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Observations on the performance of
sheep using lick feeders
Danny Roberts
Veterinary Officer
Department of Agriculture and Food
Albany, Western Australia
What are lick feeders?
 Restrictive feeding delivery device
 It requires sheep to actively ‘lick’ feed from restricted areas within
the feeder
 The design results in less wastage from either spillage or spoilage
compared with 18-24% loss with other types of self feeders
44% of surveyed sheep producers
have a lick feeder
Lick feeders were present on
significantly more flocks with low
labour ranking (66%) compared
with high labour ranking (34%)
Average of 3285 sheep per producer
Enterprise type
Other devises used by low labour
use ranked producers include: sheep
handlers, crutching cradles,
electronic weigh crates
Sheep CRC producer survey 2011 –
1000 respondents by phone
Wool
producers
27%
Wool and
prime lamb
producers
50%
Prime lamb
producers
23%
Benefits and costs of using lick feeders
 Significant reduction in labour and time required to feed sheep
during summer, autumn and early winter
 Reduction in wastage of supplement – reduce wastage by 12%
= 8T @ $225/T - take 8 years for feeder paid for by savings on
wastage alone
 Supplement available 24/7
 Increased variation of intake of a supplement with lick (CV
78%) feeders compared with on-ground trail feeding (CV 47%)
Do lick feeders deliver – case 1
 One lick feeder should deliver the supplement to 200 sheep without social factors inhibiting
intake – ~2.5 cm of trough space per sheep
 385 merino wethers (9 months) with access to lick feeders on the original property
 Placed in a 12.5 hectare paddock that contained two Advantage lick feeders
 Two lick feeders were placed as far away from the water trough as possible
 The two lick feeders were separated across the paddock.
 The dry pasture residue in the paddock was eaten or tramped within one week
 Sheep consumed lick pellets and had access to oaten hay
 Aim was to restrict the intake of lick pellets and allow a gradual increase before ad-lib
feeding in a feedlot pen
Performance of sheep in a confinement paddock
 Estimated intake of 800-900 grams per head per day of pellets
when the feeders were ‘set’ at 350 grams per head per day
 The rate of introduction of the pellets was more rapid than the
recommended program of daily feeding using feed carts
Performance of sheep in a feedlot pen
 The sheep were transferred to a feedlot pen – with
unrestricted access to lick feeders - one lick feeder per 110
sheep – providing 4 cm trough space per head
 Had access to oaten hay and green kikuyu
 Consumed 500 grams per head per day
 The presence of kikuyu in the feedlot pen appeared to alter
lick feeding behaviour by reducing intake of the pellets
Sheep behaving badly
 Sheep consumed varying amounts of pellets from the two
different lick feeders in the same paddock
 Sheep appear to quickly identity which side of the lick feeders
were partially blocked and actively avoided these sides of the
feeder
 Feeders required monitoring every second day to avoid partial
blockages in the first 14 days
 Checking could safely move to every 5-7 days once the blockages
were overcome
Do lick feeders deliver - case 2
 155 pregnant merino ewes (3-4 years old) had access to one lick feeders located in the
feedlot paddock as well as access to dry pasture residues.
 The lick feeder is set to provide 250 g/head/day of lupins.
 The estimated average intake of lupin seed is 333 g/head/day after 12 days of access to a
lick feeder.
 However, daily intake can vary from as little as 8 g/head/day when the feeder almost empty
to 847 g/head/day immediately after a refill.
 In the first 7 days following the introduction of sheep to the lick feeder - they remained
mostly in the feedlot area that contains the lick feeder.
 They are now spending more time grazing the dry pastures in the annual farmlet.
Health issues associated with lick feeders
 Enterotoxaemia in unvaccinated sheep
 Clinical rumen acidosis
 Pregnancy toxaemia in ewes
 Salmonellosis
 Black Mastitis in ewes
 A noticeable proportion of sheep considered as ‘poor doers’ within a mob
Monitoring sheep on lick feeders
 How do you detect abnormal feeding behaviour or unhealthy
sheep when they just stand around the feeder and
 Sheep spend a relatively short time eating supplements
 Low faecal consistency score and 50% or more chewing their cud
 The ability of producers to detect abnormal feeding behaviour
decreases as the size of the mob increases
Observations from sheep producers
 Report a large variation in amount eaten between different mobs
and performance of individual sheep within a mob
 Average intake of supplement is greater than anticipated when a
low amount of dry FOO was present in the paddock
 Perform least effectively as a restrictive feeding delivery method
with low amounts of dry pasture present
 Perform most effective as a restrictive feeding delivery method
when sheep are grazing green pasture
Others problems ….
 Don’t do a feed budget – know the CS of sheep at the start and 2 or 4 or
6 weeks time in order to determine the correct amount of supplement
required
 Often have more than 200 sheep per lick feeder
 Experience problems with blockage of one side of feeder
 Tend to refill the feeder on set days as part of their labour and time
saving strategy
 Condition score the sheep – ‘let the sheep do the talking’
Train the sheep
 Lambs recognize grain and feeders if trained with mum
 Train sheep well before they need to go onto lick feeders
 Sheep must get a reward of grain on first visit to a feeder
 Train sheep using a safe supplement like lupin seed
 Have lupin seed in drip tray and overflowing from lick
section
Summary
 Lick feeders can restricted the access of pellets but not as
much as anticipated
 Sheep can modifying intake of lick pellets independently of
the design of the feeder
 Lick feeders are most effective as a restrictive feeding
delivery method when sheep are grazing green pasture
 Many claims about lick feeders still need verification
Alternative to lick feeders – spread
lupin seed across the paddock