Question: Why are we advised to cull our ewes and does? Surely it’s better to keep all the females for breeding? Keeping all breeding animals can result in less breeding. The aims of farming are to produce food for the farmer’s family and also extra lambs or kids to sell…
What sheep eat has a great impact on their condition and performance. These basic feeding principles can help you improve their nutritional status. Feed is the single biggest budgetary item associated with raising ruminants, such as sheep. It usually accounts for at least 60% of the total production costs in…
Breeding to improve animal production entails the upgrading or improvement of a breed in respect of specific characteristics. An expert explains how to do this. Animals that have poor characteristics shouldn’t be used for breeding, but those that have good characteristics should be retained as parents for the next generation of…
The most important objective of small stock farming is to produce lambs or kids. Most of them are sold and the rest are kept for breeding. To ensure successful breeding, they must be fed properly. Here are some guidelines. The number of lambs or kids that reach weaning or slaughtering…
Every sheep or goat farmer wants to have as many healthy lambs or kids as possible on a regular basis. Follow these tips to maximise your results. Rams must be functionally effective, in other words they must have healthy reproductive organs and strong, healthy legs. Test your rams for fertility.…
Most farmers only realise their sheep are infested with biting lice during late autumn and winter, when sheep having more than 6 months’ wool start biting and scratching themselves. A number of conditions may cause sheep to itch. The farmer will see sheep rubbing themselves against fences and gateposts, leaving…
Question: Could you tell me which formulas I can use as self-mix lick supplements for goats and sheep in summer and winter, and which feed lick can be used to grow weaners (sheep and goats)? The most important source of food is always the natural veld or artificial pasture. If…
We continue our series about raising kids and lambs. Here, we deal with management. Ensure that ewes or does have been checked for udder health, that their vaccinations are up to date and that they are properly fed. Also read: Protect your assets and vaccinate sheep and goats by following this…
Question: What are the nutritional requirements for raising kids and lambs? Nutrition starts with the mother. If ewes or does are poorly fed while pregnant, the offspring won’t grow well inside the mother. They’ll be small, weak and thin at birth and liable to die from factors such as cold, wind,…
Question: There’s a little hole between the 2 parts of my sheep’s hooves. If squeezed, something that looks like pus comes out. Is this an infection? And if it is, how should I treat it? All sheep have a big gland that lies between the two parts of each hoof,…
Question: When is the best time to shear sheep? There is no ideal time that applies to every farm, and the decision depends on a number of factors. Other farm activities such as ploughing, sowing or reaping crops. These will interfere with shearing, where the farmer’s attention should be, as this…
To improve production, enhance your available grazing and provide supplements for nutrient deficiencies – especially during feed shortages. One of the best things a sheep or goat farmer can do is to plan lambing for when grazing is plentiful, because the lambs will then have a better chance of survival.…
Question: There have been recent media reports about deaths from Listeriosis in people in South Africa. Does the disease also occur in animals? Listeriosis does occur in animals and is caused by a bacterium [germ] called Listeria monocytogenes. Three syndromes occur, and these are meningitis and encephalitis, abortions or still-births, and…
The Namibian Van Rooy Sheep Breeders Association has launched a handbook to guide farmers in the breeding and management of this rare breed amid concerns over its declining population. The handbook was launched at the recent commemoration of the National Van Rooy Sheep Day, which was attended by both large…
Farmers have to keep rams in top condition to ensure good reproductive performance and profitability in a small stock herd. Rams have a very important role in sheep production. But, although they are the most expensive animals on the farm, they sometimes don’t receive the correct attention until they are…
This five-point assessment method allows farmers to identify several diseases and parasites in their small livestock. This enables you to diagnose and prevent diseases and death on your farm. 1. NOSE AREA Nasal discharge By checking the nose, you can immediately see if there are any sign of nasal worm…
Eastern Cape wool farmers received some much-needed shearing equipment from Bayer South Africa as part of an initiative to support communal wool farmers in the region. “Having the correct equipment is central to bolster efficiency and production volumes for these farming communities that are already pooling their resources together,” Bayer…
Ovine Johne’s disease, or OJD, is also called Paratuberculosis. As this last name indicates, it is related to tuberculosis and is a definite concern for all sheep farmers. It can get onto a farm mainly when a farmer buys sheep that are infected, but show no signs of ill health.…
Need some advice and information on small stock farming? Look no further, we compiled all of the sheep and goat articles produced on Africanfarming.com so far in this one post, so you as a farmer can have all the information in one place. GENERAL Putting goat farming on the map…
Dr. Pierre Jansen van Vuuren, of MSD Animal Health, presents a useful video on good practices for medicating small stock. He discusses animal handling facilities and demonstrates the subcutaneous and the intramuscular injection. He also shows how to apply pour-on dips, how to do spot treatment and a method for…
The profitability and sustainability of livestock farming is under severe pressure. Fortunately, top farmer Mecki Schneider has excellent advice for extensive cattle and sheep farmers. This is the first delivery in a three part series on ten tips for the restoration of livestock farming. Livestock farming across Southern Africa is struggling due…
Vaccine programmes differ from area to area and even from farm to farm, depending on temperature, rainfall, season, local disease outbreaks, farm specific resistance and resilience and of course - management. There is no one-size-fits-all schedule. It’s up to you to make sure that your particular programme caters for your…
There is no room for inefficient livestock farming if we are to become food secure on the continent. For this to happen there must be transfer of health care knowledge through extension services in the livestock industry. Small-scale commercial livestock farmers who farm cattle and small-stock on communal grazing lands…
Fredalette Uys talks to Carole Kirkwood-Pretorius who has swapped her city life for farm life with no regrets. Carole keeps her farming business going in hard times by combining a talent for business with shrewd management skills and a diverse, multi-layered, enterprise mix. Silence blankets the air above the flat,…
