ADVS2090 Midterm

All the things first semester Small Ruminants

Ewe

a female sheep

Ram

a male sheep

Wether

castrated male sheep

Lamb

baby sheep

Yearling/hogget

sheep between age of 1 and 2 that hasn’t produced offspring

Shepherd/Shepherdess

one who tends to sheep

Buck

male goat

Buckling

male goat less than 1 year old

Doe

female goat

Doeling

female goat less that 1 year old

Kid

baby goat

Flock

group of sheep or goats

Sheep Behavior

-Gregarious, strong flocking instinct

-Relatively defenseless against predators

Judas sheep/goat

A trained goat that helps orchestrate the follow the leader gregarious mentality.

What type of sheep tend to be even more gregarious?

White-faced, fine-haired sheep

What is the flight zone?

Point of balance helps you move and direct sheep. Front shoulder.

How can you tell a sheep’s age?

Using its lower incisors. Lambs will have all baby teeth; then every year starting with the front two, the baby teeth will fall out and will be replaced by adult teeth.

What is body condition scoring?

Quick way to assess an animals health based on body mass.

We measure using a 1-5 scale. 1 is extremely malnourished and 5 is morbidly obese.

Why do we body condition score?

It can give a lot of pointers about overall health of the animal. Some BCS’s are okay in some stages of life but not others.

How do you body condition score?

Feel around the 12-13th rib right around where the ribs end and use the hand model.

How to use fingertips as a reference for BCS a spine?

Fingertips=1

First knuckles=2

Knuckles=3

Back of hand=4

Palm=5

Sheep: under a lense

54 chromosomes

tails go down

grazers

gregarious

polled (no horns)

suborbital, inguinal and interdigital glands

Most have wool, some have hair

Goats: under a lense

60 chromosomes

tails point up, not docked

browsers

independent

horned

most have hair, some have specialized fibers (mohair, cashmere)

KEY COUNTRIES IN SHEEP PRODUCTS

Australia, India, China, Chile, Turkistan etc

How much of the ag industry in the United States is sheep/goats?

0.19%

Where is most of the sheep/goat market located?

Intermountain West

What are the population numbers (thousands)?

Texas-700

California- 585

Colorado- 395

Wyoming- 360

Utah- 275

Montana-200

What describes the trend of the overall sheep industry numbers?

It was highest in 1942-1946 and then there was a steep drop in 1950. Slowly decreasing each year.

What does the sheep industry look like in Utah?

12 percent of farms have 90 percent of the sheep population here in Utah.

Small farms increased by 18% from 2012-2017.

Sanpete- 68,645. BoxElder- 46,914 Iron-42,525 Morgan- 17,814 Wasatch- 13,390 Cache- 2,685

Fine Wool Breeds

Merino

Rambouillet

Targhee

Polypay

Medium Wool Breeds

Hampshire

Suffolk

Southdown

Dorset

Corridale

Finnsheep

Columbia

Long Wool Breeds

Romney

Border Leicester

Lincoln

Bluefaced Leicester

Carpet Wool Breeds

Scottish Blackface

Navajo Churro

Herdwick

When were sheep numbers the highest?

Numbers were highest in 1942 and were 55,000.

What are sheep numbers currently?

Numbers right now are around 6,000.

Breed Registries

The top 10 breeds from the 1960s make up 95.3% of the registered breeds.

Who are the top 10 in the 1960s

Corriedale, Columbia, Cheviot, Montadale

Who are the top 10 in the 2010s

Katahdin, Droper, Shetland, Tunis

What are the pros and cons of raising lambs in range?

PROS- labor requirements lower, capital investments lower, need for harvested feed stuffs is lower

CONS- Weaning percentage is lower, treatment is difficult, dependent on climate, predation

What are the pros and cons of raising lams in shed?

PROS- Increased weaning percentages, health issues easier to treat, out of season is possible, normal management is easier

CONS- Larger intial capital investment, need for harvested feedstuffs and water, increased need for labor, concentration and containment may cause disease

Signs of Parturition

Ewes will begin to bag up, vulva will swell, nesting area by retreating to a secluded area, then lambing

What kills the most lambs in the first 48 hours?

