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About this virtual field day
This virtual field day was captured September 26th, 2019.
This virtual tour of a containment feed lot has been developed to highlight the important features of containment feed lot design. This virtual tour offers a 360 degree walk through a working containment feed lot and provides commentary on the key features.
MSF would like to thank farmer Matt Kelly and family for access to film the virtual tour.
Expert advice and voice recordings have been provided by Hamish Dickson, Principal Consultant – Livestock nutrition & management, AgriPartner Consulting.
The written text has been provided from the AWI resources below.
For more information visit the following links to useful publications
Confinement feeding is a valuable option not only for maintenance feeding during a drought, but also for use during a normal season to allow deferred grazing during autumn, or production feeding to turn off lambs. Confinement feeding (previously known as lot feeding or feedlotting) are intensive feeding systems in a confined area where all, or the majority of feed and water are supplied to sheep. Establishing these feeding areas requires consideration of location, equipment and costs.
There are a number of benefits to confining sheep to smaller areas, particularly in drought years.
It is worth considering confinement feeding if:
• there is risk of erosion if grazing continues;
• there is a risk of weed seeds, in bought fodder;
• or sheep are still losing weight, or condition, on a full survival ration in the paddock.
The following are points to consider when selecting a confinement feeding area.
• The site should be well-drained, protected from prevailing winds, convenient to yards, silos, and a water source. A site should be located close enough to base to minimise travel but far enough to avoid the potential effects of dust and smell.
• Select a site that minimises water pollution risks caused by nutrient run-off. The site should be located at least 50m from intermittently flowing watercourses and 100m from permanent streams or rivers. Avoid sites upslope from dams so that run-off does not contaminate the dam.
• A slope of about three to four per cent is desirable to aid run-off without causing erosion. Grade banks placed above confined feeding areas on sloping sites will reduce run off and the longest side of the feeding enclosure should be aligned with the contour.
• Choose an appropriate soil type such as a hard clay or loamy soil. The most suitable soil types are those that do not become too dusty in summer, and do not cause too much mud, run off or leaching over winter.
This virtual field day has been developed as part of Mallee Sustainable Farmings project: Facilitating enhanced knowledge sharing of Mallee sustainable farming practices.
This project is supported by the Mallee Catchment Management Authority (CMA), through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program
For Further information contact admin@msfp.org.au.
How to navigate through this virtual tour
At each view point, look around the scene in 360 degrees by swiping or clicking and dragging the photo towards the direction you would like to look. Move between viewpoints by clicking on white arrows
Move directly to a point of interest with the tour by clicking on the tab in the left hand top corner: Point of interests provided in this tour are:
• Feed
• Water
• Shelter
• Hay
Within a point of interest scene access detailed information about features by clicking on the following icons:
• (i): In-depth text description
• (Speaker): Audio of information from livestock consultant from Hamish Dickson
• (photo): High resolution detailed photos of the feature at the point of interest.
Self-feeders are a good way to reduce labour when feeding for production.
However, they are not a good option when ration feeding such as during a drought or when maintaining stock. Self-feeders are more suited to the finishing of stock where maximum feed intake is required to get sheep to a marketable weight.
Less trough space is necessary for self-feeders. Allow 4 to 5 cm per lamb and 5 to 10 cm per adult (use the upper end of this allowance for sheep with wool longer than 2 cm).
Sheep tend to arrange themselves better around circular self-feeders than rectangular self-feeders.
If hay is being fed and it is not chopped and mixed in with grain, a large amount of wastage can occur. Consider surrounding the large bales in weldmesh or panelling (such as portable sheep yards) so that wastage is reduced but animals can still access the roughage source. Hayracks can be used for large square bales.
It is also important to prevent sheep from climbing on top of hay bales or rolls, as it is possible for bales to collapse and sheep to be suffocated or crushed. This applies particularly to lambs.
Providing shade and shelter to stock in containment areas is critical. Heat and cold stress can affect ewes in containment just as much as younger stock. Ensuring there is adequate shade and shelter for stock is an important part of good containment area design.
Heat stress through summer can cause problems with pregnancy. Cold stress, especially when coming into containment areas off shears, increases feed intake which increases the feeding costs and reduces efficiency.
Shade can be provided in the form of shade cloth, natural trees (provided that they are fenced off), iron and any other types of structure that can provide a safe shade and sheltered area for the animals.
Many stock will come into containment areas off shears therefore it’s important to ensure that the environment is as comfortable for the animals as possible. This will ensure that the economics of feeding in containment areas is optimised.
A guaranteed supply of good quality water is essential in a confinement feeding system.
The amount of water any sheep will consume depends on the weather, type of feed, quality of water and their physiological stage (eg. pregnant, lactating).
Dams should be fenced out of the confinement area and stock watered in troughs.
These need to be cleaned regularly, as contamination with faeces, dust and feed will reduce water intake.
Place water troughs at the opposite end to hay and feed sources to reduce fouling.
A minimum trough length of 30 cm plus 1.5 cm per sheep (with one-sided trough access) is recommended for mobs of up to 500 (that is, a trough length of 7.8 m is the minimum requirement for a mob of 500 sheep). This is provided that inlet pipe sizes and water pressure are sufficient to keep water in troughs under all circumstances.
Water quality
Water quality is affected by soluble salts, algae, the presence of animal carcasses, bird faeces, pH and clay in suspension.
If water quality is not acceptable sheep may drink less than required or, stop drinking altogether. Therefore, poor water quality may cause sheep to go off their feed, lose condition, stop lactating or die from thirst, disease or toxicity.
Sheep kept in confinement are more sensitive to lower quality water or changes in water quality and so it is important to closely monitor water supplies in confinement systems.
Daily cleaning of water troughs is recommended to remove faecal and food contaminants.
Confinement feeding is a valuable option not only for maintenance feeding during a drought, but also for use during a normal season to allow deferred grazing during autumn, or production feeding to turn off lambs. Confinement feeding (previously known as lot feeding or feedlotting) are intensive feeding systems in a confined area where all, or the majority of feed and water are supplied to sheep. Establishing these feeding areas requires consideration of location, equipment and costs.
There are a number of benefits to confining sheep to smaller areas, particularly in drought years.
It is worth considering confinement feeding if:
• there is risk of erosion if grazing continues;
• there is a risk of weed seeds, in bought fodder;
• or sheep are still losing weight, or condition, on a full survival ration in the paddock.