Small Ruminants and Annual Management Calendar Flashcards
What are the considerations with animal health in regards to choosing the time of shearing?
risk of fleecerot, flystrike, nutritional requirements, risk of death from hypothermia, ewe reproduction
What are the considerations with wool quality in regards to choosing the time of shearing?
Staple strength, location of weakness along wool fibre, vegetable matter, fibre diameter, fleece weight (greasy and clean), staple length ( especially important for pattern of shearing in young sheep)
What do you choose first, lambing time or shearing time?
Lambing time. Difficult to shear while they are lambing or have lambs at foot.
Dry sheep in autumn/ early winter following shearing would need how much more feed than unshorn sheep?
75% more required for at least one month
What is the key driver to enterprise profit?
Stocking rate
An increase in feed requirements means what?
Decrease in stocking rate
If pregnant sheep are shorn in winter compared to non-pregnant sheep, smaller change in stocking rate. True or false.
True. Pregnant ewes have a greater feed intake and this creates extra heat therefore making them less sensitive to cold
In regions with cold weather, what time of year should shearing be avoided?
Winter
Longer wool is susceptible to what (spring and autumn, wet and warm times of year)?
Fleece rot and faecal matter getting caught and therefore fly strike
When are blowflies active?
warm, humid weather- Southern Australia- mid-late spring maybe Autumn
Since flystrike can occur in either spring or autumn, farmer must choose lesser of two evils, what else can the farmer do?
Crutching of sheep
Hypothermia consideration, what is the biggest risk?
Cold storms during a normally warm time of year- 48 hours after shearing. Since sheep are not adapted to the cold then
How does shearing impact oestrus behaviour?
Keeps them from exhibiting oestrus behaviour and therefore won’t mate for up to 2 weeks post shearing.
What effect does autumn shearing have on POB?
Stronger wool. POBs are at fibre end. Because autumn is the time for poor nutrition. If autumn rains come, fibre diameter increases quickly. May differ in Tasi because low nutrition in winter due to cold winters.
What effect does spring shearing have on POB?
Weaker wool because point of break is mid-fibre.
Sheep shorn in autumn are at risk for what?
Vegateble matter accumulates in longer wool- lowers quality and can threaten health
What effect does autumn shearing have on fibre diameter and grease?
Greasier wool and high fibre diameter because they will increase their food intake after shearing due to poor body condition after summer. Therefore increased fibre diameter in wool growth.
How does SS and diameter negate each other?
In autumn shearing, low ss discounts may be avoided. overall value can be similar because of the difference in fibre diameter (large diameter in autumn shorn sheep - 0.7 micron broader)
Autumn shorn sheep have greasier wool, therefore it weighs more, but it yields lower amount. True or false?
True
What staple length do processors prefer?
60 to 90 mm
How often is shearing performed?
In Aus, once per year. Sometimes once every 3 years to meet demand of processor.
Wool from young sheep vs. adult wool?
finer and worth more possibly as long as it is long enough
How old should a sheep be approx. to avoid length penalties when shearing a young one?
10 months old
What are the most important factors to consider with time of year for shearing?
SS, VM, winter nutritional requirements, animal health (flystrike risk and exposure)
When is a cows rumen functional?
6 weeks old
When calving in late winter- spring, benefits?
Better match nutritional demands to pasture production, avoid metabolic disease, produces more beef per hectare
When to drench sheep?
beginning and end of summer because it breaks the parasitic worm life cycle from one year to the next
When spring calving, how many more cattle can you carry on a 10,000 DSE farm?
140 more
With lambing, how far ahead of lambing do you join?
6 months
For merinos, when do you lamb on a traditional VIC farm?
September because it is 3-4 months before pasture peak which starts to dry off (Nov- Dec)
What does the french model say about stocking rate in regards to rainfall?
1.3 DSE per 25 mm rain above 250 mm
Spring lambing lets you carry what percentage more ewes on a property, by matching ewe nutritional requirements better with pasture production?
50%
What should mating period be in small ruminants?
5 weeks, 2 oestrus cycles.
What does tight joining mean in small ruminants?
Narrow range of lamb ages/sizes- all ensueing management can follow promptly
What does imprint feeding mean?
Lambs learn to eat supplementary feed from their mothers- imprint feed before weaning with likely supplementary feeds
When do you do most management practices i.e. vaccination, castration, tail docking, count (marking), mulesing?
2 weeks after lambing finishes
When do you wean lambs?
12-16 weeks (3-4 months) after lambing starts. Youngest lambs must be 6 weeks old (full rumen function). 2nd vaccination at this time.
What is 5 in 1 vaccine in small ruminants
Clostridial diseases
What is 6 in 1 vaccine
Clostridial disease + cheesy gland
PLUS vaccine
ovine Johne’s disease (mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis)
Weaning early is better for sheep, why?
Wool growth, liveweight, lambing percent following year improves if weaned at 12 weeks vs. 18 weeks
What does snatch rearing mean with goat kids?
For disease control- remove at birth so they don’t suckle colostrum or milk to prevent transmission of caprine arthritis and encephatlitis virus
When do meat lambs start to be sold?
After 16 weeks (4 months)- when they reach target weight. Lambs sold straight from their mothers are called suckers. Want to sell before they become 2 tooth.
Retained weaners during summer will need what?
Supplementary feed- energy and or protein
What is the best way to check if nutrition is okay?
Weight a random sample of 80 weaners- for approx. 6 weeks over summer
When are CFA animals sold?
Before pasture decreases in summer.
What is optimum age to keep ewes to?
6 yo
What does more wethers mean?
More wool income
What does more ewes mean?
More meat income
What is the best CS at mating?
CS 3.
After autumn break, monitor how often faecal samples for worm egg counts (FEC)?
every 6 weeks
When does blowfly activity increase?
Spring (warmth, moisture)
What is wigging?
Wool removal from face
What is crutching?
Removing urine stain and dag (faeces on wool) from around sheep’s breech
What is the best way to optimize stocking rate?
Match flock nutrition with pasture production
What do you need if stocking density is greater?
Better nutritional management and disease control
What do small ruminants produce?
Meat, milk, and fibre
When do you get higher value of meat for a lamb?
Less than one year old- before permanent teeth erupt
What is cashmere?
Goat fibre from several breeds
Which is finer cashmere or mohair?
Cashmere is finer- 12-20 microns
Where does mohair come from?
Angora goats 23-40 microns. shorn twice per year. 3 kg/shearing
There are three zones for sheep production determined by what?
Rainfall and associated farming enterprises
What are the sheep zones?
Pastoral zone, sheep/wheat zone, high rainfall zone
What is the pastoral zone like for sheep?
LOw and unreliable rainfall; low stocking rate; extensive management
What is the sheep/wheat zone like?
Graze crop stubbles after harvest, fed grains grown on farms
Where are goats?
Southern Australia and large feral goat population in inland Australia (esp. NSW)
What is the vast majority of sheep in AUS?
Merino
What are ewes and young sheep most vulnerable to?
Worms
What are merinos more susceptible to?
Endo and ectoparasites
What do higher rainfall areas have that is bad?
More worms and flies
What do meat flocks have a lot of?
Ewes and progeny
What is bad about merinos even though premier wool breed?
Slower growing, poorer carcase, lower fertility
Why are self replacing flocks desirable?
Avoid risks of introducing disease with purchased sheep, control your own genetics, less price risk for purchased replacements
