Small Ruminant Production: An Overview

1. Small Ruminant Production: An Overview Linda Coffey, NCAT

2. 1-800-346-9140 www.attra.ncat.org

3. Small ruminant production • A strong demand for lamb and goat meat has led to a resurgence of interest in sheep and goat production • Small ruminants (sheep and goats) work well for small acreages or as a supplementary enterprise with cattle • Sheep and goats offer many advantages to livestock farms • Goal: to learn at least five advantages of small ruminants and five challenges, and be able to decide which species to raise in a given situation

4. Sheep and goats • Ruminants • Similar size • Gestation length • Similar diets • Fencing requirements • Facilities • Multiple births

5. Similar advantages • Small size • Requires little feed or land • Prolific and productive • Strong market demand: good prices • Useful in vegetation control • weeds, brush, multiflora rose, invasive weeds, including sericea lespedeza, kudzu, others • good companion grazers with cattle; pasture improvers

6. Uses of sheep and goats • Meat (many ethnic groups prefer goat or lamb, especially for holidays and festivals) • Milk • Fiber (wool, mohair, cashmere) • Weed and brush control • Skins/pelts/leather • Pets and hobbies (we might as well admit it!)

7. Similar problems • Internal parasites • May be difficult to contain • Markets MAY be harder to locate • Predator problems • Prejudice from cowboys

8. But sheep and goats are not the same

9. Terminology Sheep Goat • ram = buck (or billy) • ewe = doe (or nanny) • lamb = kid • wether = wether • lamb meat, mutton = cabrito, chevon

10. Grazing behavior • Sheep • Prefer short, tender vegetation; graze very close • Eat a variety of weeds • Goats • Selective • Prefer to graze taller plants and browse • Intake drops quickly if forage is too short • Opportunistic (think of deer)

11. Chickweed Wild lettuce Shepherd’spurse Pigweed

12. Greenbriar Multiflorarose Blacklocust

13. Blacklocust Paulownia Mulberry Mimosa

14. Question: What is one advantage of the goat’s behavior in grazing?

15. Behavior

16. Observations

17. Separate the sheep from the goats...

18. Grazing Preferences Rationale for multispecies grazing

19. Browse Forb Goats Sheep Cattle Grass

20. Small ruminants in combination with cattle • Complementary to cattle • Can add one ewe per cow with no additional feed costs and no detrimental effects • May improve profitability per acre by 25% over cattle alone

21. Multispecies grazing – benefits to sustainability • Maximize the use of resources (forage, labor, facilities) • Improve pastures by • encouraging diversity of plants • reducing clumps • controlling weeds and brush • reducing parasite infestations on pastures

22. Multispecies grazing – benefits to sustainability • Meat production per species and per acre is higher • Increases flexibility and options • marketing • managing forages • Diversified income sources • reduce risk • improve cash flow

23. Multispecies grazing – methods • Mob grazing--all run as one group • Leader/follower--matching animal with highest requirements to forages of highest quality • Alternate grazing--one portion of farm used for one species; switch later (or, stocker steers one year, stocker sheep the next)

24. Multispecies grazing – management concerns • Knowledge • Fences--adapt cattle fences; 3 to 5 strands electric, 4,500 volts minimum • Minerals--avoid excess copper for sheep (goats can use cattle mineral) • Facilities--sheep will need some shelter if lambing in cold weather, goats like shelter in wet weather (not fancy) • Labor--availability and timing

25. Multispecies grazing – management concerns • Ratios • dependent on type of forages available • 1:1 to use extra weeds • 6:1 (ewes to cows) to maximize pounds of meat per acre

26. Stocking rate

27. Order • Graze in a mob, or • Cattle first to use taller, coarser growth, sheep or goats to harvest weeds cattle rejected; or • Lambs, kids and calves to select the best, ewes, does and cows to clean up; or • Lambs and ewes followed by dry cows to utilize rejected forage Must match nutrition to production stage

28. Recommendation: 1 to 2 goats per head of cattle

29. Multispecies grazing – management concerns • Grazing height preferred for sheep: begin at 6-8 inches and move when grazed down to 2.5 to 4 inches Caution! Avoid over-grazing. Sheep can graze very close to the ground. Management is crucial.

30. Grazing management • Question: what are two reasons to avoid grazing close to the ground? • How could you prevent close grazing?

31. Grazing Management

32. Major considerations for grazing sheep and goats Sheep and goats should have 4 to 5% of body weight in dry matter (DM) available daily. (Requirements vary with production stage and size of animal; dairy goats have higher needs.) Daily intake is most critical! • Low intakes, excellent rations: average performance • High intakes, moderate rations: above expected performance

33. Grazing management AVAILABLE FORAGE Excellent forage management will pay dividends in lowered production costs and increased gains and improved health. Daily intake is most critical!

34. Production stage: • To lower costs, try to match needs of the animal to the production of the forage. • Over-feeding is expensive and counter-productive; fat ewes and does do not do well at breeding or lambing time. • Under-feeding leads to low birth weights and poor milk supplies.

35. Major considerations for grazing sheep Must match nutrition to production stage.

36. Major considerations Production stage: Breeding--flush with better nutrition prior to turning in ram or buck and for several weeks afterward

37. Major considerations Production stage: Early gestation--low requirements; fair to good pasture (15 weeks from breeding) Late gestation (last 6 weeks)--good pasture, 1/4 pound grain (assuming average condition) Caution: avoid pure stands of infected fescue for late gestation grazing

38. Major considerations Production stage: Lactation--first 6 or 8 weeks, high requirements; excellent pasture, or 4 to 5 pounds hay and 1-2 pounds grain. Taper off near weaning. Ideally, feed ewes with twins on the best forage. Yearling ewes and does also need excellent forage as they are growing as well as lactating.

41. Major considerations Production stage: Dry--very low requirements; may use the ewes and does to clean up pastures at this point. Ewes and does may be dry for 3 or 4 months before breeding. This allows ewes and does to easily gain weight; do not allow them to become fat!

42. Recommendations for lambs and kids on grass • Lambs should graze clean pasture • Have salt/mineral mix, fresh water, shade available • Shear wooly lambs before hot weather • Use low stocking rates and clean up with cattle or dry ewes or does • Monitor for parasites and treat as needed (FAMACHA™)

44. Review • Tell three benefits of small ruminants • What are three problems of small ruminants? • Explain the nutritional needs of a ewe and doe and how they vary through a year • What are three advantages of multispecies grazing?

45. But, will they pay?? • “It depends!” • On. . . • Price per pound • Production costs • Price per pound of wool • Days to market • Weaning percentage

46. Factors affecting profitability 1) Price per pound of meat • Seasonal changes • Direct marketing • Auctions/buyers • Size and finish

47. Factors affecting profitability 2) Production costs • Keep feed costs low by using forages • Reduce vet costs through preventive care; have a good working relationship with a veterinarian • Need good nutrition for productive animals; over-feeding is wasteful and expensive

48. Cost of production, reproductive performance, and profitability Assumed market weight: 45 lbs.

49. Factors affecting profitability 3) Price per pound of wool • Quality counts! • Niche marketing is likely to result in best price • Wool pool/cooperatives • Value-added options

50. Factors affecting profitability 4) Days to market • Affects feed costs and efficiency • Labor costs • Depends on genetic capability and nutritional resources • Weather influences • Target weights depend on buyer