SHEEP - Care and Management

 

Pregnant, Parturient and Lactating Ewes

Careful management of the pregnant, parturient and lactating ewes will have a marked influence on the percentage of lambs dropped and reared successfully. So, the following steps may be taken to afford proper attention to these animals.

• Do not handle the pregnant ewes too frequently.
• Separate the advanced pregnant ewes from the main flock and take effective care in their feeding and management.
• Extra feed during the later part of pregnancy (3-4 weeks before parturition) will be beneficial for the condition of the pre-parturient ewes which will help in improving milk production of ewes, birth weight and growth of lambs.
• Inadequate and poor nutrition may result in pregnancy, toxaemia, abortions and premature births of weak lambs.
• Bring lambing ewes into lambing corals 4-6 days before parturition and provide maximum comfort. If possible, provide soft, clean bedding and individual lambing pens.
• Watch gestation length, which ranges from 142 to over 150 days. Early maturing breeds have slightly shorter gestation period.
• Save parturient ewes from cold and chilly weather.

Care at Lambing / Parturition
An ewe about to lamb prefers to leave the flock. Ewe is often restless, the udder is often distended and external genital are in a flushed and flaccid condition. Generally in a healthy ewe parturition is normal. Still the following precautions may be taken during and after parturition

Care of Lambs
The lamb should be taken care of the maximum extent during early period of life. This will also ensure better survival. The following steps may be taken for ensuring better growth and survival.

• Ensure proper suckling of lambs. Examine udders for blindness of teats or mastitis.
• Take care of indifferent mothers and arrange suckling of lambs by restraining such type of ewes.
• Provide creep feed (good quality hay with or without concentrate mixture) to suckling lambs in addition to suckling of milk from tenth day to weaning age.
• If possible, make available green leguminous fodder or fresh tree leaves to lambs to nibble during suckling period.
• Lambs may be ear-tagged or tattooed on the ear for identification (tattooing forceps and ear-tagging forceps should also be cleaned and sterilized at the time of use). Tail docking and castration may also be done in first week or so by placing elastrator (strong rubber band) at the intervertebral space and not on the vertebra.
• Alternatively use sterilized and clean knife for castration and docking and resort to proper ligation and antiseptic dressing at the roof of scrotum with testicles before it.
• During castration keep the lambs on perfectly dry, clean and hygienic site so as to minimize the risks of losses from tetanus.

Weaning and Care of Weaners
The management of weaners plays an important part in good sheep husbandry. The following steps are important in proper care and management of weaners.

• Weaning should preferably be done at 90 days, although in breeds with low milk production or where re-breeding is desired it can be done around 60 days.
• Supplementary feeding and good clean pastures for growing weaners should be provided.
• Weaned lambs should be drenched against gastro-intestinal parasites by first month; and vaccinated against enterotoxaemia and sheep-pox.
• Weaners should not be grazed on poor burry and thorny types of pasture since it could cause skin irritation, injury to the eyes and damage to wool.
• They should be protected against vagaries of climates and predation.

(Source : www.vuatkerala.org )

CALENDER OF SHEEP MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
A monthly schedule for various sheep farm operations with twice a year lambing or shearing pattern under semi-arid conditions on an organized farm is given below.

January : Stock verification, ear-tagging or tattooing, protection against cold and chilly weather, care, management and supplementary feeding of advance pregnant ewes, preparation of lambing pens and their disinfection, care at lambing, care and management of lambs weighing of lambs and dams at lambing, docking and identification of newborn lambs and supplementary feeding of breeding rams for spring mating.  Clostridial multi-component vaccination against struck and other clostridial infections to the pregnant ewes.

February : Lambing continues and so care and management of ewes and lambs at lambing also continues; care, management and supplementary feeding of lactating ewes; creep feeding, ear-tagging, tail docking and growth rcording of lambs; flushing of breeding ewes for spring mating; breeding operation starts in later part of February, heat detection, natural breeding or artificial insemination; vaccination against sheep-pox.

