loss of ap-
must meet the problem of petite, scours, stiffness, or
developing that limited ca- death.
pacity to the maximum. Most There are two distinct
feeders do that by starting methods of feeding lambs:
the lambs on an abundance hand feeding and self-feed-
of high quality roughage and ing. The feeding of definite
a very limited amount of con- amounts of grain and pro-
centrates. Lambs should have tein supplement twice daily
all of the roughage they will with hay free choice is call-
5
Feeding lambs under shed
with proper bedding pre-
serves the maximum per
cent of the fertilizer pro-
duced.
A tip to those who might
use an open shed. If lambs
are permitted to pass in and
out of the shed during wet
weather they will carry suf-
ficient moisture and mud
into the shed to develop a
bad situation. Once wet, the
shed room is slow to dry. Bet-
ter to have no shed than one
in combination with a muddy
lot.
VVhen feeding in the open
there is something to the lo-
cation of the feed lot. Sandy,
south slopes with some nat-
ural or made protection from
rain and high wind are de-
sirable.
Cleanliness of feed and
water troughs are of para-
mount importance. B u i I d
something that can be easily
kept clean.
mixture be perfect, that the
grinding of grain be uni-
formly fine, and that the
proper balance between the
grain and roughage be main-
tained.
In feeding ground grain
sorghum bundles it is neces-
sary that a close estimate of
the grain content be made.
If over-estimated the ration
will be low in concentrates
and finishing delayed. If
under-estimated the lambs
will be placed on a full grain
ration too rapidly.
ed hand feetling. The feed-
ing of the complete ration,
concentr1i'Jtes and forages
ground together, free choice
is called self-feeding.
Hand feeding is recom-
mended. Grain and hay re-
quire no grinding for lambs.
This method lends itself to
making necessary changes in
t.he ration consistent with the
daily build-up of the ooncen-
trates in the ration. Also it
enables one to meet emer-
gency needs for reducing the
grain consumption.
On many farms where
bundled grain sorghum is the HAND FEEDING - When
source of all the roughage feeding whole grains and
and part of the grain, grind- pea size cottonseed cake or
ing seems necessary and self screenings with carbonaceous
feeding advisable. The feed roughages, the following may
is prepared by grinding and be used as a guide for feed-
mixing the whole ration to- ing the concentrates. Rough-
gether and supplying it in age is to be fed to the full
a feed trough or self-feeder. extent the lambs will con-
It is very important that the sume it.
Schedule for Starting Lambs on Feed-Hand Feeding
C. S. Cake Grain (shelled C. 51. Cake
(Pea size) or threshed) (Pea size)
per 100 per 100 for 1
Lambs Lambs Lamb
Grain
(shelled)
for 1
Lamb
Total Con-
centrates
per
Lamb
Hay is to be full fed at all times.
1st day Rest and fill on hay - (Rest period may be
1 to 7 days)
2nd day PM 5lbs 5lbs .051b .051b .101b
3rd day AM 5lbs 5100
PM 10lbs 5lbs .151b .101b .251b
4th and AM 10lbs 10lbs
5th days PM 10lbs 10lbs .201b .201b .401b
6th and AM 10lbs 10lbs
7th days PM 15lbs 10lbs .25tb .201b .451b
8th and AM 10lbs 10lbs
9th days PM 15lbs 15lbs -- .251b .251b .501b
10th and AM 15lbs 10lbs
11th days PM 15lbs 15lbs .301b .251b .551b
12th and AM 16112 lbs 15lbs
13th days PM 16112 lbs 15lbs .331b .301b .631b
6
may carry them up to and be-
yond 13,4 pounds per day.
If alfalfa hay furnishes the
roughage the cottonseed cake
or meal may be reduced one-
half.
If ground grain sorghum
heads or ground ear corn are
used feed lt4 more than when
shelled grains are fed. In this
case cottonseed meal should
be used and mixed thorough-
ly with the other ground
feeds.
