The current status of the sheep industry remains very strong.  Markets have been steady while feed costs have risen to record levels.  With the increased costs of feedstuffs, some producers may rethink the fleshing capabilities their flock’s possess, since larger framed, later maturing body types do tend to require more energy in the ration over time.  But I am confident with the large number of flocks in this county which are maintained predominately for recreational (show) purposes, those producers with deep pockets and a burning desire to win purple ribbons, these added expenses will not discourage their mission.  However, those who raise sheep with PROFIT in mind should be looking at body types and conversion capabilities of their flocks.

Thoughts I have written in the past two or three years are archived at this site and my thinking remains constant on most issues so why rewrite these comments over and over.  Those who want to revisit these previous year’s commentaries can do so with a simple click. The 2008 lamb crop is, for the most part, on the ground.  Sneak preview photos of the various sire groups will be featured on the home page, starting the first week in March.  The entire ‘08’ sale offering will be cataloged on this site by April 15, with photos and scan data by April 22.  Let me hear from you should you have questions.  Hope the lambs meet with prospective buyers approval, at this time they look solid, ever bit as consistent as in previous years.

I have attached three papers or articles, which I have written for anyone who chooses to review them.  They are as follows: A “Lambing Time Management” paper which was presented last January at an Iowa State Univ. on farm workshop hosted here at the farm.  The second article is entitled “Buying Terminal Sires” written for the Feb/March ‘08’ Premier Supply Co. Newsletter.  The third being an article sent out to many of the popular sheep magazines to help update and promote the “Production Suffolk Classes” at the 2008 Midwest Stud Ram Sale, Sedalia, Mo.

This is an opportunity for those wanting a national forum to merchandise Suffolks with a ‘look’ along with additional information and to assist the prospective buyer, to boost their confidence when considering the purchasing of new seedstock.

Prelambing & Lambing Time Mgt.
Overview For Kimm’s Suffolks

Prelambing:

*A successful lamb crop starts with sound ram management.  Keeping them cool with well-ventilated facilities and using fans when needed.  Rams are sheared in early May, feet trimmed, dewormed and BSE performed (semen checked) in early July.

*Breeding occurs from mid July through early October for the mature ewes, with 75% of the ewes lambing in late December and January. The ewe lambs are exposed for two cycles starting in late August.

*Prior to breeding, all females receive the abortion vaccination of Chlamydia Psittaci and ewe lambs receive their first shot of Campylobacter Fetus-Jejuni Bacterin.  Ewe lambs receive a booster for Campylobacter at mid gestation as do the mature ewe flock. All young ewes have also been receiving Case-Bac (for Caseous Lymphadenitis) and that requires a booster as well.  I question the efficacy of all these vaccines but use them, hoping they will overt a few problems.

*Flushing begins 2-3 weeks prior to breeding, depending on the condition score of the ewes and the pasture availability, using 1-2 pounds of shelled corn daily.  Ewes also receive 1 pound of a product fortified with Vitamin E and Selenium (called Ewe Premix, sold by Big Gains) fed over a four day period.

*In the past, teaser rams have been used but in recent years fertile rams have been turned out.  If any ewes settle it just means more December lambs, which sell very well on the May sale.

*At all times, year round, the flock has access to free choice Kimm Sheep Mineral, developed especially for the flock by Dr. Larry Daniels, Prairie Land Coop, Hubbard, IA.

*Ewes are sheared twice a year, in mid April (ewes feet are trimmed at this time) and again in mid October.  Ewes look attractive and healthy to any visitors who may stop by to view the flock and these dates give advantages to both breeding and lambing. I have encountered Cache Valley type abortions when shearing just prior to breeding, giving the mosquito more open skin to bit (they are the vector carrying the virus).  When shearing just prior to lambing, I have encountered more frost bite, even though some frost bite may be experienced when shearing in late October if November turns extremely cold.

*Rams are marked with gun grease and pigment color, painted on the chest daily, changing colors from lighter to darker ever 16 days, allowing for accurate lambing dates to be calculated.

