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Managing sheep in drought
Sheep must be closely managed before, during and after a drought to ensure the survival of the overall flock.
By preparing for a drought you can help limit the impact on your flock. During a drought, you may need to reduce the number of sheep you have by selling, agisting or culling. You will also need to prepare feeding strategies for the sheep you keep, which may include supplementary feeding, agisting, feedlotting, or using mulga.
Once the drought breaks, manage sheep and pasture carefully to prevent any further animal losses.
This guide explains how to predict upcoming droughts and prepare for them. It also outlines how to create a drought management plan for your sheep, and how to protect them once the drought has broken.
Planning for drought
Planning for drought enables sheep producers to bounce back quicker once the rain comes. Good planning can help reduce the financial impact of drought by reducing waste, and can protect the condition and long-term carrying capacity of grazing land.
Predicting drought
Although it is difficult to predict the length of a dry period, you can use historical rainfall and climate data to develop scenarios. The Rainman Streamflow software lets you work out local rainfall patterns from 100 years of monthly and daily records. Monthly climate statements, which interpret seasonal climate outlook information for Queensland, are also available from the Queensland Government.
Create a drought management plan
You need to know as much as you can about your overall position before a drought so that you can create a plan to get through it with minimal losses. There are 3 main areas to assess:
1. Your available water and feed
Start by working out how long you expect your water and feed to last with your stock, and how long the drought could last. It's not feasible to cart water for stock long term, so you must be realistic with the amount of water you will have access to throughout the drought, and be careful how you use it. If there is a body of dry, low-quality feed, lambing ewes will require additional energy for survival, or energy and protein for ewe and lamb survival; dry sheep will require less protein and energy than breeding sheep. If little or no feed is available, all sheep will require energy and protein. Read more about feeding and supplementing sheep during a drought.
2. Your financial position
Review your financial position. It may be worthwhile seeing your bank manager to work out what sheep management options would best suit your current financial position. You may need to sell some sheep, and help the rest to survive by paying for some feed. Or you may need to look at selling the class of sheep that will return the most money. Find out more about managing cash flow.
3. The effect of your plan on future grazing
Assess your current pasture utilisation rate (the amount of growth consumed by grazing animals), and work out what is sustainable for the predicted duration of the drought. Even though rain often occurs during winter, the drought may not break until well into the next summer. Winter rain does not generally break a drought but it may give some temporary relief for sheep by growing high-quality herbage. If cold weather follows winter rain, plants will not usually germinate. Winter rain and frosts will also cause rapid deterioration in dry pasture quality. You may need to reduce your flock to ensure the survival of your pasture. Read the Managing for drought in grazing lands fact sheet (PDF, 642KB) for more information.
Tips from past droughts
In the drought feeding and management of sheep (PDF, 2.7MB) booklet, farmers in Victoria who successfully survived the 1982 and 1994 droughts were asked what they did to get through. In summary, they:
- made plans and took actions early
- did simple budgets for various feeding and selling options
- knew their hay supplies and were prepared to ration roughage
- prepared cash flow budgets for 2–3 years
- reviewed decisions regularly
- acted quickly and decisively
- looked for opportunities
- remained positive
- planned a holiday
- were prepared to put sheep into stock containment areas to preserve their pastures and soil.
Predicting future drought events, and planning for them in advance, will help ensure that you are able to keep the best quality flock possible, while maintaining land condition.
Also consider...
- Read drought survival stories from Queensland farmers on the Leading Sheep website.
- Learn how to protect the welfare of drought-affected animals.
Managing a sheep flock in drought
It is important to monitor sheep health and pasture condition during a drought. Close management of your flock is key to their survival. Reducing grazing pressure on the pasture as early as possible, either by selling sheep or finding somewhere else for them to graze, and working out your feeding options are 2 good ways to manage your flock in drought.
Any signs of health problems or disease should be addressed immediately and monitored closely.
Reducing the number of sheep
Research suggests that it is wise to reduce flock numbers early so that sheep can be sold or agisted while they are still in good condition and fit to travel. This will prevent costly supplementary feeding and protect the long-term carrying capacity of the land by not over-stocking.
Over-stocking can cause feed to die off, contribute to loss of ground cover (meaning less rain water is absorbed into the soil), and encourage invasion by weeds.
Selling your sheep
When you are deciding what stock to sell and when, consider the:
- present value of stock (including the wool value)
- quality of stock
- capacity to carry stock through
- taxation effects
- likely demand for the stock at the end of the drought
- likely length of the drought
- possibility of improving the quality of the sheep.
Prioritise your flock. You may want to keep as many breeders as possible to build up the flock quickly once the drought breaks. It's also a good idea to keep the most productive sheep.
Agistment of sheep in dry season
Agisting during drought may mean that you do not need to sell or cull as many sheep. Read more about agisting sheep in a dry season.
Humane destruction
If you have some sheep that are not suitable for sale, and no other options are feasible, consider euthanasing them.
Feeding strategies for sheep during drought
It's important to have strategies in place to make sure your sheep get enough feed during a drought.
Find out about supplementary feeding for sheep in drought.
