Many aspects determine the success of a sheep enterprise. Getting it right on matters of selecting breeding stock lambs is among the most useful aspects. A person will have the right animals on their farm when they ensure that they get this part right. There are many ways of choosing sheep. However, visual appraisal is still at the top of the list. The future productivity and health of an animal cannot be told with certainty when other selection approaches are used. When in need of Breeding stock lambs KY should be visited.
The first consideration should be the health of the animal. Health is the most vital criteria since starting off with unhealthy lambs is recipe for failure. Healthy lambs are usually alert and bright. They do not exclude themselves from the flock. Relative to its state of nutrition, age, and stage of production a healthy lamb has the appearance of being in better body condition.
One should avoid all lambs or breeding farms where sheep exhibit certain signs of being unhealthy. The signs include extremely poor body condition, pink eyes, sore oral lesions, limping, animals that have abscesses, or show respiratory signs. Respiratory signs include sneezing, snorting, and running noses. One should never purchase such animals for breeding. It is better to be safe than sorry.
The other visual appraisal criterion is the soundness of the animal. A person should only consider a lamb to be sound if it is in good physical state and does not have any serious physical defects. People must know that an animal with physical problems has low survival chances and cannot remain productive for a long period of time. Lack of lambing can be quite counterproductive for breeders or anyone.
The next item to be checked on the list of visual appraisal is the mouth of the ewe. The correct or normal mouth should have the bottom and top jaws properly aligned. This means that the pad and the incisors are flush with no incidents of overshot or undershot. Ewes with overshot or undershot jaws are to be avoided since this trait tends to be hereditary.
However, slight variations in jaw alignment should be expected as they are quite normal. The slight variations are not an inherited defect. When in doubt whether the variations in jaw orientation are normal or abnormal, one should observe the structure of the jaw from the side. Also, one should feel the teeth in order to further confirm what is seen. Overshot or undershot jaws affect the grazing ability of the animal.
One should perform the visual appraisal of the teeth condition. In most cases, the condition in which teeth are depends on specific aspects. The diet and land condition are some of the aspects. The teeth of sheep gradually get ground based on their diet. Coarse diet tends to grind teeth faster. One needs to focus on molar teeth as opposed to the incisors. This is because they are the ones responsible for grinding food.
To finalize, the other item of focus should be the general structure of the lamb. Its legs and feet should be straight and squarely set at the corner of the body. Conformation must also be considered although it tends to vary from breed to breed. But straight backs and smooth shoulders tend to be desirable.
The first consideration should be the health of the animal. Health is the most vital criteria since starting off with unhealthy lambs is recipe for failure. Healthy lambs are usually alert and bright. They do not exclude themselves from the flock. Relative to its state of nutrition, age, and stage of production a healthy lamb has the appearance of being in better body condition.
One should avoid all lambs or breeding farms where sheep exhibit certain signs of being unhealthy. The signs include extremely poor body condition, pink eyes, sore oral lesions, limping, animals that have abscesses, or show respiratory signs. Respiratory signs include sneezing, snorting, and running noses. One should never purchase such animals for breeding. It is better to be safe than sorry.
The other visual appraisal criterion is the soundness of the animal. A person should only consider a lamb to be sound if it is in good physical state and does not have any serious physical defects. People must know that an animal with physical problems has low survival chances and cannot remain productive for a long period of time. Lack of lambing can be quite counterproductive for breeders or anyone.
The next item to be checked on the list of visual appraisal is the mouth of the ewe. The correct or normal mouth should have the bottom and top jaws properly aligned. This means that the pad and the incisors are flush with no incidents of overshot or undershot. Ewes with overshot or undershot jaws are to be avoided since this trait tends to be hereditary.
However, slight variations in jaw alignment should be expected as they are quite normal. The slight variations are not an inherited defect. When in doubt whether the variations in jaw orientation are normal or abnormal, one should observe the structure of the jaw from the side. Also, one should feel the teeth in order to further confirm what is seen. Overshot or undershot jaws affect the grazing ability of the animal.
One should perform the visual appraisal of the teeth condition. In most cases, the condition in which teeth are depends on specific aspects. The diet and land condition are some of the aspects. The teeth of sheep gradually get ground based on their diet. Coarse diet tends to grind teeth faster. One needs to focus on molar teeth as opposed to the incisors. This is because they are the ones responsible for grinding food.
To finalize, the other item of focus should be the general structure of the lamb. Its legs and feet should be straight and squarely set at the corner of the body. Conformation must also be considered although it tends to vary from breed to breed. But straight backs and smooth shoulders tend to be desirable.
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