Challenges each step of the way

11-08-2010 | Cathrine Peter

Feeding and breeding maketh the sheep, but Kyle Burnett reckons a glaring omission from this cliché is the word "management".
Kyle, winner of the New Zealand Hogget Competition composite breed award, says good breeding is a given with proven and excellent rams the length and breadth of the country, and good feeding is essential for well-grown stock. The system goes pear shaped if you don't manage the feed to match the needs of the breed.
"It's all about management and (making) decisions - decisions and timing - timing, it's hugely important here," he says.
Well-timed management on Hawk Farm, the property he manages for Gavin and Jenny Marshall, earned Kyle the national award. The 360ha of developed down-lands bordering west and Central Otago is intensively farmed with sheep, beef and deer and not the easiest for finishing stock due to a long cold winter and late spring growth. Simplistic management and attention to the important details of feed, water and parasite management have produced the results.
In the past season Kyle has produced award-winning hoggets and finished: 2779 prime lambs averaging 18.3kg/cw; 95 steers averaging 290 to 300 kg;136 heifers averaging 250 to 275kg; and 60 stags at 56kg.
The winning hoggets are the result of a new beginning following the purchase of the property by the Marshalls in April, 2008. Up until then the farm had been used for finishing stock from a Central Otago station. Kyle had been managing Hawk Farm for the previous three-plus years and agreed to stay to take on the challenge of establishing a new capital sheep base.
A flock of 2500 Romney-Texel ewes along with five Coopdale rams was bought from West Otago farmers Mike and Buff Power. In 2008 the Coopdales were mated to the two-tooth ewes and the mixed-age ewes and hoggets mated to Wiltshire rams bought by Gavin at a local dispersal sale.
Kyle diplomatically describes the wool-shedding Wiltshire as an "alternative" breed and not his first choice for a terminal sire, but admits they've performed well.
"They're vigorous breeders and have been very successful with the hoggets."
The progeny were good quality and their survival rate impressive which Kyle attributes to thicker than average skin providing good insulation to deal with cold southerly spring squalls.
This year all mixed-age ewes were mated to Coopdales, with extra rams bought from Clinton breeder Alistair Cocks.
Wiltshires were again used with hoggets and to introduce a Texel influence the older ewes were mated to Suftex rams.
For Kyle a crucial feeding period is the lead-up to mating.
"I can't flush ewes (on this country) so I need them at a Body Condition Score of at least four when the ram goes out."
His solution is to use a stock class rotation from January until the start of mating early in April, moving each class of stock to pasture according to their particular requirements. Prime lambs get top pick, followed by ewe lambs and cattle and the mixed-age ewes used for cleaning up.
Most pastures are a hardy Nui-based red, white clover, Timothy and cocksfoot mix.
Managing one cultivar across the farm makes it easy for Kyle and stock.
"I'm familiar with it and know how to manage it and from a lamb point of view it's good because there's no sudden change in their diet ... it's a detail that I'm particular about."
Clean drinking water is another detail he takes time over. Water troughs are emptied and cleaned out when stock enter a paddock to prevent the intake of any water-borne diseases from fouled or stagnant water.
"The most important drench drum I have has the lid cut off to

scoop out the water right to the bottom of the trough."
He also makes sure stock know where to get water from, taking them to the trough as soon as they're shifted to a new paddock.
"It's a detail I pay attention to and it costs me nothing but I think it makes a difference to animal health ... I'm trying to stop lambs that scour."
The matching of stock to feed-need requires constant visual monitoring of pasture but it's worth it, says Kyle, producing target mating weights of 80kg (ewes) and 48kg (hoggets).
"They're heavy sheep and not everyone agrees but it's (the extra condition) a safety margin that helps them get through the winter ... they can end up losing a condition score in spring due to the short pasture so I have to be sure I can get them there in good shape."
Winter feeding begins early in June. Mixed-age ewes graze pasture and are supplemented with barley silage, while hoggets and "B" mob ewes are break-fed 9ha of swedes and supplemented with silage. Following scanning late in July, hoggets and ewes graze Sovereign kale, minus silage, to remove the risk of abortion through Listeria. From mid-August the twin-bearing hoggets are rotated on grass.
Last year's hoggets scanned at 138% - 20% up on this year's result of 118%. Despite the lower than expected result, Kyle is satisfied with the 263 twin, 467 single and 108 dry hoggets.
"Having 87% of hoggets in-lamb means more to me than how
many lambs they have in them. And it leaves us in a better position to get more live singles and fewer twins."
Ideally Kyle would like the hoggets to scan around 130%.
Last year the ewes scanned 175% (no triplets) and this year 190% (including triplets) which Kyle is pleased with.
Hoggets receive two 5-in-1 shots and ewes one 5-in-1 pre-lamb. They're then set-stocked from September 10, single ewes at 16/ha, and twin ewes and hoggets at 12/ha.
Lambing is a largely hands-off time and Kyle minimises disturbance in paddocks by keeping them dog-free. Daily checks are made for cast ewes, which is a recurring problem due to their size and shape. Bearings can also cause problems on occasion.
"It's always an unknown and I don't know the answer."
Following tailing in the first week of November, mobs of 200 ewes plus lambs are run together.
"I don't like big mobs because it leads to mis-mothering which is one of the biggest travesties of livestock farming."
They're shifted once a week, which some people would argue is too much, Kyle says. "... But you've got to have good fresh pasture for them. I feed the ewes to feed the lamb."
A proactive drenching programme begins in the first week of December with both a combination and tapeworm drench. From then on they're drenched monthly with the interval between doses increasing as the season progresses. Kyle chooses to drench by date rather than faecal egg counts, which he has tried in the past but never has been happy to stick with because of the average mob result it produces.
"It doesn't tell you anything about the distribution and range of infection so you can never really be sure how much of a problem you've got."
His aim is to kill parasites before they can do damage and hinder growth.
"I work on predictable outcomes and on a given day I want to have zero eggs per gram."
Lambs also receive B12 at tailing and an extra half dose in February.
A pre-Christmas skim draft is taken; last year 561 left the property, averaging 16.8kg/cw, and the next draft is at weaning in the second week of January.
The heavier lambs are grazed in a mob of 400 and the rest in mobs no bigger than 700 and rotated on pasture until drafting. This year 90% of lambs had left the property by the end of April. The bulk was supplied to Silver Fern Farms with 175 sold to a Blue Sky heavyweight (20 to 25kg) contract.
In April ewes are drafted and the bottom end, around 4%, taken out, drenched and run with the "B" mob.
"I need them back in good condition for mating so ignoring them is not an option."
With the capital sheep flock now established, Kyle is keen to maintain what has been achieved.
"They're proving very worthy as they are. They're easy to keep and good to work with. I'd like to keep a strong Texel influence in the flock and maintain the fertility."

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