At the end of two weeks
the lambs will be eating one-
third pound daily of cotton-
seed cake which is a full al-
lowance and remains con-
stant at this rate through-
out the entire feeding period.
The hay being fed free choice
the only further adjustments
in ration will involve the
grain. For most lots of lambs
the ration given for the
twelfth and thirteenth day
should be eontinued without
change for one or two weeks
to further develop feed ca- FEEDING METHOD FOR
pacity. Increases in grain MIXTURES OF GROUND
may then be made according FEEDS-Whole ground mix-
to the feeder's judgment, ed rations may consist of
these increases not to exceed bundle feeds, hays, cotton-
five pounds of grain per 100 seed hulls, various grains,
lambs or 1-20 pound per lamb and cottonseed meal. The
per day. Following this sys- principle of feeding is the
tern the lambs can be made same as previously stated,
to consume 2h" pound of grain but cottonseed meal is fed
at 30 days, 1 pound at 40 instead of pea-sized cotton-
days, and 11,4 pounds at 50 seed cake. The following table
days, and further increase may be taken as a guide:
Schedule for Starting Lambs on Feed-Using Mixtures of
Ground Feeds After All Preliminary Handling Has Been Done
Per Cent Per Cent Per Cent
Time Grains Cottonseed Meal Roughage
1st 3 days 10 5 75
2nd 3 days 15 7;2 721/2
2nd week 20 10 70
3rd week 25 12112 62112
4th week 30 12112 571/2
5th week 35 121/2 52112
6th week AO 12112 47112
7th week A5 121/2 421h
8th week 50 12112 37112
The bundle feeds should erage grain sorghum bundles
be of good quality and free contain slightly too much
of mold and dirt. Grinding grain (20 to 28 per cent) for
should be fine enough to initial fill. If hay is avail-
crack most of the grains. Av- able it should be fed with the
7
ground bundles and cotton-
seed meal mixture for about
10 days. If hay is not avail-
able the mixture should be
hand fed twice per day until
lambs can take the whole
ground bundle. If the mix-
ture is made on a unit basis,
as grain is increased, rough-
age is decreased, and the
amount of cottonseed meal
remains constant.
Check-up On Feeding Important
The feeder can tell how his
lambs are doing by the
amounts of feed they eat.
Lambs should eat about three
pounds per head per day, less
waste after they are going
good. Early in the period they
can handle a concentrate al-
lowance of 1/3 the whole ra-
tion, and on full feed ~6 of
the whole ration. The feed-
er's problem is to make these
changes in feed without in-
jury to the lambs. It is im-
portant to keep a check on
all feeds. The cottonseed
meal should be held around
1/3 pound to 2-5 pound per
head per day, or 121h to 15
per cent of the total ration.
The droppings indicate how
the lambs are handling their
grain. The least showings of
soiled lambs is a sign of
trouble. Droppings should
be formed but soft. If loose-
ness appears decrease the
grain by amounts surely suf-
ficient to correct the trouble
and then build up the grain
again. Lambs that are doing
well will be hungry and anx-
ious for their feed. It is a
bad sign when a substantial
number hang back and re-
fuse to eat.
Amounts of Feed Required
In estimating total feed
required to fatten a bunch
of lambs, allowance must be
made for mistakes in feeding
and waste. Average amounts
required are 110 pounds of
shelled grain, 160 to 180
pounds of roughage, and 30
to 35 pounds cottonseed meal
with sorghum hay or 15
pounds cottonseed meal with
alfalfa hay. •
Time Required to Fatten
Ninety to 105 days are av-
erage feeding periods re-
quired to fatten lambs. Vari-
ation in number of days re-
quired will depend in the
main upon amount of flesh
and size of feeders and the
8
ability of the feeder. Thrifty
lambs fed a balanced ration,
with good management, may
be expected to gain 14 to 1/3
pound per head per day.
