Maximizing productivity in Dorper flocks in Australia
Lamb
Meat
Australia
Published Mar 17, 2023
Tridge summary
In an effort to address declining lambing percentages in local flocks, a group of Dorper producers on SA’s far-west coast participated in a Meat & Livestock Australia-funded Producer Demonstration Site (PDS). Throughout the three-year project, the group trialled several management practices to boost the reproductive performance of their flocks.
Original content
Examples of the practices trialled by participating producers include (but aren’t limited to): condition scoring of ewes at key times in the reproductive cycle (including pre-joining to ensure ewes have had sufficient time to recover from previous lambing), aiming for a score of 4 or above pre-joining assessment of rams scanning for lamb numbers (singles or multiples) differential management strategies of ewes based on pregnancy status assessing udder soundness and monitoring udder health weaning lambs at optimum time feed budgeting. Turbo-charging reproductive performance For White Dorper producer Ben Polkinghorne, implementing the practices trialled in the PDS had clear benefits – over the past three years, his flock’s conception rate increased by almost 30% and the marking rate rose by almost 40%. “The key practice that ultimately helped lift the overall flock marking rate from 99% to 137% across the course of the project was monitoring ewe condition score and feeding ...
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