Sheep

Anitone Animal Supplements and Sheep

“It’s in the feeding, not the breeding” is an old farmer’s rule of thumb. Sheep grazing on pasture are at particularly high risk of essential mineral and trace element deficiencies. Not to mention deficiencies of protein and energy!

There are huge variations in pastures (even on the same farm), due to soil types, season and climate, and management.

Vitamins & Minerals For Sheep

During long dry Australian summers, feed on offer can be in very short supply. Supplementary feeding is necessary to keep sheep alive. Serious deficiencies of minerals and vitamins can occur, but will frequently result in infertility, lamb deaths and poor weight gains. All of these impact overall farm productivity.

Administering Anitone Supplement To Sheep

Anitone has evolved into a helpful tool for the sheep farmer. In these operations it becomes the true multi tasker.

Firstly, Anitone is well suited for coating grain for trail feeding or lick feeders. It is highly relished by the sheep and will encourage shy feeders.

Anitone can also be given in water troughs in suitable situations. Many farmers run it into their paddock troughs from their windmill tanks once or twice a week during long hot summers.

Anitone is a source of valuable minerals needed by sheep running on stubbles over summer. It is a useful stress buffer to give weaners and during shearing, mulesing, or crutching when it can easily be tipped in to the troughs in the sheep yards whilst holding the flock.

A flock of sheep at a feeding lot
A healthy orphan lamb

Sheep

Graham Hartwich, Eyre Peninsula Commercial Fat Lamb Producer

Buys in lambs to fatten and also breeds from SAMM ewes – turning over approximately 2000 Lambs/year. “We have been using Anitone for the past 4 years, and it is a crucial part of the success of my operation. I buy all the crook looking lambs from the saleyards and they are usually cheap because no one wants them when they look so bad. I take them home, and upon unloading them, I drench each lamb with 15 mls Anitone and I give them Glanvac. I then put them into feedlot paddocks which are about 50 acres in size, and there they have access to grain feeders and pasture. I coat the grain that goes into the feeders with Anitone as well – I use 5 litres of Anitone to 5 litres of water, and coat the grain at 10 litres/ton. I find they really like the smell of the Anitone because they get straight into the grain and eat really well. I sometimes give them a weekly 15ml drench of Anitone as well if they are really poor. I also include Anitone into all my regular drenching programmes.

It is a very useful tool for raising lambs, being able to be easily mixed into milk, feed or water. Many farmers use it routinely on their lambing ewes to ensure they come through the physical stress of birth and lactation, and have plenty of energy to look after their lambs. Many sheep diseases have a nutritional aspect to them, predisposing the animal by weakening the immune system – therefore Anitone has great potential for lifting sickies and tail enders, and for any sheep under stress. Anitone is brilliant in the feedlot situation, as it can help to counteract the effects of acidosis and keeps animals on their rations. By supporting gut microflora, Anitone can assist the rumen in adapting to the higher levels of concentrates, and may be safely combined with molasses and urea supplements for drought feeding programmes, as the sulphur compounds in Anitone are of particular value when feeding supplements such as urea. Some farm trials have demonstrated a clear benefit in increased weight gains, especially where they are mixing their own grain rations on farm.

Anitone is a great tool for finishing show sheep or preparing rams for ram sales, when it can be used on a daily basis mixed in the ration. Some reports from shearers have indicated that administering.

DOSAGES

Lambs

5mls daily, or as often as possible

Dose can be doubled during times of stress/ recovery.

Adult Sheep

10mls daily, or as often as possible

Dose can be doubled during times of stress/ recovery.

Add to water

20mls/litre

Can be added to water troughs

Rocco De Bellis

Gracefield SAMM Stud, Katanning WA

“I have been using Anitone on my stud sheep and find it to be a very useful product. It’s very readily taken by the sheep coated on grain, and I have also found it very useful preparing rams for sale and show. The sheep industry has needed a product like this for a long time that is cost effective, easy to use and that really works.”

Anitone prior to shearing can have a quietening effect of the sheep – this is a commonly reported feature of the product in other species of livestock as well. Anitone has also been praised by farmers as being particularly useful in helping recovery from mulesing – a calming and muscle relaxant effect has been reported, and the lambs appear to be brighter and bounce back better from this procedure when they have received a dose of Anitone. Many farmers add Anitone to the water troughs in the yards whenever they bring the sheep in.

Anitone Animal Supplements Australia