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The domestic sheep (Ovis aries) refers to selective grazing animals that may be domesticated (tamed) or wild. At one time all sheep were wild. Around 10,000 BC sheep were domesticated by humans. Most of the wool breeds of sheep were developed from Moulfan sheep . Most of the hair breeds are similar to the Urial sheep of ancient times. Prior to domesticating sheep, only the dog and reindeer were domesticated.

As the animals were raised under tamed conditions, they went through several changes. On the outside the sheep began to develop more wool and less hair. The color of the wool and hair changed from brown and shades of brown to whites and blacks. Their ears became more of a lop ear than an erect ear. The horns that the wild sheep possessed were weakened and disappeared from many breeds. On the inside the sheep changed as well. These internal changes happened at both ends. The tails had less vertebrates or bones than the sheep do now. Today's sheep also have a smaller brain than the sheep 12,000 years ago.

Sheep were tamed for several uses that still apply today. The sheep were first used for mutton, skins, milk and wool. Sheep are still used for these basic purposes plus many more. Sheep by-products are in many items that we use every day.

Sheep tend to flock together, have a high degree of independence at birth and are defenseless creatures. Sheep are defenseless for the most part against predators like dogs and wild animals. Their only means of survival is to flock together in large numbers and to run away from predators. For this reason, shepherds are able to use dogs to move sheep around. Sheep will consider the dog as a predator, flock together for protection and move away from the danger. Sheep have a flight zone, which is the space they like to keep between themselves and others. The flight distance depends on the situation and on the tameness or wildness of the sheep. Sheep don't like to walk in water or move through narrow openings. They prefer to move into the wind and uphill than down wind and downhill.

Sheep are also very selective in their grazing habits. Sheep have a split in their upper lip, with which they are able to pick the preferred leaves off of the plant.

Sheep usually give birth once a year and have 1-3 lambs. They normally live to be about 8 years old, but can sometimes live to be as old as 20. Pregnancy lasts for 147 days. Lambs form strong bonds with their mothers. They can identify their mother by her bleat.

Sheep are ruminants. They have a four-chambered stomach, using the first chamber to store quickly ingested food (cud) which they then bring back into their mouths to chew again before fully digesting it. Sheep spend about a third of their life ruminating and need peace and quiet.

Sheep are very selective in their grazing habits.

A breed is a group of domestic animals with a uniform appearance, behavior, and other characteristics that distinguish it from other animals of the same species. It is developed as a result of intensive selection of desirable traits within a large population until the selection goal has been achieved, usually after the fourth generation.

A cross bred animal results from the mating of two pure breeds of the same species. Very often this cross has qualities which are better than either of the parents. This phenomenon is called heterosis or hybrid vigour and is widely used in livestock improvement. If more improvement is desired, then "grading-up" should be done. This is a process whereby the cross bred female is continually crossed with the desired male until a synthetic breed is realized.

Sheep fall into four categories: mutton, wool, dairy and dual (multi) purpose: e.g. Mutton and wool, or mutton and milk. However, a majority of the current commercial breeds have been developed with specialization to one primary product in mind e.g. milk or mutton.

The major hair sheep breeds include: Dorper; Nyanza Fat-tail; Persian Black Head; Red Masai and crosses of these four with local stock. The hair sheep are mainly reared in the arid and semi arid areas.

The major wool and dual purpose sheep breeds include: Merino; Corriedale; Hampshire Down; Romney Marsh and crosses of these breeds with local stock. The wool sheep are reared mainly in the cool high rainfall areas.

When selecting animals, it is important to think about the environment that they are to live in. Many pure bred animals come from Europe, where the climate is cool and good quality fodder plenty. These sheep are not usually suited for hot dry areas with little available fodder.

Dorper ewes produce a large quantity of milk, are instinctively fond of their lambs and therefore care for, and rear, their offspring well. A well-grown Dorper lamb has carcass qualities with respect to conformation and fat distribution, which generally qualifies for a super grading. Dressing percentages can reach 54%. In South Africa, Dorper hides are sold as top quality leather under the name "Cape glovers" and represents 20% of the total carcass value.

The Dorper are not susceptible to fly strike and fleece rot. They have a high degree of disease resistance.

Dorper sheep are susceptible to gastro-intestinal nematodes (Haemonchus contortus) and have higher mortality from birth to yearling compared to Red Maasai and their crosses.

