Considerations for Winter Feeding Hay and Water

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We all know that we need to calculate how much hay to put out for our sheep to make sure that they have adequate nutrition over the winter. But, remember that sheep like to do things at the same time, so make sure you put out hay in a manner that allows everyone to eat at the same time. Our flock of 160 ewes requires two 4x5 round bales of hay per day to meet their nutritional needs, We put out eight bales at a time though, and only feed every four days. This way everyone has access to feed…

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Stop Making Excuses

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When the breeding season starts, there is an implied contract between shepherd and ewe. Your commitment to keep her around for another production cycle means her commitment to return her annual costs plus some in lamb production. To do this, she must get pregnant, lamb, and wean a litter that is a relatively high percentage of her own body weight. Getting pregnant is the first step. Ewes that breed and conceive early in the season have a greater chance of weaning a heavier litter. They also contribute to a shorter lambing season, improve lamb crop uniformity, and reduce shepherd fatigue.…

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Genetic Diversity

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Sheep GEMS News Brief 7 – October 2024 Genetic diversity is what allows for adaptation and evolution in response to change, whether that change is environmental or consumer driven. As we look across the array of domestic sheep breeds throughout the U.S., the genetic diversity is clear. From fine-wool to long-wool, hair to dairy, and all in-between, there is a wide variety of diversity that exists in sheep breeds. While the differences among breeds can be stark, shared characteristics among individuals are what define a breed. Yet within a breed, no two individuals are the same as considerable variation exists…

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Blending Technology & Tradition to Achieve Breeding Goals

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We talk a lot about tradition in the American sheep industry. Traditions aren’t stagnant, they get modified from one generation to the next as new information and insights are gained. Nearly everything in modern sheep production – be that fences, milk replacer or RFID readers – was at one time a state-of-the-art technology. Whether we choose to adopt a new technology is dependent on economics and those intangibles that define our unique perspectives for raising sheep in the first place.From the dawn of sheep domestication until the last 50 years or so, the only available technologies to select replacement animals…

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Farm Emergency Planning

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A farm emergency can take many forms.  It could be a barn fire on a large dairy farm, or it can be something less extreme such as a simple power outage.  Emergencies aren’t foreseen and no two are exactly alike.  No matter what size farm you have, it is important for you to develop a plan on how you, and your facility, would respond to potential disasters. Developing an emergency management plan will require careful thought but doesn’t have to be overly complicated.  I equate them to Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point plans (HACCP) that are utilized by our food…

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Additional NSIP Genetic conditions from genotypes: PRNP, MSTN, FecB, CLPG

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Sheep GEMS Update – September 2024 The Sheep GEMS project has enabled producers to capture genetic information from their animals with the intent to simultaneously make genomic predictions of breeding values, verifying parentage, and identifying genetic condition status. Such multiple uses of a single genotyping platform will help avoid the extra costs of running DNA tests separately for these different purposes. Our objective was to develop and validate a process to accurately obtain genetic conditions as one outcome of genotyping with a common medium-density (50K markers) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) platform (assay), and to estimate frequencies of those genetic conditions…

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A Tribute to Dr. Charles Parker, Mentor and Friend

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Dr. Charles Parker (1935-2024) was a sheep specialist, researcher, industry leader and experienced advisor to many of us in the Katahdin breed. As an early supporter of the breed, Charles felt that Katahdins could and should be the Complete Meat Sheep, genetically balanced for reproductive and growth efficiency and easily adapted to diverse production systems. Following his death in July 2024 we decided to compile some of his advice and guidance over the years to share with others. In collaboration with the Piel Farm, Heifer Project and some of the early Katahdin breeders, Charles was instrumental in the development of…

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Using genotypes to reduce susceptibility to Ovine Progressive Pneumonia (OPP)

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Sheep GEMS News Brief 5 – late-August 2024 In the U.S., the disease Ovine Progressive Pneumonia (OPP) causes extensive welfare and financial losses due to decreased ewe productivity of about 20% and eventual culling or death of breeding stock. Surveys of U.S. sheep have shown that 36% of sheep operations have infected animals and 24% of all animals tested were seropositive. Once infected, sheep remain infected for life, and there is no effective treatment or vaccine. Sheep producers can eradicate OPP from a flock in two ways. First, is by serological testing and removing all infected sheep with the obvious…

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Preparations for Breeding

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The joining of ewes and rams at breeding time seems like a relatively simple task, but there are a lot of important steps that need to be taken several weeks before breeding that can affect both the quality and quantity of next year’s lamb crop. Breeding ewes that are in poor condition can result in fewer eggs fertilized, embryonic abortion, poor fetal development and weak newborns. Rams that are in poor condition may have difficulty servicing ewes resulting in open ewes or a long lambing season. Preparations initiated 4-6 weeks before introducing rams can maximize success during breeding and lead…

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Building the foundations for genomic selection in U.S. sheep

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Sheep GEMS News Brief 4 – mid-August 2024 The Sheep GEMS project, together with NSIP members and other sheep industry organizations, have been working to create the building blocks for the implementation of genomic selection in the U.S. sheep industry. In this second article of the Sheep GEMS update related to genomic predictions, we describe the practical aspects for application of genomic selection in our industry. Genomic selection is the process by which genomically-enhanced estimated breeding values (GEBV) are used for selection of individuals to become the parents of the next generation. The first question one may ask is “How…

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