The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: in the hills on January 21, 2013, 06:09:24 pm
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Following on from the thread about "First lambing/ feeding" can anyone throw any light on condition scoring. ??? Most of my ewes are tame enough to handle but I don't fully understand how to condition score. Even in the summer, when on very good grazing, they feel quite skinny underneath their wool. They look well and in good health. They are Soay.
They have no grazing as such at the moment (even once the snow has thawed) and so have ad-lib hay and red high energy lick buckets. Last year I fed a small amount of ewe nuts daily, increasing as lambing approached ..... only about 4 handfuls per ewe. Twins that were produced seemed quite small but a farmer friend thought that the singles were surprisingly large compared to the size of our ewes. He said that he had seen smaller commercial singles. Most ewes lambed with ease but the ewe that seemed to take a little longer produced the largest of our singles.
Reading the post by VSS should I feed concentrate at all to our Soay or just hay and licks ??? Don't want to cause problems by over feeding and can't seem to get the idea of condition scoring.
Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks.
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IMO soay lambs and indeed a lot of the primitive breed lambs look almost embryonic when 1st born as they are so tiny :love:
Make for easy birthing! I judge them on the way they grow away they may be born teeny but they grow like weeds!
I will let someone else explain condition scoring, especially regarding primitives as I am rubbish at it!
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I have no idea on primitives but commercials and bigger breeds you feel backbone And ribs. If both or very prominent they are 1-3 rough, if a bit of covering but still can feel then 4-5, the more covering the higher the score. You are aiming with bigger ones I think to be around 4, anything heavier risks problems lambing, anything less may risk twin lamb disease etc.
My 3 BWM must be about 9 at moment!! Thankfully they are not pregnant but they keep very good condition on no hay and only about 6 nuts each. Mind you they do hAve 10 acres of grass to themselves!
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Google condition scoring of sheep full explanations pictures etc
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I'm told that primitives don't put on backfat like commercials, they lay down their fat internally, so assessing fatness is difficult.
I'd aim to have them not too thin, therefore. If you can feel the ridge of the spine sticking up, they're too thin. When you have some where you can feel the backbone but only if you press, feel their tailbones (rub your fingers along the sides of the tail) - that will probably be a good guide for you.
Eblex' leaflet "Manual 1 - Marketing prime lamb for better returns" covers condition scoring. Download it from the Better Returns - Sheep literature page (http://www.eblex.org.uk/returns/Better-returns-sheep.aspx)
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As Sally says, primitives store their fat internally. They have a lower expected Condition Score than commercials and anything above about 3 is high for a primitive. Hebrideans for example should have a score of about 2.5 during pregnancy, and I would say the same holds for Soays. This means that you can feel the backbone, although you shouldn't be able to tuck your fingers under the edge - that is too thin. I wouldn't worry about them being too fat, rather about them being too thin and risking twin lamb disease, as there is less margin for error between normal and too thin. They are not a greedy breed so will usually regulate their intake, as long as you offer what they need.
Because Soays are so small, one possible way to assess their condition is simply to lift them up - you will soon find it easy to judge any which are too light. Initially you could use the bathroom scales to weigh yourself with and without a sheep in your arms, then subtract your weight from the total to find the sheep's weight (Soay ewes are somewhere between about 23 and 27 kgs) Obviously during pregnancy you wouldn't do this, but if you are used to doing it for the rest of the flock you will soon learn which look in good condition and which don't. Soays don't have thick fleece (except at birth) so it's easier to see rib cages than with big fleecey sheep.
We have, over the years, seen one or two tup lambs which struggle in their first winter to keep any condition on, so keep an eye on them.
Condition scoring is really a tool for commercial sheep breeders. It can be useful with primitives once you are approaching marketable age for hoggs/shearlings (or 2shears for Soay) although I tend to extend the assessment and have a good feel of their gigots all over - they fit a surprising amount of meat there, presumably from all their jumping about
As for how much to feed them when in lamb - first off, we don't feed ewe nuts as they seem so big for little Soay mouths :) so we use Carr's Champion Tup - this means they can still get a little after lambing when there are males around, sampling the feed. Hand sizes vary so you are best to weigh their ration initially and calculate what you are feeding them. Over winter a tiny sprinkle is enough, then you would start to increase it a bit in the six weeks prior to lambing, as you would with commercials, reaching a max just before lambing. I can't suggest an actual amount as that will vary with condition of the sheep, availability of pasture, hay quality and local climate. However, they need nothing like as much as commercials. Soays don't have triplets (although they do rarely on very good pasture) but have about half and half twins and singles, unless they are in very hard conditions when they will mostly have singles, or one large and one small twins, where the smaller has a high chance of dying - that would seem to be an inate way of giving one lamb a chance of survival if the spring is poor, but also the option for two to survive if the spring suddenly has better conditions.
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Condition scoring is really a tool for commercial sheep breeders.
I can't say I agree with that.
