# Keep/Cull Dairy Guidelines- opinions/suggestions



## BoulderOaks (Sep 24, 2014)

Ok, so basically at the sheep dairy I work for, they have never sorted the ewes. It's a relatively new project for them that started in 2008, and they've always just grown crops before. So they were kind of learning as they went.

But in the past, they only just pulled out the biggest ram and ewe lambs when they had a meat customer and then kept whatever ewe lambs were still left come breeding season. Then in 2013 and 2014, they kept ALL the ewe lambs.

Needless to say, this has resulted in a LOT of ewes that are just not profitable and only milk a few squirts off each side.

I started working here November of last year, so this spring, I did get him to send off all the ewes with mastitis, and about 20 of the worst milkers. I was doing full time at college though so it was all too overwhelming to get accurate and regular milk records , so I wasn't able to do much sorting other than that. Now that I'm settled in and know the routine, I'm working on some guidelines for future sorting. I'd like some input and critique on my current list though, and suggestions of anything I forgot.

Also, there's only me and one other worker at the moment, and he does more of the maintenance/creamery side of it. I'm completely in charge of the sheep management, lambing, and milking, so I want to get these girls sorted so this can become MUCH more profitable and economical than it currently is.

First off, my guidelines for all ages, both sexes:
-No chronic abscesses
-No chronic bottle jaw/problems with worms(pretty hardy sheep so far. This was the first year they even had to use any chemical dewormers since they've begun)

Mature Rams:
(Fewer guidelines for them since we already have them and I don't really have histories on the 2013 and older rams. I plan to phase them out over the next few years and replace with younger stock whose production history I know)
-Normally sized and shaped tears. No extra teats allowed.
-No moderate to severe conformation or jaw defects
-No rectal prolapses
-At least average sized, healthy testicles. No lumps. Healthy sheath/penis
-Must exhibit strong sex drive

Ram Lambs:
-Normally sized and shaped teats. No extra teats allowed.
-No moderate to severe jaw defects.
-No rectal prolapses
-Favor larger, more developed testicles compared to same-age lambs. Healthy sheath/penis
-Favor ram lambs with higher Adjusted Weaning Weights. 
-Do Not Keep ram lambs from first fresheners.
-Must be a twin or triplet.
-Only consider rams from top 5% of mature ewes

Now Mature Ewes:
-Minimum milk production of 1 liter/day(average should be 2 liters)
-No mastitis or lumps in the udder
-Manageably sized and shaped teats. Fault extra tearsteats
-No extreme conformation or jaw defects
-Must have lambed every year since first Lambing
-Must have weaned at least 1 lamb/year by age 4.
-No rectal or uterine/vaginal prolapses
-Must not reject lambs 2 years in a row
-Favor ewes that conceive within 30 days of ram exposure
-Favor ewes with clean udders(wool-free)

First Fresheners:
-Minimum volume of 0.75 liters a day
-No mastitis or lumps in the udder
-Manageable sized and shaped teats. Fault extra teats
-No extreme conformation or jaw defects
-No rectal or uterine prolapses. Minor vaginal prolapses excused first year of there is no reoccurence.
-Must be no older than 2 years of age. Favor FF yearlings over dry yearlings(meaning that ewes who lamb as 1 year olds are preferable to those who lamb as 2 year olds if there is a close cut decision)
-Favor ewes with strong maternal instincts. Lamb rejection allowed first year.
-Favor ewes that conceive within 30 days of ram exposure.
-Favor ewes with clean udders(wool-free)

Ewe Lambs:
-Normally sized and shaped teats. Fault extra teats
-No extreme conformation or jaw defects
-No rectal prolapses
-Favor ewes whose dams consistently produce twins and triplets
-Favor ewes with higher Adjusted Weaning Weights
-Favor ewes that reach a minimum of 80 lbs by breeding season. Strongly favor those that reach 100 lbs by breeding season
-Also consider body capacity, dairyness, and udder/production of dam.
-Do Not Keep ewes from first fresheners, unless exceptional
-Strongly favor ewes from dams that produce an average of 2 liters a day and remain in lactation the full 180 days.

