Finishing lambs indoors – tips for a smooth transition

1. Where purchasing lambs, house for 48 hours for quarantine treatment including gastrointestinal worms, liver fluke and footbathing. Investigate any suspect cases of lameness as contagious ovine digital dermatitis is on the rise and introduced to most farms via purchased sheep.

2. The optimum control for external parasites is plunge dipping. There is no control option to equal dipping in terms of the suite of external parasites targeted. If dipping is not an option then injectable products from the macrocyclic lactone group can be used to target scab but note this will also lead to the treatment of gastrointestinal worms and if not warranted will contribute to the development of anthelmintic resistance. Pour-on products can be used to target lice. Identification of the parasite present is vital where not dipping.

3. Where possible lambs should be trained in to eating meals prior to housing. Where lambs are showing no interest in meal, then adding lambs accustomed to feeding, or a ewe to a group, will help to encourage lambs to eat quicker. More palatable rations with molasses or cooked / crunch feeds can be used at the outset to encourage lambs to eat before transitioning back to a high-energy ration or pelleted concentrate. There will inevitable be some shy eaters or lambs which refuse to eat. These will typically stand towards the back of the pen and will quickly lose weight. Such lambs should be moved to another pen or released back outdoors if needed.

4. Longer-keep lambs (six weeks plus) in particular may benefit from clostridial disease and pasteurella pneumonia vaccination. It is best where possible to administer pre-housing so that there is some protection there in advance of lambs experiencing a significant change in environment.

5. Lameness vaccination can also be considered for longer keep lambs.

Lameness should be addressed in advance of housing with affected lambs batched for greater attention. Where sheep must be housed lame, sheep should be kept separate to their comrades. Regular footbathing will help to keep a lid on issues establishing and spreading.

6. Where male lambs are being finished including ammonium chloride for long keep lambs will help to prevent urinary calculi. The inclusion rate is 0.5% or 5 kg per tonne.

7. Pen lambs ideally on size and weight avoiding mixing ewe and ram lambs. Light hill lambs need to be allocated at least 0.5m2, rising to 0.8m2 for heavier lambs weighing from 45kg to 50kg. Feeding space is also important. Lambs need up to 30cm of trough space with higher allowances important when getting lambs accustomed to feed and building to ad lib feeding.

8. Access to clean fresh water is critical. Water troughs are typically erected at a height of 500mm to 600mm above ground level in sheds, which may be too high for lambs. Placing a block on the flat beside the water trough is useful to allow lambs access water.

9. While not essential, offering lambs access to limited forage will help to avoid digestive upsets. Technically there is no requirement for forage if the crude fibre content of the diet is upwards of 7% but precise feed management is necessary if progressing down this route.

10. Feed management will have a direct influence on performance. Lambs should be offered slightly above intake levels to avoid meal going stale and lambs on ad lib feed should never run short of feed. In recent years there have been some issues reported due to tapeworm infection of lamb carcases and carcases rejected due to the presence of tapeworm cysts in the muscle or organs of infected sheep. Control centres on prevention and canine infection can be eliminated with regular worming and keeping dogs off sheep pastures / away from sheep feed. Carcases should be disposed of immediately and if stored pending disposal, restrict access to dogs or wildlife.

11. Horns can grow rapidly in hill lambs on an intensive finishing diet. Be cautious as horns can grow inwards and may need to be cut to avoid piercing an animal’s head.