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Raising sheep intensively
This document discusses intensive sheep production systems that involve confinement in buildings or dry lots with minimal grazing. Some key aspects covered include using confinement for various stages of production like gestation and lactation. Housing, feeding, breeding, nutrient management, animal welfare, and marketing are major considerations. Intensive systems allow for greater control but also have higher costs. While intensive production may have advantages like reducing parasites and predators, it also has disadvantages such as increased investment, feed costs, and labor needs. Producers must evaluate their goals, resources, and markets to determine if an intensive system makes economic sense for their operation.
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Raising sheep intensively
- 1. INTENSIVE SHEEP PRODUCTION CONFINEMENT DRY LOT ZERO GRAZING SUSAN SCHOENIAN Sheep & Goat Specialist University of Maryland Extension sschoen@umd.edu - sheep and goat.com
- 2. • There aremany different ways to raise, manage, feed, and market sheep. • NO ONE WAY IS BEST! • Each production system, management practice, and marketing method has various pros and cons. • Every producer needs to develop a system that matches his/her goals, resources, and markets that provides the greatest return on investment.
- 3. CHARACTERISTICS OF INTENSIVE SHEEPPRODUCTION • Use of buildings and/or dry lots to contain sheep and lambs. • Zero or minimal free grazing • Automated feeding • High level of reproduction, usually prolific breeds and accelerated lambing. • Year-round marketing of lambs.
- 4. WHY RAISE SHEEPINTENSIVELY? • Under or unused buildings • Economical feed source • Equipment for making and storing feed • Experience raising a high producing animal • Labor available • Strong market
- 5. INTENSIVE SHEEP PRODUCTION ADVANTAGES(PROS) • Greater control over production • No worm problems (coccidia still a risk) • No predators or cost of predator control (fences or guardians) • Minimal weather risk • Better nutrition: you control what animals eat • Greater potential returns Three P’s: predators, parasites, and profitability
- 6. INTENSIVE SHEEP PRODUCTION DISADVANTAGES(CONS) • Higher overhead • Greater investment • Usually higher feed costs • Animal welfare questions • Nutrient management issues • Increased labor requirements • Greater financial risk than traditional production systems
- 7. CONSIDERATIONS FOR INTENSIVESHEEP PRODUCTION • Housing • Feeding • Management • Breeding / genetics • Nutrient management • Animal welfare • Labor • Technology • Marketing
- 8. HOUSING: BIGGEST INVESTMENT •Will you adapt existing facilities or build new one(s)? • Will you use one building or multiple buildings? • How will buildings be ventilated? • How will you manage the production flow? • How will you clean out? • Will you incorporate dry lots or pasture into the production system.
- 9. PLANNING DATA Ram Dryewe Ewes + lambs Lambs Creep Building floor space 20-30 ft2 12-16 ft2 15-20 ft2 8-10 ft2 1.5-2 ft2 Lot space (dirt) 25-40 ft2 25-40 ft2 30-50 ft2 20-30 ft2 Feeder Limit fed 12 in. 15-20 in 16-20 9-12 ft2 Feeder Self fed 6 in 4-6 in 6-8 in 1-2 in 2 in. Water bowl 10 head 40-50 head 40-50 head 50-75 head Sheep Housing & Equipment Handbook, Midwest Plan Service
- 10. FEED: BIGGEST COST Ewes •Traditional hay/grain diet • Baleage + grain • Silage or haylage + grain • By-products, co-products Soy hulls + DDGS • TMR (total mixed ration) Lambs • Whole grain + supplement • Custom blend • Pelleted diet How will you feed? Limit (hand) or self feeding? Can you automate feeding? Don’t forget feed storage.
- 11. FEED BUDGET (154-LB.EWE, TWINS) Stage Hay Silage Haylage Grain Maintenance 3.00 0 0 0 Maintenance 0 6.00 0 0 Maintenance 0 0 6.00 0 Late gestation 3.50 0 0 1.25 Late gestation 0 7.00 0 1.50 Late gestation 0 0 7.00 1.25 Lactation 5.00 0 0 2.00 Lactation 0 10.00 0 2.25 Lactation 0 0 8.00 2.50
- 12. FEED BUDGET LAMBS WeightCreep 4:1 FE 5:1 6:1 10-40 40 lbs. 40-70 120 150 40-100 240 300 360 40-120 320 400 480 Feed cost 4:1 FE 5:1 6:1 $100/ton $0.40 $0.50 $0.60 $120/ton $0.48 $0.60 $0.72 $140/ton $0.56 $0.70 $0.84 $160/ton $0.64 $0.80 $0.96
- 13. ACCELERATED LAMBING SYSTEMS •Twice a year generally not practical • Every 8 months 3 lamb crops in 2 years • Overlapping 8 month system lamb every 2-4 months with different groups • Cornell STAR® 5 lamb crops in 3 years • Opportunistic keep rams in all the time Not recommended
- 14. OUT OF SEASONBREEDING • Natural Choose right genetics • Ram effect • Hormonal manipulation CIDRs • Light control • Selection
- 15. BREEDING STOCK FORINTENSIVE PRODUCTION Ewes (and rams that sire replacement females) • Healthy Free from foot rot, CL, OPP, etc. • Structurally sound • Reproductively sound • Moderate size and muscling • Reproductive efficiency Early puberty, prolific, good mothering, good milking ability, breed out-of-season Terminal sires • Healthy • Structurally sound • Reproductively sound • Frame size appropriate for market • Good early growth • Good muscling (carcass) • Good lamb survival
- 16. NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT • Morebedding • More manure 4 lbs/100 lbs. live daily • Removal • Storage • Land for spreading • Regulations AFO/CAFO for large farms (>300 animal units)
- 17. ANIMAL WELFARE • Amplespace: exceed MPS space requirements • Deep bedding • Consider providing environmental enrichment (e.g. raised areas for lambs) • Incorporate outside lots into housing • Exercise, especially for rams • Don’t dock or castrate lambs, unless necessary • Low stress handing • Welfare certification or consumer education: animals are always protected from parasites, predators, and inclement weather.
- 18. MINIMIZING LABOR • Designsystem for efficient flow of animals • Have easy way to move groups of animals • Have easy way to handle animals • Make clean-out easy • Automated feeding • Precision farming: RFID technology
- 19. APPROPRIATE USE OFTECHNOLOGY • Forage testing • Ration balancing • RFID to manage flock • Computerized record keeping e.g. Shearwell (UK). • Pregnancy testing • Fetal counting • Performance tested rams (EBVs)
- 20. MARKETING • Who/what isyour target market? • What size (weight) and condition lamb do you plan to market? • Can you get a contract to supply lambs to an abattoir or other market? • Can you sell carcasses instead of live animals.? • What are the slaughter options in your area? • How far are you from a good sale barn? • Is there opportunity to cooperatively market lambs with other producers. • Do you have a market for your cull ewes and rams?
- 21. LESS INTENSIVE SHEEPPRODUCTION • Use confinement practices for small scale, high value production • Use confinement to manage an annual lambing flock. • Use confinement to manage periparturient ewes (late gestation through lactation). – Sell lambs at weaning – Feed lambs in confinement • Buy lambs (or goats) to feed
- 22. THANK YOU SUSAN SCHOENIAN Sheep& Goat Specialist University of Maryland Extension sschoen@umd.edu www.sheepandgoat.com www.sheep101.info www.wormx.info