Ovine Health Management

General Information

There are four main types of sheep production farms:

Purebred breeder stock production
Raising registered rams and ewes to sell to commercial farmers.

Crossbred ewe breeder stock production
Raising ewes that are a cross of two different breeds. Hybrid vigora theoretically results in the ewes expressing the best traits of each breed; for example, fertility, longevity, mothering abilit and disease resistance.

Commercial lamb production
Raising lambs to be sold at market for meat. Usually the offspring of a crossbred ewe and a purebred ram.

Feedlot lamb production
Purchasing weanling lambs and finishing them to market weight (110 lbs).

Comparisons verses Caprine

Sheep have wool, goats have hair; exception is the Barbados sheep which have hair.
Most sheep are polled, most goats have horns. Sheep are more sensitive to copper poisoning.
Cattle or goat mineral supplements may possibly kill a sheep.
Sheep are more likely to overeat than goats
Sheep are grazers, they make good weed-eaters. Goats are browsers, they nibble everything
Sheep seem to be more susceptible to internal parasites and less susceptible to external parasites than goats

For more information, the internet has several interesting sheep-related sites. A good place to start is www.sheepusa.org, the American Sheep Industry association, Inc.

sheep-doc@mymobilevet.com