By Joanne Hay, ECV Nutritionist
As the start of a new year arrives, the countdown to lambing begins for many commercial sheep farmers. As I’m writing this, January 2026 has already thrown us a few challenges, with the severe weather across the North-East. With this in mind, and after months of planning and hard work, it’s never too early to start looking at nutrition to ensure your ewes have adequate supplementation to help them deal with the challenging conditions.
Preparation is the key for making lambing a success. In the last two months of pregnancy, nutrition and management are crucial to reduce deficiencies and losses in both the ewe and her unborn lambs. Ewe requirements almost double during this period as around 75% of foetal growth takes place, increasing the demand for both protein and energy. As a result of this growth her appetite will decrease, meaning more emphasis needs to be put on the nutritional density of feed to meet her needs. Working out a nutrition plan based on your ewes’ body condition and scanning results can set you off on the right foot for a successful lambing.
Grouping ewes post-scanning, based on both Body Condition Score (BCS) and litter size can aid management. An aim of a BCS of 2.5-3 in mid-pregnancy can help to draw attention to any ewes that may need managed separately. Ewes can then be split into management groups accordingly and nutrition plans introduced around six weeks pre-lambing. Working out a flock nutrition plan is individual to every sheep enterprise with factors such as land category, breed, litter size and forage quality and availability all taken into consideration. Therefore it is essential to ensure you are feeding to the needs of your system, over-fed ewes can be just as detrimental as under-fed.
Almost all problems and diseases encountered at lambing time have a nutritional component. Get the nutrition right and these will be greatly reduced. Under-nutrition can cause low lamb birthweights subsequently reducing survival rates or hampering future growth rates. Pregnancy Toxaemia or Twin Lamb Disease is hugely contributed to under-nutrition in the final months of pregnancy, with ewes not being supplied enough energy to support themselves and the developing foetus. A 70kg twin-bearing ewe will require up to 22MJ of energy per day to maintain her body condition and support the growing lambs in these final six weeks. Additional supplementation is vital. Over-nutrition can also be damaging. This can lead to over-sized lambs resulting in increased instances of prolapse and difficulties during lambing.
Forage makes up a large proportion of a ewe’s daily dry matter intake so it is important to get this analysed before making up a pre-lambing feeding plan. Forage quality is key to improving productivity and saving costs whilst increasing profitability. If forage quality is high, it may be possible to make up any shortfalls with an energy bucket or molasses. Any larger deficits in protein or energy can be balanced out with the inclusion of compound feed.
East Coast Viners offer a complete range of nuts and rolls designed to suit all types of feeding systems. Our range of compound feeds are formulated to have a high energy density. Quality raw materials are included to support all aspects of rumen health and milk production. Sugar beet pulp is included right across our ewe feed range, providing a high energy source of fibre which is important for rumen health. Hipro Soya also features in two of our 18% diets; an excellent protein source which ensures the production of good quality colostrum, vital for giving new-born lambs the best start.
Ewe Lamber 18% :-
Ewe 18% :-
XL Ewe 18% :-
Minerals are an essential part of any pre-lambing ration, ensuring any deficiencies are corrected and health problems reduced. Each product in our ewe feed range includes 150iu of Vitamin E and 0.5mg/kg of Selenium. These are key for boosting healthy muscle development and lamb vigour and crucial in the production of good quality colostrum to support a strong immune system in new-born lambs.
Our team of nutritionists are available to help get your ewes prepared for lambing. With the ability to analyse forage and formulate the most efficient and cost-effective feeding plan, we can help you achieve the best for your flock.
