By Fredalette Uys
Livestock farmer Hugh Ainslie has found an effective way to make full use of creep feeding in his Boer goat operation, by making clever use of recycled wooden pallets.
Hugh says one of the key lessons drought taught him was the critical importance of nutrition, especially the role of creep feeding – providing supplemental feed to young nursing animals while preventing their mothers from accessing the feed.
“Nutrition plays a vital role, and creep feeding makes a big difference,” he says. “Young kids don’t eat much, and their feed conversion ratio is at its best when they’re in the early stages of growth.”
The pellets he gives them comes from Winterberg Veevoere, a livestock feed company near Cradock.
Hugh runs a mixed livestock farm, with Boer goats as one of his enterprises. On the beef side, he breeds crosses of Beefmaster, Hereford and Angus cattle; and he produces store lambs by crossbreeding Merino and Dormer sheep. He also has about 14 species of game on the farm for hunting.
Pallets and wire
To ensure that the young kids have access to the supplemental feed but the mothers cannot reach it, Hugh built barriers using repurposed wooden pallets that he got from BKB, originally used for loading feed blocks. His ewes and kids are kept in a kraal overnight, and he created a separate section in the kraal using the pallets. The kids can enter this area to feed undisturbed, and move freely back to their mothers.
He modified the pallet barriers by removing some of the wooden slats to enlarge the openings, and adding wire to narrow the gaps so the ewes cannot squeeze through.
Hugh says he knows that there are plenty of commercial creep feeders available and that his solution is a simple, low-tech one, but the pallets were free – and he is seeing excellent results.
Some of his young kids now reach 20 kg at just two-and-a-half months old, compared with the usual five to six months, “if you’re lucky,” he says. The kids’ dependence on milk is reduced, which takes pressure off the ewes.
“The twinning rate has also improved, because the kids aren’t draining the last reserves of energy from the ewes. And the benefits aren’t limited to this season – you see the difference throughout a ewe’s lifetime.”
Hugh believes creep feeding has become essential in small-stock farming.
Winning the battle against predator losses
Hugh’s ewes are currently lambing on a planted pasture with electrified fencing to keep predators out. He takes no chances, and does everything in his power to prevent losses to predators, including the use of lights, radio broadcasts and fire as deterrents.
To further ensure that his weaning percentage remains high, he has introduced the necessary incentives for his workers. They are paid extra for every lamb, kid or calf that is weaned and eventually tagged.
“The workers take pride in their work, and look after the animals very well – which means they’re looking after us. I believe in treating our workers well.”
When the kids are old enough, they and the ewes are taken to sweetveld where they graze during the day, and at night they return to the kraal.
“It may not sound possible, especially with 800 ewes in production,” Hugh says, “but the beauty of a goat is that it is an animal of habit. They return to the kraal every night. You would struggle to do it with 800 sheep.”
The big picture
One of the challenges in goat farming is abortions, Hugh says. It is something he has had to deal with. He sent several aborted foetuses to the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute for analysis, which revealed a micromineral deficiency.
To address this, he now gives his pregnant ewes 200 g maize each per day, and since starting he has had no more problems with abortions. He also administers a dose of Multimin with selenium from Virbac (Reg. no. G1853, Act 36 of 1947) to both sheep and goats.
“R10 000 might sound like a lot of money to spend on maize, but if three goats abort twins, the financial loss is just as much,” he says. “You have to look at the bigger picture. People often panic when they have to spend a large amount of money upfront – but when it’s done right, the investment pays for itself.’
Hugh says the demand for goats has surged over the past year. Many of the animals he sold were exported to Mauritius, a growing market that has significantly pushed up local prices.
Hugh sells all his livestock through Hobson & Co, an agricultural company based in the Eastern Cape, which will be hosting a goat auction in mid-November.
Reclaiming grazing
Hugh’s Boer goats are playing a valuable role in helping to control bush encroachment on his farm. “If there are trees on the farm, there’s a place for Boer goats,” he says. Sweet thorn trees (Vachellia karroo) are a particular problem at the moment. In addition to using the goats for browsing, Hugh also employs chemical methods to manage the encroaching trees that threaten his grassland.
He puts the felled trees to good use by placing branches over bare patches left by the drought, helping to protect the soil so the grass has a chance to grow back.
Also read:
Is it possible to eradicate diseases?
Home-made tonic to stimulate rumen flora
New study finds way to reduce antibiotic use in livestock
