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Sheep Production and Management COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND HOME ECONOMICS BRINGING SCIENCE TO YOUR Cooperative Extension Service • Circular 604 LIFE Sheep Production and Management Revised by Clay P. Mathis and Tim Ross1 Many New Mexico livestock producers could • Sheep consume roughage as their profit by including sheep in their farm primary feed. enterprises. Sheep are among the most • Sheep help control weeds. efficient of all the domestic animals and have • Sheep provide two sources of cash income: been for thousands of years. Different from lamb and wool. cattle and swine, sheep are adapted to the • Sheep require a minimum amount of most extreme environmental conditions. supplemental feeding. Sheep are very agile and graze easily in the • Sheep can provide a quick return on most rugged of mountain terrain, where investment. cattle choose not to feed. Furthermore, some sheep breeds are well suited to survive on Disadvantages of Producing Sheep sparse desert range that would not be used • A sheep enterprise must be well managed. otherwise. Thus, sheep have the ability to • Sheep are subject to predation by coyotes, convert the natural forage of these extreme eagles, bobcats, lions, bears, domestic habitats into protein for human uses. We use dogs, etc. the proteins produced by sheep in the form • Sheep require better fencing than do cattle. of wool and lamb. • Internal parasites can create health prob- Sheep can use practically all types of lems when sheep are intensively grazed on forage, including crop residue and even ditch irrigated pastures. banks. An abundance of forage is one key to profitable sheep production. The successful CHOICE OF BREED producer also must have a genuine interest in The most appropriate sheep breed depends business, management skills, and labor to upon environmental conditions, the care for the sheep. producer’s desired management intensity, and Some Advantages of Producing Sheep personal preference. For accelerated sheep • Sheep are easy to handle and generally production, it might be necessary to use three require little input. or more breeds to develop a ewe flock that • Sheep production does not require exhibits acceptable levels of desirable traits. elaborate facilities and equipment. Accelerated flocks must be able to lamb out 1Extension Livestock Specialist, Department of Extension Animal Resources; Professor, Department of Animal and Range Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico. Cooperative Extension Service • Circular 604 1 Fine-wool ewes culled from the range because of age usually are productive for another two or three years under farm flock conditions. of season, produce large lamb crops, reach restricted in their breeding season than fine- sexual maturity at an early age, and grow wool sheep. These breeds are commonly rapidly. crossed with commercial white-faced ewes to If producers want to overwinter ewes for produce market lambs. spring lamb production, then local breeds Wool from these breeds lacks the such as range-raised, finewool ewes are an fineness and often the length of staple found excellent choice. Breeds of sheep are in fleeces from the fine- and medium-wool generally classified according to the breed breeds. Quite often, wool from these breeds assets. is discounted on the market because of poor purity (they contain black fibers). Fine-Wool Breeds The fine-wool breeds are chiefly Rambouillet Other Breeds and Debouillet. The fine-wool breeds can One breed with potential for use in withstand heat, cold, and drought, and accelerated sheepproduction management produce satisfactorily under harsh conditions, systems is the Finnish Landrace. The greatest They produce a more desirable, finer grading and perhaps only contribution of this breed fleece that is more uniform than fleeces from is its reproductive capability and early other breed types. Additionally, they are more maturity. Finnish Landrace are small, white- likely to breed out of season than are many faced sheep that produce little wool. other breeds. Additionally, the carcass quality of this breed is somewhat below standard. Finnish Medium-Wool Breeds Landrace are used in crossbreeding programs The medium-wool breeds are white-faced to increase lamb crop percentages and to crossbreeds that include the Columbia, initiate out-of-season lambing. Corriedale, and Targhee. These breeds are very The Polypay is sheep breed developed at productive when feed supply is ample. However, the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station in their breeding season is more restricted than that Dubois, Idaho. The breed was developed of fine-wool sheep, and their fleeces usually vary from Finnish Landrace, Dorset, Targhee, more in fineness of grade. and Rambouillet to optimize reproductive efficiency while maintaining growth and Meat-Type Breeds carcass quality. Suffolk, Hampshire, Dorset, Southdown, and Shropshire are some of the more common meat-type (or mutton) breeds, and they are SHEEP MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS best adapted to farm-flock production. Sheep can be produced under many Except for the Dorset, these are more production systems in New Mexico. Here are 2 Cooperative Extension Service • Circular 604 some things to consider when designing a in July and August. This usually results in a sheep production system: suboptimal lamb crop percentage because Available forage. Plan to make most ewes are more fertile during September maximum use of seasonal forage because and October. feed costs often amount to 50 to 60 percent A purebred sheep operation produces of the total cost of producing lamb and stud rams, commercial rams, and wool. Feed consumption is the greatest replacement ewes, usually for a price above during late gestation and lactation; their commercial value. Managing such an producers may be able to reduce feed costs operation requires a thorough understanding of by grazing ewes on pasture at these times. genetics, nutrition, reproduction, and health. Available labor. When sheep are added to other farming enterprises, it may be Commercial Sheep Production advisable, from a managerial standpoint, to Many management alternatives are available lamb when labor is not needed for other to the commercial sheep producer. One major activities. distinction among these alternative Lamb prices. Lamb prices normally production systems is the season in which fluctuate during the year, and it may be lambing occurs. more profitable to produce lambs for the Fall lamb production. For fall lambing, expected high market. Typically, that is an abundant supply of fall and winter forage, during the late spring and early summer. small-grain pasture, alfalfa stubble, or other Size of flock. Small flocks, from 10 to crop residue is necessary. 50 ewes, often are not profitable because For ewes to lamb in October and they tend to be poorly managed. The November, breed them in May and June. The primary reason is that mechanization is not ewe flock must be of those breeds that tend feasible, so return per hour of labor is not to breed out of season. The fine-wools, maximized. Small farm flocks generally are Dorset, and crossbred ewes that are at least used simply to control weeds on irrigation 50 percent fine-wool are best suited for fall ditches or maintained as a hobby. lamb production. Even so, the lamb crop percentage from Purebred Sheep Production May and June breeding is likely to be low. Purebred sheep supply genetics for the Ewes may need hormone therapy to induce development of commercial sheep estrus and ovulation (see section on production systems. In general, depending reproduction, page 11). Furthermore, farm on the breed and availability, it is more labor often is busy elsewhere during fall expensive to start a purebred sheep business lambing when the ewes need attention. than a commercial one. Purebred sheep are Occasionally, fall-born lambs are weak and often more expensive to produce, and more small because of heat stress during the expense is involved in advertising and summer gestation period. marketing. Ordinarily, purebred sheep are Winter lambing. One advantage of fed at a higher nutrition level than are winter lambing is that labor requirements of commercial flocks. A well-fed purebred flock other agricultural enterprises are generally is more productive and more attractive to low at this time, so more attention can be prospective buyers than are sheep maintained diverted toward the ewes. This program is on lower nutrition levels. best for the producer who has an abundance To grow to maximum size, ewe and ram of homegrown forages. Under this lambs must be born early. On most production system, slaughter lambs of market purebred sheep operations, breeding occurs weight and condition are ready to be sold Cooperative Extension Service • Circular 604 3 Confinement rearing of sheep is one method of intensifying lamb production. during May and June, when lamb prices are percent lamb crop can be expected. With normally high. ideal conditions, the lamb crop should be For winter lambing, breed the ewes in 150 to 160 percent. The ovulation rate in late July, August, and early September. Since sheep is normally at its peak in late this is somewhat earlier than normal, it may September through November. Temperatures be necessary to flush the ewes to increase at this time are typically not high enough to ovulation rate. After the ewes are bred, graze decrease ram fertility or to cause embryo them on good pasture that will satisfy their loss. Normally, spring temperatures are mild nutritional requirements until about four to and death loss associated with weather six weeks before lambing. Prior to lambing, conditions is minimal. But newborn lambs supplement the ewes with high-quality hay must be offered some protection from spring and possibly with grain to meet their winds. In this type of system, ewes are bred nutritional needs. Lambs born in the winter when ovulation rates should be high, so that should be creep-fed as soon as possible with flushing, teasing, or control of environmental grains and highquality legume hay.
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