Don’t forget to provide minerals for your sheep! Forage, feed, and water are big parts of feeding sheep, but it doesn’t stop there. In addition, there are the ‘little parts’ of sheep nutrition – minerals, both micro- and macro-, and Vitamins. Minerals from Calcium and Phosphorus to magnesium and manganese can be present in forage or may need to be supplemented. Selenium is often deficient in feed, and copper is toxic to sheep at levels that other livestock require. Salt (NaCl) is often the ‘carrier’ to get the minerals to sheep. Read more here.
Author: Treasurer Treasurer
St. Croix Genetics Project Update
by Lori Marion, Vice President
The genetics project is entering its final phase. The last of the tissue samples have been collected, with sheep added from Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Missouri. The sheep included represent a variety of St. Croix sheep both genetically and geographically from across the United States. Brenda Murdoch, Ph.D., of the University of Idaho Moscow, is finishing with sample analysis and will begin analyzing the full data set shortly.
To get an idea of the depth of Dr. Murdoch’s expertise in sheep genetics, read her article on the genetic structure of terminal breeds in the US. It includes detailed information and while I can’t claim to understand what an ‘eigenvalue’, or a ‘cladogram’ really is, it does give some idea of the complexity of the genetic analysis. If you aren’t overwhelmed by that study, take a look at this one. It details the genetic relationship between Caribbean Hair Sheep and West African sheep breeds.
Thank you to all the SCHSBI members across the country, who donated their time and effort to obtain the samples. We are closer than ever to learning what genetic ‘secrets’ St. Croix sheep may hold and look forward to sharing the findings with our members.
You Can Lead a Sheep to Water
by Lori Marion, Vice President
Like every creature, sheep need to eat. They need a source of energy and protein, and various nutrients like Vitamins A, D, and E, all of which they get from food. And like most every creature, sheep need water. Dehydration has been shown to reduce feed intake and growth. The amount of liquid water sheep need will vary widely, based on their productivity stage, their diet, and the temperature and humidity.
According to the Merck Veterinary Manual and North Dakota Extension service, a unbred, non-nursing ewe, in a temperate climate, in winter, eating dry forage (not concentrates), drinks about 1 gallon daily. Under the same conditions, rams might need a bit more. A nursing lamb up to 20 lbs needs as little as 0.3 gallons daily, while a lamb over 60 lbs has higher needs; 1 gallons to 1.5 gallons daily. A pregnant ewe needs up to 2 gallons daily, and a nursing ewe, especially one with multiples, needs up to 3 gallons daily.
And all this is why the stock tank empties so quickly! Or at least it would be good if it emptied quickly, indicating the sheep are in fact drinking the water, avoiding dehydration, and supporting body condition maintenance, growth, reproduction, and milk production.
If your sheep are out grazing forage with a high moisture content, in temperate weather, they will have far less need for fluid water to drink. If you have snowfall in winter, soft snow with no ice cover can often supply sufficient water for dry ewes, grower lambs, and rams. They will expend energy maintaining their body temperature due to cold weather, as well as consuming snow. A retired commercial rancher who range-fed his 4000 ewe flock is convinced from his observations that sheep need more water in winter – supporting the higher metabolism needed to keep warm, and energy to melt the snow they ‘drank’. He made supplying fluid water a higher priority than he might have otherwise, even with snow available.
The quality of the water is important too. Forcing livestock to drink water with unsafe levels of salts, nitrates and sulfates can upset the animals’ water balance, leading to dehydration, and toxins can cause multiple issues from diarrhea to respiratory and neurological issues. Fecal contamination can reinforce parasite cycles. Pumped groundwater or surface water may need to be tested for levels of nitrates, sulfates and total salts, and fecal contamination if there’s a risk in your environment. Both floods and drought can change the quality.
So, while you focus on your pastures and feed, give a bit of thought to the water your sheep need too!
2022 Election – Please Vote!
The SCHSBI is holding the 2022 election electronically. On Dec 6 (Tuesday), each active member will receive an email and a text from SCHSBI with a link that will give directions for voting. Votes will be accepted until Dec 11 (Sunday), 2022, 4:00 PM Eastern time.