The scope for control of helminthosis using treatments among the resource poor farmers is limited. That is why the Red Maasai sheep are recommended to pastoralist and smallholder farmers whose flocks experience a problem of severe haemonchosis.

Sheep respond very well to good care and management, so the first step to improve profitability is to provide good feeding and control diseases and parasites. Only then can further improvements be made by implementing a good breeding program. Selection can be for wool quality, but more commonly in Kenya is selection for improved mutton (meat) production. For meat production select the heaviest and non related animals for your upgrading programme, and see if it is possible to interchange rams with non related herds in order to prevent inbreeding (effects of inbreeding listed under Cattle-Breeds and breeding. The best way to interchange rams is to get together with other sheep owners in a region, map out the quality of the herds and arrange a ram exchange program as described below.

Planned breeding programmes yield the best results when the breeder considers the individual production characteristics in sheep and how they can be passed on to offspring. The breeder must also be able to match these characteristics to consumer requirements.

Distinct objectives are essential to a breeding plan. The breeder must aim to improve productivity of mutton, milk, wool or skins or some combination of these. The definition of objectives concerning productivity from sheep is related to the characteristics of the product and the characteristics of the sheep. The latter include the following:

1. Reproduction rate - litter size per birth or per year

2. High efficiency of feed conversion - translating to rapid growth rate for lambs.

Both characteristics are assessed simultaneously as the weight of lamb weaned per unit of feed consumed by does.
Both quantity and quality must go together for efficient production. High growth rate and production of the maximum number of sheep for slaughter should be associated with an acceptable distribution of fat i.e., sufficient to improve the quality of the mutton but not so much as to have a low consumer preference.

Genes determine the way animals look - the observable trait. Thus the length of ear in sheep is the expression of the genes that regulate ear length. The breeder can only plan according to the trait observed. Repeatability and heritability are two kinds of observation that the breeder can use.

Repeatability. This refers to the permanence of a type from one observation to the next. It is a measure of the extent to which superiority in any one character is maintained throughout the lifetime. Should sheep in a flock tend to rank in approximately the same order with regard to a certain character, year after year, in spite of environmental changes, the particular character is said to have high repeatability.

Heritability: This is concerned with the constancy with which the phenotype is passed from parent to offspring. It expresses the proportion of total variance which can be attributed to average effects of the genes. Alternatively, heritability is the degree of inheritance of the trait.

Selection. Individuals selected for breeding must have desirable characteristics which have good repeatability and heritability and will, therefore, be passed on to offspring. Selection aims to change the gene frequencies in order to improve the animal body types in the following generations.

Selection may be direct or indirect. The direct method selects sheep having the best expression of the trait to be improved. Indirect selection improves a trait by selecting sheep with a related trait. The effectiveness of indirect selection depends upon the correlation between two traits. This is of great importance since animal breeding usually involves more than one trait. An example of indirect selection is given by high growth rate, where selection for this trait is likely to improve early maturity and slaughter weight and also the efficiency of feed conversion.

There are only 3 ways of selecting individuals (but there can also be a combination of these)

These breeding methods were pioneered in New Zeeland and Australia , but successfully adopted in many countries. For such a scheme a number of flock(or herd) owners agree to cooperate by deciding on common breeding aims and pooling their animal resources. The key of such a scheme is to create a nucleus - or central flock from the best of the breeding females of each participating flock. Very good record keeping is necessary.

The nucleus flock in this case was set up from the best females from the participating flocks. Thereafter each year the poorest females (40 in this example) are culled from the nucleus flock and replaced by an equivalent number from the cooperating flocks, taking the best (8 females) from each. The best of the rams are used in the nucleus flock and the next best in the cooperating flocks.

One of the main benefits from cooperation among breeders is that the animal population directly involved in a selection programme is enlarged compared to what is available to the individual breeder. In order to know whether a ram used in one flock is genetically better than one of the rams in the other cooperating flocks, it is necessary to have some sort of link between the flocks. This can be done by identifying so called reference sires. These sires leave offspring in several or possibly all cooperating flocks, The offspring of the reference sires can then be compared with offspring of any other ram used in the same flock. This way the best rams in the whole of the group breeding scheme:

If a community wants to upgrade and improve the quality of their herds it is recommended to seek advice from professional breeders to set up breeding schemes that fit the objectives in hand.

