Rocket fuel for lambs

A colostrum supplement to provide essential energy for twin, triplet and cold stressed lambs

Colostrum provides baby lambs with a range of essential nutrients and antibodies to help them survive the 1st days and weeks of life. Much of the focus has been on antibody levels and there are many products available that contain some dried cow colostrum or whey concentrate that claim to provide antibody protection for the lamb. 

Twin and triplet lambs often get little colostrum from their mothers, but work by Teagasc suggests that, even in these cases, the lambs get enough antibody protection but do NOT get enough energy (Table 1). 

It is no surprise then that the leading cause of death among multiple birth lambs is starvation or hypothermia.

Ewe milk and colostrum contains twice the energy level of cow colostrum as lambs, due to their small size, have a much higher relative maintenance requirement than a calf. The fact that they are often expected to be born and survive outside means energy intake can be the difference between life and death.

TAKE OFF is designed to provide high levels of energy for the baby lamb with 1 feed providing 1MJ of energy as fat and carbohydrate. This is more energy than the lamb can get from the same volume of milk replacer or ewe milk and will also help lambs recover from cold stress.