*Early November, ewes are pregnancy checked (ulrasounded) by Carol Dodge from WI. By using ultrasound information along with the breeding dates collected, it allows for the ewes to be grouped more accurately in preparation for lambing.  The coming yearling ewes are bred and maintained separately from the mature ewes during their first year on this farm.

*Six weeks prior to lambing, I start feeding a ration to the ewes of 1-2 pounds of cracked corn and 1-2 lbs of corn gluten, which includes 100 pounds of a R600 (Big Gains Rumensin product) allowing ewes to receive 15 mg per day of Rumensin to hopefully reduce Toxoplasmosis abortions as well as 100 pounds of 4 gram Aureomycin per ton thus getting around 400 mg of antibiotic into each ewe daily to help reduce abortions?  Some authorities have indicated that this activity appears to have limited value but over the years I have felt the use of high levels of Aureomycin in the ewe’s ration during late gestation has help reduce abortion problems.

*Four weeks prior to lambing, ewes receive their annual booster for Cl. Prefringens CD/T.  This is the only immunity which the lambs will receive for Tetanus, through their mother’s colostrum milk.

The ewes are also dewormed at this time using Iovmec drench or fed Safe-Guard through the ration.

*Ewes receive another pound of the Vitamin E/Selenium fortified product (fed 1/4 lb per day over a four day period) at 2- 3 weeks pre-lambing.

*Ewes are grouped according to their expected lambing dates so the close up ewes are in the warmest facilities. The lambing area is equipped with a heat exchange system and exhaust fans, no supplemental heat is used except when heat lamps are used JUST to get the lambs dry only during extreme cold periods.

*The lambing barn is also equipped with a closed circuit TV camera with a monitor located in the house.  This saves steps to the barn in the middle of the night, this has been a great investment!

Lambing:

*Wooden panels are arranged in the drop area forming open front cubicles; ewes will most generally lamb in this area. I like using latex gloves when assisting ewes, when the need arises.  The value of a small piece of straw in the lamb’s noise to stimulate breathing is important to keep in mind. No ewe is penned before they lamb, leaving a lot of wetness in the drop area, helping keep the lambing jugs drier.

*Once ewes have lambed they are penned near the lambing area, where heat lamps are available if needed, until the ewe cleans and the lambs are dry, then the ewe and lambs are moved to jugs in adjoining room for 2-4 days depending the strength of the lambs and the bonding process.  Jugs are completely cleaned between ewes and are limed, a layer of wood shavings is laid down and straw is used (freshen daily while the ewe is penned).  I use 5x5 wire panels for jugs, anything smaller and I have experienced ewes laying on lambs, this even happens once in a while with the larger jug size.

*First item of business is to make sure the lamb nurses’ colostrum milk, ewes udders are checked, teats are stripped so they are clear of any plug. I stomach tube weak lambs if the udder is tight or teats so full, where lambs may have difficulty getting started.

*If I need to perform a graft, slime grafts or wet grafts work best for me.  I also get along pretty well using the stanchion method if necessary.

*Processing the newborn lamb is as follows:

   -Administer orally 4-6 cc’s of Lamb Survive from Hunter Nutrition, IN using 12 cc plastic syringe.

   -Give each lamb 2 cc’s of Day One mix (Sub Q,just behind the elbow pocket) which includes 1 cc of long acting Penicillin, 3/4 cc of Super B Vit and 1/4 cc of Bo-Se.  This can be purchased from most local vets or mixed your self.

   -Clip the navels and dip in 7% iodine.

   -After birth (placenta) is collected and placed in a bucket, later to be incinerated as are all dead lambs.

*Make sure the ewe is given a bucket (half full) of clean water and after a few hours a slice of hay, maybe hold off on the grain if she is high in milk flow for the first day.  Some ewes want to keep pawing their lambs, the hay is a good distraction.  I also have a 2’ x 1 1/2’ wooden box which is 12” deep, which I use when a ewes wants to paw her lambs or if a lamb seems weak, placing the box in the corner of the jug for a few hours.

