ICM Lamb Sustainability Trial: Lamb births and hogget sales
Farm liaison officer with ABP Food Group, Gavin Healy is involved in the project and explained the purpose of the research.
He said: 'As part of the trial, each flock runs a bunch of ewes with two, 5-Star rams purchased through the Sheep Ireland Multibreed Ram Sales.
'The performance of the offspring from these 5-star rams is then compared to the other lambs on the farm bred from the conventional sires.'
The aim of the project is to demonstrate the economic and environmental benefits of using 5-star rams across a range of sheep-farming systems.
To date, just over 500 lambs have been born into the trial. Each lamb will have its individual birth date, weight, health and lambing-difficulty recorded. All lambs are tagged at birth for ease of data collection.
The farm liaison officer said: 'So far, lamb birth weights have been averaging 5.5kg and 4.5kg for single and twins respectively across the farms.
'The average lamb birth weights have been the same for both the 5-star and conventional-sired lambs. All lambs born into the trial were remarkably healthy and hardy lambs that came with very little assistance required.'
Lambing is expected to draw to a close on these trial farms by the end of April and at that point, the ewes and lambs will be turned out to the mountains for Summer grazing.
A keen eye will be kept on lamb performance over the next two months until they are weighed mid-season as the ewes are down for shearing.
Following on from this, all lambs will be weighed at weaning and on a monthly basis from there to finish.
Healy said: 'Lambing is a very busy time on farms with an intense labour requirement. Weather has been on-side this year which has made it much easier for both the farmers and the animals.'
On the ABP Demo Farm in Carlow, farm manager Sean Maher gave an update on the store lamb performance.
He said: 'We are nearing the end of the store lambs with 595 lambs slaughtered to date this year with just 70 left to be drafted.
'Lambs are being drafted at approximately 51kg live weight whilst also being assessed for fat cover around the tail-head and back.
'Carcass weights have been steady at 23kg, with a ratio of 4:1 of Rs vs Us.'
'Lambs are drafted every week or second week and this has been crucial in slaughtering lambs at the desired weight, ideally not over 23kg and not sending underweight lambs either.'
'The good, dry weather has been a great help to thrive and has helped reduced waste at the feed troughs.
'Lambs have been consuming 1kg/head/day of 14% protein hogget pellets along with access to grass and silage. As numbers dwindle, grass picks up and spring grass for the lambs is doing a service on performance'
All lambs had their bellies and tails shorn in late September which is essential in keeping them clean and allows a true weight to be recorded on the scales as they are not dragging clay and muck around with them.
The farm manager noted that lameness was an issue in the lambs this spring despite the dry conditions.
He said: 'A small amount of foot-bathing has been carried out but perhaps not enough.
'Lame sheep receive an antibiotic and foot spray. Once the final lambs are slaughtered it will be interesting to crunch the numbers and analyse performance of our ICM trial rams.'
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Irish Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
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Irish Times
21-06-2025
- Irish Times
Venice Architecture Biennale 2025: Ireland presents an elegantly complex take on a richly simple idea
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RTÉ News
13-06-2025
- RTÉ News
Is seat 11A the safest seat on a plane?
The survival of a passenger who escaped through an exit door seconds after an Air India flight crashed killing everyone else on board has prompted speculation over whether the seat he was in, seat 11A, is the safest. Aviation experts say it is not so straightforward because aircraft vary widely in seat configurations, crashes are unique and survival often hinges on a complex interplay of factors. "Each accident is different, and it is impossible to predict survivability based on seat location," said Mitchell Fox, a director at Flight Safety Foundation, a US-based nonprofit. The sole survivor, Viswash kumar Ramesh, a British national of Indian origin, said his 11A seat was near an emergency exit on the London-bound Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner that crashed in Ahmedabad and he managed to walk out. Sitting next to an exit door might help you survive an accident, but it will always be 11A because aircraft can have dozens of different configurations. "In this particular instance, because the passenger was sitting adjacent to the emergency exit, this was obviously the safest seat on the day," said Ron Bartsch, Chairman at Sydney-based Av Law Aviation Consulting. "But it's not always 11A, it's just 11A on this configuration of the Boeing 787," he added. A 2007 Popular Mechanics study of crashes since 1971 found that passengers towards the back of the plane had better survival odds. Some experts suggest the wing section offers more stability. Sitting next to an exit door, like Mr Ramesh, gives you an opportunity to be one of the first out of the plane, although some exits do not function after a crash. The opposite side of the plane was blocked by the wall of a building it crashed into in Ahmedabad. In January of last year, a panel missing several bolts blew off the side of a Boeing 737 MAX mid-flight, creating a gaping hole and damaging the adjacent seat. Fortunately, no one was seated there at the time, and the incident resulted in no fatalities. Sitting by the aisle might offer you a speedier escape but it increases the likelihood of being hit in the head by luggage falling out of the overhead bins, which is a much more common occurrence than major crashes. Safety briefings Paying attention to the safety briefing at the start of your flight - often dismissed as routine - is likely the best way to improve your chances of survival, experts say. Disciplined compliance with cabin crew evacuation advice, including leaving bags behind, was a key factor in saving the lives of all 379 passengers and crew aboard a Japan Airlines flight in January last year. The Airbus A350 aircraft had collided with a Coast Guard plane at Tokyo's Haneda Airport, killing five of the six crewmembers on the smaller aircraft. Safety briefings typically cover critical instructions such as how to fasten your seatbelt securely, adopt the correct brace position and plan your evacuation route. A common tip is to count the number of rows between your seat and the nearest exit, which is vital knowledge if the cabin fills with smoke and visibility is low. Despite disasters such as the Air India crash, plane designs have evolved to increase the likelihood of passengers walking away from a rare plane accident, Mr Fox said. These include floor path lighting, fire detection and extinguishers, less flammable cabin materials and improved access to emergency exits. "There have been remarkable advancements in airplane cabin design that have improved the survivability of accidents on or near the ground," Mr Fox said.
