1. Sheep and Goats

2. Sheep & Goat Overview
• Both originated in Europe and the cooler regions on Asia.
• Both are important ruminants in temperate and tropical agriculture.
• Provide fibers, milk, meat, and hides.
• Versatile and efficient, especially for
developing countries.
• Sheep – numbers have declined in the
U.S. (less than 0.2% of total farm revenue in U.S.)

3. Ovis aries: Sheep
• New Zealand, Australia, and Saudi Arabia - highest per capita consumption of lamb, and goat meat.
• U.S. consumes < 1 lb./person of lamb (boneless wt. basis).
• China, Australia, India, Iran and Sudan – leading sheep producing countries.
Suffolk

4. Grazing
Cattle, sheep, & goats are often grazed together because they utilize different plants
– Goats graze browse (tender
twigs & leaves from brush &
trees) and some forbs
(broad-leafed plants)
– Sheep graze short grasses
and some forbs
– Cattle graze tall grasses and
some forbs
Dorset

5. U. S. Sheep Industry • 56 mil. in 1942; ~ 6 mil. in 2004
• U. S. relies on imports to supply limited demand for lamb.
• Most U. S. sheep growers have small flocks (50 or fewer) and raise sheep as a secondary enterprise.
• About 23% of sheep born in western U.S. are lost before they are marketed (predators and weather are main problems).

6. Reasons for Decline in Sheep Industry
• Less demand for wool.
• Declining demand for lamb in consumer
diets.
• Increased difficulty in obtaining/keeping
reliable herders to manage flocks.
• Increased competition for public-owned
rangeland.
• Predators.

7. Attributes of Sheep (Ewe) Milk
Sheep milk is highly
nutritious, more than cow milk.
Sheep milk sells for a
significantly higher price per pound, almost four times the price of cow milk
Specialized dairy breeds produce 400 to 1,100 pounds of milk per lactation.
Ewes are milked once or twice per day.

8. Sheep Cheese
Most of the sheep milk produced in the world is made into cheese.
The U.S. annually imports
75 million pounds of cheese made from sheep
milk.
Fresh sheep milk is rarely consumed

9. Sheep Breeds • Meat Breeds or Medium wool
– Mainly used for meat production
– Are predominant in the U.S.
– Include Dorset, Suffolk, and
Hampshire
• Fine Wool Breeds
– Highest quality Merino from Spain and Rambouillet from France, predominant breed in Australia is the Merino
• Long wool
• Hair breeds

10. Sheep Reproduction • Breeding season occurs mainly in the fall.
• Estrous cycle: 16 to 17 days
• Gestation length = ~147 days (varies).
• Recommended breeding age: 1 yr.
• Multiple births are highly desirable (twinning).
• Weaned at ~ 3 to 4 months
• Other important economic traits include growth rate, wool production, and carcass merit (quality grade and yield grade).

11. Jaw Defects are Highly Heritable

12. *Sheep Management* • Enterotoxemia (Overeating Disease)
– Vaccine: Type D toxoid
Tetanus
• Scours (E. coli)
• Footrot – vaccine available, prevention
• Soremouth (lambs) – virus, vaccine
• Parasites
• Management. Practices:
– Tail docking, castration of males
• Elastrator: 3 -7 days old

13. Goats Capra hircus • Concentrated primarily in India, and
China (other contributing
countries include Pakistan,
Sudan, and Bangladesh).
• Texas ranks 2nd
in the U.S. for total
number of goats.

14. Goat milk • Goat milk is also used to feed many
other animals (most mammals
including wild animals) usually
they are bottle feed.
• Goats will fairly easily adopt
lambs and a goat will even jump
up on bale of hay to allow a foal
to nurse.

15. Importance of Goat Industry
• Most are found in developing countries
• Supply meat and milk
• Major by-product – skins
• Almost all of the dairy
goats in the U.S. are found
in small herds

16. Goat Reproduction Characteristics
• Gestation Length – 150 days
• Estrous cycle – 17 to 21 days
• Age at puberty – 120 days to over 1 yr.
• Breeding age ~ 9 months
• Breeding season – late summer, early fall, or winter
• Adult size:
– 130 lb avg. for Does
– 160 lb avg. for Bucks

17. Meat Goats • Origin: South Africa, Middle East, and Australia.
• Boer goat: superior growth rate and lean
meat yield.
• Ethnic consumer market has the highest
demand for goat meat

18. Goats • Meat Breeds: Boer Goat – White with brown head from
South Africa
• Milk breeds: Nubian,
Toggenburg, Saanen,
Oberhasli, Lamanche,
Alpine
– Heavy milk producers per
body size vs. cattle
production per body size
• Hair breeds for Mohair
(Angora) and Cashmere