The 2015 Lamb Feeding Questionnaire was circulated to the Ontario Sheep Marketing Agency (OSMA) email list and the Large Flock Operator email list. This questionnaire was developed to collect information on how Ontario sheep producers feed lambs to direct our talks at the Sheep Seminars and to evaluate the need for extension resources related to lamb feeding.
The response to the survey was excellent with a total of 106 surveys started and 97 fully completed. The average flock size of those participating was 338 ewes with representation from all sizes of operations. Almost all participants were raising lambs born from ewes on their own farm with a focus on meat production. Producers responding to the survey represent about 79,000 market lambs.
A few highlights are:
• 43% of producers are operating accelerated lambing systems
• 59% of producers have been in the sheep industry for more than 10 years
• 51% of producers had 200 ewes or less and 12% of producers had more than 800 ewes
• 98% of producers raise lambs born on their farm and 12% of producers purchase lambs to raise
• 86% of producers are usually targeting a goal weight for lamb marketing
• 56% of producers market lamb throughout the year to regulate cash flow
• 63% of producers market lambs at the live auction and 31% market lambs direct to consumers most of the time or frequently.
• 38% of producers feel that their lamb feeding ability could be improved
• 54% of producers use transition diets
• 50% of producers don’t use different sire breeds for different market weights
• 65% of producers use dry hay in their feedlot ration
• Producers on accelerated lambing programs tend to raise heavier lambs
• Most producers are not castrating ram lambs
• The biggest health concern is coccidiosis followed by pneumonia
• The most common coccidiostat used is Bovatec
Thank you very much to all those producers who filled out the questionnaire and provided feedback and many valuable comments. The results of the survey can be found as a pdf file at the following link:
2015 Lamb Feeding Questionnaire Results final