Hoof care is extremely important for the well being of your flock. Sheep with hoof problems will fail to thrive and meet their full genetic potential. Hooves should be regularly checked for overgrowth and disease. The diseases affecting the hoof are foot rot, foot scald, foot abscess, foot and mouth disease, bluetounge, soremouth and laminitis. The condition of the hoof depends on the breed of sheep,the genetics, the farm management and the soil condition. Lameness in a sheep is a sign of several foot conditions many that are serious. A perfect hoof should be flat at the bottom and have a boxy shape. Sheep grazed on rocky dry land usually need less hoof care than those grazed on moist rock less land. Sheep in high rainfall areas will need their hoofs checked more regularly. The two most common disease of the foot in sheep are footrot and scald. Foot rot is responsible for 90% of lameness in sheep. A rotting smell of the foot is a sign of footrot Ewes that have ex...

Many farmers experience high and costly livestock loss every year from farm predators. It has become unpopular to use poison and traps so many alternative solutions have been introduced. If a farm has had predator loss it will more than likely have repeat offences this is why good farm management is needed in order to eliminate predator loss. If you find a dead sheep or lamb on your land you first need to understand weather it was predation or scavenging. Was the sheep killed by a predator or did it die off something else and was scavenged. You need to become an amateur  CSI detective and look for clues to deter weather  it was predation or scavenging. The key clue is the blood on the carcass and the kill site. Bleeding can only occur before or shortly after death. Hemorrhaging and subsequent bruising will not appear on a sheep that has been scavenged. In extra woolly sheep you may need to shave the neck to check for tooth punctures and bruises. In relation ...

Sheep are part of the ruminate classification of animals. Like cows they have 4 chambers in their stomach. Sheep are mostly grazers. At birth the lambs rumen and reticulum are  not yet functional. They start to nibble on dry feed which stimulates the development of the rumen and reticulum. This is why the lamb needs to eat creep feed. At around 2 weeks old the lamb can be introduced to the creep feed. Creep feed is highly digestible for the lamb, it is feed that has been ground, cracked, rolled, pelleted for the lamb. Lambs cannot digest whole grain this is why they need creep feed. At around 60 days old their rumen and reticulum are fully functional. The lambs that are fed creep will have quicker rumen development than the lambs that are only feeding on forage. Sheep are natural grazers, they eat grass, forbs, clover  hay, silage and weeds. When you are introducing grain to sheep and lambs you must do it slowly. They will produce too much lactic ac...

     Some breads of sheep have horns. There are breads where just the rams have horns and others where the ram and ewe have them. The sheep's horns will grow throughout their life with most growth during the first three years of their life. The horn has blood flowing through it and will bleed alot if cut. The sheep's horns curl and spiral. Partial horns are called scurs. Many are of the opinon that the horns give more beauty to the sheep.  You must be extra careful when dealing with horned sheep. A puck from a horned sheep can do more damage than a polled headed sheep. Don't bend over when feeding or maintaining the horned sheep, even the quiet sheep are capable of an unpredicted attack. There must be care and maintenance done with the horns of the sheep. The horned sheep can get themselves into trouble by getting their horns stuck in fences, feeders and trees. This can be distressing for the sheep if caught too long. It can put their lives at risk from...

Docking is the shortening of the lambs tail. A high percentage of farmers dock their lambs tails. The sheep's tail protects its udder and vulva from weather extremes. Some buyers do not like a docked lamb they prefer undocked especially some ethnic buyers. Not all breads of sheep need to be docked, some breads have short tails such as the Icelandic and Shetland. The docking of the lambs tail prevents fecal matter gathering on them.Docking the tail reduces the occurrence of wool maggots. A lambs tail should be docked before they are 6 weeks of age. You should not dock a wet lamb or in wet conditions to prevent infections. The most popular and known as safest way to dock a lamb is to use RUBBER RINGS known as Banding The lamb will experience some pain for 10 to 20 minutes It is the best method for lay people You use rubber rings and an elastrator tool to apply the rings Be hygenic and do the procedure in a clean area to prevent infection The tail is pulled thro...

