- 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.
Category: Sheep Care
So You Want to Raise a Few Sheep?
Kevin R. Pond, Department of Animal Science, North Carolina State University, Presented at the American Minor Breeds Conservancy Annual Meeting, June 14, 1992.
What Are the Questions and Where Are the Answers?
Maybe you have a few acres that are overgrown or that you are tired of mowing. Maybe you want to raise a few sheep as a novelty or to maintain a minor breed. Maybe you like to eat lamb and are tired of paying more than $5.00 per pound for a leg of lamb. Maybe you want livestock but do not have the room, equipment or the finances for cattle. Maybe you want to use sheep to teach your child responsibility. Maybe you just like sheep. Regardless of your reason, there are several things to consider before getting sheep. This paper highlights limitations, requirements and uses of sheep. Sources of information are also identified for those who want to raise sheep regardless of the reason.
What are the characteristics of sheep?
Sheep are ruminants, which means they have a multiple-compartment stomach containing microbes that are able to digest forages (grasses, legumes, or shrubs). Sheep can survive solely on forage without grain supplementation, provided there is forage of sufficient quality and quantity. Sheep, like cattle, can also utilize hay, silage and many by-product feeds. Sheep are gregarious, which means they like to be around other sheep and move as a group rather that an individuals. This means that having only one sheep may be a disadvantage and you may need to have four or five at a minimum. There are a multitude of breeds of sheep available in the United States. These include sheep that are grown primarily for wool, that are grown primarily for meat production and even sheep without wool. Mature size of sheep ranges from 50 lbs to 500 lbs depending on breed.
Sheep are known as seasonal breeders. This means the female only cycles and accepts the male during times of shortening day length. Cycling usually initiates by the end of August to early in September. If not bred, the ewe will cycle and ovulate every 17 days. Once bred, the gestation length (the time from breeding to lambing) is five months. Ewes that are bred in late August to early September lamb in January and February. There are many breeds capable of breeding year round. To have lambs at other times during the year than just the spring, or to have ewes produce more than one time per year, you may want to consider one of these breeds.
On average, approximately half of the ewes will have twins therefore the average lamb crop will be 1.5 lambs/ewe (150% lamb crop). Breeds differ in their prolificacy. Lambs suckle the ewe for 2–3 months naturally, but can be weaned at one (1) month of age. Lambs are marketed at 90–130 lbs at 4 to 8 months of age (depending on breed).
What are the major limitations to raising sheep?
There are two natural enemies of sheep: internal parasites and predators. Both can be partially controlled by the intervention of the sheep owner. Severe infestation by internal parasites can cause death in young lambs and even adults and is, therefore, one of the major problems in sheep production worldwide. The sheep owner has several management practices that aid in controlling internal parasite infestation, drugs called anthelmintics can be given to sheep to kill the parasites and practices such as pasture rotation can be utilized. These will be further discussed later.
Predators are the other major enemy of sheep. Predators include coyotes, wolves, mountain lions but most commonly dogs. Unfortunately, (for the sheep owner) often times it is the neighbor’s dog that causes the problem. Usually, the dog will maim or kill the sheep for sport and not consume the kill. There are two methods to control predators. One is by excluding the predators with proper fencing and the other is by protecting the sheep with guard animals. Recently, the availability of high voltage or high power fence chargers for electric fencing has improved our ability to keep sheep in, and more importantly, to keep predators out. In addition, several breeds of dogs can be used as guard animals and in fact donkeys [and llamas] are often used as guard animals to protect the sheep.
If the sheep owner can control the parasites and control the predators, sheep will survive.
What are the resources needed for sheep?
Feed/land— To utilize the sheep’s natural characteristics of being able to consume pasture, shrubs and browse, perhaps the first thing to evaluate is the area available for grazing. The feed from pasture is the most economical and should be the base of the operation. How much land is available and what the productivity of that land is should be determined. Improved pasture may yield four to five tons per acre per year if properly managed, whereas hilly or tree covered land may average considerably less.
A general rule of thumb to consider in determining the number of sheep that you can have on a given land area is to consider that five or six ewes and their lambs are equivalent to one cow and her calf. Therefore, if land is known to carry one cow per acre then you can safely assume that you can carry five to six ewes and their lambs on the same area. In some parts of the U.S., 10 – 20 acres are required per cow/calf, so considerably fewer sheep can be kept on that area.
While pasture should be the base of the feed resource, other feeds can be utilized to supplement the pasture. Hay can be grown on the farm (but this requires a large investment in equipment) or can be purchased from other producers. If you can plan ahead, hay can be purchased at the time of harvesting directly from the field at a reduced cost. However, if purchased during harvest, a place will be needed to store the hay and you must have the finances to purchase the hay all at one time rather than throughout the year as you need it.
