Sheep and Goat Production Notes

Introduction

  • Classification

    • Phylum: Chordata

    • Subphylum: Vertebrata

    • Class: Mammalia

    • Order: Artiodactyla

    • Suborder: Ruminata

    • Family: Bovidae

    • Genus: Ovis (sheep); Capra (goat)

    • Species: aries (sheep); hires (goat)

Sheep Industry in the U.S.

  • Gross annual income from sheep, lambs, and wool is approximately 580 million.

  • Good forage production leads to meat (lamb slaughter).

  • Bad forage production leads to wool production.

Goat Industry in the U.S.

  • Dairy, fiber, and meat goats.

  • From 2002 to 2007, there was a 58% increase, making it the fastest-growing livestock enterprise in the United States during that period.

  • Better quality and immigrants are driving this growth.

  • Goats help better utilize forage resources when used in conjunction with cattle.

Global Sheep & Goat Industry

  • Sheep and goats are used extensively worldwide for their grass conversion ability.

  • There are 1.1 billion head of sheep and 880 million head of goats globally.

  • They are the second and fourth most numerous agricultural animals, respectively, excluding poultry.

History of Sheep & Goat Agriculture

  • Sheep and goats were likely domesticated by 8000 B.C.

  • Columbus brought sheep and goats to the West Indies on his second voyage in 1493.

  • Cortez brought sheep and goats to Mexico in 1519.

Declining Importance of Sheep and Lambs

  • Less demand for wool.

  • Low consumer demand for lamb.

  • Difficulty in obtaining and keeping reliable herders.

  • Competition for public-owned rangeland and increasing government regulation.

  • Decreased government support.

  • Farmer diversification into other enterprises.

  • Seasonal nature of lamb production and consumption.

  • Inadequate profits.

Nutritional Benefits of Sheep & Goat Meat

  • Proportion of recommended daily dietary allowance for a 19- to 30-year-old man:

    • 3-oz serving of cooked, lean lamb (175 calories):

      • Protein: 43%

      • Phosphorus: 25%

      • Iron: 22%

      • Zinc: 41%

      • Riboflavin: 18%

      • Thiamin: 7%

      • B12: 93%

      • Niacin: 34%

    • Serving of goat meat (122 calories):

      • Protein: 41%

      • Phosphorus: 24%

      • Iron: 40%

      • Zinc: 41%

      • Riboflavin: 40%

      • Thiamin: 6%

      • B12: 42%

      • Niacin: 21%

Nutritional Benefits of Goat Milk

  • A 1-cup serving of whole goat milk (168 calories) provides the following proportion of the recommended daily dietary allowance for a 19- to 30-year-old man:

    • Protein: 16%

    • Phosphorus: 39%

    • Calcium: 41%

    • Zinc: 7%

    • Riboflavin: 26%

    • Thiamin: 10%

    • B12: 7%

Structure of Sheep & Goat Industry

  • Sheep

    • The U.S. industry includes producers, lamb feeders, lamb processors, wool buyers/warehouses, shearers, and other support industries.

Range Production (Sheep)

  • Two types: migratory and fenced range production.

  • Range operations produce the majority of lamb and wool in the United States.

  • Migratory: High altitude in summer.

  • Fenced range production is primarily located in Texas and other southwestern states.

Farm Flock Production (Sheep)

  • Defined by the size of the operation and can be found in any geographic location.

  • Farm flocks with fewer than 100 breeding ewes make up 94% of U.S. sheep operations and have about 36% of the national ewe inventory.

Lamb Feedlots

  • An important part of the U.S. industry.

  • Feeder lambs (weighing between 60 and 110 pounds) are placed in a feedlot and fed high-energy diets until they reach a suitable weight and carcass finish.

  • The average live weight of lambs harvested in the United States is 130 to 140 pounds for the traditional market.

  • Lamb processing facilities are similar to other meat processing facilities, but there are only a handful of them.

Goat Industry Structure

  • Similar to the sheep industry.

  • Larger meat goat operations are primarily located in Texas, similar to fenced range production of sheep.

  • Smaller meat goat operations are more numerous in the south, southern border states, and are increasing in some Midwestern states closer to ethnic population centers.

  • No large slaughter facilities – only small ones.

  • Kids are grown for a short time after weaning to a live weight of 40 to 60 pounds and then harvested.

Genetic & Breeding Programs - Sheep

  • Selection of breeding individuals is based on environmental conditions and goals of the producer.

  • Seed stock producers practice pure breeding with registered animals.

  • Meat sheep are crossbreed to get perform better than purebred & Heterosis .

  • National Sheep Improvement Program (NSIP, 1986)

    • A computerized genetic evaluation used to estimate the breeding value of every sheep in a flock for commercially important traits.

    • Traits include: maternal traits (e.g. lambing), growth and carcass traits, and wool traits.

Breeding Goals for Sheep

  • Quality wool production.

  • Growth and carcass characteristics for meat.

  • Modern dual-purpose breeds: for both meat and wool.

  • Approximately 200 breeds of sheep exist in the world today, with 47 listed in the U.S. Only 12 are significantly used.

Dual-Purpose Breeds (Sheep)

  • Dorset and Columbia.

Mother Breeds (Sheep)

  • Rambouillet, Merino, Targhee, Polypay, Debouillet, and Columbia.

Sire Breeds (Sheep)

  • Heavy- lamb: Suffolk, Hampshire, and Texel

  • Lightweight lamb: Shropshire, Oxford, Cheviot, and Southdown

Hair Sheep Breeds

  • May look like goats.

  • Superior fertility, livability, parasite resistance, plus an extended breeding season.

  • The most common breeds used are the Katahdin, Dorper, and St. Croix.

Dairy Sheep Breeds

  • Recent interest in dairy sheep.