Please ensure that your email and cell phone number are current in the member information contained in the member’s “Registry” link from the St. Croix Hair Sheep Breeder’s website. If your information needs to be updated, please email schsb@glmregistry.com with your member number and the updated information. The emailed link will come from “Election Buddy.” If you don’t receive an email on Dec 6, please check your ‘spam’, ‘trash’, or ‘clutter’ folder. If needed, call or email Director Lori Marion.
This year, there are two director positions being filled for 4-year terms (Dec 2022 – Dec 2026). This will form a board with 7 members to allow the work of the board to be divided more equitably and to avoid ties in voting. Please vote for up to 2 candidates. The 2022 election email will include information about each candidate.
This is the last annual election. From Dec 2022 forward, elections will be held in December of even years for 4-year terms starting January of odd years. About half of the directors will be elected bi-annually, reducing the rapid turnover of annual elections and the loss of continuity and experience. The by-laws contain guidance on the elections and are posted on the SCHSB website. If you have questions, please feel free to contact any board member.
Candidate Information
Elizabeth Hernandez
My name is Elizabeth Hernandez. I am the owner of Trillium Family Farms in Tornado, West Virginia. About 8 years ago, our middle son was diagnosed with severe food allergies, including most meats. After a round of allergy testing, venison and lamb were discovered to be safe meats for him. Our goal became finding a farm where we could grow most of our own foods and raise our own meat. A couple of military deployments later and we bought the farm in October of 2020. Careful consideration went into what breed of sheep we wanted to raise as breeders and for meat. I bought my first 4 St. Croix ewes and a St. Croix ram in June of 2021. We had our first lambing in March of 2022 and just started this year’s breeding season. Our plan is to grow our flock as we make improvements to our pastures and expand our farm.
I joined the St. Croix Hair Sheep Breeders, Inc. when I brought my flock home. I have learned many things being a member of this group and am very grateful. Reading books and asking questions has helped me along the way. As a newer shepherd and breeder, I feel that I can bring new insight as someone who is just beginning. I think adding more learning opportunities, online events and maybe even a mentorship program would benefit newer breeders and new members of the group, and in turn, help to maintain the integrity of the St. Croix breed. If I am elected, I will continue to read and learn about this amazing breed. I will also promote registration of St. Croix sheep, and teach my customers what I have learned about the breed. I will work whole heartedly at my goal of maintaining the integrity of the breed, teaching new shepherds what I have learned, and asking someone with more experience if I don’t know the answer.
Tamara Lambdin-Abney
Hi, my name is Tamara Lambdin-Abney. My husband, Marshall, and I, own a farm outside Richmond, Ky. (Aldenwood). We began raising St.Croix in 2017. We started our flock with 9 ewes- four, from Kellie Frame in Pennsylvania, five from Billy Place Farm in North Carolina, and a Stauber Farm ram from North Carolina.
Over the years, we have increased our herd to an average of 60 adults,with 60 or so lambs in the field after lambing season, both registered and commercial head. We researched the breed of sheep we wanted to raise in preparation for my husband’s retirement from his hospital work in Anesthesia. We found that St. Croix possessed every one of our requirements- easy-keepers, good mothers, parasite-resistant and all-season breeders. In the years since we have selected this breed, we have not been disappointed. They have added an extra dimension to the farm and our lives.
After acquiring our sheep, I began attending Eweprofit classes at the University of Kentucky Sheep Unit, under Dr. Don Ely. I have attended almost every class in that length of time, even to the point of repeating material, as I have found that I learn something new every time, and have benefited from the years of knowledge that Dr. Ely has been director of the sheep unit at the University.
I am a big advocate of our breed and am happy to see it is getting the recognition it deserves as a viable livestock market, and conservancy of this breed that is enjoying a resurgence. I hope to see it to continue to grow and believe it will provide a valuable resource for breeders and a sustainable source of food for our nation, and families.
