Lambs are vaccinated and dewormed upon arrival and are held in a quarantine facility before entering the feed yard. Ram and ewe lambs are segregated for feeding to prevent unwanted pregnancies. It is not customary to castrate ram lambs in Barbados and other Caribbean countries. Ram lambs gain faster and more efficiently than ewe and wether lambs. Carcass quality is not affected by sex of lamb.
Lambs receive a similar ration throughout the feeding period.
In fact, insufficient fiber intake is often cited as a contributing factor to many disease problems. The feed lot has experienced problems with internal parasites, coccidiosis and urinary calculi. There seemed to be a reluctance to feed coccidiostats. They don't think they work. Worming medicines are the same as those used in the U.S., though much costlier to purchase in Barbados.