Hypoglycemia (blood sugar is lower then normal), and hypothermic (losing heat faster then producing). One can lead to the other.

What are the top sheep predators?

Coyotes 48-74%

Dogs 4.7-13%

Bears 3.3-9.1%

Mountain lions 2.7-67%

Bobcat 3.4- 8.3%

Wolves 0.9-2.1%

Foxes 0.9-3.9%

Eagles 0.7-5.8%

What types of lethal protection against predators are there?

Trappings, hunting, working with wildlife services

What types of non-lethal protection against predators are there?

Fence (night corral, electric fencing), shed lambing, guard animals, frightening devices (bells, sirens, flood lights), lambing out of season

What items will you need to trim hooves?

Manual sheers, air compressor driven sheers, grinders, sharp paring knife

What is the most devastating disease in the United States for foot health?

Foot rot: caused by two bacteria combining Fusobacterium necrophorum, and bacteroides nodusus.

To treat using zinc sulfate solution and antibiotics

What is foot and mouth disease (FMD) and how do you treat it?

Highly contagious which causes blisters and ulcers in the mouth, snout, tongue, gums, teats and feet. Been eradicated from the US since 1929.

What is foot scald and how do you treat it?

It is caused only by F Necrophorum and is not contagious. Causes feet to become white, red and swollen. Treat with zinc sulfate solution.

What is Laminitus (founder) and how do you treat it?

Lameness caused by lack of blood flow in hoof. Can be caused by digestive problems from excess grain.

What is sore mouth and how do you treat it?

Most common, extremely contagious and can be passed from animals to humans, vaccine is live, blistering near the top of hoove wall

What is bumblefoot and how do you treat it?

Not foot rot!!! Caused by entering site of trauma on feet. Most common in front feet.

Types of fiber in sheep

wool, hair, kemp, medulated fibers

Types of fibers in goat

mohair and cashmere (mohair in angora)

What is this breed used for?… HAMPSHIRE

terminal/meat

What is this breed used for?… SUFFOLK

terminal/meat

What is this breed used for?… SOUTHDOWN

terminal/meat and wool

What is this breed used for?… DORSET

wool and out of season breeders

What is this breed used for?… CORRIEDALE

dual purpose (maternal and terminal)

What is this breed used for?… FINNSHEEP

dual purpose and prolific (lots of offspring)

What is this breed used for?… FRIESIAN MILK SHEEP

dairy

What is this breed used for?… RAMBOUILLET

dual purpose

What is this breed used for?… COLOMBIA

Dual purpose

What is this breed used for?… TARGHEE

dual purpose, high quality wool

What is this breed used for?… POLY PAY

dual purpose, highly prolific and out of season breeding

What is this goat breed used for?… ALPINE

dairy, upright ears

What is this goat breed used for?… LA MANCHA

dairy, short ears

What is this goat breed used for?… SAANEN

dairy, highest milk producer, forward white ears

What is this goat breed used for?… NUBIAN

dairy, dual purpose, high fat content, long ears

What is this goat breed used for?… SPANISH

meat, very rugged

What is this goat breed used for?… BOER

#1 meat breed in US. brown head white body

What is this goat breed used for?… ANGORA

fiber, mohair, very adaptable

What is this goat breed used for?… CASHMERE- KASHMIR

fiber, cashmere

How much does grazing reduce feed costs?

$0.08 per ewe per day versus $0.20 to dry lot feed.

About $0.12 percent cheaper per day.

How does the environment impact nutrition requirements?

Cold weather dropping from 10 to -10 increases nutrition requirements by 40%

What is BIOAVAILABILITY?

The efficiency of being able to use a mineral or vitamin in the body. The easier it is the more bioavailable.

What breed is the most popular terminal sire?

Hampshire

Where is the sheep industry still growing rather than shrinking?

The south’s sheep numbers are blowing up.

What is one reason there is a smaller yield when wool is fine?

There is more dirt so there will be a smaller CFW

How to calculate target intake?

Target intake = 1.5 oz/ewe/day

feed (oz)/(# days x # ewes) = oz consumed/ewe/day

Example:

80 ewes and 2 bags of mineral (50 lbs/each = 800 oz/each)

1600 oz/(7 days x 80 ewes) = 2.9 oz/ewe/day