Feed requirements in late pregnancy During the last two months of pregnancy, feeding levels must be stepped up to meet the needs of the rapidly developing foetuses. This gain in weight is due to the development of the foetus and its membranes, while at the same time the ewe herself will have lost maternal tissue over pregnancy to sustain growth of the foetuses. However, this year many ewes are entering late pregnancy with low body reserves, thus additional concentrate feeding is likely to be required to maintain optimum lamb birth weights. The correct level of concentrate supplementation depends upon forage quality. Hence an accurate assessment of forage quality plays an important role in planning the feeding regime.
Sheep are very sensitive to the fermentation quality of silage.
They will not eat sufficient quantities of a badly fermented silage to meet their needs in late pregnancy. The correct feeding plan also depends upon the chop length of the silage. With precision-chop silage the performance of ewes will be substantially improved and concentrate supplementation can therefore be reduced. Unchopped big bale silage will also have lower intake characteristics and thus requires extra supplementation. The nutritive value of silage is largely dependent on the stage of maturity of the grass harvested.