Sheep Flashcards
What is an ewe?
A sexually mature female.
What is a hogget?
A shorn or unshorn sheep from about 12-15 months of age.
What is a lamb?
A young sheep from birth until weaning.
What is a wether?
A castrated male sheep.
What is a maiden ewe?
An ewe that goes to a ram for the first time at 19 months of age.
What is a sucker lamb?
An unweaned lamb.
What is a paddy lamb?
A hand-fed calf or lamb.
What is joining?
Putting the ram with the ewes.
What is a ram?
An uncastrated male sheep.
What are the products of sheep?
- lamb - meat from a sheep younger than 14 moonths
- mutton - meat from a sheep older than 14 months
- wool - clothing, mattress fill
- sheep milk - cheese
- hide - leather, drum heads
- intestines - sausage casings
- manure - nitrogen fertiliser
- blood - culturing bacteria
- fat - explosives, solvents
- raw wool - adhesive tape
What is the purpose of drenching?
To protect sheep against internal parasites.
What is the purpose of jetting?
The application of chemical liquids in the form of a spray to prevent or treat blowfly strike.
What is the purpose of shearing?
To keep sheep cooler in the warmer months and to reduce the risk of parasites.
What is the purpose of dipping?
Soaking the wool of a sheep in insecticide to prevent external parasites.
What is the purpose of crutching?
Crutching is the removal of wool in the breech area and over the tail to reduce the risk of blowfly strike.
When does lamb-marking occur and what operations are carried out?
It occurs when the lamb is 3-6 weeks old. Four operations are carried out, which are ear marking, tail docking, castration and vaccination.
What is the purpose of ear marking?
Ear marking is done to identify livestock. It is done in the right ear of ewe lambs and the left ear of ram lambs.
What is the purpose of tail docking?
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.
What is the purpose of castration?
To prevented unwanted mating between animals and produce a more docile animal.
What is the purpose of vaccination?
it is done to protect the lamb from a variety of diseases.
What is a first-cross lamb?
A lamb which is made from o cross between a Merino ewe and a Border Leicester ram.
What age can a lamb be castrated?
Less than 6 months of age.
What age can a lamb be tail-docked?
Less than 6 months.
What are the regulations for mulesing?
- 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
What are the regulations for castration, tail-docking or mulesing that occur when a sheep is over 12 months of age?
The operation must be carried out by a veterinarian with the use of pain relief and haemorrhage control,
What are the four practices of lamb-marking?
Castration, tail-docking, mulesing and vaccination.
