Lamb daily weight gain

[Woolyleg]

fattening the last of our April born lambs, first cross lambs out of mules. Theyre inside on ad lib creep, been wormed and mineral drenched. How much roughly would you be expecting the lambs to gain per day?

 

[neilo]

Anywhere between 200 and 400g/day.
There's creep and creep, as well as genetics (were they sires by a decent Charollais or a Ryeland, for example).

 

[Woolyleg]

Anywhere between 200 and 400g/day.
There's creep and creep, as well as genetics (were they sires by a decent Charollais or a Ryeland, for example).

theres a mix of beltex lambs out of mule hoggs and Suffolk lambs of out mules, also a few pure Cheviot lambs which I forgot to mention

 

[Hill Ground]

fattening the last of our April born lambs, first cross lambs out of mules. Theyre inside on ad lib creep, been wormed and mineral drenched. How much roughly would you be expecting the lambs to gain per day?

Depends on what they've been on before.

If they have just been on maintenance ground it takes them a while to start growing, but after 10 days they should be motoring.

Do I remember rightly that a hoggets feed conversion is 6-1?? So if you can get them up to 2kg/head/day then 300g/day growth?

 

[neilo]

theres a mix of beltex lambs out of mule hoggs and Suffolk lambs of out mules, also a few pure Cheviot lambs which I forgot to mention

I would guess the Suffolks should be at the top end of that 400g I quoted, given decent quality creep. IME the Beltexes will likely plateau at around the 40kg mark, then growth rates will drop off to nothing. I've had them on ad-lib for an extra month before now, trying to get a few extra kilos on them, then end up selling them still just over 40kg.

 

[Woolyleg]

I would guess the Suffolks should be at the top end of that 400g I quoted, given decent quality creep. IME the Beltexes will likely plateau at around the 40kg mark, then growth rates will drop off to nothing. I've had them on ad-lib for an extra month before now, trying to get a few extra kilos on them, then end up selling them still just over 40kg.

ok thanks for that, I’ll be selling the beltexes when they hit the 40kg mark then and cut my losses instead of wasting feed and money trying to get them heavier

 

[M-J-G]

Less than 2.5kg/week and I'd be disappointed

 

[Woolyleg]

Less than 2.5kg/week and I'd be disappointed

is this after the 10 days like @Hill Ground spoke about or have you noticed yours take longer or less time than this to get going. These lambs in questions were on a decent fresh bite(2 year old ish Reseed) but had ate up but also had abit of a worm problem so I’m guessing they will take abit longer than usual to get going due to the worm problem. However they have all cleared up now and no worms showing

 

[neilo]

is this after the 10 days like @Hill Ground spoke about or have you noticed yours take longer or less time than this to get going. These lambs in questions were on a decent fresh bite(2 year old ish Reseed) but had ate up but also had abit of a worm problem so I’m guessing they will take abit longer than usual to get going due to the worm problem. However they have all cleared up now and no worms showing

The ‘ten days’ (I’d suggest a bit longer) is the time for the rumen to adapt to a completely different ration, if they’ve been on grass and no concentrates.
After they’ve transitioned over, they should start to fly.

 

[Estate fencing.]

We have ours on food before they come in. They would be doing at least 2.5 kg a week. 10/14 days and they are gone, just need that last bit of finish as outside seem to be feeding the weather a bit.

 

[Aspiring Peasants]

I would guess the Suffolks should be at the top end of that 400g I quoted, given decent quality creep. IME the Beltexes will likely plateau at around the 40kg mark, then growth rates will drop off to nothing. I've had them on ad-lib for an extra month before now, trying to get a few extra kilos on them, then end up selling them still just over 40kg.

Beltex sired lambs out of mules and TexelxMules will easily get to 45 kgs + unless an extreme type of Beltex has been used

 

[Agrivator]

Carcase gain is far more important. As a lamb goes from fit to fat, it's carcase gain is baout 75% of its liveweight gain.

Beltex sired lambs out of mules and TexelxMules will easily get to 45 kgs + unless an extreme type of Beltex has been used

And most of the last 5kg is carcase gain - at 330p/kg

 

[Woolyleg]

We have ours on food before they come in. They would be doing at least 2.5 kg a week. 10/14 days and they are gone, just need that last bit of finish as outside seem to be feeding the weather a bit.

I should’ve thought on really and started getting some feed into them before I brought them inside but you live and you learn