I accept that it may not work very well for primitives because they are a bit different, but in general it is a very useful way for flock owners to guage the body condition of their sheep and a usefull way of indicating how much condition an animal should be carrying at different times of the year.
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I agree with VSS. I condition score after weaning, pre-tupping and every time the pregnant ewes are gathered. When they're in full fleece it can be impossible to estimate their condition by sight and anything losing weight since the last time she was handled may have an underlying problem, such as teeth, that shows she needs attention and extra feed right away, or you could lose her to twin lamb disease or lose the lambs due to low birthweights.
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I have been condition scoring for the first time. It isn't that easy when you start because you don't know what 'normal' is but hopefully as I get more used to the feel of my sheep I will understand what is thin and fat for them. I'm getting there though ;D
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I feel them with my hand round their backbone (thumb one side, fingers the other), in the gap after their ribs and before their pelvis.
If you squeeze and your hand can go in underneath here, they're too thin, 2 or less. If there's a bit of resistance to that, then they're about right, 3.
If you can clearly see backbone and pelvis bones they're too thin.
If they are the shape of a football and especially if they also only move when encouraged with a foot, they're too fat ;) Anything inbetween is fine.
I like my sheep around 3 before lambing.
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If you can get to a market you could go through the pens and get the feel for as many sheep as possible. It's only by touching lots of sheep that you get a "feel" for what back fat is if you have a friendly farmer or dealer near to you perhaps you could go through his/her sheep when they have them gathered in. The more sheep you touch the more experience you will get for condition.
We went to a seminar recently run by a sheep society who had a buyer there willing to talk about back fat and condition and what he was looking for, a variety of sheep were on offer to touch and grade, even though we do it all the time it was fun to enter the competition to score the ewes and lambs and for the newcomers it was valuable experience. So look out for days like these or short courses run by NSA etc
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NSA run the South Sheep and North Sheep / Scot Sheep shows, at which Eblex have stands. There may be other shows Eblex have a stand at too - check Eblex' events page.
Eblex do the condition scoring exercise; as well as having live lambs and lambs on the hook, and usuallly a competition to grade both types, they have a model of a lamb with layers of fat that can be added and taken away so you can see and feel exactly what you are doing - it's very realistic and really helps you 'get' what it is you are feeling for. There are 5 points you are supposed to grade, many of us just use one or two (and that's fine for looking at health but for assessing fat lambs you need all 5.)
Eblex will also have loads of sheep's feet and will show you how to trim and what the various foot conditions look like.
I always spend an hour or so at Eblex' stand and I always learn something.
Their next 'Sheep Live to Dead' event is at Launceston - linky (http://Sheep Live to Dead Event - Launceston)
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for my sins i help a friend show her sheep. second from last show of 2012 the judge kindly did a demonstration for those of us that did not know how to condition score. take one hand and draw a fist with the other hand feel your knuckes = under done next feel between fingers (squidgy) = too fat, next feel the back of the hand just right.
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for my sins i help a friend show her sheep. second from last show of 2012 the judge kindly did a demonstration for those of us that did not know how to condition score. take one hand and draw a fist with the other hand feel your knuckes = under done next feel between fingers (squidgy) = too fat, next feel the back of the hand just right.
Um... doesn't it depend on how fat your hand is? :eyelashes: :innocent:
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for my sins i help a friend show her sheep. second from last show of 2012 the judge kindly did a demonstration for those of us that did not know how to condition score. take one hand and draw a fist with the other hand feel your knuckes = under done next feel between fingers (squidgy) = too fat, next feel the back of the hand just right.
Um... doesn't it depend on how fat your hand is? :eyelashes: :innocent:
Doesn't work for me, I've got skinny hands.
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InTheHills, for condition scoring for Soays I second what Fleecewife says - I've never felt one that had reached 3 on the conventional scoring system. Even the one that was a handreared orphan who at times looks like a barrel you can still feel all the bones in her spine very clearly.
I generally check their condition by eye. Look for the hip bones becoming prominent and also their stance. If they are losing condition they tend to stand with their back arched and their back legs bent and 'tucked under' a bit. Take particular care with any with particularly thick fleeces, they do vary quite a bit, as they can look in better condition than they are. Picking them up is a good test - especially for lambs.
At this time of year we feed mainly ad-lib hay with a small quantity of ewe nuts and we also have mineral licks out. We don't lamb until April-May (:sunshine:)so by the time they are approaching lambing the grass is ususally taking over from the hay. We increase the ration of nuts a bit but nowhere near what the books recommend for a 'standard' flock. Do take care not to overfeed, as the lambs can get to a size where the ewes struggle to get them out. If you get the balance right you will rarely have to help at all.
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Thanks all. Have already had a few attempts using methods given. Can feel the bones in their spine but no more than I can when they are on good grass in the height of summer so I am going to assume that this must be how Soay are and just use this as a guide rather than the conventional scoring system.