L3 Animal Production Topic 2 Wool bearing sheep breeds

SEFIKENG CAMPUS WOOL-BEARING SHEEP BREEDS ANIMAL PRODUCTION Level 3 Topic 2: WOOL BEARING SHEEP BREEDS SPECIFIC OUTCOME: IDENTIFY AND DESCRIBE THE SHEEP TYPES AND BREEDS IN TERMS OF THEIR SUITABILITY TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS. LECTURER: MPHUTHI AK Downloaded from hlayiso.com

Learning outcome • Identify the different breeds of sheep suitable for Southern African conditions. • Describe the characteristics of different types (and breeds) of sheep: o For the purposes of production in different local environments. o For the purpose of breeding in different local environments. Downloaded from hlayiso.com

1. There are different sheep breeds for different wool types. • The Texel and Dorset are good choice for meat production • The finest wool is obtained from sheep reared primarily for these fibres. Wool sheep breeds • Merino • Rambouillet • Blue Faced Leicester Downloaded from hlayiso.com

2. Conformation of the Merino breed • The ideal Merino is a purebred, vigorous, strong, well-built sheep with adequate size for age and showing no excessive development of the skin folds. • The colour of their faces and legs is white. Although they have a considerable growth of wool on their faces, it is seldom extensive enough to wool blindness. Downloaded from hlayiso.com

3. Size of the Merino breed • A large sheep is the ideal. Size is determined by the length width and depth of the body. • Length is an important factor in grading for size. • Body condition score also plays and important role when selecting the size of the merino breed. Downloaded from hlayiso.com

4. Head and horns of the Merino breed • The head is judged as a whole. The ideal head should be strong in all respects neatly shaped. • Horns should be wide and well clear of head. • Very wide horns make drafting and handling difficult. Tight horns make shearing difficult increases incidence of fly strike and may restrict jaw movement. Downloaded from hlayiso.com

5. Forequarters and neck of the Merino breed. • The neck should be fairly long, broad, deep and well-set. The forequarters should be well- built and relatively well fleshed the chest deep and broad. Potential faults include • U-Neck • Narrow or recording chest • Loose shoulders Downloaded from hlayiso.com

6. Hindquarters of the Merino breed. • The sheep should have broad hips and a broad fairly straight rump forming almost a straight line with the back and withers. • Hips square and rump extends from pin bone to the tail, good twist. • Dropping rumps can impact back leg confirmation. Downloaded from hlayiso.com

7. Legs of the Merino breed. • The legs must be strong, straight, wide apart and in proportion to the body. • Sound feet and legs are important for effective grazing. Narrow chested animals often lack spring of ribs. • The joints must be firm, the hoofs strong and amber-coloured. Downloaded from hlayiso.com

Legs of the Merino breed (cont…) Potential faults include • Knock-knees • Cow-hock • Sickle hocks • Black hoofs • Sandy legs Downloaded from hlayiso.com

8. Frontal development of the Merino breed • The Merino breed is characterized by folds around the neck. According to these neck folds, one can estimate the density of wool-fibre over the rest of the body. • The following description of these types is based on the appearance of the sheep in full fleece(about 12 months of wool growth) Downloaded from hlayiso.com

9. The plain type. • This type shows no large transverse frontal folds in full fleece. Small wrinkles or pin-pleats maybe visible only after shearing or on handling. Plain body type consist of two sub-types. 9.1. The full front type (developed type). This body type has a full front usually consisting of three medium-large to large transverse frontal folds. Downloaded from hlayiso.com

The plain type (cont...) 9.2 The over-developed type: This body type shows such excessive development of transverse frontal folds on the front, on the body or in the region of the tail that it is unsuitable for sheep farming. Downloaded from hlayiso.com

10. Recap on todays lesson… • There are different sheep breeds for different wool types, namely merino, rambouillet and blue faced leicester. • Merino is one of the wool producing sheep breed mostly used in south africa and it’s a purebred. • Potential faults that can be found in the legs of the merino are cow-hock, knock-knees and sandy legs. Downloaded from hlayiso.com

11. Assessment Activity 1 • Use the following score card to judge a Merino sheep – either a ram or ewe. • Note: If you do not have access to a Merino sheep Farming area, try to obtain photographs from farming magazines. Judges Score card A. Type (according to frontal development) Points BZ B. Conformation 1. Head and horns Max 10 Awarded Remarks 2. Forequarters and neck 10 3. Back and barrel 10 4. Hindquarters 10 5. Legs 10 6. Size 20 7. General appearance 10 8. Degree of excellence 20 TOTAL 1000 Downloaded from hlayiso.com

12. ASSESSMENT ACTIVITY 2 • Project on farming sheep in different environmental conditions • The Merino sheep breed has to be suited to the specific environmental conditions in which you want to farm with it. • Do some research into Merino sheep breeds that are farmed in South Africa • Use the information to identify the most suitable Merino sheep breed for the environments described in Column A in the table. Environment Type of Merino sheep Short Karoo shrubs with hard clay (soil) surface. Thorny bush of Northern Cape with soft sandy (soil) surface. Wheat growing areas with harsh conditions in summer. Sour veld with sandy soil and high rainfall conditions in Eastern Cape Province. Intensive fat-lamb production artificial pastures in the Western Cape Downloaded Area. from hlayiso.com