Grainbeet as a feed for ewes in late pregnancy

Abstract

Within early lambing systems, there is a heavy reliance on concentrate feeding in late pregnancy. Therefore, the possibility of replacing conventional dietary ingredients (e.g. barley, fishmeal) with cheaper by-products, such as sugar beet pulp and brewers grains, is of particular interest. Pelleted distillers barley grains fed with molassed sugar beet nuts have been shown to be a suitable feed for pregnant ewes (Merrell and Hyslop, 1994). However, some health problems have been noted when feeding malt distillers wet grains (Vipond and Lewis, 1993). The objective of this trial was to investigate the effect of feeding grainbeet (a mix of 5 parts brewers grains to 1 part molassed sugar beet pulp) on ewe performance, colostrum production and lamb performance.