Sheep & Goat Breeds & Breeding Notes

SHEEP & GOAT BREEDS & BREEDING NOTES

Introduction to Sheep & Goats

  • Small ruminants providing milk, meat, wool, fiber, and hides.
  • Industry size is less than other animal agricultural sectors.
  • Growth driven by ethnic markets, culinary diversity, and specialized niches.

Major U.S. Sheep Breeds

  • Sheep breeds classified by:
    • Wool quality
    • Breeding purpose

Sheep Breed Types

  • Importance of breed "types" over individual breeds:
    • Common characteristics that can be substituted in breeding programs.
  • Classification methods:
    • Purpose (ewe, ram, dual)
    • Use (meat, milk, wool)
    • Face color (black or white)
    • Fiber type (fine, medium, long wool vs. hair)
    • Physical attributes (growth, muscle, horned/polled)

Breeds Classification by Purpose

Ewe Breeds

  • Characteristics:
    • White faced
    • Efficient reproduction and milking ability
    • Examples: Rambouillet, Merino, Corriedale, Targhee, Finnsheep, Polypay

Ram Breeds

  • Characteristics:
    • Produces rams for crossing with ewe breeds
    • Focus on meat type and growth rate
    • Examples: Suffolk, Hampshire, Shropshire, Oxford, Southdown, Montadale, Texel

Dual-purpose Breeds

  • Used as either ewe or ram breeds.
  • Examples include Dorset, Cheviot, Columbia.
  • Improve milking ability and fertility when crossed with certain ram breeds.

Wool Quality Classification

Fine Wool Sheep

  • Fibers: less than 22 microns, short length, high lanolin content.
  • More valuable due to versatility and comfort in garments.
  • Examples: Rambouillet, Merino

Medium Wool Sheep

  • Fibers are intermediate in length and diameter.
  • Represent about 15% of the sheep population.
  • Examples: Cheviot, Columbia, Dorset, Finnsheep, Suffolk.

Long Wool Sheep

  • Fibers greater than 30 microns, longer staple length.
  • Fleece yields more clean fiber, favored by hand spinners.
  • Examples: Border Leicester, Lincoln, Romney

Hair Sheep

  • Comprise ~10% of the sheep population, growing in popularity in temperate climates.
  • Two types: improved and unimproved breeds (native breeds).
  • Examples: Blackbelly Barbado, California Red, Dorper, Katahdin.

Composite Breeds

  • The result of crossbreeding multiple breeds for desired traits.
  • Polypay breed was developed to optimize production goals using diverse breeds.

Major U.S. Goat Breeds

  • Goat breeds classified by purpose: meat, dairy, and fiber.
    • Meat: Spanish, Boer
    • Dairy: Alpine, La Mancha, Nubian, Oberhasli, Toggenburg
    • Fiber: Angora, Cashmere

Goat Breed Classification by Purpose

Meat Purpose

  • Demand for lean, healthy meat driving goat industry.
  • South African Boer goat introduced for improved muscling and meat yield.

Dairy Purpose

  • Growth due to imports of dairy breeds from Europe, especially in the early 1900s.
  • Goat milk useful for individuals with allergies, leading to product diversification.

Fiber Purpose

  • Established industry for natural fibers (cashmere, mohair).
  • Demand for fibers remains but has decreased over time; efforts to revive the industry ongoing.

Breeding Sheep and Goats

  • Focus on genetic progress in economically important traits.
  • Selection for highly heritable traits crucial, while crossbreeding can harness hybrid vigor.
  • Income sources vary:
    • Meat breeds: 85-90% from lambs
    • Wool breeds: 65-70% from lambs

Reproductive Traits and Management

  • Traits such as reproductive efficiency are lowly heritable, affecting breeding progress.
  • Predominantly short-day breeders:
    • Sheep breed in fall, longer season than goats.
    • Estrous cycles last about 18 hours in goats.

Ewe Reproduction

  • Estrus duration ~30 hours; influenced by breed, age, and presence of a ram.
  • Employ nutritional supplementation (flushing) for high ovulation.

Ram Reproduction

  • Mature rams can breed 50+ ewes per season.
  • Monitor for conditions such as cryptorchidism and pizzle rot.

Goat Reproduction

  • High productivity based on pregnancy rates and offspring survival.
  • Ideal conditions include body condition scores of 5-6 for meat goats, 3-3.5 for dairy goats.

Doe Reproduction

  • Signs of estrus observed through vocalizations and discharge.
  • High weaning rates desired (>80% of kids).

Buck Reproduction

  • Quality bucks should service numerous does; marking harness helps track breeding.

Terminal Crossbreeding Strategy

  • Three-breed system using Merino and Border Leicester to produce advantageous offspring.
  • Resulting F1 generation yields desirable traits for both wool quality and market lamb production.