Question: I am an Ag teacher in Florida and we have been raising and showing club and market lambs for many years with some success even in the Florida heat during the summer. Lambs are born in Feb to March and our shows start in July. We just ran across your Power fuel product this past year. We feed a local feed mill mix that we have created that is high in barley and uses alfalfa pellets. I have it mixed to an 18% protein. We have also been buying Purina Lamb show chow to add into the mix at feeding time then adding the power fuel top dress at 4 ounces per lamb. My question is, I have heard that we need to use a product that contains Bovatec because it helps that lambs to grow bigger faster. If we continue to use your products, will we get the same results? Do you have products with Bovatec? We are trying to raise these animals as economically as possible as these are terminal projects sold at the county fair auction in November and the students are trying to at least break even. We also have to compete against lambs that are born and partially raised in Indiana until about April. So you could say we are at a slight disadvantage and are trying to maximize the genetics that we have.
Answer: Kathi,
Thank you for your question and for choosing High Octane show supplements.
We do not have any products that contain Bovatec. Bovatec is used to prevent and control coccidiosis. It does not produce faster growth. It might give you a slightly better feed efficiency. Deccox which is what HONOR Show Chow Showlamb grower feeds are medicated with, is the best defense against coccidiosis.
Also, Bovatec (lasalocid sodium) is toxic to horses. Deccox is not.
I understand about the economics part of the project. However, this is just my opinion…there is a difference between showlambs and commercial lambs. In commercial lambs we are very concerned with profit and loss, particularly profit. And that is a good thing.
In showlambs we are concerned with maximizing genetic potential and getting the lamb to peak physical appearance on show day. That is how they are evaluated, by the way they look. Commercial lambs by how much they weigh, how much feed it took to get them to market weight, and how much money we made.
There is much value in determining profit and or loss, feed efficiency, days to market and everything that goes with commercial lamb production. However, when we raise and feed showlambs like commercial lambs, or we dilute nutrition usually two things happen:
1) showlambs end up looking like commercial lambs
2) the lambs do not do well in the showring resulting in a less than satisfactory showlamb experience
Since you are competing against showlambs coming out of Indiana, you are more than likely at a disadvantage when diluting showlamb nutrition.
We do have a product called Grand Lamb Mixer DX, that contains all the bells and whistles of our textured showlamb feeds, that you could add corn and oats to, to make a very very good showlamb feed. This might help you control costs. The Grand Lamb Mixer is also medicated with Deccox. It also contains steam flaked barley.
Another way you might want to increase the show nutrition is by adding our High Octane Champion Drive. This product does a great job at adding top shape and muscle definition.
Thanks again,
Dr. Kevin Burgoon
HONOR Show Chow Nutritionist
