Feeding at an Incline
One of the many controversal issues in the art of raising a champion lamb is whether or not to feed at an incline. An incline can be as simple as letting your lamb climb a fence or wall to reach its feed, using a block underneath the feeder for the lamb to stand on, or building or buying a ramp that leads up to the feeder. When using an incline, the lamb's feeder is hung on a fence or wall. The incline is placed underneath the feeder. The lamb is then taught (or teaches itself) to put its front feet on the incline and to leave its hind feet on the ground.
Many lamb raisers/producers strongly believe in using inclines to help build/condition muscle in the leg and loin areas. They believe that because the lamb is using its legs and loin muscles to push off the ground in order to get to the feed it will help strengthen these muscle groups. However, there are just as many raisers and producers who are strongly against using inclines. These people believe using inclines will destroy or break down the loin shape and condition in the lamb. For those lambs that are more genetically susceptable to rectal prolapse, some believe inclines will only make the possibility for prolapse even worse. These people also believe that if a lamb raiser is doing well with lambs that are fed at an incline, they will do just as well or even better without the incline. Many of the greatest feeders and showers across the nation don't feed on ramps. They recommend feeding no higher than at the lamb's shoulders. Still others believe that the decision to feed at an incline all depends on the individual lamb. Some say that longer-loined lambs shouldn't be fed at an incline, while others can.
One experienced lamb producer commented that the above pictures show a great deal about what can be learned from inclines. In the picture of the lamb climbing the fence, the weight on the hind end is directly on the hip joint. The lamb is not flexing the muscles of his leg at all and has rocked forward so that his leg is straight into his hip. There is NO tension on the hind leg at all, thus no muscle is being built. By looking at the shape of the loin, one can see that it is being stretched, not flexed. Muscles grow when flexed, not stretched. A great deal of extra pressure is being driven down into his fetlock and pastern-- something is going to have to give there too. It can be expected to see the pasterns begin to weaken and drop. In the picture of the lamb using a ramp, the weight is on the front legs and into the shoulders. When fed on an incline, lambs quickly learn to rock forward and take the weight on the shoulders. The farther forward they rock, the more the damage to the loin, and the less they use their hind legs to maintain themselves in that position. The lamb being fed on the block is the closest to being alright in her opinion. The lamb still rocks forward when he is being fed, so you are still getting the stretch, but there is a little bit going on with the hind leg, not a lot, but some.
So how do you know which is the best way to feed your lamb? This is up to you to decide. Just like everything else in the world, there are many decisions to make when deciding how to raise a lamb. Before you do decide to feed one way or another, please weigh out the advantages and disadvantages to each method.
