Lamb Questions and Answers Archive « Previous Entries Jim: Feeding Strategy   Monday, May 24th, 2010 Question: When following the feeding strategy for showlambs and weighing the feed ration, is the double handful of alfalfa included or in addition to the grain? In example, if it says an average of 3.5 lbs of honor show lamb grower do you make the grain and the alfalfa add up to 3.5 pounds or do you feed 3.5 pounds of grain AND a double handful of alfalfa? Answer: Jim, Thank you for your question and for choosing HONOR Show Chow showlamb products. The alfalfa is in addition to the Showlamb Grower. Thanks again, Dr. Kevin Burgoon HONOR Show Chow Nutritionist Karen: Weight Gain   Monday, May 24th, 2010 Question: My daughters are raising 4H market lambs and this year they are starting out smaller than we would like them. They are just at weaning and want to know what would be the best feed to get them a good start. We would like to mix it with our own feed which is a mixture of corn, oats, soy and minerals. Answer: Karen, Thank you for your question and your interest in HONOR Show Chow showlamb feeds. I suggest feeding the lamb our Showlamb Grower DX. This is an 18% crude protein textured feed that will do a great job for you. I do not suggest mixing with another product, as this dilutes the crude protein, energy, medication, minerals, vitamins, and especially the Diamond V Yeast, Zinpro, and TASCO which are important for how the feed works. We also have products that will help the lamb grow faster in our High Octane Power Fuel topdress. Start with about 4 ounces per day, and then increase to about 8 ounces per day once the lamb gets to about 80 lbs. The High Octane Power Fuel contains Diamond V Yeast, Zinpro and TASCO, so there is no risk of diluting the nutrition. Thanks again, Dr. Kevin Burgoon HONOR Show Chow Nutritionist LaRae: Product   Monday, May 24th, 2010 Question: Should you feed lambs exactly as the label directs or is that just for drug levels? If not how much do you recommend to feed per lamb to get them finished? Answer: LaRae, Thank you for your question and for choosing HONOR Show Chow showlamb products. The exact amount you feed will depend upon your lamb, what it weighs, how many days until show and a few other factors. However, as a general guideline we suggest feeding 3 to 4% of the lambs bodyweight per day. So, if a lamb weighs 75 lbs, 3% of its bodyweight would be 2.25 lbs per day. Thanks again, Dr. Kevin Burgoon HONOR Show Chow Nutritionist Melanie: Product   Monday, May 24th, 2010 Question: Why do most of your sheep products contain medication? The only one I could find without was ewe pellets. Am I missing something? Answer: Melanie, Thank you for your question. Most of our HONOR Show Chow Showlamb feeds are medicated because they are fed to young growing lambs. The biggest threat to those young lambs is coccidiosis. We medicate our feeds with Deccox because it is the best defense against coccidiosis. Our showlamb feeds are sold nation wide and in a huge variety of different scenarios including health situations. So, to protect our customers from experiencing the loss of their showlamb project, we medicate our feeds with Deccox. The HONOR Show Chow Ewe Pellet does have an option that is medicated with CTC (chlortetracycline). However, since sheep that are approaching, or are over 1 year in age should have developed immunity to the coccidia organism, there is no need to medicate the Ewe Pellet with Deccox. Thanks again, Dr. Kevin Burgoon HONOR Show Chow Nutritionist Marilyn: Weight Gain   Monday, May 24th, 2010 Question: We started out this season feeding our lamb the 12% Power Fuel Topdress (in addition of course to the Honor Lamb Grower). We then went on to 32% Champion Drive Topdress. Do we totally stop feeding the 32% now and gradually add your NEW Fitter 35%? We opted to take a nice ewe lamb and we want to add all of the muscle we can by June 5th 2010. The lamb is gaining nicely and I hope we are on the right track! This is our 3rd year in 4H and we think your products are great! Answer: Marilyn, Thank you for your question and for choosing HONOR Show Chow show products. If you want to maximize muscle, I suggest feeding all three High Octane products. In addition to the HONOR Show Chow Showlamb Grower, feed: 6 to 8 ounces each of: High Octane Power Fuel (6 to 8 oz) High Octane Champion Drive (6 to 8 oz) High Octane Fitter 35 (6 to 8 oz) Champion Drive will neither add body condition nor take any off. It will add dimension and shape to muscle. Fitter 35 will burn fat and build muscle. The difference between Champion Drive and Fitter 35 is that Fitter 35 increases the amount of muscle. If you want Fitter 35 to build muscle but NOT burn fat, then add Power Fuel at the same time. Thanks again, Dr. Kevin Burgoon HONOR Show Chow Nutritionist Lindsay: Product   Monday, May 24th, 2010 Question: Last year I started using your Power Fuel product on both species and loved it. It worked wonders. I just saw that you came out with a new Product Fitter 35. My question is it better than Power Fuel? How is it different than Power Fuel? And lastly can you mix the two together. Answer: Lindsay, Thank you for your question and for choosing HONOR Show Chow show products. We actually have 3 High Octane show supplements: High Octane Power Fuel: an extruded high fat (31%) energy supplement that does a great job at adding cover, improving skin and hair, and helping to improve the overall health of the animal. High Octane Champion Drive: a pelleted high protein (32%) supplement that does a great job at adding top shape (muscle definition) And, our new product High Octane Fitter 35: a pelleted high protein (35%) low fat (2.5%) supplement that helps to burn fat and trim up show animals, and build muscle. You can actually feed all 3 together. If you do not want to burn fat, but need to increase muscle, and put more definition in muscle, then