Most of these are a given, but I just want them written down anyway. But a lot can't be done immediately, and it's going to take several years of slowly culling and keeping better replacements for these guidelines to actually fit the current sheep. These are also starting guidelines, that I plan to improve over time. For example, if I cull every below average milk producer, we'd have almost no sheep lol! So for now I'm starting at 1 liter for mature ewes, and eventually the minimum will be moved to the breed average of 2 liters.

We have the ewes raise their lambs for 30 days, then wean the lambs and move the ewes to the milking parlor, where they're milked another 5 months. Sheep lactations only last about 180 days before going dry.

So this coming spring, I plan to record milk volume for each ewe at 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 120 days, 150 days, and 180 days. Or at the very least every other month. Then I plan to rank each ewe based on milk volume, and adjusted slightly based on udder and teat morphology. And seperate rankings for mature ewes vs first fresheners.

To start, I want to cull the bottom 25% of ewes, which should be about 75 ewes total. Then I'll pick out 85-100 ewe lambs from top ranking ewes and moving down the list, sorting based on my parameters. Those will be further sorted come breeding season and their first Lambing until in the end about 75 or so are kept, to keep the numbers about the same. Then repeat the same process every year till we get some real improvement. Then we'll really be in business! Structurally, the only thing important is feet/legs, and as long as they can get around without too much trouble, it's no big deal in the ewes. I'm putting far stricter requirements on the rams' soundness though.

But basically that's what I've come up with so far. Any suggestions or problems you see? Or anything I didn't explain well enough?

I really really love this job and plan to work here at least another 5-8 years, so I need to make these sheep better while I'm here.  And I'm trying to do some hand drawings of my ideal dairy ewe side and rear view. I'll try and post a pic so I can get a critique on the drawing lol! I'm not a very good artist, but I basically just pulled out my favorite ewe conformationally and used her as a model for the body, just making some adjustments.


----------



## BoulderOaks (Sep 24, 2014)

Wow, that's a long post. Thanks to whoever can get through that whole thing and help me out


----------



## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

What breed are they? Are there any sheep registries that would have that information? Sounds like a good start.


----------



## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

I'm still stuck on the fact that there is a sheep dairy! Seriously... I didn't know! What do they produce - raw milk, cheeses, butter?

You have obviously put a ton of thought in to this! The only factor I didn't see included (and perhaps it isn't an issue in sheep) is good feet?


----------



## Goat_in_Himmel (Jun 24, 2013)

I don't know sheep, but to my eyes this is a conceptually good list, though I'm clueless about the figures. I'm wondering if I would keep any animals with poorly conforming jaws...wouldn't that affect their eating and ultimately their size and production? I also assume you'll be researching and supervising the purchase of new rams who come from excellent dams--good conformation and superior milk production.


----------



## BoulderOaks (Sep 24, 2014)

ksalvagno- The majority are the sheep where I work are East Friesian/Lacaune crosses, though we do have quite a few that are up to 50% Karakul. East Friesians are the "Holsteins" of the sheep breeds and are known for producing the most volume, though they of course don't quite stack up to goats. They average about 2 liters a day. Total tends to be over 1,000 lbs in a 220 day lactation, but their lambing percentage is 225% and yearlings are 200%. There are no purebred East Friesians in the U.S., only percentages. The Lacaunes don't produce as much volume as the East Friesians, but their milk has a higher butterfat percentage. Overall, dairy sheep milk is usually 19% solids(which makes it ideal for cheese. Much less sheep milk than goat or cow milk to make the same amount of cheese), 7% fat, and 6% protein. My little goat kids thrive on this stuff since its so much richer than goat milk. There's almost never a growth or size difference in sheep milk-fed kids vs. dam-raised kids. And of course we all know that people who can't tolerate cow milk can usually handle goat milk no problem. But especially lactose-intolerant people who can't do goat milk can almost always take sheep milk.

