Production Systems 4 - 7 Flashcards
What are the 2 main type of camelids in australia and what hump do they have and where are they from
1) Camelus dromedarius (single hump) - Dromedary (in Australia) - originally Africa
2) Camelus bactrianus (double hump) - Bactrian - originally East Asia
Around how many camels in Australia and what are they used for and what makes them good for this
Greater than 300,000 camels in Australia
“ship of the desert”
- able to travel long distances without large quantities of water - australian desert
- feed poor quality roughage
- able to carry moderately heavy loads
- move quite quickly when required
ALSO camel racing - australia and middle east
Camel meat - export
Tourism, pets, dong for fuel, grazing rough country
what is the average lifespan of a camel, weight, of male and female, carrying capacity, speed and how much they drink
lifespand - 30-50 years weight - male - 800-1000Kg female - 600-800Kg carrying capacity - 1/2 bodyweight speed - normal 5Km/h up to 25Km/h (racing) drink - 20-30L per day
Structures within the camelid GI anatomy
- functional separation of 4 stomachs but not fully anatomical separation
• Upper lip is “split” by labial cleft - Lips do grabbing rather than tongue
• Similar eructation method to ruminants (bicarbonate as buffer)
• Fungi, bacteria, protozoa in C1, C2 - effectively can digest food as a ruminant
• Glandular area in C1 – absorption, secretions
Llama what used for
- predominantly used as a pack animal in south america
- fibre production (poorer than alpaca)
- guard animal
- meat
- kept as pet - small numbers
Alpaca lifespan, gestation length, stages of development, what used
15-20 years 335 days ○ Tuis (Adolescents) ○ Hembras (Adult Females) ○ Machos (Adult Males) ○ Crias (babies) - smaller than llama, selected for quality fleece
Australian Alpaca Industry
- moderate risk: what is the motivation for starting the business - enthusiast of alpacas and possibly not as motivated for profit - possibly spend more money on the alpaca
- 80% are herds less than 10 - small breeders
- large variation in prices due to breeding values can be up to tens of thousands
What are the 2 types of alpacas, what is the most common, what fleece is like
1) Huacaya (wua’ki’ya)
- Most common in Australia
- Soft, fluffy looking animal (fleece has similar growth pattern to a Merino)
2) Suri (soo’ree)
- Less common
- Fleece has growth pattern more like a “ Leicester Sheep (long, pencil like locks)
how do you shear an alpaca
- they are tied up (front and hind legs)
- low % grease
- once per year usually in spring
- 1.5-4kg fleece
What is the DSE rating of an alpaca
- of a large wether - 1-1.2 DSE
- if pregnant increased and around 2 DSE lactating
what are the main disease problems in alpacas and what vaccinated again
- less likely to get fly strike compared to sheep (lower grease content)
- internal parasites
- fighting teeth - removal
- trimming tow nails
Vaccinations - tetanus, pulpy kidney, black leg, black disease, malignant oedema (5 in 1) ]
- Johnes disease
Alpaca gestation length, what induces ovulation, how long does mating last, what position, pregnancy testing
- 335 days (11months)
- physical act and studs ogling noise induces ovulation
- female either receptive or not, male at any time
- lasts for 5 to 20 mins and done sitting down
- pregnancy check - failure to sit, spit-off, ultrasound
what is the weaning age and what is the mating age for male alpacas
- 3-6 months of age
- males reach sexual maturity at 1-3 years of age
- generally over 45kg and 12 months
fleece values compared to sheep and how to get best price
- less than merino sheep
- white more valuable than colour
- better not to sell on open market but get contract with company
what is gross income determined and influenced by
- Raw amount (kg/head) x Yield(carcase yield) x price($/kg) = value ($/head)
○ Influenced genetics, nutrition, health (vet contribution)
○ Health can effect price - large mastitis, large cell counts, reduced price ALSO sheep with flystrike decrease wool quality and price
what are some variable costs with farming
- need to spend money on but can change amount
○ Animal health - know how to reduce with strategic preventive vaccinations, - Falling back on emergency treatment is generally more expensive such as drench capsules put into sheep stomachs, takes time and is expensive
○ Supplementary feeding
○ Management costs (labour)
what is the equation for gross margin and net farm income equations
Gross margin ($/DSE) = gross income - variable costs Net farm income ($/ha) = (gross margin x stocking rate) - fixed costs
What are the 3 products from sheep and goats, what is the largest market at the moment
1) milk - not large in Aus, not much commercial processing so easier to get outbreak of disease
2) meat, lamb and mutton
3) fibre - wool, skins - mohair and cashmere
lamb and mutton, at what age, what value, what breeds
lamb - less than 1 year generally 4-5months (suckers just off mum)
- higher value, more flavoursome and more tender
mutton - older animals, reach end of breeding age, lower value, high price of meat for even merinos
wool what breed, when shear at what weight, how priced
- merino sheep - fine fibre diameter, white (easy to die)
○ Shorn once a year, 4-6kg at single shearing
○ Start with greasy wool and end with clean wool which Is multiplied by price ($/kg)
○ Pricing - fibre diameter of the wool determines 2/3rds of price - driven by genetics - Disease and nutrition also influences fibre diameter
○ Weight of wool - highly influenced by health - parasitism
why would you transition between wool to meat and how
- Value of wool has gone down due to synthetic fibres so may choose to transition to meat producing however need to change genetics but also increase susceptibility to disease as increase amount of young animals and breeding ewes which are most susceptible to worms
goat what products produced
