Paddocks are filling with more triplet-bearing ewes and their lambs, which has big potential to improve whole-flock productivity.
But a lack of information about optimal nutrition and management can limit the performance of this triplet 'unit' and potentially cost the sheep industry up to $32 million annually in lost production.
Ewes that bear triplet lambs are far more vulnerable than twin-bearers to losing condition in late pregnancy if feed is not adequate, or breaking-down in the feet if they are fed too much.
The biggest challenges for the triplet lambs include: a tendency to have low birth weights; slow metabolism; and less access to colostrum and milk than twin lambs. These factors can then reduce pre-weaning survival rates and weaning weights.
Australian researchers are investigating optimal condition score and feed on offer (FOO) targets for triplet sheep units, with the aim of producing best-practice nutrition and management guidelines to help boost survival, flock production and profits.
Such guidelines are lacking for triplets and, to address the knowledge gap, trials have been set up at more than 50 sites across the country investigating the impacts of a range of ewe feeding regimes in late pregnancy and lactation - across a range of body condition scores and breeds.
The four-year 'Managing triplet lambs and their dams' project is led by Murdoch University, with investment from Meat & Livestock Australia and Agriculture Victoria. There is also collaboration with New Zealand's Massey University, which grapples with the same issue.
Overall, the aim is to help sheep producers lift weaning rates in triplet-scanned mobs by as much as 30 per cent and reduce ewe mortality by at least 4 per cent.
It is estimated this would boost grower profits by $13-24 per triplet-bearing ewe (based on a $5.50 per kilogram carcase weight price for lamb).
Lambs Alive program manager and consultant, Jason Trompf, said more triplet lambs were being born in Australia on the back of genetic gains for fertility in the national flock and conducive seasonal conditions in many areas in 2020.
He said if survival rates for triplets could be improved - to at least the equivalent of twin systems (averaging about 90 per cent nationally) - this would improve productivity for growers and the sheep industry as a whole.
"But we need more research into the optimum management and nutrition packages that will achieve that, including the role of mineral and grain supplements," he said.
Dr Trompf said preliminary results from the project's national trials from 2018 and 2019 indicated mob size was also a key factor in the ability of triplet units to survive and thrive - mostly due to the effect of lambing density on mis-mothering (lambs born per day).
He said past research had shown if you take 100 ewes out of a twinning mob, there is an average 2.5 per cent lift in twin lamb survival - or 5 per cent extra lambs marked.
"Triplet survival is even more responsive, with anecdotal on-farm evidence of improvements in marking rates in smaller mobs of up to 30 per cent," he said.
''If there are less ewes in a mob, there are fewer lambs born in a single day - leading to better bonding and less miss-mothering."
Dr Trompf said on a national basis, triplet-bearers only represent a small percentage of the breeding flock but are way over-represented in ewe mortalities.
"At a current value of $300-400 per head, it makes economic and welfare sense to keep more of these mothers alive," he said.
"We don't want conceiving triplets to be a death sentence for ewes, as we are responsible to care for their wellbeing and they have potential to be the most productive class of stock on the farm.
"We need to manage them effectively to look after the triplet dams and their lambs and, in particular, ensure these ewes are part of the next year's breeding flock."
- More information: Dr Jason Trompf, 0408 211 864, J.Trompf@latrobe.edu.au