Twenty-five to 30 pounds of
gain put on 55 to 60 pound
lambs in 90 days will mean
fat lambs. Lambs should be
sold as they become fat. The
top lambs will often fatten
15 days ahead of the main
group. Fatness can only be
determined accurately by
handling. A lamb is fat when
it is difficult to feel the back-
bone and ribs with the fin-
gers. The back will be firm
and the dock large.
Feeds and Methods of Preparation
Grain Sorghums and Corn-
Those have about the same
feeding value and are the
chief lamb fattening grains.
Threshed or shelled grains
make on the average larger
daily gains than do ground·
heads, but the latter may
make more economical gains
and show an actual feeding
value greater than can be ac-
counted for by the grain they
contain. Milo heacas rank
highest among the grain sor-
ghums heads followed by fet-
erita and kaffir.
VVheat--Is the best of the
small grains and practically
equal to corn. It should not
be ground for lambs when
hand fed.
Barley-Should not be fed
as the sole fattening grain.
It is better used by mixing
with corn, wheat or threshed
grain sorghums in propor-
tions of three to five, or half
and half.
Oats-May be fed whole
but not as the sole fattening
grain for they fail to produce
finish. They are valuable in
starting lambs on feed be-
cause of their bulk, palatabil-
ity and conditioning value.
Cottonseed Products-Cot-
tonseed meal or cottonseed
cake are recommended as the
best protein supplements.
Cottonseed Hulls -- As a
roughage are used to better
advantage when fed with an
equal amount of alfalfa or
other good hays. Mixed with
cottonseed meal and ground
grain the hulls give ideal bulk
to the ration and are espe-
cially valuable at the very
start of the feeding period
to give good fill.
Alfalfa-Is a most desir-
able hay for lamb feeding
and when possible should fur-
nish at least ;i of the rough-
age.
Sorghum and Grain Sor-
ghum Roughages-Red top
sorghum is ordinarily pre-
ferred because of its palat-
ability and quality. Bundled
grain sorghums have been
ground and fed to lambs with
good results. Molds may be
present inside the stalks, al-
though the feed is bright on
the outside. Such feeds should
only be fed as whole bundles.
Blackstrap Mol ass e s-
While lamb feeders have fed
b I a c k s t rap molasses in
9
amounts approximating 20
per cent of the total ration,
about 12112 per cent in the
ration will serve the purpose
of laying the dust and bind-
ing small particles of feed to-
gether. It has about 70 per
cent of the feed value df
corn.
Silage-High quality silage
can be used as the sole source
of roughage in fattening
lambs. A small amount of
high quality hay improves the
ration in most instances.
Again, when feeding grain
sorghum silage, be careful
to closely estimate the grain
content.
10
Feed Mineral Supplement
With Silage or Sorghum
Roughages-Limestone flour
(finely ground raw limestone
or oyster shell flour) in-
creases gains when fed to
lambs being fattened on
grains and the sorghum
roughages and should always
be fed. Feed at the rate of
14 ounce to 2-5 ounce per
head per day mixed with the
grain or whole ground ration.
It is usually not possible to
feed the necessary amount of
limestone flour by mixing
equal parts salt and limestone
flour.
Salt-Good grade granu-
lated salt should be available
at all times in a salt box.
~ ! /'',.4' ~ ~1-'2"- 'is 1>0,., -- _ >. I- -J.-____.... /'x 6" ;;; 1-,-------;;;" =2=:=">(=:'4,,========1 ~shiplop./'
SIDE. VIEW
:l,",,4"
This trough has the capacity to feed
approximately 30 lambs when hand-
feeding, and 80 to 100 lambs when self-
feeding.
END VIEW Scale ,"="
This is a convenient feed box
for 20 or fewer lambs.
11
Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics, Agricultural and
Mechanical College of Texas and United States Department of Agriculture Cooperatinl{.
Distributed in furtherance of the Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 3D, 1914.
25M-4-43
12


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Lamb Feeding.

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Lamb Feeding.

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