Sheep

Question 1

What is an ewe?

Answer 1

A sexually mature female.

Question 2

What is a hogget?

Answer 2

A shorn or unshorn sheep from about 12-15 months of age.

Question 3

What is a lamb?

Answer 3

A young sheep from birth until weaning.

Question 4

What is a wether?

Answer 4

A castrated male sheep.

Question 5

What is a maiden ewe?

Answer 5

An ewe that goes to a ram for the first time at 19 months of age.

Question 6

What is a sucker lamb?

Answer 6

An unweaned lamb.

Question 7

What is a paddy lamb?

Answer 7

A hand-fed calf or lamb.

Question 8

What is joining?

Answer 8

Putting the ram with the ewes.

Question 9

What is a ram?

Answer 9

An uncastrated male sheep.

Question 10

What are the products of sheep?

Answer 10

1. lamb - meat from a sheep younger than 14 moonths
2. mutton - meat from a sheep older than 14 months
3. wool - clothing, mattress fill
4. sheep milk - cheese
5. hide - leather, drum heads
6. intestines - sausage casings
7. manure - nitrogen fertiliser
8. blood - culturing bacteria
9. fat - explosives, solvents
10. raw wool - adhesive tape

Question 11

What is the purpose of drenching?

Answer 11

To protect sheep against internal parasites.

Question 12

What is the purpose of jetting?

Answer 12

The application of chemical liquids in the form of a spray to prevent or treat blowfly strike.

Question 13

What is the purpose of shearing?

Answer 13

To keep sheep cooler in the warmer months and to reduce the risk of parasites.

Question 14

What is the purpose of dipping?

Answer 14

Soaking the wool of a sheep in insecticide to prevent external parasites.

Question 15

What is the purpose of crutching?

Answer 15

Crutching is the removal of wool in the breech area and over the tail to reduce the risk of blowfly strike.

Question 16

When does lamb-marking occur and what operations are carried out?

Answer 16

It occurs when the lamb is 3-6 weeks old. Four operations are carried out, which are ear marking, tail docking, castration and vaccination.

Question 17

What is the purpose of ear marking?

Answer 17

Ear marking is done to identify livestock. It is done in the right ear of ewe lambs and the left ear of ram lambs.

Question 18

What is the purpose of tail docking?

Answer 18

Tail docking is the removal of a section of a lamb’s tail using a knife or elastic rings to help reduce the chance of blowfly strike.

Question 19

What is the purpose of castration?

Answer 19

To prevented unwanted mating between animals and produce a more docile animal.

Question 20

What is the purpose of vaccination?

Answer 20

it is done to protect the lamb from a variety of diseases.

Question 21

What is a first-cross lamb?

Answer 21

A lamb which is made from o cross between a Merino ewe and a Border Leicester ram.

Question 22

What age can a lamb be castrated?

Answer 22

Less than 6 months of age.

Question 23

What age can a lamb be tail-docked?

Answer 23

Less than 6 months.

Question 24

What are the regulations for mulesing?

Answer 24

• if mulesing is carried out between 6-12 months of age, pain relief must be provided
• mulesing must be carried out when the lamb is under 12 months of age

Question 25

What are the regulations for castration, tail-docking or mulesing that occur when a sheep is over 12 months of age?

Answer 25

The operation must be carried out by a veterinarian with the use of pain relief and haemorrhage control,

Question 26

What are the four practices of lamb-marking?

Answer 26

Castration, tail-docking, mulesing and vaccination.