*Between days 2 and 4, before the lambs leave the jug they are ear tagged with a 2X Premier Scrapie Tag which will correspond to the lamb’s permanent flock tag (color coded to their sire) to be placed in the opposite ear a few weeks later.  Elastrator bands are placed on the tails, at the mid coddle fold, the tails are cut off in about one week with a sharp device and stubs sprayed, at this time a second shot of long acting Penicillin is given.  While in the jugs, lambs are monitored closely that they are nursing, udders are watched, making sure lambs stretch when they first stand up and if in doubt I place a finger in the lambs mouth, if it is cool, action is to be taken.

*If I find a ewe not milking up to the needs of her twins, I will supplement one twin for a few days with Merrick’s Super Lamb milk replacer.  In most cases, these ewes come into their milk and meet the challenge of their lambs.  I also use Nutri-Drench supplement when I have weak lambs that are not doing well early on.

*Soremouth vaccination has been discontinued, feeling it was causing more problems then it was preventing, especially after using the Texas Strain, which created severe responses that did not heal, only got worse.

*Mixing pens are used once the ewe and her lambs leave the jugs, placing between four and six ewes and their lambs together for approximately 1 week before being placed into larger groups of twelve to fifteen ewes and their lambs to develop.  Twins are separated from singles and ewes are fed accordingly.

*Ewe’s udders are observed at each feeding to overt problems that may later lead to mastitis.  If udders are lop-sided, I look for her lambs, if they appear full and satisfied, I find a lamb which is hungry and get that udder milked down.

*During each feeding, I also look over the entire group of lambs for early signs of any health problems and address if needed.

*I introduce creep to lambs at 1-2 weeks of age.  Pick a draft free location, make sure the spaces allowing the lambs to enter are correctly adjusted, keep well bedded and place a light over the creep.  Soybean meal, alfalfa leaves and your choice of a lamb starter should be place in a feeder which they can reach and not contaminate, keep feed fresh.  Make sure lambs have access to water, if the waterers are too tall for them, place a block next to them.  Kent 20% has been used in the past and now I have found the palatability of ADM’s Pen Pals Lamb Starter-21% with Decoquinate to be working very well.  Lambs stay on this for at least 4-6 weeks and gradually converted to a grind and mix ration.

*Good ventilation is KEY for healthy lambs, plus keeping the pens well bedded.  Make sure there are no potential areas where the lambs can get injured; small spaces they can find and not get out, sharp nails, wire ends, hanging loops of twin and etc.  Move slowly while in pens, ewes can be very cruel to little lambs when they move quickly especially at feeding time, watch for lambs being crush by ewes at the feeders.

Post Lambing:

*At four weeks of age all lambs receive their first vaccination for Clostridium Perfringens C & D. and this will be boostered at weaning.

*No rams are wethered here but if they were the elastrator band would be used.

*At week six, lambs are gradually switched over to a grind and mix ration which consists of:  50% cracked corn, 25 % whole oats, 25% of a protein supplement with Decoquinate, plus coated with liquid molasses to reduce dust and enhance palatability.  Lambs are offered high quality hay in the creep at all times, feeling it keeps their rumens healthier and they keep out of their mothers way when mom is recklessly eating hay.

*By the time the lambs are to be weaned they are eating at least one pound of creep feed per day or more.

*Week seven, graining the ewes is discontinued and the hay quality is reduced.

*Week eight to nine, lambs are weaned, receive their booster for overeating and are weighed for NSIP records plus 60 day adjusted weights are calculated.   Lambs are dewormed with Valbazen drench 2-4 weeks following weaning.

*Lambs stay with their moms for the first 24 hours while feed is held back from their mothers, day two of the weaning process, ewes are removed to another location, lambs stay where they were and the ewes receive no water and a small feeding of straw for second 24 hours.  They are then placed on low quality roughage.  No ewes go to grass until at least 2 weeks post weaning.

