Member resources

A lactation cycle stage by stage: the dry period, the transition around calving, peak, mid and late lactation. What changes in the ration and what to watch in each stage.

Track feed delivered, refusals and dry matter intake per group; the simplest way to see whether a ration works.

Score cows at key stages and track the change; large losses after calving point to transition problems.

A daily check of each fresh cow for the first three weeks after calving to catch metabolic problems early.

From arrival to slaughter: receiving and adaptation, step-up to the finishing ration, growing and finishing, and the digestive problems to prevent.

Track feed delivered, refusals and dry matter intake per group; the simplest way to see whether a ration works.

From four months to first calving: growth targets for each stage, how to feed them and what to avoid, so heifers calve at 22–24 months at the right size.

Measure heifers every 2–3 months and compare with the targets to catch groups that fall behind or get too fat.

Step by step from birth to four months: colostrum, the milk period before weaning, starter feed, weaning and the weeks after.

Every newborn calf: timing, amount and quality of the first colostrum feedings and a passive immunity check.

One sheet per calf from birth to weaning: milk, starter, water, scours and treatments week by week.

The whole production year in one handbook: how the sheep’s stomach works, how much it eats and drinks, what each stage needs, from mating and late pregnancy to lambs, fattening and minerals, plus the nutrition-related diseases to prevent.

Small ruminants are not small cows. They select feed more, react differently to minerals and have their own critical periods around mating, late pregnancy and lamb fattening.

From choosing the breed to selling lambs: flock goals and records, housing, the production calendar, reproduction and mating, lambing, lamb care, flock health, parasites, feet, shearing, milking, ageing by teeth, culling and welfare.

Every ewe at lambing: date, lambs born, birth ease, colostrum, navel care, tags and losses. The base of all flock performance numbers.

Treatments, vaccines, FAMACHA©, body condition and faecal egg counts on one sheet, with withdrawal dates. For sheep and goats.

Goats are not small cows and not sheep either. This handbook covers how goats choose and use feed, what dairy, meat and hair goats need at each stage, kid rearing, buck feeding, minerals, poisonous plants and the nutrition-related diseases to prevent.

Small ruminants are not small cows. They select feed more, react differently to minerals and have their own critical periods around mating, late pregnancy and lamb fattening.

Everything a goat keeper needs beyond the feed trough: breeds, herd goals and records, housing and fencing, the breeding calendar, kidding, kid care and disbudding, CAE and other herd diseases, parasites, hoof care, milking and milk hygiene, ageing, culling and welfare.

Every doe at kidding: kids born, ease, colostrum (heat-treated in CAE control), navel care, disbudding and tags.

Treatments, vaccines, FAMACHA©, body condition and faecal egg counts on one sheet, with withdrawal dates. For sheep and goats.

How the pig digests feed, how energy, amino acids, minerals and vitamins are expressed in modern feeding systems, and how phase feeding matches the diet to the animal.

The main energy and protein sources for pigs, their limits, the most important feed additives and the legal limits for trace minerals and mycotoxins (EU reference values).

Water and climate set the limits for feed intake, and several common health problems in pigs have nutritional causes or nutritional solutions.

A sow’s lifetime productivity is largely decided before her first mating. Growth rate, age, weight and oestrus number at first service, and the feeding that supports them.

Pregnancy lasts about 114–116 days. The aim is to bring every sow to farrowing in the right condition: not thin, not fat, with sound legs and a good appetite for lactation.

A modern sow can produce more than 10 kg of milk a day. Her feed intake in lactation decides litter weaning weight, how much body reserve she loses and how quickly she returns to oestrus.

Boars are few but each one influences many litters. They should be kept fit and lean, with sound legs, good libido and good semen quality.

One line per sow per litter: litter size, fostering, lactation feed intake, weaning and return to oestrus.

From birth to weaning: colostrum, warmth, iron, creep feed and preparing piglets for the biggest change of their lives.

The first two weeks after weaning decide nursery performance. Highly digestible diets, early feed intake and gut health without pharmacological zinc oxide.

Track each pen or batch: weights, feed delivered, diet changes, mortality and treatments, and calculate daily gain and feed conversion.

From about 25 kg to slaughter at roughly 110–130 kg, this phase uses most of the feed eaten on a pig farm. Small improvements in feed efficiency have a large economic effect.

Track each pen or batch: weights, feed delivered, diet changes, mortality and treatments, and calculate daily gain and feed conversion.