A short snippet of our lessons learnt from drought feeding and rebuilding numbers with Stud Manager, Andy Maclean.
Highlights
Drought Year 1: Trail feeding small mobs (1kg/day) at a cost of $3.50/week
Drought Year 2: Purchasing a 15t Pentamixer and moving our ewes closer to the hayshed at a cost or $1.50/week
Drought Year 3: Joining in confinement. Lower costs but a trade-off in conception and twin rates. Our AI ewes did much better as they were joined in the paddock. Next time we will look to refine the balance of rations / space / cost
2020: We have trialed early joining of our selected 45kg+ ewe lambs to help bolster our flock numbers. They are looking extremely well, particularly supported by the feed we’ve been lucky to grow this year. We will also increase our AI and ET programs for both Poll and Horned Merinos and have continued our investment or Moorundie Park ewes to get more quality lambs on deck for our clients - breeding for profit!