Selecting Your Next Breeding Ram

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Achieving genetic progress and meeting your production goals depend in large part on selecting the right breeding ram for your flock. No animal has greater influence on genetic progress (or lack thereof) than your breeding ram. Selecting a new sire should be considered an investment in the genetic future of your flock. We all know that the ram provides 50% of his genetics to his offspring and we often hear the phrase that "your ram is half your flock", so careful selection is important. For many breeders it all starts with the phenotype. That is, the physical appearance of the…

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Selecting for Parasite Resistant Katahdins

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People frequently ask us for suggestions on improving the parasite resistance of their flocks and how to identify resistant animals, and with good reason. Intestinal worms, or parasites, are one of the most limiting factors to profitable production for shepherds raising sheep on pasture. Lambs and late gestation and lactating ewes are the most susceptible. The main parasite of concern in much of the U.S. is Haemonchus contortus or barber pole worm. The most obvious cost to producers is through deaths of lambs and ewes. But probably more loss occurs in lambs because of anemia, reduced appetite, slower growth, delays…

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Drug Withdrawal Times for Sheep

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Whenever we sell animals, be it at auction, privately as feeder lambs, breeding stock or even just pets and lawnmowers it is our responsibility to make sure that the animals we are selling will not enter the food chain with illegal drug residues in their tissue. Animals that are sold at auction need to be ready to slaughter as many enter the food chain within hours or days after being sold. Private sale feeder lambs, pets and breeding stock animals can be sold before their drug withdrawal times are over as long as you tell the buyer and they are…

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Weaning Management

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Weaning can be a stressful time for both ewes and lambs. Since a lamb's immune system is not fully developed, weaning stress can negatively affect both a lamb's health and its growth rate. Weaning lambs while ewes are still producing a lot of milk increases the risk of mastitis. There are several ways you can help reduce weaning stress and other potential problems for both ewes and lambs. Determining when to wean should be based on age of the lambs, body condition of the ewes, available. resources, and management considerations. Most shepherds wean between 60-120 days of age depending on…

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Polio in Sheep: A Medical Emergency

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Polioencephalomalacia (PEM or Polio) is a common disease in sheep. Unlike the human form of Polio, it is not a viral infection, but a neurological disease characterized by brain swelling that, if left untreated, progresses to degeneration of brain tissue due to pressure necrosis. Early treatment is critical to lamb survival. A deficiency in thiamine (vitamin B1) is the most common cause of Polio and is usually induced by a disruption in normal rumen function, especially acidosis. Thiamine plays a key role in glucose metabolism and proper brain function. Since thiamine is produced from rumen microbes, lambs at greatest risk…

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Data Collection for NSIP

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Data collection is the cornerstone of obtaining Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) through the National Sheep Improvement Program (NSIP). But the need for good records and accurate data is not limited to producers submitting data to NSIP. All flocks can benefit from good data collection since selection and culling decisions should be based on measured production criteria. Those considering joining NSIP at some point, will find collecting accurate data from the start will be helpful. There are many excellent resources (see Resources below) that describe the individual traits and/or give detailed instructions for entering the data into Pedigree Master. This document…

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NSIP – What Is in It for Me?

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For most of us, raising sheep is a business. All successful businesses continually and objectively evaluate their products for performance, accuracy, and predictability. Estimated Breeding Values (EBVs) as provided by the National Sheep Improvement Program (NSIP), allow shepherds to convert performance records for economically important traits into information about an animal's genetic merit while increasing accuracy and predictability for those traits. EBVs provide a science-based selection tool to improve or enhance preferred traits but do not take the place of direct evaluation of an animal's physical appearance, health, or structural correctness. There are multiple ways to use the power of…

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Planning for the Next Generation

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The SID Sheep Production Handbook states that a key limiting factor in genetic improvement is "accuracy of selection". In other words, to make the most improvement in our flocks, we have to accurately assess the impacts our sires (and dams) are having on their offspring. We need to identify superior sires as lambs and then confirm their superiority by evaluating their offspring. If they're not passing it on, it doesn't matter how good they look now or how good they looked as lambs. If you want to make the best decisions in the spring when you evaluate their offspring, you…

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