Investing in ewe condition and ram exams are keys to breeding success, vet says.

Sheep producers are being encouraged to be on their toes this joining season to avoid big hits to their bottom line.

Sheep producers are being reminded that investing in ewe body condition scoring pre-joining pays off and is one of the key aspects they should focus on, especially during tough seasons.

This is according to Dubbo, NSW based vet and livestock consultant Tim Gole.

He runs the For Flocks Sake consultancy and will this week (on February 12 at 7pm) run a Meat and Livestock Australia webinar honing in on setting breeding flocks up for success.

Dr Gole said producers needed to prepare well in advance of joining time, including conducting ram exams at least six weeks before rams are sent out for joining.

“We need to be doing this six weeks before, making sure the ram team is all sound and any management tasks are done to allow a full semen cycle to occur before joining,” he said.

“It is too late to think about these things in the scanning crate.

“We also need to be looking at our ewe flock and if they are fit to join; are they significantly lame, or have udder confirmation issues.

“We need to ensure they are hitting our target condition scores that will give them the best chance of having a lamb and getting it to marking and weaning.”

Dr Gole said ram exams were essential to check for Brucellosis.

Even though the disease was often widespread, it could be extremely costly to the bottom line.

A joining failure in a flock represented an “epic loss to a business”, he said.

As a general rule, Dr Gole urged producers, particularly those in drier areas, not to leave it too late to supplementary feed ewes, as there was few options with empty ewes.

When feeding, producers needed to be aware of acidosis risks.

The upside of drier seasons was fly and worm burdens tended to be less.

“Sheep do enjoy dry weather,” he said.

Another one to look out for this year was joining length, with a tight five week joining allowing for timely marking and weaning to set the enterprise up well, and if it remains dry, to conduct early weaning.

A longer joining made management harder, with the lowest common denomination – the smallest lambs – managed for.

One option for a longer joining was to do two scannings, and to then manage mobs accordingly.

Dr Tim Gole, Dubbo.

Dr Gole said sheep enterprises were “inherently challenging and complex”.

Sheep flocks could have volatile aspects – flies, parasites and nutrition – but they were also highly productive animals under good management.

In his work delivering BredWell FedWell workshops and in private consulting, Dr Gole said the mood of producers and their view on the profitability of sheep was “still pretty positive”.

However, challenges of wool harvesting and labour were front of mind.

Progressive producers were moving to “streamline operations, and looking at things like automated feedlotting and opportunities with electronic identification”.

But, there was variability in sentiment across the industry, he said.

For workshop details, visit www.mla.com.au