March : Lambing continues, and care and management of ewes and lambs at lambing also continues; care, management and supplementary feeding of lactating ewes continues; creep feeding, ear-tagging and tail docking and growth recording of lambs continues; washing of sheep, wool sampling, shearing, recording of wool weights and dipping, vaccination against sheep-pox continues.

April: Wool sampling, shearing and dipping continues, creep feeding, growth recording and weaning of lambs, culling of old, infertile and weak animals, deworming with Nilworm and Sulmet, vaccination against Johne’s disease and foot-and-mouth disease.

May: Weaning and supplementary feeding of lambs with hay and concentration; drenching of weaners; change in grazing schedule to allow grazing during cooler hours and resting the flock under tree shade during mid-day; tree lopping; vaccination against john’s disease and foot-and mouth-disease continues; proper shelter and sufficient drinking water.

June : Care, management and supplementary feeding of advance pregnant ewes, supplementary feeding of all sheep on tree loppings, proper shelter and plenty of drinking water, culling of undesired ram lambs, preparation of lambing pens and their disinfection, vaccination against tetanus, enterortoxaemia and heamorrahagic septicaemia.

July : Washing of sheep, shearing, recording of wool weights, wool sampling, dipping and drenching against gastrointestinal parasites, vaccination against heamorrahagic septicaemia; continued care and management of advance pregnant ewes; autumn lambing starts, care at lambing and of the newborn lambs; antiseptic foot baths; grazing schedule changed to 8.00 AM to 5.00 PM; lamb identification and tails docking, flushing of ewes for autumn mating, care and management of lactating ewes, drenching against gastrointestinal parasites.

August : Lambing continues; care and management of advance pregnant and lactating ewes, and newborn lambs also continues; flushing of ewes for autumn mating continues; supplementary feeding of breeding rams; select drenching.

September : Selection of breeding rams ; autumn breeding starts; creep feeding and management of lambs; growth recording; drenching against gastrointestinal parasites.

October : Autumn breeding continues; creep feeding of lambs and supplementary feeding; care of weaners; growth recording; culling of low-weight, deformed and off-colour lambs; vaccination against enterotoxaemia and Johne’s disease, and drenching against gastro intestinal parasites continues.

November : Winter grazing; deworming continues depending upon worm load, vaccination against Johne’s disease of not done during October; penning during night.

December : Protection against cold and chilly weather, cheking of records, disposal of suplus lambs, supplementary feeding of advance pregnant ewes.

Breeds of Sheep

 

India can be divided on the basis of the agro-ecological conditions and type of sheep into 4 regions viz.  I. North-Western, Central arid and semi-arid region II.   Southern region, III.  Eastern region and IV. Northern temperate region. There are about 44 descript breeds of sheep available in India.

I. North-western, central arid and semi-arid region

Hissardale

Hissar and hilly regions of Kulu in Haryana. It was evolved by crossing Bikaneri with Merino rams. Average body weight of rams and ewes are 54 and 34 kg respectively most animals are polled. Colour is predominantly white, although some brown patches may be observed. Wool is of superior quality yield 2-3 kg per annum.

II. Southern region

      Important breeds in this region are

Nellore:  Nellore, Prakasam and Ongole districts of Andhra Pradesh tall animals with little hair except at brisket, withers and breech. Rams are horned ewes are polled. Long and drooping ears; 86% of animals have wattles male: 36 kg female: 28 kg

Mandya: Mandya district of Karnataka. Relatively small animals colour white - sometimes face is light brown, which may extend up to neck. Compact body with typical “U" shaped conformation from the rear. Ears long, leafy and drooping. Both sexes polled. Coat extremely coarse and hairy adult male: 35 kg, female: 23 kg.

(Source: Dr. Acharya, Handbook of Animal Husbandry)

Selection of sheep for breeding    

• It is necessary to select suitable improved breed of sheep available in particular area.
• Crossbred sheep are available for purchase from state Government / Government of India sheep breeding farms.
• Ewes can be purchased in regular sheep markets or from breeders in villages, while male sheep (rams) of exotic / crossbred from Government farms.
• It is desirable to purchase healthy animals of 12-18 months of age.
• A certificate regarding age and health of sheep should be obtained from the veterinary assistant surgeon.
• The animals purchased have to be identified by fixing ear tags.
• Sheep should be vaccinated for important diseases like sheep-fox and enterotoxaemia.
• An entrepreneur should have a unit of 20-30 ewes and one ram.

