02-La ncattar Fanning Saturday, November 8,1986
Expert Outlines Link Between Lambing And Feeding
BY SHARON SCHUSTER
Maryland Correspondent
The Maryland Sheep Breeders’
Association held its annual dinner
meeting on October 25. Featured
speaker for the event was Dr.
Harold Gonyou, associate
professor in the Department of
Animal Sciences at the University
of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. Gonyou, a specialist in
animal behavior research, shared
some of his findings with Maryland
shepherds. During a slide
presentation, Dr. Gonyou
discussed lambing schedules with
relation to feeding times, lambing
cubicles, and fostering lambs.
“I enjoy lambing season,” said
Gonyou. “It’s a season of new life
coming into the world. But, it can
be frustrating,” he added. He then
outlined some recommendations
for “management that makes
taking care of sheep at lambing
season, a little easier.”
Poultry's Growing Popularity
Thanksgiving, the holiday
season once considered the time of
year to consume turkey, is rapidly
approaching. At one time the
American public consumed almost
all their turkey products during the
final quarter of the year. Things
have changed dramatically during
the past 20 years • people are
eating turkey year-round and per
capita consumption of turkey and
poultry has almost doubled. Let’s
examine the trend in poultry and
turkey consumption. Table 1
presents the per capita con
sumption value for total poultry
and turkeys.
Table 1.
U.S. per capita consumption (lbs.)
Total
Poultry
1965 7.4 40.7
1970 8.0 48.4
1975 8.5 48.6
1980 10.5 60.6
1985 12.1 70.1
Year Turkey
An important factor is that the
increase in per capita poultry
consumption has been rather
constant over the 20-year period.
Particularly interesting is the
dramatic change in product form,
especially for turkeys.
Currently almost one-half of the
turkeys are being purchased in
further processed form while only
one-fourth are being purchased as
whole birds. The remaining 25
Table 2. Per capita consumption (lbs.) of poultry and red meats
Year
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986*
’Retail wt.
’Carcass wt
'Estimate
Controlling the time of par
turition was the first topic of focus.
Gonyou suggested that the “time
of lambing may be associated with
the time of feeding.” Based on
research done by Lindahl in 1964,
Gonyou conducted an experiment
to test the theory.
Three test groups of ewes were
fed once daily at either 8 a.m., 4
p.m., or midnight. All groups were
given a haylage-based diet, sup
plemented by grain. The sheep had
access to the feed for only eight
hours.
Gonyou reported that most of the
ewes that were fed at 8 a.m.
lambed during the day. None in
this group lambed between mid
night and 4 a.m. Good news for
shepherds keeping a nightly vigil.
Generally, Gonyou concluded
that “lambing occurred from 4
hours before to 8 hours after
feeding. I recommend a single
feeding some time in the late
Forest
On Fowl
by
Forest Muir
Penn State Extension Poultry Specialist
percent are purchased in cut-up
form.
Table 2 below presents the
consumption of poultry compared
to the major red meats.
Two particular items should be
noted in Table 2. Total poultry
consumption has surpassed pork,
and the increase in poultry con
sumption compared to the
previous year has accelerated. In
1983, individuals were projecting,
based on past trends, that by 1991
the per capita consumption of
poultry would surpass beef.
Currently, estimates are being
made that total poultry con
sumption could exceed beef con
sumption as early as 1987.
Factors important in this rapid
increase in poultry consumption
have included the development of
new, easily prepared poultry
products, consumer recognition of
the nutritional value of poultry
products, and inexpensive product
prices. In 1950 the actual price of
broilers was 60 cents per pound;
this has increased to 72 cents per
pound in 1980. But, the important
factor is, if poultry had increased
at the same rate as inflation bet
ween 1950 and 1980, the price of
broiler in 1980 would have been
$2.04 per pound. A true indication
that research dollars spent to
increase technological advances in
the poultry industry have
rewarded the consumer.
Poultry Beef and Veal'
At Maryland Sheep Breeder» 9 Meeting
morning. You won’t totally
eliminate lambs being born late at
night,” said Gonyou. He also
recommended starting the
suggested feeding schedule three
weeks before the first lambs are
due. “Three to four weeks I believe
is sufficient to change your pat
terns around.
“When you get ewes crowded
together, you have problems
during lambing,” continued
Gonyou. “Lambs become
separated from ewes, the ewe
doesn’t claim the lamb, and lambs
are stolen by ewes.” Addressing
the second area of concentration of
the evening, Gonyou announced
that he had experimented with
lambing sites.
“We developed a cubicle, 4-by-6
feet along the edge of the pen.”
With a door opening 2 feet wide and
a threshold 10 inches high, Gonyou
said the cubicle keeps the lamb “at
the birthsite, even if the ewe
wanders off. We see very little
interference when we have a ewe
giving birth inside a cubicle,” he
said.
At lambing time, Gonyou said
that about 45 percent of the ewes
used the cubicles. “They very
rarely shifted. The ewe travels less
before birth time. We’re dealing
with a more contented ewe.”
Gonyou reported no incidences of
stolen lambs, separation of twins
or poor maternal behavior with
ewes that lambed in a cubicle.