Thank you for your consideration, Tamara
Some Practical Breeding Guidelines
- Know the breed standard. Sheep that have severe faults (off-color, overshot jaws, etc) should not be retained for breeding. Strengths and benefits of sheep with lesser faults (e.g., legs that are not quite straight) should be carefully evaluated prior to keeping them in the breeding flock. If it is possible to cull them while meeting the other goals of the breeding program, it should be considered.
- Be sure your management reflects your production goals. If your flock prolificacy (number of lambs born per ewe exposed to a ram) is low, look first to your management. Prolificacy has a relatively low heritability, so that it is hard to increase the number of lambs born per ewe exposed through selection. However, better feed during breeding (i.e., flushing) and during late pregnancy, as well as close attention during lambing, can greatly improve the number of lambs born, and the survival of those lambs. (Regular vaccination and worming are also involved in successful herd management.)
- Choose rams from good ewes. An old saying states that “the ram is half the flock”, since his genes will provide one-half of the genetic makeup of his lambs. You are most likely to keep his ewe lambs, so pay attention to what sort of ewes he is likely to produce. Strong, productive ewes with a strong history of twinning (or triplets), consistent lamb production, and good conformation will produce the best ram lambs. The ram itself may be a single, twin, or triplet – many sheep production manuals suggest keeping rams only from twin or triplet births, but this is because many commercial breeders to do not keep records for each ewe. It is the ewe’s production record that matters, not how many lambs she had in this year — and for a purebred flock, this production information is readily available.
- Strive to keep inbreeding below 5% per generation. As the coefficient of inbreeding (COI, the degree of relatedness) increases in a flock, inbreeding depression may occur, during which fertility, growth, and other reproductive traits tend to decline. Such declines are especially dramatic when the COI reaches or exceeds 30%. Various computer programs are available to calculate COIs from pedigree records (see list of some available programs). The article What is conservation breeding? has more information about the use of COI’s.
- Regularly evaluate your stock in as impartial a manner as possible (so that you don’t give extra points to your favorites). For instance, the Swans use a scoring sheet of 6 traits (length, topline, thickness, muscle, bone, feet/legs) rated from poor (1) to perfect (5) for each animal. Consider culling sheep with lower than average scores. Another possible selection criteria is productivity. For instance, one can calculate pounds of lamb produced per ewe (there are correction factors available in the Sheep Production Handbook to correct for number of lambs born per ewe, ewe age, and lamb sex; or groups of breeders can elect to join the National Sheep Improvement Program, NSIP, in which case NSIP will calculate scores for several possible selection criteria for each animal in the flock). Producers should consider culling the ewes that are the poorest producers in the flock.
- Keep ewe lambs from good ewes. While the genetic impact of an individual ewe is likely to be less than that of an individual ram, keeping daughters of good ewes will tend to increase the positive maternal qualities in the flock.
Awards
Those who made the effort to participate in the fair and show their sheep reaped awards!
2010 Oregon State Fair: August 26, 2010 in Salem, OR
- 2010 Champion Ram: 3 Sisters Livestock
- 2010 Premier Exhibitor: River Bend Ranch
What is Conservation Breeding? – Part 4
Three Disadvantages of Conservation Breeding
1. Rams within this program have a short breeding career, since use of a ram for more than a season or two will lead to a genetic bottleneck, that is, a reduction in the genetic diversity contained within a line. This can be frustrating for breeders who wish to develop and use an outstanding male over many years.
2. Selection of breeding animals must focus on the benefits of the animal to the entire flock, rather than on the traits of that individual alone. For instance, a breeder might select a moderately inbred ram even when a linecrossed ram has superior conformation. The inbred ram is expected to produce individuals more like himself than is the linecrossed ram; the inbred ram also works to conserve the line that produced him. The outstanding linecross rams can be sold to other breeders.
3. Finally, for a conservation program to succeed, the breeder must focus on longterm objectives and must break away from many established practices in animal breeding. This can be difficult for many breeders.
For more information, please read A Conservation Breeding Handbook, contact the Livestock Conservancy, or contact the author of this summary.
Part 1: Background of Conservation Breeding?
Part 2: What is Conservation Breeding?
Part 3: An Example of a Conservation Breeding Plan