Sheep Flashcards
Length of oestrous cycle
17 days
What is the length of a sheep gestation
147 days
Flushing
Process where ewes are moved from a low plane of nutrition to high plane of nutrition prior to mating
Maintenance diet
Breeding ewes are heavily stocked and good pasture
What should ewes body condition score be
3.5
Advantages of flushing
Increase ovulation leading to more eggs been released
increase contraception rates
better implantation of embryos in uterine wall
Increase letter-size leading to more twins and triplets
more regular oestrus cycles
Why should flushing continue four weeks after mating
-Ensure embryos develop properly
= due to spontaneous foetal death could occur during first 4 weeks of gestation
- lack of energy could also occur embryos could be reabsorbed in uterus
Synchronised breeding
Occurring at the same time
Sponging
Involves placing progesterone impregnated sponges into the ewes vagina
- Sponges are removed 12 days later
- ewes come into oestrus 2 days later
How to identify ewes that are in heat
Ram fitted with a raddle with a coloured crayon
- Raddle leaves a mark on each ewe they have mated with
= allows farmer to calculate lambing dates
how many days is the colour of the marker crayon changed
17 days
-to check if any ewes have been repeated
What does it mean if a large number of years have been repeated
It would be wise to check the fertility of the ram
When using synchronised breeding what is the ram to ewe ratio
1:10
Breeding out of season is
- farmers induce onset of oestrus in July/August by inserting progesterone impregnated sponges in ewes vagina for 12 days
- then injected with PMSG once the sponges removed
- ram is introduced 24 hours later and Ewe should be in heat 48 hours later
The Ram effect
Some breeds encouraged to start ovulating 6 weeks earlier than normal by sudden introduction of the ram
- Success relies on the ewes and rams been separated for six weeks prior to mating at least 2 km away from each other
Length of pregnancy
Five months or 147 days
Scanning
Determine the correct feed requirement of each ewe
Saves farmer money on feed
identifies Barren ewes
Aids separation of ewes carrying singles from ewes carrying twins and triplets
-Should be done in 80 days after the ram join flock
Steaming up
- increase amount of concentrates and decrease amount of bulky foods being fed to sheep in the late gestation in order to prevent twin lamb disease
- last 6-8 weeks
Reasons for steaming up
- Insure a healthy lamb
- insure ewe produces colostrum
- prevent twin lamb disease
- provide energy for birth
- provide protein minerals and vitamins needed for good milk production
Winter housing should have
Good ventilation adequate floorspace (3.24m squared) feeding space strawberry bedded or slats clean
What should ewes body condition score be if carrying a single lambs or twin lambs
Single 3.0-3.5
Twins 3.5-4
What should lambs weight be when born
Between 3 and 5 kg
What happens when lamb is born
=Ewe should be allowed lick the lamb
- helps to stimulate the circulatory system
- helps with bonding process
=A lamb should get to its feet after a few minutes and start to suckling
=Udder of ewe should be checked to ensure she producing colostrum
- contains vital antibodies
- 1 litre in first 24 hrs
= lamb navel dipped with iodine
=prevent navel and joint ill
Hypothermia occurs when
Body loses heat quickly causing dangerous low body temperature that interferes with the normal functioning of the body
=should be injected with glucose
=infor red lamp
Methods of fostering lambs
Wet fostering Fostering crate skinning a dead lamb fostering products A dog
Wet fostering
Using birth fluids of ewe with single lamb
- Foster lamb first washed to remove scent of own dam
- Temporarily tide so can’t stand
- Lamb coated in foster mothers birth fluid
- After 20 minutes lamb untied
Foster crate
- Prevent ewe from kicking or hurting foster lamb
- few days later lamb adapt the smell of ewe and ewe will accept lamb
Skinning dead lamb
- ewes natural lamb dies the dead lamb skinned
- skin is attached to foster lamb using string
- fools the ewe into excepting foster lamb
- once the ewe accepts the lamb, skin can be removed
Post lambing
Ewe kept on high plane of nutrition to ensure good milk production
= If grass is scarce ewes continue to be fed concentrate to prevent any reduction in ewes milk yield
=Should be rotation new grazed
=Sold once reached slaughterweight (34 to 40 kg)
Weaning
Ewes and lambs separated
Ewes put on bare pasture to dry off in prep for flushing
Maternal sire that should be used when replacing ewes
Belclare
border Leicester
blue faced Leicester
General management
Vaccination program dosing dipping Dagging and docking foot bath, foot trimming and pairing Shearing
Dosing /drenching
Prevent buildup of stomach worms liver fluke and other internal parasites
= Put on the back of the tongue of animal using either dosing gun for ewes or syringe for lambs
Dipping
-Prevent fly strike in summer
-prevent mange mite which causes sheep scab in winter
=Dip for at least one minute and head must be immersed twice
OR
-Could use pour ons or sprays (click)
=Sprayed along the back around the tail region of the animal
Dagging/crutching
Removal of wall around the tail of the sheep
- Prevent intestinal worms causing diarrhoea which causes faeces to build up around a tail
- attracts bluebottles, which lay eggs and hatch into maggots which feed on flash of the animal
Docking
Move part of lamb tail
-Prevent buildup of faeces help reduce fly strike
-Rubber band which is applied using elastrator
=Rubber band cuts off blood supply to tail