Flock Goals Revisited:

1.     Put pressure selection on growth and reproductive/maternal traits.

2.     Maintain a flock which is spider free and predominately RR at codon 171.

3.     Continue to select for larger REA’s

4.     Optimize fleshing ability of the ewes while minimizing ext. fat at the preferred mkt lamb weight.

5.     Maintain pedigrees on the entire flock (here I have started to make some exceptions, using non registered rams to attain certain genetic pieces) and strive for CONSISTANCY!

6.     Eliminate all genetic defects, especially black fiber (this has been very challenging), prolapses, inverted eye lids and mouth problems.

7.     Finally, keep all these traits balanced in a structurally sound package with eye appeal and a Suffolk look.

BUYING TERMINAL SHEEP SIRES

Today the commercial sheep producers have limited sources to purchase sires which possess many of the traits they desperately need to add profit and ease of care to their business.  Size and growth have been top priorities and to a point, they should continue to be high on the breeders list. The show ring has placed great emphasis on size, for breeding sheep and the clean or modern look for the market lamb side of the equation.  This has been a trend for well over three decades.  It is impossible for any live evaluator, looking only at phenotype, to identify the many attributes, which can make the daily task of raising sheep easier.

Only if the seedstock breeders, responsible for raising sires for the industry, are willing to accurately record and document production information and then provide such to the prospective buyers, will progress be made.  The beef, dairy and swine industries have embraced data in the form of EPD’s (expected progeny differences) to promote the performance of their species.  The use of this technology however has not found wide acceptance in the sheep industry.  The program in place for the sheep breeders is the National Sheep Improvement Program (NSIP), originating at Iowa State University in the mid- eighties, its home now resides at Virginia Tech.  Some maternal breeds which have found value using across-flock EPD’s are Polypay, Tarhgee and Katahdin.    This has not been the case for most of the terminal sires.  There are opponents of this program who feel the vast flock management differences by which animals are reared leave questions of doubt concerning the accuracy of this data and of course breeder integrity comes into play.  This may be true, however it is a tool presently available for the sheep industry not fully being used.

The beef and swine industries have placed emphasis on the use of ultrasound technology to promote their sire’s carcass merits.  This is another tool that has been slow to receive wide use by the sheep industry.  A big reason given by many would be that when selling lamb, only weight is considered.  True, most producers do not receive incentives for carcass traits, especially for muscle, however some are now being paid a premium for leanness (yield grade).  It would only stand to reason if the packing industry has realized value in securing leaner lambs then at some point they would add a premium for muscle.  The trap we should not fall into on carcass traits is a lesson which can be taken from the swine world; you can get the product too lean! The beef producer’s approach to rearing functional animals has been adopting the “Theory of Optimums”.  Meaning, anything in excess is not necessarily the best for all involved.  The beef industry went through the size fade, currently popular with many of today’s sheep breeds, only to find the bigger cattle were not as efficient to maintain (this has to be considered with today’s rising feed costs), more grain (not roughage) was required, more reproduction problems surfaced, they were generally harder to handle and the packing industry (consumer in the end) was not looking for 900 pound plus carcasses and the retail product which they represent.  Why not gain from our red meat counterpart’s mistakes and apply their lessons learned?

Most who purchase sires, no matter the species, are interested in structural soundness.  What ever the record format or information available to the buyer, the prospective sire must be able to move freely and maintain his soundness for years to come.  There can be a ‘Pride of Ownership’ as well, when these animals are viewed by their owners and occasional visitors to the flock, it is a perk to like the animal’s overall appearance.