for lambs and goats feed about 4 to 8 ounces of each per day per animal. For pigs, it would be about 1 lb per day of each. To prevent Fitter 35 from burning fat, and yet have it help to increase muscle add a little Power Fuel along with Fitter 35. Thanks again, Dr. Kevin Burgoon HONOR Show Chow Nutritionist Kathi: Product   Friday, May 7th, 2010 Question: I am an Ag teacher in Florida and we have been raising and showing club and market lambs for many years with some success even in the Florida heat during the summer. Lambs are born in Feb to March and our shows start in July. We just ran across your Power fuel product this past year. We feed a local feed mill mix that we have created that is high in barley and uses alfalfa pellets. I have it mixed to an 18% protein. We have also been buying Purina Lamb show chow to add into the mix at feeding time then adding the power fuel top dress at 4 ounces per lamb. My question is, I have heard that we need to use a product that contains Bovatec because it helps that lambs to grow bigger faster. If we continue to use your products, will we get the same results? Do you have products with Bovatec? We are trying to raise these animals as economically as possible as these are terminal projects sold at the county fair auction in November and the students are trying to at least break even. We also have to compete against lambs that are born and partially raised in Indiana until about April. So you could say we are at a slight disadvantage and are trying to maximize the genetics that we have. Answer: Kathi, Thank you for your question and for choosing High Octane show supplements. We do not have any products that contain Bovatec. Bovatec is used to prevent and control coccidiosis. It does not produce faster growth. It might give you a slightly better feed efficiency. Deccox which is what HONOR Show Chow Showlamb grower feeds are medicated with, is the best defense against coccidiosis. Also, Bovatec (lasalocid sodium) is toxic to horses. Deccox is not. I understand about the economics part of the project. However, this is just my opinion…there is a difference between showlambs and commercial lambs. In commercial lambs we are very concerned with profit and loss, particularly profit. And that is a good thing. In showlambs we are concerned with maximizing genetic potential and getting the lamb to peak physical appearance on show day. That is how they are evaluated, by the way they look. Commercial lambs by how much they weigh, how much feed it took to get them to market weight, and how much money we made. There is much value in determining profit and or loss, feed efficiency, days to market and everything that goes with commercial lamb production. However, when we raise and feed showlambs like commercial lambs, or we dilute nutrition usually two things happen: 1) showlambs end up looking like commercial lambs 2) the lambs do not do well in the showring resulting in a less than satisfactory showlamb experience Since you are competing against showlambs coming out of Indiana, you are more than likely at a disadvantage when diluting showlamb nutrition. We do have a product called Grand Lamb Mixer DX, that contains all the bells and whistles of our textured showlamb feeds, that you could add corn and oats to, to make a very very good showlamb feed. This might help you control costs. The Grand Lamb Mixer is also medicated with Deccox. It also contains steam flaked barley. Another way you might want to increase the show nutrition is by adding our High Octane Champion Drive. This product does a great job at adding top shape and muscle definition. Thanks again, Dr. Kevin Burgoon HONOR Show Chow Nutritionist Marilyn: Feeding   Monday, May 3rd, 2010 Question: I have been reading a lot on the website, and I was wondering what the benefits of wet feeding is. I have heard of it before, I am just not sure if I should use this for my lambs, or hogs. Answer: Marilyn, Thank you for your question. Wet feeding can help get pigs to eat a little quicker and it can also get them to eat some items they might not find totally palatable. That is to get them to eat a specific diet when slowing or limiting weight gain a little faster. It is also useful in both pigs and lambs to get water into them at a show when the water may not taste good to them. In other words, in some localities, the water can taste…well…bad. And animals may not like to drink as much as they need. So, in order to circumvent that, wet feeding is used (the water is in the feed). It is also useful when you need to administer an oral antibiotic or electrolytes. Thanks again, Dr. Kevin Burgoon HONOR Show Chow Nutritionist Karla: Health   Monday, May 3rd, 2010 Question: Our nursing ewe got into the honors sheep show grower! I am not really sure how much she ate. What should we be concerned about? Answer: Karla, Thank you for your question and for choosing HONOR Show Chow. It really depends upon how much she ate, and if she was being fed this feed on a daily basis when she got into it. Grain overload is a danger here if she ate very much of the feed. My suggestion is to contact your local veterinarian, ASAP and visit with him/her about a course of treatment. Thanks again, Dr. Kevin Burgoon HONOR Show Chow Nutritionist Gussie: Product   Thursday, April 22nd, 2010 Question: Looking for 18% Honor Show Lamb feed. Feeding blacks for show in June. Need to know about the feed and how to feed it. Answer: Gussie, Thank you for your question and for choosing HONOR Show Chow showlamb products. I have attached a feeding strategy sheet that will help you in feeding your lambs. The HONOR Show Chow Showlamb Grower DX is an excellent growing developing feed. Basically, feed about 3% of the lamb’s bodyweight per day. Our High Octane show supplements are a great addition to get the lamb into peak physical appearance for show. Thanks again, Dr. Kevin Burgoon HONOR Show Chow Nutritionist