​Early starts, strong growth: Pietie du Toit’s approach to profitable lamb production

For Dohne Merino farmer Pietie du Toit, early feed intake is an important part of a production system designed to keep lambs moving efficiently from birth, through his feedlot and ultimately to market.

Farming between Caledon and Villiersdorp, Pietie follows an accelerated eight-month lambing cycle, with different groups of ewes lambing every second month throughout the year. This approach allows him to maintain a consistent supply of lambs to market, supporting his cash flow.  It also requires lambs to be weaned relatively early.

“Our lambs are normally weaned at around two months of age, at approximately 22 to 23 kg,” says Pietie.

From there, the lambs move into Pietie’s own feedlot, where he finishes them before marketing.

Getting lambs eating early

Early creep feeding plays an important role in Pietie’s system.

He introduces creep feeders when lambing has been underway for approximately two weeks, giving the young lambs an opportunity to become familiar with solid feed from an early age.

For Pietie, establishing early feed intake helps support the lambs ahead of weaning and makes his early-weaning system possible.

He uses EPOL Lamb Growth Plus (a custom mix) in his creep feeders and says one of the features he particularly values is the pellet size.

“It’s a nice small pellet. Small lambs take to it very easily.”

He describes the feed as highly palatable and says wastage is minimal — an important consideration when looking at the overall cost of feeding.

From creep feed to the feedlot

Another advantage for Pietie is continuity between creep feeding and the feedlot. He uses the same product, EPOL Lamb Growth Plus, in both stages of his feeding programme.

Because the lambs are already familiar with the feed when they are weaned, there is no need to introduce a completely different feed as they move into the feedlot.

Rather than selling them at weaning, Pietie finishes the lambs himself to capture additional value.

“I make most of my money in the feedlot.”

That makes efficient growth and careful feed management central to the profitability of his operation.

Measuring performance

Pietie does not rely only on visual assessment. He regularly weighs his lambs and monitors their performance through the production cycle.

Lambs are typically weaned at around 22–25 kg at approximately two months of age and enter the feedlot. From there, they achieve an average daily gain of approximately 360 – 400 g, reaching a live marketing weight of 44–46 kg after around 50–60 days in the feedlot.

Typical carcass weights range from 21–23 kg, with dressing percentages of around 48–49%. Pietie reports a feed conversion ratio of approximately 4–5:1, or 4–5 kg of feed for every kilogram of liveweight gained.

These measurements allow Pietie to evaluate feeding decisions in terms of what ultimately matters to his business: growth, efficiency and the value generated from each lamb.

Consistency at commercial scale

Pietie’s flock of around 2,800 breeding ewes produces approximately 3,000 lambs a year. At that scale, consistency matters: seemingly small differences in feed intake, growth rate and wastage are multiplied across thousands of animals.

For Pietie, the value of his feed lies in how well it fits into the production system he has developed — from encouraging early intake in young lambs to supporting their progression into his feedlot.

His decision to use EPOL ultimately comes down to what he sees in his own operation: lambs that begin eating early, feed that is readily consumed with minimal wastage, and the growth performance required to make his production model work efficiently.

Today, Pietie’s lambs are weaned at around 22–25 kg at two months of age and achieve an average daily gain of 360 – 400 g through the feedlot, reaching a market weight of around 45 kg in 50 – 60 days.

For Pietie, these results demonstrate the value of a feeding programme that fits his production system — supporting early intake, efficient growth and the consistent performance he needs to make his operation profitable.

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