Pregnancy Diagnosis

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There are various options for diagnosing pregnancy in sheep. The cost/benefit analysis for doing this procedure depends on what you are going to do with the information. Your reasons for doing pregnancy diagnosis will also dictate which method you want to employ. In general, the earlier in pregnancy the diagnosis is made, the larger the risk of false positive results due to early embryonic loss. If avoiding false positive pregnancy diagnosis is essential to your production, it might be better to postpone diagnostic testing so ewes are closer to 60 days pregnant before testing. Available diagnostic tests: Blood tests: Pregnancy…

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BODY CONDITION SCORING – Why Is It So Important?

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To best express their genetic potential, sheep must be in optimal body condition. Both overly fat sheep and sheep that are too thin are not as productive as they can potentially be. Body condition scoring (BCS) enables you to identify the animals that fall outside of a preferred range. You can use this information to evaluate feeding strategies and to identify animals that are not doing well in your management system. This article will cover the use of BCS as a management tool. Links to information on how to perform BCS can be found in the reference section at the…

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