Other strategies for drought management of sheep
- Control worms, lice and blowfly strike as poor sheep are more susceptible to parasites. Worms build up at concentrated feeding points, especially when hand feeding.
- Vaccinate for clostridial diseases (e.g. pulpy kidney, which has killed lambs in previous droughts). Learn more about sheep health and disease prevention.
- Provide adequate clean and bog-proof watering points. Many sheep are lost through bogging.
- In areas outside the feeding paddock, turn off or fence all waters so that you can reduce access by other animals and save your pasture.
- Eliminate any competitors, such as wild pigs, that eat the sheep supplements.
Also consider...
- Read Drought Feeding and Management of Sheep (PDF, 2.7MB), a booklet produced by the Victorian Government's Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries.
- Learn more about protecting the welfare of drought-affected animals.
Feeding and supplementing sheep during a drought
Major droughts in Queensland generally develop following spring or summer when there has been very little rainfall. It is important to have a feeding plan in place to ensure the nutritional requirements of sheep are being maintained during a dry season.
Below are some feeding strategies to help keep your sheep as healthy as possible during a drought.
Supplementary feeding
It is better to start supplementary feeding early, before sheep have any nutritional deficiencies or illness, as it is easier to feed to hold condition than gain condition. It also gives the sheep time to become used to their new rations and being hand-fed.
As the drought progresses, the portion of supplementary feed will need to be increased to keep up with the pasture's depleting resources.
Find out more about supplementary feeding for sheep.
Feeding mulga to sheep in south west Queensland
Mulga feeding can be an important part of an effective drought management strategy. Below are some guidelines for using mulga during a drought.
- Start feeding mulga at the farthest end of the paddock from the water point, and feed back toward the water as the drought progresses and stock lose condition.
- Harvest mulga 2-3 days ahead of your livestock so they can eat leaves with reduced tannin levels.
- Clear mulga at a right angle to the slope. This obstructs water flow down the slope and provides sites for grass seedling to grow.
Feedlotting sheep in a drought
There are regulations for intensive animal feedlotting, and you may need a permit if you are going to feedlot your sheep.
How to feedlot sheep
Fence off a well-drained yard with good shade and access to water. The size of the yard will depend on how many sheep you will be enclosing. Ensure sheep are regularly inspected for parasites or sickness.
When the drought breaks, continue feeding the sheep in the yard for 2 weeks. They should then be fed roughage in the morning before being let out of the yards to feed.
If there is no rain, you are faced with a variety of decisions. The sheep may be shorn and sold or sold in wool. They will be in good condition so you may be able to get a good price for them. Otherwise they can be put on grass with minimal supplementation (if the grass quality and quantity are adequate), or kept in the feedlot.
Agistment of sheep in dry season
Finding suitable agistment during a dry season can have many benefits. It reduces the dependency on the home pasture, the need to sell or supplementary feed sheep, and can give you more time to focus on looking after the pasture and any sheep that remain on the property.
When selecting a suitable location and host, consider the:
- quality of agistment (inspect all aspects of the site, including paddock conditions, stock handling facilities, presence of parasites, diseases and weeds, and the quality of the pasture)
- nature of supervision (agree beforehand what level of supervision and observation will be provided by the owner/manager)
- costs and method of payment
- duration of agreement and stock numbers involved
- distance from home property.
Also consider...
- Find out more about supplementary feeding for sheep.
- Find out more about sheep health and disease prevention.
- Learn how to protect the welfare of drought-affected animals.
Preventing sheep health issues when a drought breaks
Often more sheep die when a drought breaks than during a drought, as they have been weakened by the drought and have difficulty withstanding the change in weather conditions. Sheep kept in good condition during a drought are far more able to handle end-of-drought problems.
Rain and flooding after a drought
Sheep won't feed during rain and, given the opportunity, they will leave their rations to chase the subsequent green pick, wasting valuable energy. Floods or cold stress kill weakened sheep that stop feeding, or that cannot be fed when the rain starts.
If sheep are locked up and being fed a full ration, continue feeding this way until sufficient grass is available. For sheep that have been kept in a feeding paddock, they should remain there for at least 4 weeks after substantial rain to allow time for pastures to respond and set seed. You should stockpile fodder at feeding points so that boggy roads do not prevent feeding.
Keep in mind that grass growth is usually slow after a long drought. Allowing sheep to graze too early after drought-breaking rain will damage the pasture recovery process.
Limit grazing time
Once the pasture is available for grazing you should limit the amount of grazing time, increasing it slowly over a number of days. Sheep need time to adjust to a lush pasture diet. Allowing full grazing straight away is likely to lead to digestive problems.
After livestock are removed from the feeding paddock, rest this paddock for as long as it takes to recover.
Also consider...
- Read drought feeding and management of sheep (PDF, 2.7MB), a guide developed by the Victorian Department of Primary Industries.
- Find out what primary producers should do after a natural disaster, including support services available to help you recover as soon as possible.
- Learn how to protect the welfare of drought-affected animals.
© The State of Queensland 1995–2024
- Last reviewed: 08 Sep 2021
- Last updated: 08 Sep 2021