Breeds of Sheep and Goats Intro to Agriculture Mr. Graf

Background Information Sheep and Goats in Texas Majority of goats are raised under extensive conditions Number of goats in Texas is increasing at the rate of 9% each year 90% of the mohair produced in the United States is produced in Texas

Sheep and Goats in Texas There were over 1,050,000 head of sheep and lambs in Texas in Sheep and Goats are an excellent complement to beef cattle enterprises  Sheep and Cattle each use a different proportion of grass, forbes, and browse

Sheep Production Systems Majority are raised under extensive conditions Guard Dogs are common to protect against predators  Ex: Great Pyrenees

Southwestern Range Operations Utilize fine-wool Rambouillet ewe is used Producers strive to produce high quality fine-wool fleeces, fast growing lambs, and high lamb crop percentages Very little supplemental feed is offered

Southwestern Range Operations Factors influencing profitability  Amount of rainfall  Predators  Price of lamb and wool

Northwestern Range Operation Similar to Southwestern Operations Greater abundance of feed Larger, heavier shearing ewes are utilized

Intensive Management Systems Farm Flock Operators  Common in Midwest  Operation is smaller in size  Primarily concerned with lamb production

Intensive Management Systems Lamb Feedlot Industry  Lambs are concentrated in a small area and fed diets that vary from 30-90% concentrate (corn or milo)  Colorado is the leading lamb feeding state, followed by Texas

Goat Production Systems Hair Production  Angora goat is primary fiber producing goat in the world  Mohair – long lustrous fiber noted for durability and brilliant color when dyed

Meat Production There is no grading system for meat goats  Greater inconsistency in palatability of the product  Generally marketed at local market auctions in goat producing areas

Wool Properties of Wool  Water resistant  Good insulation  Elastic  Strong  Felting properties – ability of fibers to interlock

Global Production Ranking of major wool producing and exporting countries:  1. Australia  2. New Zealand  3. South Africa  4. United States

Sheep Breeds – Fine Wools Merino (Spain)  Most dominant breed in the worldwide sheep industry  Typically smaller than other wool breeds  Excellent flocking instinct  White faced breed with very fine fleece

Merino

Fine Wools Rambouillet (France)  Able to survive under poor conditions  Dominant range ewe in western U.S. and Texas  White – faced breed that is not extremely prolific under range conditions

Rambouillet

Crossbred Wool Breeds Columbia (United States)  Based on a crossbred foundation of Lincoln Rams on Rambouillet ewes  Ewes are relatively prolific and productive  Lambs are fast growing  White-faced, polled breed

Columbia

Medium Wool (Meat Breeds) Hampshire (England):  Face, ears, and legs of the Hampshire are dark brown to black  Have a wool cap on the head  One of the most popular sire breeds in commercial industry

Medium Wool Breeds (meat breeds) Dorset (England):  Horned and polled strains  Has ability to breed out of season  Mature early sexually and compositonally  White faced sheep

Medium Wool Breeds (meat breeds) Finnsheep (Finland)  Noted for incredible prolificacy ( 3+ lambs)  Great maternal instincts  Slow growing, light muscled

Medium Wool (meat breeds) Southdown (England)  Smallest of Medium wool breeds  Imported into U.S. in 1803  Light brown face and legs  Farm flock breed used to produce meaty light- weight carcasses

Medium Wool (meat breeds) Suffolk (England):  Used as sire breed in commercial production  Black head and legs  Free of wool on the head and legs  Lean muscular carcass  Produce very poor fleeces

Long Wool Breeds Lincoln (England)  Large, coarse, slow maturing, heavy fleeced  Heaviest breed in the world  Face, ears, and legs are covered with wool  White-faced and polled