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Animal Production 2 > Sheep 2 > Flashcards

Sheep 2 Flashcards

1
Q

Production targets for a good farm flock

A

Lambs born per ewe: 2

Lambs weaned: 1.7

Fertility:90%

Lamb crops per yr: 1.5

Avg. daily gain: 0.3-0.5kg/day

Age at first lambing= 1yr

Lamb mortality: 5% (easy for them to die)

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2
Q

Gestation

A

145 days (5months)

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3
Q

When to breed?

A

Think about what type you are wanting to sell and when (eg. easter market, ethnic festivals)
AND how long it takes for animal to reach weight for selling

Make sure its a convenient time to lamb the ewes
*they are seasonal breeders
*ewes good in cold, lambs not

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4
Q

Best/easiest time to lamb

A

May

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5
Q

Pre-breeding

A

Start 6 weeks before breeding
-check for lameness, poor body condition, infertility, insufficient rams or ewes
-buy new rams if needed

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6
Q

Seasonal breeding

A

Short day breeder
-daylight length decreases, increases production of melatonin from pineal gland triggering normal estrus cycles

**exact season varies by breed

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7
Q

Upland sheep

A

-hardy breeds (Scottish)
-short breeding seasons in Fall
-may only cycle twice in Nov

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8
Q

Lowland breeds

A

-Suffolk
-more productive, less hardy
-longer breeding season Sept-Jan

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9
Q

Breeds that breed year round

A

-dorset, Arcott
-breed almost all year round

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10
Q

Rams per ewes

A

**ram will breed each ewe multiple times

-Open Range: 3 rams per 100 ewes
*limited by walking to find the ewes

-Confined: 1 per 50-60 ewes

-out of season or if ewes are synchronized: 1 per 20 ewes

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11
Q

Ram checks

A

Full physical
-feet- lots of walking
-teeth- poor eaters during breeding (forget to eat)
-check for raddle sores (wax crayon which indicates ewe breeding)
-Breeding soundness exam- check testicles, penis and semen

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12
Q

Young rams

A

-Always put young rams with small group of experienced ewes for first year
-1 to 20 ewes

**similar arrangement for ewe lambs- give them a small sized experienced ram

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13
Q

Ewe evaluation

A
  1. Check for:
    -productivity
    -good mothering ability
    -get rid of prolapse
  2. Full physical exam
    -BCS

**Cull any problem animals

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14
Q

Ewe body condition score

A

-Aim for BCS: 3.5-4 at time of breeding

-arising plane of nutrition at time of breeding may be advantage; continue level of feeding until animal is at least 6 weeks pregnant

-they will lose weight over winter during breeding

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15
Q

Control Breeding Season

A
  1. select breeds with long breeding seasons
  2. Light effects
    -shut sleep up in dark barns for long periods over night to fool the pineal gland
  3. Melatonin implants
    -small slow release capsules which mimic the bodies response to decrease day length
  4. Sponges/CIDR
    - progesterone releasing sponge in vagina to mimic diestrus
    -when sponge removed, give FSH analogue (be careful, dose depends on breed and time of year)
    -first estrus is non fertile, next one is very fertile
  5. Melengestrol Acetate
    -most common now
  6. Ram Effect
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16
Q

Melengestrol Acetate

A

-progesterone compound added to feed
-same as vaginal sponges but potentially easier
-extra label use

17
Q

Ram effect for controlling breeding system

A

Works to advance the breeding season several weeks and synchronize
- remove ewes from rams for 6 weeks
-put vasectomised ram with ewes for 2 weeks (because this period is infertile estrus)
-then put fertile ram in 2 weeks later for fertile estrus

18
Q

Gestation period

A

-Maintain BCS for 6weeks, then allow it to drop during pregnancy

-then raise plane of nutrition (grain) in last phase of pregnancy OTHERWISE serious because they won’t meet nutritional demands

19
Q

Pregnancy ultrasounds

A

Diagnose pregnancy and determine how many lambs which helps determine nutritional demands
-percutaneously near udder/inguinal right side
-best scanned 7-12 weeks after breeding (over 12 too much ossification)
>ram turned out for 5 weeks (2 estrus cycles of ewes)
>scan 12 weeks after ram turned out

20
Q

Health issues during pregnancy

A
  1. Abortion- common, almost everything causing this is zoonotic
  2. Vaccinations needed for antibody transfer to lamb in colostrum
21
Q

Lambing time

A

Need facility to hold sheep with feeding facilities
-mismothering is real issue because ewes want to take care of any other young
-So need individual pens to allow proper bonding; turn out pens
-then in January, need facility for all of them

22
Q

Equipment

A
23
Q

Watching lambs at birth

A
  1. Watch for exposure (cold, not cleaned, not feeding, not staying with mother)
  2. Watch for mis-mothering
  3. Watch for water bagged births
  4. Watch for dystocia

**Keep good records

24
Q

Identifying a lambing ewe

A

-separates from flock
-find quiet area
-will not eat
-lay down
-may look up and purse lips
-vaginal discharge
-may vocalize

25
Q

When should you assist the ewe with lambing?

A

1.unproductive straining for more than one hour
2. obvious malpresentation
-should come out in forward dive
-help if you see hindlimbs, head, only one limb, different coloured limbs (different lambs coming at same time), tail
-if head flipped back, likely due to human intervention too early

26
Q

Ewe checks after lambing

A
  1. Put ewe and lamb in bonding pen for 24 hrs to mother up
  2. Remove placenta (they cannot eat it because they don’t have teeth; can end up in airway)
  3. Check ewe’s teats
  4. Treat navels
  5. Ensure lambs get colostrum (abdomen wider than thorax if they have fed)
    -don’t rely on nature for triplets, make sure you milk out ewe and divide between the 3)
27
Q

Lambs at 24 hour check

A

-ear tags
-castrate
-tail dock (check anus)- hot iron
-make sure they are eating (belly check)
-check lambs for entropion
-check ewe- clean and mastitis

Turn out lambs and ewe after they recover from docking and castration

28
Q

Why tail docking?

A

-They cannot lift their tails, so when they get diarrhea will lead to tail being stuck
Dirt leads to fly strike

-Females: tail needs to completely cover the vulva
**tail linked with muscles and if too short can lead to prolapse

29
Q

Adoption of lambs

A

Fooling the ewe and getting them to bond with lamb

1.Wet lambs- fresh born and “rubbed on”- mixing lamb from one ewe with another lamb from another ewe (USE bucket)

  1. Skinning dead lamb and putting it on another lamb and pass it on to mother
  2. Adoption crates
    -prevent ewe from heading butting and killing lamb thats not her own

4.Beating the ewe (banging bottle)

30
Q

Major lamb disease

A
  1. Hypothermia
  2. Watery mouth- neonatal septicemia; bacterial overgrowth in abomasum. Leads to salivation. Make splashing sound when shook
  3. Scours
31
Q

Lamb care after first few days

A
  1. Pulpy Kidney- colostridium overgrowth
    -best to vaccinate against
  2. Consider parasites
  3. Shearing- should be done in May. May be a benefit to shear pre lambing because creates more space. Also helps ewe move her and her lambs to warmer places.
    *not Sask outside
32
Q

Accelerated lambing programs

A

Sheep pregnant for 5 mths, nurse for 2 mths (so only productive 7mths of year)

-Need experience, nutritional knowledge and barns (for winter), and plan for out of season breeding to maximize production:
3 lambings in 2 years OR Cornell star system (5 lambings in 3yrs)

Animal Production 2 (19 decks)

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