Recommendations made were, to
provide one cubicle for every ten
ewes, place cubicles away from
activity, and put a 10 to 12-inch
threshhold at the cubicle opening.
Finally, Gonyou introduced the
idea of using odor transfer through
use of a “jacket" to facilitate lamb
fostering. Rather than going
through the old method of skinning
a dead lamb and putting the skin
over the lamb to be fostered,
Gonyou experimented with an
artificial skin to carry out the
same procedure. A jacket,
fashioned out of burlap or stretch
nylon tubing, was put on the ewe’s
natural lamb for 24 hours. The
alien lamb was also outfitted with
ITHACA, N.Y. - The first New
York Beef Cattlemen’s Association
Direct Marketing sale of feeder
cattle was conducted Tuesday,
Oct. 28, at Cornell University.
The 649 steer calves averaged 65
cents per pound with a pen of 78 M
-1 and L-l Angus bringing the top
bid of 74 cents per pound. The
buyer of this top pen was Larry
Weaver of Lancaster, Pa. The 331
heifer calves averaged 54 cents per
pound; the 177 yearling steers, 56.5
cents per pound; and the 110
yearling heifers, 45.7 cents per
pound.
Peter Nixon of Westfield,
president of the New York Beef
Cattlemen’s Association reported,
“these averages were all higher
than last week’s national
averages." He added, “Ninety per
cent of the cattle sold here tonight
were over the national prices.”
A total of 1,284 feeder calves and
yearlings were marketed in the
two hour Tel-O-Auction. Dr. Bruce
Bainbridge, beef cattle marketing
specialist at Virginia
Polytechnical Institute, was in
charge of the Tel-O-Auction con
ducted through the Mid-Atlantic
Marketing Association of
Christiansburg, Va.
In addition to the buyers, both in
state and out-of-state who were
making telephone bids on the 43
lots, other buyers were present in
the audience making their bids.
Paul Nelson, general manager of
Pork’
a jacket for the same period. After
the jackets are switched, they
smell like the lambs that have been
wearing them. Gonyou said that up
to 90 percent of the alien lambs
were accepted in this experiment.
He also reported on variations of
the technique, such as odor
masking and odor familiarization.
Eighty percent of lambs were
accepted after odor
familiarization, a technique that
BY SHARON SCHUSTER
Maryland Correspondent
Dwayne Miller was awarded the
Shepherd of the Year crook and
certificate at the Maryland Sheep
Breeders’ 30th annual dinner
meeting on October 25. Last year’s
Shepherd of the Year, Vi Hoover,
made the presentation. “It is a
service award to people who have
done an outstanding job for several
years in all aspects of the sheep
industry,” explained Master of
Ceremonies, Dave Greene.
President of the MSBA, Winfree
Irvine, conducted the business
meeting and announced the slate of
officers for the coming year. Bill
Cristoffel will serve as president,
with Nancy Greene as vice
president, Peggy Howell,
secretary, and Martin Hamilton,
treasurer. They will also serve in
NY Cattlemen Hold First Sale
Empire Livestock, served as evaluated and had met strict
auctioneer and William Boles, health management guidelines
manager of the Empire Livestock including required vaccinations.
Market at Dryden, was sale clerk. This New York Beef Cattlemen’s
More than half of the lots were sold Association Direct Marketing
by telephone bids. program was funded in part for the
first year with a $30,000 New York
The cattle consigned to this first Department of Ag & Markets grant
state-wide marketing project had to develop and implement the
all been on-farm graded and program.
Royal, Miller Win fai North Carolina
from Vi Hoover at the Maryland Sheep Breeders' 30th annual
dinner.
‘Shepherd Of The Year’ Named
RCC Royal Hallmark 4703 topped the North Carolina State
Fair's Charolais bull competition on Oct. 20. A Royal Con
structor son, the two-year-old is owned by Royal Charolais
Co. of Greensburg, Pa., and Miller Charolais Co. of Spring
Grove, Pa. Joe Lewis of Lamed, Kansas, placed the shows 48
females and 19 bulls.
introduces the ewe to the alien
lamb’s odor 24 hours before she
sees it. “You may not always have
the ideal situation,’’ said Gonyou of
lamb fostering. He recommended
pairing a ewe with a lamb the
same color, weight, and age as her
own. “We still get rejections of
lambs,” he said. The jacket
technique is being used in com
mercial situations in California,
according to Gonyou.
the same offices for the Maryland
Wool Pool.
Chairperson of the popular
Maryland Sheep and Wool
Festival, Mary Streaker, an
nounced that the festival will be
held for an additional three hours
on Saturday next year, from 9 to 9.
“This is the biggest thing we do in
Maryland as a one-shot
promotional,” she said. She is also
looking to expand the committee
responsible for organizing the
annual event, which draws a
crowd of 20,000 to 25,000 people.
Meetings will be held at the
Howard County Fairgrounds at
7:30 p.m. on Nov. 12, Jan. 7, Mar. 4,
and April 8.
The dinner meeting was held at
the Mt. Airy Firemen’s Activity
Building.