Weaned lamb ration: a practical finishing plan

A finishing ration for weaned lambs starts with live weight and target daily gain. For lambs aged 4 to 7 months, HerdMobile calculates daily amounts of your own silage, hay and grower feed and shows the cost per lamb. You can compare feeding costs with weight gain as the lambs grow.

Growing lambs eating chopped forage from a trough. AI-generated topic scene.

Edited by Ender Soyuince · About our content

2026-10-21

Compiled from open-access scientific sources.

Which lambs is this finishing ration for?

This finishing ration is for weaned lambs aged about 4 to 7 months, weighing 66 to 110 lb, or roughly 30 to 50 kg. The NRC’s 1985 feeding guidance covers this stage. Plan for dry matter intake, total digestible nutrients (TDN), crude protein, calcium and phosphorus. For intermediate weights, estimate needs in proportion to live weight. To calculate metabolizable energy in Mcal, multiply TDN in kilograms by 4.409, then by 0.82. In HerdMobile, choose finishing as the purpose and enter the lambs’ weight and target daily gain to calculate a ration from your feeds.

Read the related guide

What might a lamb eat in a day?

For example, a ration for a 40 kg weaned lamb in HerdMobile contains 1.91 kg of maize silage and 1.10 kg of lamb grower feed per day. Together, they provide 1.59 kg of dry matter containing 12.4% crude protein. Silage moisture and feed composition affect these amounts, so use your own analysis and feed label values. Make feed changes gradually over about a week to let the rumen adjust, including the move from creep feed to grower feed. Split the daily allowance between feeding times and provide enough trough space for every lamb.

How do you check minerals and daily cost?

Keep the calcium to phosphorus ratio at least 2 to 1; grain-heavy rations can supply too much phosphorus. Check copper against the sheep range of 7 to 15 mg per kilogram of dry matter. Sheep are particularly sensitive to excess copper. Enter your purchase prices and feed stocks in kilograms; HerdMobile shows the cost per lamb per day. Weigh a sample of lambs every two weeks, note their gain and update the ration as the group’s average weight increases.

Questions from the farm

How old are lambs on this finishing ration?

This finishing ration is for weaned lambs aged about 4 to 7 months, weighing 66 to 110 lb, or roughly 30 to 50 kg.

How is energy calculated for lambs?

To calculate daily metabolizable energy in Mcal, multiply total digestible nutrients (TDN) in kilograms by 4.409, then by 0.82.

What calcium to phosphorus ratio should you aim for?

Aim for a calcium to phosphorus ratio of at least 2 to 1. Include all feeds and mineral supplements when checking the whole ration.

How HerdMobile helps

Bring your animals, feed stocks and farm accounts together on your Android phone. HerdMobile keeps your daily work moving offline: record events, compare feed quantities and follow sales and payments in one place. Use your own feeds and herd information to prepare a ration, then keep a backup file under your control.

See how many kilos of each feed to give — Keep the day’s work in view: open your animal records, plan feeding, follow farm accounts and manage your backup in HerdMobile.