Sheep can also utilize by-product feeds including materials coming from garden, by-products of peanuts, corn, cotton, soybeans and even day-old bread. Feed can also be purchased from feed mills or feed stores. Sheep are capable of eating and readily like most cereal grains including corn, oats, barley and rye. These grains can be fed directly to sheep without processing.
Some feed stores will have available special mixtures made for sheep and goats. Care should be taken not to use feed that is advertised for dairy, beef, swine or poultry use. The reason for this is that these feeds will contain high amounts of copper and are toxic to sheep. Again, care should be taken not to use feeds that are made for other species of animals!
Sheep are generally offered required minerals in the form of a mineral block or as a free choice mix. A mineral mix should be purchased that is formulated for sheep to meet their requirements and prevent copper toxicity.
Buildings and equipment— The building requirements for housing sheep are minimal. Sheep survive outside without a barn as long as there is some shelter from wind and/or inclement weather. Shelter can be in the form of a converted machinery shed, and old garage, an old tobacco barn or a farm building. If sheep are given access to a shelter, they can decide whether to be inside or outside. Putting sheep into a tight, close fitting barn can be very stressful on the animals because of high temperatures and high humidity in the barn. The best shelters are dry, open-sided, and well ventilated. Sheep generally will not utilize the shelter except to get out of very inclement weather or to seek shade. Another time when a shelter may be necessary is during the lambing season, especially if ewes are lambing during cold, wet or snowy weather. In this case, sheep are often kept inside or are sheared prior to lambing to make the ewe seek shelter so that the lamb will be in a protected area.
Unless you are planning to make hay, the machinery necessary for sheep is minimal. A mower may be used to cut pastures that are overgrown, but with proper pasture management, no mower will be needed. It is advantageous to have an area or pens in a barn or in the open that can be used as a corral to sort and manage animals. Tasks such as weighing lambs, trimming feet, docking tails and treating for internal parasites are facilitated with a corral. These facilities are quite easy to make out of normal building materials or panels. Plans are available from several sources, as noted below.
A set of clippers for shearing [of wool sheep], foot trimmers and equipment for administering anthelmintics will be needed.
Fencing— The fencing may be one of the most important components of a successful sheep operation. A properly designed and constructed fence will keep the sheep in and predators out. Traditionally, woven wire has been used as sheep fence. However, the expense of woven wire is quite high and it is difficult to justify fencing large areas in woven wire fence. The perimeter fence around the entire area where the sheep are going to be contained must be of high quality material. If woven wire is used, posts must be put close enough together so that animals (the sheep and predators) cannot get through.
The most inexpensive and effective fence now utilizes high power electric chargers (~5000 volts). These chargers cost between $75 and $250 and can be run from regular 110 current, from a car battery or from the sun. There are solar chargers available for under $100 that will charge the fence continually during the day, and store a charge in a battery for night use. Spacing of the wire and grounding of the fence is extremely important to provide safety from predators. Most fence manufacturing companies will provide adequate detail on how to construct a sheep fence with their materials. Many have individual instructional video tapes that are available.
Construction of internal cross fences (to divide the pasture within the perimeter) do not need to be as secure or permanent as the perimeter fence. There are several types of portable, temporary fencing material available that are easily moved and can be utilized to cross fence pastures as forage growth changes or as number of animals changes. These types of fences can be easily moved by one person and are very useful in keeping sheep where you want to keep them. Several companies have portable types of fencing appropriate for sheep.
What other things should I be concerned about?
Health care— The major health concern is that of controlling internal parasites. Such control can be effectively carried out by the use of drugs (anthelmintics) to reduce the worm burden on the sheep. These anthelmintics should be given on a routine schedule to make sure that parasites do not weaken the sheep. The cooperative extension service or your veterinarian should be consulted to develop a plan for appropriate parasite control in your area. Generally, for ewes an anthelmintic should be given prior to breeding, before or at lambing and one time during the summer. Lambs should be given an anthelmintic at weaning and at 6 to 8 week intervals depending on level of infestation. Most state veterinary diagnostic laboratories will check the feces for parasite eggs at no charge. If egg counts exceed 1000/gram then an anthelmintic is needed. There are three major anthelmintics approved for use in sheep: levamisole, thiabendazole and ivermectin. Fenbendazole (the only one that kills tapeworms) is not approved for sheep, and before use a veterinarian should be consulted.
Rotating pasture so that sheep do not remain on the same pasture for more than 21 days will help reduce infestation. Biological control can be helped by utilizing cattle of horses to graze after sheep to reduce the larval burden on the pasture. Fertilization with liquid nitrogen also kills the larva on the pasture.
Other management tasks associated with health include hoof trimming at least annually to reduce the chances of footrot.
Fast growing grain-fed lambs should be vaccinated for clostridial diseases and vaccines are also available for tetanus. Consult your state extension service or a qualified veterinarian.
