This week marked a significant milestone for me. Wednesday was my one-year anniversary with the OSU Extension office here in Wayne County. I was pretty excited to get the job last summer and I have to admit that it has only grown as I have been here. Everyone that I have met has been great to work with, although I haven’t got to meet as many of you as I would have hoped to. I had set a lofty goal for myself, but when you have over 2000 farms it takes awhile to get around to everyone. I hope as I move through the rest of 2024, into 2025, that I get to meet a lot more of you.
The cool temperatures this week have got me hoping that fall is here to stay. I don’t have the build for 90 degree weather and an evening in the upper 60’s is just fine with me. The cooler temperatures and decreasing day length also mark the nearing of the traditional breeding season for our small ruminant producers. If rams are turned out in the next few weeks, we can expect lambs to begin showing up in early to mid-February. A successful breeding season will require proper nutrition, health, and management.
The increased physical activity of the breeding season, their future needs during gestation and lactation results in a gradual increase in the animal’s nutritional requirements. On average a 150 pound ewe at maintenance, this is when they aren’t pregnant or nursing lambs, will consume about 1.5 percent of her body weight each day. That feed needs to supply 0.25 lbs of crude protein and 1.5 pounds of total digestible nutrients. During the breeding season, she may need to eat 2.6 percent of her body weight each day, and will need 0.35 lbs of crude protein and 2.3 lbs of TDN.
Fortunately, all of their nutritional requirements can be met on pasture. For the most part, we have been fortunate to have received some timely rains that have allowed us to avoid the severe drought that has impacted those south of us. Even if your grasses have matured beyond an idea stage, you may only need to supplement with a quarter pound of ground corn to make up the difference.
Maturing ewe lambs have added needs for growth
The same may not be true for your ewe lambs. These maturing females have the added needs to continue growing into their mature frames leading to additional nutritional requirements that will need to be met to ensure a successful first breeding. It is also important to have them in a positive plan of nutrition to not only help them now, but to help them as they become a mature ewe in your flock. These young ewes need to be gaining about a quarter pound of body weight each day. This will require them to consume about 0.3 pounds of crude protein and 1.9 pounds of TDN. A well balanced supplement will make up for what the forages you supply lack.
The best way to track the progress of your nutritional program is to body condition score (BCS) all of your animals. Body condition scoring is a subjective estimate of fat cover. Since fat is only deposited when all of the animal’s other requirements have been met, thus making it a great evaluation tool. We traditionally us a scale of 1 to 5 when scoring sheep. A 1 would be an emaciated ewe and a 5 would be one that is morbidly obese. On average we want our animals to be right in the middle. Prior to eventual lambing it is acceptable for them to be a little heavy (BCS = 4) knowing that lactation will cause them to lose some condition.
Upcoming events
There are several programs planned throughout the remainder of 2024. Next week (September 16th to the 18th) is the annual Farm Science Review in London, OH. We have tickets for purchase prior to the event at our office. You can stop by any time during regular office hours to purchase tickets. The full schedule for the Review can be found on their website at fsr.osu.edu.
Our forages field night and pasture walk, that was previously scheduled for September 4th has been moved to October 10th at the OSU Beef Unit on Apple Creek Rd. The night will focus on water needs of livestock and grazing behavior. The event runs from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM and is free to attend. We do ask that you make a curtesy reservation my calling the Extension office.
The other programs that are coming up are the 2024 Ag Lenders Seminar on October 17th, a small ruminant dystocia clinic on November 12th, and a beef and dairy cattle dystocia clinic on December 3rd. All of these program will be held at the OSU Fisher Auditorium. Details for each event can be found on our website at https://wayne.osu.edu. As always, if you have any livestock, forage, or farm management related questions, feel free to contact me at the OSU Extension office in Wayne County at 330-264-8722
John Yost is an Extension Educator IV, Agriculture and Natural Resources, at OSU Extension-Wayne County.
This article was previously published in The Daily Record.