Crossbreeding refers to the crossing or mating of two pure breeds, but the term is frequently extended to include the offspring of purebred sires and crossbred females. When two purebreds are used, characteristics of the first cross animal should show:

1. Outstanding individual merit

2. Intermediate expressions between the parent types and

3. Resemblance to one or other of the parent types.

Crossbreeding of sheep is widely practiced throughout EA, especially between indigenous red Maasai sheep and Dorper and Dorset Horn for improved performance.

It should be the objective of the breeder to produce offspring superior to both parents. This is achieved when the progeny resulting from crosses demonstrate extra or improved performance above the average of the parents (heterosis or hybrid vigor).

There is no doubt that crossbreeding is an important method of commercial sheep production. The vigour, thrift and general excellence of the first cross sheep are features that are especially apparent and which can be measured accurately in terms of increased returns. As sheep production becomes more intensive for both mutton and milk production, it is likely that cross breeding and exploitation of hybrid vigour will become more popular.

Local ewes and their female offspring are mated with rams of a more productive breed for example dorper rams. The resulting crosses are then mated with non-related animals with the same level of cross breeding (first generation 50%, second generation 25% or 75% depending on ram used). Positive traits of the local breed (disease, parasite and drought resistance) can be maintained this way. Maasai-Dorper crosses for example are most productive with 75% Red Maasai blood.

It is very important that all sheep keepers keep a breeding documentation for each animal. This is the only way to prevent inbreeding. Inbreeding degrades the health and performance of all animals and ruins the effect of upgrading. The following points are very useful in preventing inbreeding:

Artificial insemination (AI) is much more difficult in sheep than other livestock for several reasons. The ewe has a more complicated cervix and it is difficult to pass a standard insemination rod through her many cervical rings. Ewes show fewer visible signs of estrus, making heat detection more difficult. A teaser ram is often used to detect heat. However, good conception rates are possible when ewes are inseminated with fresh semen deep into the vagina. Good results can also be achieved if frozen semen is injected into the uterine horns via a surgical procedure called laparoscopy. Trans-cervical AI requires special equipment and is still being perfected for sheep. AI for sheep is not available in Kenya by end 2011.

A healthy, mature ram can probably mate 100 (or more) ewes during a breeding season, though a ratio of 1 mature ram to 30 to 50 ewes is more common to make sure lambing is not too spread out. Six to 7 month old ram lambs that have achieved approximately 50 percent of their mature size can be used for breeding. Ram lambs are usually put in with fewer ewes, 15 to 25. It's best not to mix young rams with mature rams. Some rams may show a preference for ewes of their own breed or kind.

Though it depends upon breed, nutrition, and management, ewes can become mothers by the time they reach their first year. This is okay if the ewe lamb has achieved approximately two-thirds of her mature size (weight) before being bred. Thus, for some producers, it is commonplace to breed well-grown ewe lambs when they are 7 to 9 months of age. Other producers wait until their ewes are 18 months old before breeding them to lamb as 2 year olds. Different breeds of sheep reach puberty (sexually maturity) at different ages.

A ewe is pregnant for 142 to 152 days, approximately five months or slighter shorter. Since ewes gestate for only five months, it is possible for them to lamb more often than once per year. While annual lambing is most common, lambing intervals of 8 months are realistic, especially in the tropics and with breeds that are less seasonal in their breeding habits.

During her last month of pregnancy, a ewe needs extra nutrition because her lambs are growing rapidly inside of her and her mammary (udder) tissue is developing. Approximately 70 percent of fetal growth occurs during the last month of pregnancy. The growth of the fetuses also reduces the ewe's rumen capacity, making her require a more-nutrient dense diet, especially if she is carrying multiple fetuses.

If a ewe doesn't get enough feed during late pregnancy, she may get sick because her unborn lambs are taking most of her nutrients. Thin and fat ewes and ewes carrying multiple fetuses are most prone to pregnancy toxemia (ketosis). Thus, it is common to feed some grain during late gestation. On the other hand, if a ewe eats too much during late pregnancy, she may have trouble delivering her lambs because they may get too big to fit through her pelvic cavity. Fat ewes are also more prone to having problems at lambing time.

A ewe's natural-acquired immunity to internal parasites (worms) is weakened around the time of lambing. Scientists call this phenomenon the "periparturient rise" in worm eggs. This periparturient egg rise often occurs at the same time hypobiotic (inactive) worm larvae are resuming their life cycles in the spring. Thus, it is a common practice to deworm ewes during their last month of pregnancy. A dewormer that is effective against inactive larvae should be used.

