The aim of farming is to produce food for the farmer’s family and then to have extra lambs, or kids, to sell so that other necessities may be bought.
Producing as many animals as possible for sale each year, in a sustainable way, should be the main goal of the farmer. The most important factor determining the number of animals a farmer can keep is the quantity and quality of the available food. If there is a fixed quantity of food, such as veld grazing, having too many animals means that some of the animals will not get enough to eat and will not breed properly, if at all.
There are five reasons for culling:
■ When animals are starving. The animals will put their reserves into survival before they allocate body resources to breeding, and this is the most important reason to cull. It is far better to have three ewes that produce and wean three healthy lambs than to have five ewes that produce three lambs, one or more of which die before being weaned because of insufficient food.
■ When udders are badly damaged because of mastitis or teat damage. These ewes will not be able to raise lambs or kids and are of no use for breeding.
■ When animals are suffering from a disease, such as abscesses, or a defect that causes a loss of body condition. This will affect their ability to produce and raise healthy young. Only healthy animals should be kept in the breeding flock.
■ When ewes or does fail to raise at least one kid or lamb per year. There could be good reasons, not the animal’s fault, why they fail to conceive. In this case, the ewe can be kept for another season. But remember that the ability to conceive and to raise young successfully is partly inherited, so if some ewes don’t raise their offspring successfully it may be better to get rid of them.
■ When ewes and does get too old to breed. Breeding is best between the ages of two and six years. By eight years old, the females often fail to breed. Don’t wait for this to happen. Examine the front teeth every year before breeding. If the teeth are worn down, very long or falling out, it’s time to cull and replace with a young animal. (See guide below to help estimate an animal’s age.)
Culling is an absolute necessity if farmers want to farm for decent profits. Regular, planned culling of breeding female animals will help keep the breeding flock healthy and productive and maintain a good balance between available food and animals.
