With spring about to get into full swing, many of our ewes are in the latter stages of pregnancy and correct feeding at this time is vital for:

• Ensuring ideal body condition score (BCS) at lambing
• High foetal / lamb survival rates
• Udder development and production of highly nutritious colostrum and milk
• Reducing the risk of metabolic disease in ewes and birthing problems
• Good sized, healthy lambs at birth

Where possible ewes should be scanned during mid-pregnancy to ascertain how many lambs they are carrying. This means that barren ewes can be quickly removed from the pregnant flock as they will not require any concentrate feed. Pregnant ewes can then be grouped together according to how many lambs they are carrying and feeding rates can be made group-specific.

A recent study backed by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), Quality meat Scotland (QMS) and Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) showed than ewes with low body protein levels have an increased risk of losing lambs in late pregnancy. This highlights the need to feed ewes to meet both their energy and protein requirements in late pregnancy. Protein is required for growth, not only of the unborn lambs but also of mammary tissue to develop the udder and ensure good milk production. Smallholder Range Ewe Nuts is an ideal feed for ewes at all stages of pregnancy and will provide a good level of energy, protein (16%) and a balance of vitamins and minerals.

Most ewes do not need supplementary concentrate feed until 6 to 8 weeks prior to lambing. The majority of foetal growth occurs during the last 4 weeks of pregnancy and supplementary feeding at this time is vital to meet the additional nutritional demands being placed on the ewes. Care should be taken not to overfeed young ewes or those carrying single lambs as this can cause large lambs and overweight ewes, leading to birthing difficulties. Conversely, ewes carrying triplets will require more concentrate feed in order to produce viable lambs. Hill breeds such as Swaledale and Scottish Blackface ewes will tend to require less concentrate feed than lowland breeds like Suffolks and Texels. Exact feeding requirements will also depend on grass and forage quality and should be assessed on an individual flock basis, but as a guide, Smallholder Range Ewe Nuts should be introduced at a rate of 0.25kg per ewe per day and built up to around 1kg per ewe per day for an average-sized ewe carrying twins. Ewes also require a constant supply of forage (silage, haylage, hay and grass) to maintain healthy rumen function.