Marketing— If successful you will have a product to sell! Marketing these products is probably where most sheep owners fail in their total operation. In most states there are state pools to market lamb and wool. These offer one route of selling your products. However, the most successful producers develop their own market, whether it be to individuals or specialty stores. Much time and effort is required to develop your own market, but the payoffs can be very high. Consult your state extension service and state sheep associations for more information. In some states the state department of agriculture may have someone hired to assist in marketing your products. You have nothing to lose and the service is free.
Sources of Information
Cooperative extension— Every state has a Land Grant University and an Extension Service. There are people in your state and perhaps in your county available to help you when you get started and with problems when they arise. Utilize these services, you pay for them through taxes!
Magazines— There are many magazines that are written with the sheep enthusiast in mind. Two that I have found particularly useful are the Shepard Magazine ( 5696 Johnston Rd.., New Washington, OH 44854) and Sheep! Magazine ( W2997 Market Rd., Helenville, WI 53137). Many of the Breed Associations also have magazines and newsletters.
Organizations— Most states have associations of sheep owners that will be valuable to you to join. There will be people with similar interests and these associations are very helpful to the beginner and experienced person alike. Your extension service should be able to help you make the right contact.
Books— There are many books written about sheep production. Your library should have a few. If you really want a manual for raising sheep, the Sheep Industry development Program (SID) publishes a loose-leaf book called the Sheep Production Handbook. It is the most widely circulated, most informative, and provides updates as produced. To purchase a copy, write to: Sheep Industry Development Program, 6911 South Yosemite St., Englewood, CO 80112-1414 or call 303-771-3500.
Care of St. Croix Hair Sheep
Notes from Jo Swan, The Swan Ranch
Though the St. Croix breed of hair sheep is known for its ease of maintenance, there are certain care requirements for good results. They are resistant to some internal parasites, but not to lungworm or liver fluke, and so should be wormed at intervals according to needs. They shed on their own, but you can use a stripping comb or shedding blade or pluck the winter coat to hurry the process. They are hoof rot resistant but in the rare instance they do get it, they react well to treatment and care, and it is not a huge problem. The following topics have been gleaned from our own and other’s experience. We hope they are helpful.
Fencing
- Perimeter: woven wire, 36″ minunum, wood or metal posts, keeps sheep in and predators out.
- Cross-fencing: woven wire or electric. Try to keep fence lines clean.
- Moveable pens, jugs: hog panels, 36″ minimum, cut to size for jugs in barn, a panel is easily tied to a pasture fence to make a temporary jug.
- Catch pens: absolutely necessary, teach to come with grain or feed. A leg clique (a narrowed metal hook on a long wood handle) is useful in catching single animals from a group.
Barns and Shelters
- In California’s San Joaquin Valley with well-drained sandy soil, cool foggy winters, hot dry summers, the Swan Ranch got by with one 12′ x 14′ pen in a shed and shade trees in every paddock. In wetter western Oregon, we find we need covered winter feeding arrangements and barn shelter for some animals.
- In the Northern Sacramento Valley with heavier soil, Paul and Kathy Lewis needed a large barn for early lambing, but had no shade in their irrigated summer pastures, which were under intensive management for maximum nutrient availability.
- In West texas, Bill Hoag has barns for winter lambing, some shade available.
- In Canada, three-sided shelters were adequate with ewes often preferring to lamb outside in the snow.
- In every area, keeping lambs out of heavy mud and sheltered from cold windy conditions is important.
Feed Management
Adequate natural or irrigated pastures according to availability with supplemental hay, grain as needed. Offer sheep-mineral salt at all times. Take care, because cattle salt has too high copper content, which is toxic to sheep. Do not have plain salt sources as sheep will not get adequate minerals. Without correct minerals sheep will do and produce poorly. Keep sheep in good but not obese condition. Do not let milking ewes get too thin. Older ewes do well if teeth are kept floated. Some ewes care for twins at 12+ years just fine with good feed. Our 15 year old raised twins with free choice alfalfa plus some grain and pelleted feed. This was worthwhile for her unique genetics and excellent conformation which we wished to retain in our flock. A creep is useful to teach lambs to eat grain without getting trampled by hungry ewes.
Vaccinations and Deworming
Ewes should be dewormed and vaccinated approximately 30 days before lambing with Ivermectin injectable and Clostridium Perfringens Type C and D Tetanus Toxoid. Care provided to lambs includes deworming and vaccinations at 6–8 weeks and then 10 days later and again at 6 months. Adults need an annual booster for Clostridium. At the Swan Ranch a nasal spray with Bovine Rhino vaccine solved a summer pneumonia problem. In other areas other worming and vaccination schedules may be needed. In wet western Oregon, Ivermectin Plus is used for the endemic liver flukes and Covexin 8 is preferred for vaccination. Consult your vet for local conditions.
