Introduction
After lambs have successfully adjusted to their new feedlot environment, management should strive for an optimal feed delivery system. This is commonly referred to as feed bunk management. Offering lambs unlimited access to feed has been the standard feeding practice of the sheep industry for decades. In this system, the bunk is never empty and lambs always have feed in front of them. This is not bunk management; the effort stimulates a high labor, high cost, self-feeder. A clean or slick bunk management system may improve feed efficiency by reducing feed wastage and eliminating wide variation in day-to-day intake. Robbi Pritchard and his colleagues at South Dakota State University have developed several innovative strategies for feed delivery (Bierman and Pritchard, 1996). In their studies, Prescription Intake feed delivery reduced dry matter intake by 11%, improved feed efficiency by 11%, and did not decrease daily gains, compared to a feeding system where bunks were infrequently slicked. Feed costs were reduced by 5.3¢/lb of gain for the Prescription Intake system. Other studies have shown similar results, which should cause feedlot managers to examine their objectives for feed bunk management. Just because a lamb does not have 24-hour access to feed does not mean that the lamb's intake is limited. It may be possible to train lambs to eat their daily feed ration in less than 24 hours. If this can be done, it would put the producer in charge of daily intake, rather than the animals. In a pen of lambs, individual consumption can vary greatly from day to day if feed is always available in the bunks. This can create a roller coaster feed intake pattern for individual lambs even though total pen intake may be fairly constant from day to day. Consistent delivery and consumption of feed may enhance performance while reducing metabolic disorders and off-feed problems.
By training lambs to eat in a prescribed period of time, it may be possible to achieve more consistent feed intake patterns. It may even be possible to actually increase daily feed intake if the bunk is not always full due to increased competition at the feed bunk. The objective of this trial was to establish intake patterns so that bunks were without feed (i.e., slick) for 0, 1.5, 3, or 6 hours daily to determine effects on lamb performance.