  • East Friesian, Lacaune, Sarda, Manchega, Chios, Awassi, and Assaf.

Genetics and Breeding Programs - Goats

  • Genetic and breeding knowledge is very rudimentary.

  • Little selection has been done so far.

  • Milk breeds, meat breeds, dual-purpose breeds, or fiber breeds.

  • Great diversity in the breeds.

Dairy Goats

  • Swiss goats are leaders: Saanen, Toggenburg, and Alpine.

  • The LaMancha is a dairy breed developed in the United States.

  • The most popular U.S. breed is the Anglo-Nubian, a breed developed in England.

Meat Goat Breeds

  • The meat breeds include the South African Boer, Kiko, Savanna, Myotonic, and the U.S. Spanish goats.

  • Other breeds include Indian Beetal, Black Bengal, and the Latin American Criollo.

  • The South African goats are best known for meat-producing ability.

Dual-Purpose Goat Breeds

  • The Anglo-Nubian, or Nubian, is generally considered a dual-purpose breed.

  • Pygmy goats from Western Africa are of increasing interest as laboratory and pet animals.

Fiber Goat Breeds

  • The Turkish Angora, Asian Cashmere, and Russian Don goats are kept for fiber production.

  • The long upper coat (mohair) is the valuable product in the Angora, whereas fine underwool is the product from the Cashmere.

Reproductive Management - Sheep

  • Seasonally polyestrous and short day breeders, triggered by shortening days and temperatures.

  • Anestrus period: Late winter, spring, and early summer.

  • Estrous cycle: 16 to 17 days and lasts 24 to 36 hours.

  • Gestation length: 144 to 152 days.

  • Usually over 1 offspring per pregnancy

  • National lambing rate is 1.05-1.1 lambs per year

  • Many factors affect the seasonality of breeding in ewes, including breed and latitude.

Factors affecting reproductive rate - Sheep

  • Nutritional plane of both the ewe and the ram.

  • Disease prevention programs vary from flock to flock; particular attention is given to internal parasites.

  • Natural breeding is most common.

  • AI is available but mostly used by purebred breeders.

  • Ewe lambs reach puberty from 5 to 8 months of age, depending on the breed and nutritional program.

  • Many producers breed ewe lambs to lamb at 12 to 14 months of age.

  • Ewe lambs should be at least 65% of their mature size at the time of mating to achieve a high level of fertility.

Reproductive Management - Goats

  • Seasonally polyestrous and short day breeders.

  • Reproductive management is similar to sheep.

  • Good nutrition, a sound health program, and selection programs emphasizing twinning ability and fertility are important.

  • Other reproductive facts:

    • Onset of puberty: 4-7 months of age.

    • First kidding of doelings: 12-14 months of age.

    • Normal estrous cycle length: 21 days.

    • Duration of estrus: 1-2 days.

    • Length of gestation: 150 days.

    • Time of breeding (U.S.): August-February.

    • Some may breed twice per year.

Sheep Nutrition

  • Ruminants: forages and roughages - legumes, by-products, and crop residues.

  • Limited grain feed is used, except in creep feeding and feedlots.

  • Grain feeding is increased for:

    • Show, club, and purebred animals.

    • Within 2 weeks before breeding (flushed for breeding).

    • Last trimester of gestation up to first 6 weeks of lactation.

Sheep Feedlots

  • Specialized finishing operations.

  • High-quality feeds are needed to bring lambs to a suitable slaughter end point as cost-effectively as possible.

  • Lambs may also be finished on high-quality pastures with only small amount of grain.

Goat Nutrition

  • Dairy goats require higher-quality feed, especially during lactation.

  • Good-quality forage supplemented with commercially available dairy goat feeds is probably the best approach.

  • The ethnic market for goats is largely for a 40 to 70 lb animal; thus, grain is not used as much in finishing kids.

  • Goats grow more slowly and with less feed efficiency than sheep, making it less economical to feed them high quantities of expensive feedstuffs.

Health - Gastrointestinal Parasitism

  • Nematode parasites in the GIT can have significant health implications.

  • Moderate to heavy parasite burdens can cause poor growth, weight loss, diarrhea, anemia, and bottle jaw.

  • Young animals are most frequently affected, although older adults may also develop signs of disease.

Contagious Ecthyma

  • Also known as orf or soremouth.

  • Caused by parapoxvirus.

  • Udder infection leads to transmission to babies.

  • Live vaccine available.

  • Resolves on its own.

Caseous Lymphadenitis

  • Bacterial contagious abscesses.

  • Subcutaneous or internal abscesses.

  • Infective when it bursts.

  • Vaccination & culling are control methods.

Pregnancy Toxemia

  • Metabolic disease in pregnant ewes/does with twin+ during last few weeks.

  • Low blood sugar and high fat breakdown.

  • Loss of appetite, depressed and uncoordinated; may wander about aimlessly; may become blind, go into a coma and die if they don’t receive appropriate veterinary care early in disease.

  • Similar to “preeclampsia”.

Scrapie

  • Fatal disease that affects the central nervous system of sheep and goats.

  • Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) - Prion.

  • Slow to appear (2-5 years).

  • No treatment.

Factors Influencing the Sheep & Goat Industry

  • Consumption:

    • Sheep: Long & steady decline in heads & operations since the end of World War II.

    • Goat: always small.

    • Low consumption of meat.

    • Immigrants drive the consumption up

    • High milk (cheese) value.

Other Product Uses

  • Wool and mohair compete with synthetic materials.

  • Wool remains THE gold standard.

Environmental Concerns

  • Mostly not confined means low impact

Technology

  • Science and technology are underused.

  • Accelerated, or out-of-season, lambing and kidding could help these industries be more productive.