Knowing the weight of lamb is a necessary part of the process of raising lambs for the market. Knowing the weight of lambs will allow a person to avoid guess about the size of the lambs that are being raised. If a person guesses about the size of the lambs that are to be raised for the market, the person may end up either spending to much money on the feed that is provided to those lambs, or the lambs may end up being sold too early.
A growth reference is a useful tool for a person raising lambs to be sold for market. Lamb growth stages differs from one another and change as the lambs age. For example, lambs requires milk and creep feed during their early stages of growth, but after they are weaned, the lambs must focus on building their frame and their muscle.
Know Lamb Weight and How They Grow
A person can create an infographic of these growth stages, which will allow for a person to easily recognize if any of the lambs is falling behind or gaining ground relative to their expected growth stages. While a person does not need to remember each of the stages within which lambs should grow, a person does need to be aware of there importance to the goals that the person may have for their lambs. Due to the fact that different breeds of lambs has different rates of reaching market weight, as well as have different traits overall, a person must make sure that they are selecting each breed for the intended use of the lambs.
For example, Suffolk and Hampshire breeds of lambs are often the heaviest breeds, Katahdin lambs will be lighter and have less back-fat, and Southdown lambs naturaly stay smaller in weight but are sold in direct markets where their size is an advantage. A person must make a decision on the type of buyer that they will have for their lambs, as the buyer may dictate the breed of lambs raised. As lambs grow, the requirements for the feed that is provided to lambs will change.
For instance, lambs will require milk and creep feed during their first sixty days of life, but after they are weaned the lambs will require a different feed that supports their frame growth. During the last stage of the lambs lives, the energy level of the feed will rise in importance, since the daily gain that is expected from the lambs increase during this period. Too much protein will result in lambs with too much fat, but too little energy will result in a stall of the daily gain of the lambs.
A person can use a variety of management practices with the lambs to ensure their growth. For example, a person can regularly weigh lambs every two weeks, and their body condition scoring can be performed. While a person can measure the weight of lambs on a scale, the condition scoring provide information regarding the muscle to fat ratio of the lambs.
Additionally, the hoof of lambs can be trimmed, as well as a person can vaccinate lambs to ensure that they continue to eat. These management practices are important throughout the growing season of lambs. The target weight of lambs will differ according to the market in which the lambs are to be sold.
Lambs that are to compete in show competitions will have different target weight than lambs that are to be sold direct to consumers. An infographic mark various target weights of lambs for different markets, which will allow for a person to decide whether or not they should continue to grow the lambs or whether or not they should sell them. A growth chart is a planning tool, but not an inflexible one.
While the chart is used as a reference to the weights of lambs of various ranges and categories, the records of each specific flock will reveal more about the performance of each flock than the growth chart. With the data obtained from one or two growing seasons, a person can adjust the growth chart for that persons flock of lambs. By using a reliable reference to growth stages and by learning what works well with their flock of lambs, a person can increase the efficiency of their effort to raise lambs to market each year.