You can estimate the age of a sheep by looking at its teeth. The lamb is usually born with no teeth.At one week the baby teeth will erupt. They will be on the front lower jaw. At 2 months the lamb will have 8 baby teeth. These baby teeth will be replaced by permanent incisors. When the lamb is one years old to 19 months old it will have 2 central incisors and 6 baby teeth. From 18 months to 24 months it will have 2 central incisors, 2 middle incisors and 4 baby teeth. From 24 to 36 months it will have 2central incisors, 2 middle incisors, 2 lateral incisors and 2 baby teeth. At 28 to 48 months the lamb will have 2 central incisors, 2 middle, incisors, 2 lateral incisors and 2 corner incisors. All the baby teeth have been replaced at this stage. When a sheep is 5 years their teeth will begin to move apart, break and fall out. At 6 to 8 years old there will be wide spacing between their teeth. A sheep has no top teeth just a dental pad. Old sheep with aged teeth will n...

A healthy lamb that has a good bond with a ewe who has adequate milk can be put out to pasture at one to two weeks. If you have a smaller paddock close to your home with nowhere for predators to hide in it would be ideal for a newborn and ewe. Foxes like to stalk their pray behind coverage like tall grasses, rocks,  bushes and trees. If you want to put the lambs  with the ewe out  into pasture ensure that the field is small flat and closely cropped. Dont put too many new lambs and ewes into the same field as the lambs and ewes can get confused and loose each other. You should number the ewes and lambs with each other. As the lambs get older they can be put into larger groups of ewes and lambs. Try not to pasture the new lambs near streams or rivers as there is a high chance of losing lambs to drowning. Ensure that there is some form of shelter in the field as with bad weather conditions there could be lambs lost to chilling and hypothermia.   ...

One of the first things you must consider when managing a sheep farm is when to have your lambing season. You must decide weather to have early lambing or late lambing. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.You need to consider the interaction between lambing and your other farming activities. Your labour resources, the food markets, your farm buildings, your farm budget, feed prices, state of the world economy and many other factors should effect your decision. In the past decade there has been and increase in late lambing. Early Lambing Early lambing occurs in winter and the start of spring. Early lambing fits in better with the full time farmers schedule. With early lambing there is more time to do the spring schedule of land planting, calving, setting the seeds for the summer harvesting.With early lambing you have money in the bank by the time the summer months arrive. Lambs born in winter are usually sold for a higher price than those born in the spring...

In the hours before the ewe gives birth there are some noticeable signs that she is in labour. The ewe will be uneasy and show signs of sickness. No two ewes show the exact signs but there are many common traits. Its vital that you are aware of the signs so that if there is need for intervention you are on site. Check your ewes every four hours so that if a ewe is having difficulty she is not left to struggle too long on her own. Some ewes can be quite dramatic in the hours up to the birth and some can be quiet relaxed. I have seen a ewe that every year would clear the rest of the ewes out of the shed while she was in the process of lambing.   Signs of Lambing   The ewes udder will be bagged out a few days or a week before she is about to give birth. It becomes bigger and harder the closer to birth. The teats will stand out about a day before lambing. The belly sinks also around the day before birth. The vulva will get pinker and more swelled. ...

  Lamb pneumonia is an infections disease that is caused primarily by the bacteria pasteurella hemolytica. Detecting the signs of pneumonia on time is critical for the chance of survival of a lamb with pneumonia. The most common cause of death in young lambs is lamb pneumonia. You will usually notice the symptom's of pneumonia during the advanced stages of the disease. Your lamb is more at risk of getting pneumonia if he/she is housed in a damp drafty enclosure. Contaminated milk and feed  also puts the lamb at risk. Inadequate colostrum intake at birth and exposure to extreme cold and rain is a precursor for this disease.     .     Pasteurella hemolytica is a bacteria that is found in the respiratory and digestive tract in alot of lambs. Most newborn lambs are exposed to this bacteria but do not develop the disease that can be caused by pasteurell hemolytica as they have a natural resistance. Their resistance to ...