Best mutton type in Tamil Nadu

1. Mecheri: Salem, Namakkal and Coimbatore districts of Tamil Nadu. Medium sized light brown in colour. Both sexes are polled. Body covered by very short hairs. Adult male: 35 kg, female: 22 kg
2. Kilakarsal or Kilakarisal: Ramnad, Madurai and Tanjore districts of Tamil Nadu Brown/ dark tan in colour with black spots on head belly and legs. Medium sized ears. Males have thick twisted horns. Most animals have wattle.
3. Vembur: Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. Tall animals, coat colour is dark tan with black spots on head, belly and legs. Medium sized drooping ears. Males horned. Ewes polled. Body covered with short hairs. Adult male: 34 kg, female: 27 kg.
4. Coimbatore: Coimbatore and Salem districts of Tamil Nadu. Medium sized animals white with black or brown spots. 30% of males polled. Fleece white hairy and open. Adult male: 24 kg, female: 20 kg
5. Ramnad White: Ramnad and Sivagangai districts of Tamil Nadu. Medium sized predominantly white. Ears medium sized and directed outward and downward. Males have twisted horns. Ewes polled short and thin tail. Adult male: 31 kg, female: 22 kg
6. Madras Red: Chennai and Kancheepuram districts of Tamil Nadu. Body colour predominantly brown, the intensity varying from light tan to dark brown. Some animals may have white markings on forehead, inside the thigh and lower abdomen. Medium sized drooping ears.   Tail short and thin.   Rams have strong, corrugated and twisted horns. Ewes polled. Body covered with short hairs. Adult male: 35 kg, female: 23 kg
7. Trichy black: Trichy, Thiruvannamalai, Dharmapuri districts of Tamil Nadu. Small animals. Body is completely black. Males horned, ewes polled fleece extremely coarse, hairy and open. Ears and tail small. Adult male: 25 kg, female: 18 kg

Kilakarsal			Madras red
Mecheri			Ramnad White
Trichy Black			Vembur
Coimbatore			Nellore
Mandya

III. Eastern region

This region consist Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, Nagaland and Sikkim. Most of the wool produced in this region is suitable only for coarse carpets, blankets and kumblies.  The important breeds are Shahabadi, Chhottanagpuri, Ganjam, Balangir, Bonpala and Tibetan.

IV. Northern temperate region

It comprises of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and hilly regions of Uttar Pradesh. This region has 8% of the total sheep population. The largest population of crossbred sheep primarily developed for apparel wool is in this region. The important breeds are Rampur Bushair, Gaddi, Gurez, Karnah, Poonchi and Changthangi.

Exotic breeds of sheep

A. Fine wool breeds
1. Merino: Native of Spain - origin for most of the wool breeds in the world. Colour-white. Fleece yield male: 4-5 kg and ewes 3-4 kg/annum. Merinos have large number of skin folds.		2. Rambouillet: Developed from Merinos in France. They are large, rugged, fast growing sheep and are good wool producers. Skin is pink. Ewes are good mothers, and prolific. Average wool yield is 4 5 to 5.5 kg.
B. Mutton breeds
1. Native of U.K. large animals with black face, ears and legs. Head and ears are entirely free from wool. Average wool yield 2-3 kg. Mature rams weigh 100-135 kg and ewes from 70-100 kg.		2. Dorset: Native of U.K two types polled and horned Dorsets. Face, ears and legs white in colour and free from wool. Wool yield is 2.75 to 3.25
C. Dual purpose breeds
Corriedale: Native of New Zealand.   The parent breeds involved in developing Corriedale are Lincoln, Leicester and Merino. Adult rams: 80 to 100 kg Ewes: 55 to 85 kg. Annual wool production: 4.5 to 5.5 kg. Both sexes are polled. Colour: White may have black spots.