Sheep Production

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Sheep Production
Original Power Point Created by Casey
Osksa Modified by Georgia Agricultural Education
Curriculum Office June 2002
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Why choose sheep?

• Sheep can survive where cows cant
• Sheep will eat problem weeds like Leafy Spurge
• Profit per acre is the same for sheep and cows,
  and usually higher for sheep
• Easier to get started due to less equipment needed

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Breed Categories

• Wool Type white wool only, better quality
• Meat Type any black wool
• Dual Purpose white wool, but better meat than
  wool types

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Feeding Sheep

• Mostly roughages, concentrates for finishing
• Average adult eats about 4 lbs..... dry feed per
  day
• Overfat ewes - problems conceiving delivering

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Feeding Sheep

• If sheep can eat all their feed in 1/2 hour,
  increase amount
• If food left at next feeding, decrease amount
• Average lamb weighs 7-9 lbs..... and will gain
  1/2 LB per day
• Flush ewes 17 days prior to breeding (increased
  level of nutrition)

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Feeding Sheep

• Increase nutrition 6 weeks prior to lambing until
  1-2 months after lambing
• Increase quality of feed not quantity
• stomachs shrink when pregnant due to lambs in
  uterus
• Males - increase nutrition 6 weeks prior to
  breeding to build strength

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Sheep Reproduction

• Seasonal breeders - only breed in spring and fall
• Ewe lambs must be 100 lbs..... to breed
• Ram can service 12-15 ewes as a lamb, and up to
  100 as a yearling
• Most common 3 rams / 100 ewes
• Usually not kept after 6 yrs

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Sheep Reproduction

• Marking harness - ram marks back of ewe with a
  crayon when mating
• Change crayon colors every couple of weeks, if
  ewes are rebred, the first time was not
  successful
• may have a bad ram or ewe

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Lambing

• Many lambs are lost in the first 24 hrs
• Twins - first born gets separated while second is
  being born
• Assist difficult lambings
• Disinfect hands, gently pull front legs
• Give ewe antibiotics after
• Disinfect lambs navel with iodine

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Lambing

• Lamb should nurse within minutes, especially if
  cold weather
• Strip teats to remove a mucous plug that seals
  the teat, lamb may not be strong enough to suck
  the plug out and not get any milk, if he fails,
  he will quit trying and die

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Lambing

• Colostrum mothers first milk (antibiotics)
• Keep ewe and lamb together for first 24 hours or
  more if the ewe doesnt want to claim the lamb
• Grafting adopting lambs (triplets) onto other
  ewes (with singles or dead lambs)
• cam be difficult to get ewe to claim lamb

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Management

• Identification mark lambs with paint
• brands, or ear tags or tattoo ears
• Docking cut off tails
• tails are a bother
• between 1st and 2nd vertebrae of tail
• Elastrator rubber band cuts off
  circulation
• Hot Iron electric, heated knife stops bleeding

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Management

• Castration remove testicles
• Elastrator
• Cut with a knife
• Burdizzo crushes cords
• Dock Castrate before 6 weeks old
• Wean at 5-6 months or 100 lbs.....
• Shear at least once per year, before lambing
  (20-40 of income)

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Management

• Culling choosing animals not to keep for
  breeding purposes
• Aging Sheep less than 1 yr.. milk teeth
• 1-2 yrs middle two teeth replaced by 2 larger
  teeth
• each year to 4 yrs another set replaced
• 6-7 yrs begin to lose teeth (broken mouth)

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Sheep Terms

• What do you call an adult male?
• Ram or Buck
• What do you call an adult female?
• Ewe
• What do you call the act of giving birth?
• Lambing

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Sheep Terms

• What do you call a castrated male?
• Wether
• What is the gestation for sheep?
• 147 days
• What do you call a young female?
• Ewe Lamb

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Cheviot
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Columbia
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Dorset
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Finn
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Hampshire
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Lincoln
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Merino
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Polypay
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Rambouilette
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Romanov
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Southdown
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Suffolk
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Targhee
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Texel
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Goats
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Alpine
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Angora
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Cashmere