4-H MARKET LAMB PLANNING GUIDE
DAWES COUNTY 4-H
This Planning Guide is designed to help you with your market lamb project as you work to get your
sheep market ready. A key to a successful market lamb 4-H project is to “begin with the end in mind”.
Think about what your end goal of the project is (i.e. a market ready lamb at county fair), and then
outline the steps necessary to help you obtain that goal.
I.
Number of Days to Feed
Date of your Show
Date of Market Lamb Weigh-In
Number of Days Lamb is on Feed
II.
___________
___________
___________
Estimating Finished Weight
Lambs today typically weight between 120-140 lbs. when they are at their finished
weight and will gain between 0.75 – 1.0 lbs. per day if fed good to excellent quality
feeds. Let’s work through an example of how to make sure that we are starting
with a lamb that will be finished by county fair and that that lamb gains the correct
amount of weight each day in order to achieve that goal.
Goal for finished weight of lamb: 135 lbs.
Days until County Fair: 51 d
Example #1: Weight of lamb at the start of project needed to reach market
weight by county fair if average daily gain is 0.75lb.?
0.75 lbs. * 51 d. = 38.25 lbs.
135 lbs. – 38.25 lbs. = 96.75 lb. lamb at the start of the project
Example #2: Weight of lamb at the start of project needed to reach market
weight by county fair if average daily gain is 1.0 lb.?
1.0 lbs. * 51 d. = 51 lbs.
135 lbs. – 51lbs. = 84 lb. lamb at the start of the project
As you can see, a 0.25 lb. increase in average daily gain, SIGNIFICANTLY
decreases the starting weight of the lamb needed at the beginning of the lamb
project!
FEEDING YOUR LAMB
Feeding is a HUGE part of the lamb 4-H project. See the table below from Ohio
State University Extension on what markets weights your lambs should finish at
based on their starting weight and their height.
Market Lamb Finish Weights
Based on Height at Shoulder and Weight
To find Expected Finish Weight Intersect Height & Weight
Height
inches
50 lbs
60 lbs
70 lbs
80 lbs
Beginning
Weight
Beginning
Weight
Beginning
Weight
Beginning
Weight
Beginning Weight
19
105-110 lbs
0
0
0
0
20
110-115 lbs
105-110 lbs
0
0
0
21
115-120 lbs
110-115 lbs
105-115 lbs
0
0
22
120-125 lbs
115-120 lbs
110-115 lbs
105-110 lbs
0
23
122-127 lbs
120-125 lbs
115-120 lbs
110-115 lbs
105-110 lbs
24
0
122-127 lbs
122-127 lbs
115-120 lbs
115-120 lbs
25
0
125-130 lbs
127-132 lbs
117-122 lbs
115-120 lbs
26
0
0
130-135 lbs
122-127 lbs
120-125 lbs
27
0
0
135-140 lbs
125-130 lbs
125-130 lbs
28
0
0
0
130-135 lbs
130-135 lbs
90 lbs
All weights shown are the minimum for heights and weights.
If weight is between amounts shown move to next lower weight - example: 55 lbs, use 50 lbs.
Adjustments heavy muscle + 5 lbs, light muscle -5 lbs, poor condition +5 lbs, extra condition -5 lbs
On the left of the graph is the shoulder height measurement in inches. The top of the graph has the weight of the
lamb in pounds. To find expected finish weight, intersect the height measurement with weight. If the weight is
between amount shown, move to next lower weight; for example, 55 pounds, use 50 pounds. Adjust for heavy
muscle, +5 pounds; Light muscle, -5 pounds; poor condition, +5 pounds; extra condition, -5 pounds.
To determine the estimated average daily gain to achieve the desired target weight, use the
following formula:
Target Weight - Initial Weight = Total Gain
Total Gain / Days On Project = Estimated Average Daily Gain
An example would be a large framed lamb that weighs 65 pounds at the initial weigh-in. A
desired final weight could be 124 pounds. To find the total gain that we have to achieve,
subtract the initial weight from the desired target weight (124 - 65 = 59 pounds that must be
gained by the final weigh-in). The 59 pound total gain is then divided by the number of days in
feeding period (59 pounds / 65 days = .91 pounds that must be gained per day to reach the
desired final weight). If your lamb is fed good to excellent quality feeds, having average daily
gains of .75 to 1 pound is achievable.
Below is a handy chart that describes the nutrient requirements of market sheep at
different stages of their life.
Nutrient Requirements of Sheep: Nutrient Concentration of the Rations
Source: Sixth Revised Edition, National Research Council, 1985.
Body
Wt.
(lbs.)
Average
Daily
Gain
(lbs.)
Dry
Matter
Intake
(lbs.)
% Body
Weight
Total
Protein
(%)
TDN
(%)
Energy
Ca (%)
P (%)
Vitamin
A (IU)
Vitamin
E (IU)
66
0.65
2.9
4.3
14.5
72.4
48
24
486
7
88
0.60
3.5
4.0
11.7
77.1
40
20
537
7
110
0.45
3.5
3.2
10.0
77.1
34
20
671
7
As you can see in the table above, the heavier a market lamb gets, the greater its
dry matter intake is and the lower its TDN and Vitamin A requirements are. However, as a
market lamb gets heavier, its protein, Ca, and P decrease. The reason for this is that when
an animal is young, they are growing rapidly and so they are building skeleton and muscle,
thus their Ca and P requirements (components of bones) and their protein requirements
(components of muscle) are higher at this time. As the animal gets older and it has
reached its maximum height and muscle mass and they begin to put on more and more
finish (fat), their protein, Ca, and P requirements go down.