Reproduction Characteristics & Related Care
St Croix lambs are sexually precocious and care must be taken to avoid unwanted breeding. The record ram lamb fertility at Utah State was 100 days; therefore wean ram lambs by 90 days. Kathy Lewis had a young ewe lamb at 10 months. Separate ram and ewe lambs at 4 1/2 months (135 day) as you don’t need accidents to happen.
At the Swan Ranch we breed at 7 months to lamb at 12 months. Some prefer to wait until 18 months. Waiting much longer may make it harder for the ewe to conceive. St Croix ewes will breed back at 30 days, making two crops per year. The record at Utah was 18 days. We use the accelerated plan of lambing the ewe every 8 months, making a goal of 6 lambs in two years. We wean at approximately 2 months, turn the ram in for 30–45 days. Most, but not every ewe will follow the 8 month plan. One of our ewes insisted upon having triplets every January, thus fulfilling her 6 lambs in two years.
In the hot climate we bred in April for September lambs. If we got a week of l00 degrees plus in May, it cut embryo survival to 20%. The Lewis Ranch in Northern California got a good crop of September and October lambs. Since they are a specialty lamb producer with 1200+ ewes, they time lambing from February through June. They breed some of their early lambers for fall lambs. Not stressing the ewe for the first 25 days has proved vital to embryo survival.
St Croix ewes produce from 1–4 lambs. Yearlings usually have singles or twins, mature ewes usually have twins, with older ewes often having triplets or quads. On the whole we prefer a nice set of twins. Since we are purebred producers, we jug most ewes and their lambs for a day or two to tag them and make sure they mother their own lambs. Some ewes will steal other lambs. Ram lambs can be banded (wethered) at this time. Tails can be docked now also if you choose. Docking is not necessary but some people prefer the look.
St Croix rams are active breeders. Hot weather doesn’t bother them. A single ram in a pen will get cranky. A bred ewe or a wether will be fine for company. Rams will do well in a group. When putting them together you must squeeze them up to standing room only for 48 hours. They will get their smells thoroughly combined and not fight and break necks when released. We learned this the hard way. This is a dominance thing, just a part of nature. Avoid upsetting rams by keeping space between a group of rams and a group of open ewes showing heat. You don’t want rams testing fences and each other.
Identification
Most sheep raisers use either tattooing or tags for individual identification. For many years we used the small Roto Tags. Ordering them with numbers on one half and Swan on the other and in double sets so if an animal lost one it could still be identified. In 2004 we went with Premier’s new 2x tag. It is about 1 1/3″ in size and much more readable from a distance. It also seems easier to apply, though heavy for new lambs.
We are using sheep paint to ID a ewe and her lambs until they are a bit older before tagging. A friend started using the “dot” system—1 dot, 2 dots, etc. in various parts of the sheep. It works well for up to 10 ewes at a time. We also keep some blank tags to replace lost ones. Sheep seem to find all kinds of ways to lose them on fences, feeders, chewing on each other. [Snapp tags work well in lamb’s ears, and don’t easily snag or fall out of the ear—ed.]
Premise ID
Most states now have a Premise ID program to connect with the National Scrapie Program that allows animals to be traced to their place of origin. All brood stock that leave your farm must have these tags (usually in the right ear). At the present time slaughter lambs do not need the tags as sheep do not show positive for the test until they are past two years of age. The tags are free from the state APHIS office. (Ask your vet or extension agent.)
Care During Shipping
We have sent lambs by air when they were small (30–40 lbs). They ride fine in dog crates with bedding. We have hauled sheep in pick-ups with racks, cab-high camper covers, small horse trailers and bigger double-decked ones. For trips up to 24 hours they don’t drink much water. For several-day trips, provide extra care and fill their buckets at least twice a day -preferably when you stop to eat or rest. With good bedding, hay-racks or feeders for pellets they will do fine. Maybe taking a day or two to rehydrate if they didn’t drink much. They will lay down quite a bit and seem to travel better than some horses.
When crossing state lines you must always have a health certificate with you for the state of destination. Each state has different requirements; most require a blood test for rams over 4 or 5 months old and no evidence of disease. Ask your vet in plenty of time to get the tests back before the sheep leave. The tests are not expensive in most cases.
Preparation for Exhibition
Bathe—horse shampoo for gray or palomino horse is handy for any staining. Soap, rinse, soap again and thoroughly rinse. Comb and brush to remove loose hair. Do not clip. Any sign of clipping or trimming the coat is illegal for showing St Croix. A damp towel is good for last minute wipes of eyes and nose. Trim feet a week before so if you cut a little deep, the hoof will heel and not be sore. Sheep halters, dog collars and goat neck chains are all good for leading and tying.