Far from being incidental, the choice of feeder for your lambs and of distribution screws, is central to your farm. Let us help you choose yours.
A practical guide to choosing the right feed screw and the best feeder for your lambs
Your lambs deserve the best if they are to grow well and produce good meat. Growing well means being well fed. This also involves choosing the right equipment to deliver the feed.
Far from being incidental, the choice of feed distribution system and lamb feeder is central to your farm. What are the different options? What criteria should you take into account when choosing yours?
We’ve put together a practical guide to help you make the right choice for your farm.
The different feed distribution systems for lambs
Manuel distribution
“The old-fashioned way”. Whether you love manual labour or your flock is too small to make an automated system profitable, there are many reasons to opt for the manual labour option. The choice will depend on other activities you may have, the available workforce, your state of health, and your desire to work in one way or another.
The first advantage is that you have direct interaction with the lambs, since you distribute their feed yourself. This is perfect for keeping a close eye on their health and feeding behaviour.
Automatic distribution
As the name suggests, these are devices equipped with varying degrees of automation. Their great strength is that they can be programmed to provide well-defined quantities of food at specific times of the day. No more wastage, and you’ll be able to see your lambs getting bigger by the minute!
It’s a great convenience for anticipating periods of absence, or simply being able to devote yourself to other tasks on the farm at a time when the lambs need to eat.
Of course, you still have to keep an eye on the lambs and the feeding system. Malfunctions can happen, and any automated system requires regular monitoring.
Mixed systems
These systems offer great flexibility on a day-to-day basis. The feeders can be mechanised, but not necessarily automated or programmable. In short, you can have a feed hopper that avoids carrying heavy loads and make trips to the silo, but it will be up to you to operate it at mealtimes.
This is a good compromise, and you will be able to take advantage of this moment to appreciate the animals’ behaviour, and check that everything is working properly in real time.
Criteria for choosing a feeding system
Capacity and adaptability
How many lambs do you have to feed? How are they distributed in the pens? Are they at different stages of growth? This may concern you if you have several lambing batches throughout the year.
Ease of use and maintenance
It can’t be repeated often enough, but never underestimate the amount of time spent on each task in your life as a breeder. It’s repetition that creates wear and tear. So, make life easier for yourself – you’re worth it! Think practical when it comes to access between the feed store and the feeder.
Auger systems are ideal for this. The auger allows feed or grain to be brought from a silo several metres away from where the lambs and feeders are located. They can be adapted to the configuration of the existing building.
Also check how easy it is to change parts, because you are bound to need change some at some point.
Ease of use and maintenance Flexible augers rigid augers, disk chain conveyors ?
Rigid screws have the advantage of robustness and flow.
Their steel design, often painted or even better galvanised, ensures incomparable longevity.
They can also be used for higher flow rates. If you need higher flows, rigid augers are the best choice.
Flexible screws have the huge advantage of being flexible enough to be installed in existing buildings that were not originally designed to accommodate a supply system.
The addition of elbows or the rounded shapes of flexible augers mean that the feed circuit can be adapted to most situations.
They can also transport grain over long distances, with a diameter up to 90mm.
Like rigid augers, they are easy to maintain. The corners are the parts with the most friction.
Flexible augers are made up of a steel spiral and a plastic tube to ensure flexibility. This makes them lightweight. This is an advantage when it comes to integrating them into existing structures that can bear little additional weight.
The final advantage of flexible screws is their modularity. This means that the feed can be distributed to several points of use and the installation can be modified if necessary.
Disk chain conveyors can also be an interesting alternative. They consist of small-diameter plastic or steel tubes and a chain with pellets fixed at regular intervals circulating inside. The chain is driven by a motorised unit.
They have the same advantages as flexible augers, but maintenance is more complex and the circuit has to be looped, which increases the investment cost of the installation. T They are preferable for fragile foodstuffs or grains, as they will not change the particle size.
Choosing a godd lamb feeder
Durability and quality of materials
Investing in a feeder made from high-quality materials guarantees a long service life and resistance to conditions of use. Corrosion- and impact-resistant materials are particularly recommended.
Sometimes, it’s better to spend a little more money up front on equipment that will stay put and feed your lambs for many years to come. For high durability, opt for quality materials, generally galvanised steel and/or thick polyester.
As with all materials, there are several ranges, so check that you are using hot-dip galvanised steel, which lasts twice as long as standard galvanised steel.
And when it comes to polyester, it’s all in the thickness, so looks aren’t enough. Asking about the weight of the feeder will give you an idea of the quality and robustness of the polyester
Adjustement and design of a lamb feeder
Lamb feeders can be linear or circular.
Inside buildings, circular lamb feeders are preferred because the lambs are less spread out around the feeder and the space taken up by the feeder in relation to the number of lambs that can be fed is reduced.
Circular feeders are also more balanced, making it easier to distribute the feed in the trough.
They are also easier to transport, if necessary, because their centre of gravity is axial to the lifting point.
Your animals will be fattened for varying lengths of time. However, the size of your lambs will change over time. It is therefore essential to have a simple and effective way of adjusting the height of the feeder.
This will make it easier for your animals to access the feed and facilitate their growth. A good lamb feeder will have rounded corners to prevent lamb injuries.
The flow of feed into the trough of the lamb feeder must be easy to regulate, as you will have to dose the downward flow of feed according to the needs of your animals. A system that is too complex or unreliable can quickly waste time and impair the growth of your animals.
Another important consideration is to reduce feed wastage.
A system that prevents the lambs climbing into the feeder or pushing the feed to the ground will reduce feed losses and improve the profitability of your investment in your lamb feeder.
Last point: calibrate the choice of your lamb feeder according to the size of your flock and its distribution in the different pens of your sheepfold. All the lambs must be able to access the feed easily.
Conclusion
You can now see a little more clearly and understand how important it is to choose the ideal feed distribution system for your lambs, as well as the right feeder. They’re just waiting for their food ration to help them grow and thrive!