Sheep Flashcards
how many months is a lamb considered a lamb for until it becomes a ewe, ram or wether
12 months
How many sheep does QLD have, and what state has the most amount?
QLD: 3.5 million
NSW has the most (27.6 million)
What is considered a small sheep industry size
200-500 lambs sold/ year
What 2 sizes of sheep farms are the most common in Aus.
Small: 200-500 lambs/ year (40% of industry)
Medium: 500-2,000 lambs/ year (51% of industry)
Who are main importers of Australian wool (List 4 - hint: 3 in Asia, 1 in Europe)
China, South Korea, Italy, India
Has the trend of wool production been increasing or decreasing in Australia?
Decreasing
What is the primary management factor contributing to wool growth
Nutrition
What is a ‘micron’ and what range has the highest demand? AND what sheep breed can provide this?
Microns are the diameter of a wool fibre, society prefers <20 microns, and Merino sheep can provide this
What can reduce the deviations in diameter along each fibre (and increase consistency in wool)?
A constant plane of nutrition (supplements may be required in low rainfall months)
Describe these terms: staple length, staple strength, tender wool, position of break (and where is not ideal to break), vegetable matter
Staple length: length of an unshorn lock of wool
Staple strength: force required to break a staple (machine measures this)
Tender wool: has weak spots due to yearly deviation in nutrition causing varying microns, has low staple strength
Position of break: where the wool breaks during the strength test (base, middle, tip - not ideal in middle)
Vegetable matter: ‘contamination’ of seeds, burrs (managed with pasture management), >2% is considered heavy contamination and reduces value as its costly to remove
Where is the main destination for our live export sheep? AND where in Aus. are they exported from and why?
Middle East (Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan)
From WA because it is more geographically ideal
What can a maternal sire introduce into a flock, and what can a terminal sire introduce into a flock?
Maternal sire: good mothering skills (good lactation, low mismothering rates, good rearing)
Terminal sire: good lambs for eating (fast growth rate, high muscle capacity on caracass)
Give examples of maternal sires
Border Leicester, Coopworth
Give examples of terminal sires
Poll Dorset, Texel, Suffolk
What breeds of sheep are classified as British long wool?
Border Leicester, English Leicester, Lincoln, Romney
What breeds of sheep are classified as British short wool?
Poll Dorset, Suffolk (and White Suffolk), Texel, Southdown
What breeds of sheep are classified as Dual purpose?
Corriedale (1/2 merino, 1/2 lincoln), Coopworth (BL X Romney)
What breeds of sheep as classified as Shedding
Wiltshire, Dorper
List 4 common internal parasites of sheep (hint: B, B, S, T) and list the symptoms, treatment and preventative hubandry
Barber’s pole worm, Black scour worm, Small brown stomach worm, Thin-necked intestinal worm
Symptoms: anemia, bottle jaw (oedema), source
Treatment: anthelmintic drench
Husbandry: monitoring of worm burden, rotational grazing
List 2 common external parasites, their symptoms, treatment and preventative husbandry
Blowflies, sheep lice
Symptoms: itching, wool rubbing, lice, dullness/ depression, skin lesions, kicking
Treatment: Insecticide (lice), flystrike: shearing, insecticide, maybe antibiotics/ anti-inflammatories
Px husbandry: tail docking, mulesing, crutching, px insecticide application
List the main infectious diseases of sheep (hint: one is a group of disease - and list those included), symptoms, tx, px husbandry
Johne’s disease (wasting disease), Clostridial diseases (tetanus, malignant oedema - like blackleg, pulpy kidney - enterotoxaemia, black disease, blackleg)
Symptoms: wasting, dullness/ depression, dehydration, infertility, abortion
Tx: disease dependent vx, euthanasia, supportive care
Px husbandry: vx, biosecurity (testing/ controlled movement of stock)
The 3 foot diseases, symptoms, tx, px hubsandry
Footrot, Absesses, Shelly hoof
Symptoms: lameness, red/ weepy between toes (interdigital space), separation of horn from hoof
Tx: footbathing (e.g. zinc sulfate solution), antibiotics
Px husbandry: foot trimming (paring), grazing management (when in wet conditions)
What are the 3 types of routine husbandry in sheep (hint: G, H, R) and what do they include?
General: lamb marking, shearing, weaning
Health related: jetting/ dipping/ backlining, vx, footcare
Repro.: joining, prep scan, wet/ dry testing
What is the ideal age to perform lamb marking and what procedures are performed?
Ideal age: 2-8 weeks (wean at 12 weeks), no more than 12 weeks, no less than 2 weeks (interfere with dam/ lamb bond
Procedures: tail docking, castration, weaning, mulesing, ear tagging, ear marking (notching)
When are lambs weaned from mum?
~12 weeks (3 months)
What procedures are included in adult husbandry?
Crutching, shearing, vx (annual), foot care, drenching (oral anthelmintic)
What procedures are included in reproductive husbandry
Joining, preg scan, wet/ drying test (performed at/ prior to weaning)
What is included in a basic clinical exam of a sheep, and what can be conducted while in the race or tipped?
In the race: FAMACHA, BCS, ageing, udder, wool condition
Tipped: BSE, udder, feet
What conditions are the most susceptible to fly strike?
High rainfall, humidity and temps above 17 degrees celcius
What is the reproductive behaviour displayed by a ewe and a ram?
Ram: mounting, flehmen response, courting behaviour (following, pawing, licking, sniffing)
Ewe: urination, standing to be mounted
What breed often mismothers?
Merino, notoriously horrible mothers
How to assess pain in sheep?
Orbital tightening, ear and head position, sometimes flehmen response, observe absence of normal behaviour (not eating, isolation, no flight response)
Physiological: cortisol, HR, RR
Why tail dock at the 3rd vertebrae and not the 1st or 2nd?
The third vertebrae allows the skin around the anus/ vulva to be covered, preventing risk of skin cancer
