Lamb finishing trial

96 lambs were split into two groups. The control group was fed a creep containing no live yeast, the second group was fed the live yeast at a rate to match the demands of rapidly growing lambs.

The randomly selected lambs were split into groups, with a 3.5kg average starting weight. All lambs had creep feed ad lib from ten days old, and were monitored each day. Ram lambs fed the live yeast reached 40kg 17 days earlier than the control group, taking only 106 days compared with 123 days for the control. Ewe lambs performed similarly, with a 16-day reduction in time to reach 40kg – 126 days against 142 for the control.

These results mean a feed cost saving of 23.5p per lamb per day was realised with extra savings in labour and other costs. The increase in ram lamb growth rates produced a saving of £4.00 per head and ewe lambs £3.45 per lamb.

In addition, extra feed was saved in reaching the 40kg target as a result of improved feed conversion – ram lambs eating 12kg less and ewe lambs 11kg less – average additional saving of £1.80 per lamb.