Our calculations show that $1000 spent on pregnancy-scanning 1000 ewes (includes the cost of beer) can return $5500 in increased income.
This comes from knowing which ewes are carrying more than one lamb. Being able to prevent just these ewes losing any more condition, lifting the condition score of just the light ones of these ewes and allocating safe paddocks and more grass to these ewes all results in more and bigger lambs.
Should multiples be run on their own from scanning? If feed is short and ewes are going to be underfed for the next month then it is better that multiples get the pick right from scanning. But if there is still some paddock cleaning-up to do and ewe condition is okay, then there is more to gain by using the power and efficiency of bigger mobs.
At 35 days before the start of lambing, multiple ewes must not lose condition and must begin to get more to eat. By 20 days before lambing starts, these ewes must be getting even more. What is the consequence of not doing this? Mostly, the time it takes for lambs to stand up will be affected. The longer a lamb takes to stand up, the more likely it is to be mismothered and weather events will shorten its life. It will also put a ceiling on how much milk ewes can produce, which in turn puts a ceiling on how fast their twin lambs can grow.
A similar outcome can result from how long these multiple ewes are off grass when they come in for their pre-lamb treatments. If it is 10 days before lambing that pre-lamb vaccinating takes place, it is far more critical that yarding time is very short compared to than if it is 20 days before lambing. What can keep this time short is only giving any worm treatment to light-condition ewes. Adequately fed, good-condition ewes will struggle to give an economic return on a pre-lamb drench.
Please contact Totally Vets if you would like more information on ewe management after scanning.
