A SIMPLE technique to quickly identify shy feeding sheep within a mob has the potential to save the industry more than $20 million a year.
The innovative use of a blue food dye leaves a tell-tale sign on the lips of animals which have taken to a newly introduced grain or pellet feed.
Shy animals can immediately be drafted out for separate management using the strategy which has been successfully field tested by Gerard Roney of Victorian company Advantage Feeders.
Mr Roney said it was natural flock behaviour for up to 5 per cent of animals in any mob to miss out on the nutritional boost of supplementary feed.
"Traditionally poor feeders are only identified weeks later when the flock is weighed. By this stage the animals are going backwards in condition and it is very hard to turn them around and get them onto a rising plain of nutrition."
"This represents a significant loss in productivity whether it is a mob of lambs being finished in a feedlot or ewes being supplementary fed in the paddock."
Mr Roney perfected the dye technique on his family property near Bendigo.
"I saw this as a significant issue and decided to see if we could come up with a solution," said Mr Roney who markets his award-winning feeder units around Australia and New Zealand.
The 2.5 tonne capacity units are fitted with adjustable slides which can limit daily animal intake to as little as 200 grams for sheep and 1 kilogram for cattle. The company also sells a range of feed-saving hay racks for all popular size bales.
Hundreds of feeders are mass produced for economy of scale and shipped in flat packs with simple assembly instructions.
"We’ve always been pro-active in looking for ways to do things better and the food dye technique to identify shy feeders will be a real benefit for producers," Mr Roney said.
"I settled on blue dye because it really stands out on the sheep’s lips. You only need to add it at a rate of about 50 grams to 100 kilos of feed mix."
Mr Roney said it was best to let the animals settle on their new diet for three or four days before introducing the food dye.
"You can pick up the tell-tale colour of their lips within days of introducing the dye."
Mr Roney said there were a number of management options once shy feeders were identified. These ranged from culling them from the flock to putting them in a group on their own where they would take to introduced feed successfully.
For a free information pack, go to www.advantagefeeders.com.au