Due to the widespread emergence of drug-resistant worms, another strategy is to increase the protein content of the late-gestation ration, as the primary parasite that affects sheep is a blood sucking worm (barber pole) that causes blood and protein loss. Higher protein rations have been shown to reduce egg counts in periparturient ewes.

Ewes usually give birth to 1 to 3 lambs at each birthing event. Birthing is called lambing. The technical term for all species is parturition. Twin births is most common in well-managed flocks and with many breeds of sheep. First-time moms, especially yearlings, are more likely to have single births, though twins are not uncommon in some breeds. Ewes produce their largest litters of lambs when they are between the ages of 3 and 6.

The more lambs a ewe has the more feed she needs to produce milk for them. Oftentimes, extra lambs need to be cross-fostered onto other ewes or artificially reared. Proflic breeds are not recommended for novice shepherds or in situations where nutrition and management are limiting factors.

Because some sheep are raised in more difficult environments, sometimes it's more desirable for a ewe to have just one lamb. This is because there may not be enough food for the ewe to support the growth of two lambs. If the flock has to travel far for food and water, it's usually better to have one strong lamb than two or three smaller lambs that may struggle to keep up. Smaller, weaker lambs that lag behind the flock are more likely to be killed by predators.

The weight of newborn lambs varies by breed, sex of lamb, litter number, and ewe nutrition. The lambs from medium to small breeds are similar in size to human babies, usually between 5 and 12 pounds, with an average of 8 to 10 pounds. When birth weights get too large (relative to the size of the breed or cross), difficult births can be encountered. Medium-size babies (for the breed or cross) tend to have the highest survival rate.

After determining the breed and sex of the sheep the next useful step is to examine the teeth. Breakdown of the teeth is a very common reason for culling small stock under range management, as poor quality teeth will affect the ability to browse and feed well.

Lambs have 8 temporary teeth that erupt at approximately 2 months of age. They will be replaced by larger and wider permanent teeth between 12 months and 4 years of age. At this point they will have all their teeth. Sheep don't have top front teeth.

20 Temporary teeth

32 Permanent teeth at maturity

4 pairs of Incisor teeth on lower jaw

Upper incisors missing

Cartilaginous (hard) dental pad on upper jaw

Split upper lip with mobile lips

Feed is one of the most important inputs into all sheep production systems. Traditional systems are ecologically well-balanced, but often the food available to sheep is fibrous and deficient in energy and protein and minerals are in short supply. Nutrition plays a major role in the overall productivity, health, and well-being of the sheep flock. Because feed costs account for approximately two-thirds of the total cost of production, it is important that producers consider nutrition management a top priority. Nutrient requirements of sheep vary with differences in age, body weight, and stage of production. The five major categories of nutrients required by sheep are:

1) Water;
2) Energy;
3) Protein;
4) Vitamins; and
5) Minerals.

During the grazing season, sheep are able to meet their nutrient requirements from pasture and a salt and mineral supplement. Pastures of mixed grass and clover, alfalfa and small grain serve as excellent sources of nutrition for growing lambs. A source of clean, fresh water should be provided to sheep at all times.

Ewe body weight does not remain constant throughout the year, but changes with stage of production. Nutrient requirements are lowest for ewes during maintenance, increase gradually from early to late gestation, and are highest during lactation. Decisions affecting feeding management are improved significantly by knowing ewe body weight and condition score at three distinct stages of production:

1) three weeks before breeding;
2) Mid-gestation; and
3) Weaning.

Condition score is a subjective measure of body fat that is most easily determined by handling ewes down their back. It is the best method available to monitor nutritional status and overall well-being of the sheep flock. Condition scores range from 0 to 5, with 0 being extremely thin and 5 being very fat. Condition scores at either end of the scale are undesirable. Ideally, ewes should range from a condition score of 2.5 at weaning to a 3.5 at lambing. When necessary, thin ewes are separated and fed additional energy to increase body condition. Conversely, obese ewes are separated and fed a lower energy diet at a stage of production when body weight loss is acceptable. It should be noted that problems with over fat ewes are far fewer than those associated with ewes that are too thin.

