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Getting the best from your sheep

February 18, 2020

Around 70% of the lamb’s growth takes place in the last 2 months of pregnancy. It is therefore essential to ensure that the ewe’s nutritional requirements are met during this time.

This will ensure both robust lambs and a ewe in good condition with sufficient milk to support them. It is vital to get the most from your home-grown forage as it represents over 50% of the ewe’s nutritional intake and it’s the most cost-effective feed on farm. JPA can offer a range of liquid products suitable for sheep feeding and specifically getting the most from homegrown forage.

It is always important to get the best out of your sheep and our products can help you achieve this by providing a balance of readily fermentable energy and protein levels. The base for all our liquid feeds is highly palatable cane molasses and this supplies readily fermentable sucrose, a 6-Carbon sugar, which is an ideal supplement to add to low energy/high fibre forages. 6-Carbon sugars are essential for effective rumen fermentation, as they are rapidly digested and have the effect of stimulating overall rumen function leading to better animal performance.

Our Sheepmol Range provides a balance of both sugar and high energy glycerine, which are the best forms of immediately available energy. This is required at times when the ewe is under any metabolic stress and intakes are reduced, making a molasses-based liquid feed an essential ingredient in any pre-lambing rations. Molasses based liquid feeds have also been proven to increase fibre digestion allowing pregnant ewes to get more nutritional value from every mouthful of forage consumed.  

The ChallengeLiquid Feed Can Help Overcome This By:
Maintaining effective intakes when the gut fill is reduced due to lamb growthStimulating dry matter intake and having a low substitution value
All ewes need to be encouraged to eat as much as possibleImproving palatability
Avoiding costly alternatives and getting the most cost-effective nutritionIncreasing fibre digestion
Lambs take up feed space, so rumen capacity is reducedIncreasing energy density and intake during this period
The incidence of ‘Twin Lamb’ diseaseHelping to reduce this by providing cost-effective sugar and glycerine, both of which are effective sources of glucose and glucose precursors

For more information on the Sheep Molasses, speak to our specialists on 01768 881881 or alternatively, click here.

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