1) milk
2) meat - boar goat
3) fibre
1. cashmere -very fine, produce small amounts per year
2. mohair - angora goats - shorn twice a year get 3kg/shearing
what is the main place for sheep in australia and what are the 3 zones determined by rainfall
Southern Australia as northern have lots of parasites
- pastoral zone - Inland SA, NSW, Queensland - low rainfall - low stocking rates - sheep grazing native shrub - meat production
- Closer to the coast - sheep cereal/wheat zone - sheep fit into this production system as sheep can graze the grain and then the leftover - can use for wool or meat
- High rainfall area - where large amounts of rain and therefore feed - prime meat sheep as well as wool - also get dairy products - land price increase
goats where situated and what do with them
milk and meat production up eastern seaboard
- wild goats from pastroal zone and export to the middle east
what are the 3 ways you can farm merinos
1) traditional merino wool enterprise
2) meat-producing enterprise (crossbred system)
3) dual purpose farm
A traditional merino wool enterprise what to cross, what to sell, and raming percentage
- Merino ewes cross merino ram - purebred merino progeny with very fine fibre dimeter
- Sell wool but also meat with cull aged animals (ewes, weathers)
- Only keep 1% rams (1 ram to 100 merinos)
merinos in a meat-producing enterprise what cross with what, products
- Merino ewe cross meat breed ram - crossbred progeny (first cross lamb - do not keep for breeding therefore not self-replacing flock)
○ Need to still continue producing merino ewes from traditional merino wool enterprise - Produce lambs, wool (first cross ewes or lambs), skins, meat (culls)
- Can keep first cross ewes cross with terminal breed sire (different meat breed ram generally dorset horn or poll dorset) - terminal prime 2nd cross lambs (high carcase weights, fast growing) - 2 generations of hybrid vigour
○ Generally buy the first-cross ewes in
merinos in a dual purpose farm what cross, what is the benefits
- Mate a proportion of merino ewes with merino rams to maintain self-replacing flock
- Mate others to meat breed ram and sell them all for meat or first-cross lamb producers
- Allow flexibility - if meat price go up breed more ewes to meat ram than merino ram and vice versa
What are two other ways to farm sheep without merinos positives and negatives and breed used
1) dual purpose breed
South African Mutton Merino - merino selected for carcase weight, growth rate
- problem produce moderate milk and meat
- avoid risk of introducing disease, control genetics
2) meat only - exclusive focus on meat, shedding gene - Dorper, Awassi
what is the biggest driver of stocking rate in annual management calendar and when
choosing time of lambing/kidding
merino - lambing 3-4months before pasture dries off
finished lambs - 5 months before pasture dries off
autumn lambing only when want 10months of growth for lambs - problem with malnourished pregnant ewes.
spring -
how long mate for with lambs, why, how many cycles, why not longer
Mate for 5 weeks (2 oestrus cycles)
- 75% conception/cycle = 95% conception overall
- Don’t mate for longer as spread out ages of the lambs so holds up management procedures want to do with the lambs
when does lambing occur, when does marking occur, what is included with marking and at what age are the lambs
august - september
marking 2 weeks after lambing
- First vaccination, castration, tail docking (at 3rd tail joint as need tail covers vulva), mulesing
- Count for reproductive performance: marking% = no. lambs ÷ no. ewes mated
Typically get 70-150 lambs per 100 ewes
- 5-6 weeks old on average
what vaccinations are given during lamb marking
○ 5 in 1 vaccine against clostridial disease OR 6 in 1 clostridia + cheesy gland (caseous lymphadenitis) - booster at weaning (4 weeks later)
○ PLUS ‘Gudair’ vaccine: Ovine Johne’s disease (Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis)
what is imprint feeding when occurs
teach animals to eat supplementary feed
most effective way is to supplementary feed mothers and let lambs learn off them
about november
at what age are merino and meat lambs generally weaned, why and what occurs at this point
- About 12 (merino)-16+ (meat) weeks after lambing starts
- earlier for merino as mothers don’t produce much milk, also youngest will be 6 weeks and therefore have a functional rumen
- meat - better mothers, better milk so stay longer
- give booster vaccination and drench - support growth post-weaning with good quality pasture
what occurs with goat kids, and why
○ Removed from mothers at birth - ‘snatch reared’ for disease control
○ Prevents them suckling from colostrum or milk that may be carrying caprine arthritis and encephalitis virus (CAEV)
- If herd tested negative then don’t have to
○ Need to pasteurise the colostrum from doe to kill virus but not destroy the critical antibodies needed by the kid
lamb sales at what age do they start, when and how
- meat lambs before 2-tooth from 16 weeks (when reach target weight) and before summer so don’t need supplementary feed
- some farmers sell ‘store’ lambs (unfattened) for someone else to finish
- higher rainfall favours finishes
what are the 2 strategic treatments for lambs
1) summer drenching winter worms come from late spring and autumn pasture contamination so give 2 summer drenches
2) apply fly chemical to sheep in early spring to reduce following fly generations
cast for age sheep, at what age generally occurs and when
- generally sold before pasture decreases so in january
- optimum age to keep is up to 6 years and older ewes generally mated to terminal sire
what are the benefits of having wethers and so what does more weathers = and more ewes =
○ More worm-resistant ○ Able to be grazed harder ○ Produce more wool ○ Less labour-intensive more weathers = more wool income - still need ewes to replace stock more ewes = more meat income - more lambs