Many of today’s sheep flocks exist because of the families’ early interest to be competitive in the show ring.  Not all rams produced fit the criteria to enjoy success in a show ring, so some end up as possible candidates for use in the commercial ram industry. This is where the commercial flocks need to be more selective and not settle for JUST a ram to breed their ewes because it is cheap!  When purchasing the new flock sire, producers should require more.  Fertility, growth data (be it from NSIP or the seedstock owners home flock records) and muscle need to be at the top of the list for most terminal sires purchased.  The frame size required should be dictated by the current ewe flock’s size. The question to ask is what is the weight and size lamb, which the local market prefers to buy? However, there are so many additional traits which bring practical function to a sheep’s overall performance.  Convenience traits such as; correct underpinning, disposition, fleshing ability, longevity, birth weight and lamb vigor, all should be considered.  If replacements are to be retained, then the list should be increased to include such things as mothering ability, teat size, udder shape and out of season breeding capabilities, to name a few.       

SPECIAL SUFFOLK PRODUCTION CLASSES

In 2007 a production Suffolk show debut at the Midwest Stud Ram Sale.  In an effort to acknowledge the diversity of the Suffolk, the USSA Board has chosen to support the continuation of these production classes.   Once again the organization of the production show will be under the direction of Bob Kimm ([email protected]).  Questions from prospective consignors or buyers should be directed to Bob.

This offers an opportunity for prospective buyers to have access to additional data, which should boost their confidence when considering the purchase of new seedstock.  An experienced team of sheep people will collect the information.  The application of the data may be used differently by each individual, depending on the traits being sought and needed by that prospective buyer.  If muscle is a top priority then ribeye area should be closely evaluated, length then the measurements of total body length or hindsaddle would be very useful and etc.  It is not the intent for this additional information to confuse but rather to help simplify the process of purchasing the right animal for the new flock.  Since all animals will be in 30-day fleece or less, the observation of structural correctness should be more buyer friendly.  Some would like to see NSIP data incorporated into this division at the Midwest Sale, it is not a requirement considering the limited number of flocks currently enrolled in that program.  Any consignor with such additional data is encouraged to have it posted at their pens.

Updated Protocol for 2008 Production Suffolk Classes:

1.     All entries must be registered and carry Scrapie Tags.  Any rams in excess of six months of age must have b. ovis Elisa Tests.

2.     There will be classes for Yearlings, Fall Lambs and Spring Lambs in both sexes.  Any class with more than 20 entries will be split on the basis of weight.

3.     All entries will be weighed the day prior to the show; exact time and location of weighing will be announced and posted.  Using the date of birth, the entries’ WDA (weight/day of age) will be calculated.

4.     Entries must be Slick Shorn evenly over the entire body within 30 days of the Sale.  Any evidence of violation of the spirit of this rule as determined by the Production Class Committee can be cause for re-shearing.

5.     A qualified professional will scan all entries for REA (Ribeye Area) and BF (Backfat), measured at the 12^th rib.  The cost of this will be covered by the USSA.  Presently there exist NO accurate formula to adjust this data for extremes in age and weight, thus this information will be registered as RAW DATA, unless a new formula is brought forth.

6.     Linear measurements will be taken (similar to what Dr. Leroy Boyd did several years ago at Louisville).  These measurements may include: shoulder height, total length, hind-saddle length, scrotal circumference, etc.  Mouths will be checked at this time.

7.     Each Class will begin with exhibitors leading their entries around the ring to the satisfaction of the judge; all animals will be required to be at halter.

8.     The judge may evaluate each entry at close range but will NOT HANDLE the animals.

9.     The judge will have the opportunity to view each entry free standing, one at a time, as single entries will be let loose, unassisted in a special pen arrangement set up at one end of the ring. Ring stewards will again be available for assistance.

All data collected for each Suffolk will be summarized on a per class basis and made available to the judge to use at their discretion, with assistance from a ring steward.  It will not be summarized into an index since not all the traits being collected are positive in their correlation; more is not always better in some cases.  Most importantly, this information will be available to prospective buyers both day of show and the day of the sale.

The USSA board would like to encourage consignors to bring quality animals and promote their consignments to prospective buyers.  The 2008 Midwest Stud Ram Sale at Sedalia, MO will be hosting the Suffolk Show on Tuesday, June 24 and holding the Suffolk Sale on Thursday, June 26.   Mark you calendars.