Starting two weeks before breeding and continuing two weeks into the breeding period, ewes should be placed on high-quality pasture or supplemented daily with 0.5 to 1 Kg whole shelled maize or barley. This management practice is called flushing and has been shown to improve lambing percentage by 10 to 20 percent. Flushing works best with mature ewes that are in moderate body condition, and has been shown to be more effective for early- and out-of-season breeding than at the seasonal peak of ovulation. Most prenatal deaths occur within the first 25 days after breeding and are usually associated with poor nutrition. Therefore, it is important not to make dramatic reductions in nutrient supplies during the breeding season. Pastures with more than 50 percent legumes should be avoided during breeding because legumes may contain compounds that reduce conception rates. From breeding to six weeks before lambing, the ewe flock can be maintained on permanent pastures, small grain pastures, stockpiled fescue, aftermath crop fields, or hay. Fetal growth is minimal, and the total feed requirement of the ewe is not significantly different from a maintenance diet.

The developing fetus reach approximately two-thirds of its weight during the last six weeks of pregnancy. Rumen capacity may be limited with ewes carrying multiple fetuses. Therefore, it is important to supplement ewes with 0.5 to 1 Kg of maize in addition to their normal diet starting six weeks before lambing, to prevent pregnancy toxemia, low birth weights, weak lambs at birth, and low milk production. Producers should be careful not to over feed grain during late gestation, which could result in lambing difficulty caused by large lambs.

After lambing, the energy and protein requirements of the ewe increase by 30 and 55 percent, respectively. Failure to supplement ewes accordingly results in excessive body weight loss, low milk production and poor lamb gains. Protein supplementation is especially critical for ewe flocks with a high percentage of multiple births. Unless high quality legume hays are fed, protein supplementation will be necessary as a part of the grain portion of the diet. A general rule of thumb for concentrate feeding of lactating ewes is 0.5 Kg of grain for each ewe nursing the lamb. Ewes should be sorted into feeding groups based on type of rearing (single, twin, etc.) to make sure grain supplements are neither over- or underfed.

Urea is sometimes recommended to be mixed with ruminant feeds. However very careful measuring needs to take place as urea used badly can kill your animals very fast. Do not try ures unless there are goof facilities for weighing and mixing feeds properly.
Urea is not a protein supplement, but a source of non-protein nitrogen (NPN) for protein synthesis by rumen bacteria. It should be used only in conjunction with high-energy feeds such as maize. Urea, which is 45 percent nitrogen and has a crude protein equivalent of 281 percent, should not supply over one-third of the total nitrogen in a diet. To determine the grams of nitrogen in a diet, multiply the total kilos of crude protein in the diet by 16 percent. Other general rules for the use of urea are:

1) Should not be more than 1 percent of the diet or 3 percent of the concentrate mix; and

2) Should not be more than 5 percent of a supplement to be used with low grade roughages.

Salt and mineral supplementation is required on a free choice, year-round basis. Failure to supplement salt and minerals results in low fertility, weak lambs at birth, lowered milk production, impaired immunity, and numerous metabolic disorders. A variety of salt and mineral supplements specifically formulated for sheep are commercially available. These supplements range from trace mineralized salt (TMS) fortified with selenium to complete mineral mixes containing all of the macro and micro minerals required by sheep.

Pasture or high-quality hay provides the vitamins required by most classes of sheep. However, after a drought, or when low-quality hay or silage is fed, a supplement supplying vitamins A, D, and E may be needed.

The Dorper are not susceptible to fly strike and fleece rot. They have a high degree of disease resistance, and the red Maasai sheep have a high tolerance/resistance to intestimnal worms. Other than that several diseases in Kenya/East Africa affect sheep. To prevent the worst ones, please consult below vaccination chart and your local veterinarian. The local veterinary officers will know which dseases you should vaccinate for in your particular area.

Some of the most common disease and pest challenges are as follows:

It is recommended that ewes be vaccinated during late pregnancy for the colostridial diseases that most commonly affect sheep and lambs: clostridium perfringins type C & D (overeating disease) and tetanus. Clostridial diseases are caused by gram positive bacteria that are commonly present in the environment.

By vaccinating the pregnant ewe, the lambs will acquire passive immunity when they drink the colostrum, the first milk produced by the ewe after lambing. In fact, a pre-lambing vaccination is the only way to protect lambs against type C and provide protection for early docking and castration, though anti-toxins can be administered to provide immediate, short-term immunity.

It is important that everyone with sheep has a worm management plan. An effective plan is simple and will save a lot of money, effort and heartache. The essential elements of a worm management plan include:

It is strongly recommended that you routinely do a worm test before you drench your sheep