The Karakuls are mixed in to add some hardiness to offset the East Friesian's tendency to have weak immune systems and a higher prevalence for pneumonia. I prefer the Karakul blood to be no more than 25% though because the Karakuls don't generally make very much milk.

There aren't any purebred dairy sheep registries in the U.S., and only one research center at the Spooner institute. They're the ones who imported all of our U.S. East Friesian genetics from semen from 6 different rams in the 80's or 90's. Unfortunately, there is currently no way to import any more semen or embryos for the foreseeable future, so everyone's mostly just trying to improve what they have within their own flocks.

SalteyLove- I know, right!? I started working here in late 2013, and I was shocked at the idea too! I mean, I'd briefly heard sheep dairies mentioned when I took a college course in Sheep Production, but it was literally like 2 sentences in our book. It's a very new industry, but there's an insane demand for sheep milk products in the U.S. compared to the supply. We import far more of it than we produce. The dairy I work at turns the milk into a hard aged cheese which is sold off-farm for $26/lb. The stores retail it at $50/lb! The ewes are fed organic alfalfa/grass hay that we grow on the property, then their raw milk is made into cheese. (But I really really love the taste of the milk! It's sooooo creamy and sweet tasting!)

Goat_in_Himmel- yes, I spent a while trying to figure out all the things to put on this list! But I wasn't sure if I'd covered everything. We have one ewe with a parrot-mouth and a few with minor monkey-mouth. But for the ewes, when I say only cull severe jaw/structural issues, I mean the things that inhibit their ability to go out on pasture to graze, get to the feed bunk or water trough, or go through the milking parlor. So yeah, anything bad enough that it's going to affect their size and production. The bad mouth ewes are also some of our fattest, so they're either easy-keepers or its just not bad enough to do much damage. Generally, sheep as a species are pretty structurally sound, and even without any real sorting having gone on in the past with these sheep, there are only a few with really bad pasterns, and they still don't have any issue running out on pasture with the rest of the flock. All but one of the rams are very correct on their feet and legs and pretty wide-based, but there is one I plan to cull who is slightly calf-kneed, and you can see that imprint on some of last year's and this year's lambs. Yes again, I be the one picking out new rams, which I'll be doing very soon. We've been using the same ram and his offspring for several years now, so I'll be picking a new ram this coming summer to use for next fall.


----------



## BoulderOaks (Sep 24, 2014)

Here's the big boy :-D Flirting with a ewe in heat lol. This pic also shows his characteristic East Friesian "rat tail". It's a short, woolless tail.










The Black ewe here is 50% Karakul, and you can see her fatter and woolier tail. I docked all lambs born this year, but the older sheep before I started working here all have their tails. Not a huge problem with the East Friesians, but those Karakul crosses can get messy.


----------



## BoulderOaks (Sep 24, 2014)

One of the few GOOD ewes. (I'm holding her tail out of the way of the pic though lol). Sheep teats tend to more out to the side or set more forward than most goat teats, but I plan to cull out any ewes whose teats are so off-center that the machine is unable to get all the milk without manual assistance. We actually had one ewe who I already culled whose teats were halfway up the front of her udder...









And this picture just makes me laugh.  My Toggenburg jumped the fence and got in with the ewes. No one noticed until she came strolling into the milking parlor like a pro LOL


----------



## LibertyHomesteadFarm (Feb 1, 2014)

SundewFarms said:


> One of the few GOOD ewes. (I'm holding her tail out of the way of the pic though lol). Sheep teats tend to more out to the side or set more forward than most goat teats, but I plan to cull out any ewes whose teats are so off-center that the machine is unable to get all the milk without manual assistance. We actually had one ewe who I already culled whose teats were halfway up the front of her udder...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Love the pic of the Togg in there with the sheep!!! LOL!!!


----------



## Goat_in_Himmel (Jun 24, 2013)

The Togg knows where the grain is.


----------

