sheeps and goats

• Small Ruminants


  Sheep and Goats
• Classification of small ruminants

  • Sheep
  • Goats
  • Camelids
  • Alpacas
  • Llamas
  • Cervids
  • Deer
• Generalizations about sheep and goats


  • There is great phenotypic variety
  • Body sizes can range from less than 80 lbs to 350 lbs
  • Nigerian Dwarf Goats – avg. BW = 75 lb.
  • Males ~19-20 inches, females 17 to 19 inches tall
  • Suffolk sheep - Ram: 275 – 400 pounds, Ewe: 200 – 300 pounds
  • Male body weight (BW) > Female BW
  • Single birth weight > Twin birth weight
  • Domestic sheep and goats can be polled or horned
  • Nose - Straight vs roman
  • Life span – 16 – 18 yrs
  • Generally useful 7 – 8 yrs
  • Body Temperature 102.5 °F (102-104 range)
• Sheep Terminology


  • Ovis aries (genus species)
  • Flock (group of animals)
  • Shepherd (care giver)
  • Lambs (newborns)
  • Ram lambs (young intact males)
  • Wether (castrated male)
  • Ewe lamb (young female)
  • Ram (adult male)
  • Ewe (adult female)
  • Ovine (Latin adjective)
• • Are sheep intelligent? No
  • Do sheep have the ability to learn? Yes, they are creatures of habit
  • Are sheep responsive to people and handling? Yes
  • They respond well to :
  • They do not respond well to :
• Are sheep gregarious?
• Sheep industry


  • Sheep are raised for
  • Most of the control of the sheep market is in Asia, New Zealand, and Australia
  • The US sheep industry has seen a dramatic decrease over the past decades - after WW2
  • Most of the lamb consumption is concentrated on the east coast
  • 1.9% decline from 2023-2024)
  • According to the USDA, there are 5.03 million head of sheep and lambs in the US today, with Texas and California leading in production
  • This number may seem large, but in the scope of American animal agriculture, it is shockingly low
  • Sheep and lamb production makes up less than 1% of the American livestock industry
  • In 1867, approximately 45 million sheep were in the US, peaking at 56 million head in 1945 (WW2)
• Hurdles in the sheep industry


  • Predation
  • Internal Parasites
  • Diseases
  • High feed and energy costs
  • Low production efficiency
  • Requires skilled labor
  • Lower consumption
  • Consolidation of sheep packing industry
  • Competition from imports of lamb cuts
• Structure of the Sheep and Goat Industries


  • The U.S. industry is made up of producers, lamb feeders (not so much with goats), lamb processors, wool buyers/warehouses, shearers, and other support industries
  • Sheep production systems in the United States are usually categorized as farm flocks with fewer than 100 breeding ewes (94% of operations, 36% of ewes) and operations with 500 or more breeding ewes (1% of operations, 44% of ewes)
• U.S. % of Operations by Sheep Flock Size


  • Ag Census, 2017
• Sheep, lamb, and wool farm cash receipts as a percentage of animal agriculture's cash receipts, 2010-2016 is less than 1%
• Wool Terminology


  • Fleece – the wool from one sheep
  • Grease wool – amount of wool shorn from one flock
  • Crimp – number of waves per inch
  • Finer wool
  • Course or fine – equal to the diameter of shaft
  • Yolk – natural oil produced by sheep
  • Decrease in wool market with the availability of synthetic materials
• Wool


  • A type of fiber
  • Types of fibers – from course wool to polyester
  • Crimp – number of waves per inch
  • Course or fine - equal to the diameter of shaft
• Goat Terminology


  • Capra hircus (genus species)
  • Herd (group of animals)
  • Goat herder (care giver)
  • Kids (newborns)
  • Bucklings (young intact males)
  • Wether (castrated male)
  • Doeling (young female)
  • Buck (billy) (adult male)
  • Doe (nanny) (adult female)
  • Caprine (Latin adjective)
• Parts of a Goat
• General information on Goats


  • Are goats intelligent?
  • Are goats more timid or curious than sheep?
  • Are goats responsive to people and handling?
  • Can goats be conditioned for a routine?
• Goat industry


  • Goats are raised for
  • The US has seen an increase in the goat industry in the past years, but stabilized
  • All goats and kids inventory in the United States on January 1, 2024 totaled 2.47 million head, down 2 percent from 2023
  • Breeding goat inventory totaled 2.03 million head, down 2 percent from 2023
  • Market goats and kids totaled 438,700 head, down 4 percent from a year ago
  • Kid crop for 2023 totaled 1.52 million head for all goats, down 2 percent from 2022
  • Meat and all other goats totaled 1.95 million head on January 1, 2024, down 3 percent from 2023
  • Milk goat inventory was 415,000 head, up 1 percent from January 1, 2023, while Angora goats were down 2 percent, totaling 105,000 head
• Goat industry had Growth between 1995 and 2015. Why?


  • Rise in popularity and demand for goat meat is the primary reason for the industry's rapid growth
  • Increased ethnic populations
  • Ethnic populations purchase goats/meat for holidays and celebrations
  • Interest in dairy products
  • Saw growth from 2022 to 2023
  • Can be raised on small plots of land
  • Small investment
  • Adapted to sparse vegetation
  • Less competition from other producers
  • Prolificacy
• Top sheep/goat producers in the US


  • Texas
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Wyoming
  • Utah
• Types of small ruminant production systems


  • Farm flocks and range flocks
  • Seed stock
  • Feedlots (lambs, not goats)
  • Stocker
  • Dairy
  • 4H club lambs and kids
  • Landscape Management
  • Leisure/entertainment activities (Goat yoga!)
• Meat production


  • Primary income is from the sale of live animals for meat or the sale of meat
  • Most popular sheep and goat enterprise
  • Feedlots common in sheep, not with goats
• Dairy production


  • Primary income is from the sale of milk, cheese, or other dairy products
  • Similar operations to those in dairy cattle just a much smaller scale
• Fiber production


  • Fiber sales comprise a significant portion of the income
  • Fiber types: Wool, Mohair, Cashmere, Hair sheep breeds
• Landscape management


  • Land improvement on or off of farm
  • Fee-based grazing
  • Requires: Transportation, Movable fences
• Production traits


  • Market Age (5 – 7 months sheep, 4 – 8 months goats)
  • Market Weight (134 lbs sheep, 40 – 80 lbs goats)
  • ADG (Average Daily Gain) (.5 - .8 lbs sheep, .15 - .5 lbs goats)
  • Feed : gain (grain) (5 – 8 lbs sheep, 5 – 12 lbs goats)
  • Milk yield, daily (3 – 7.5 lbs sheep, 5 – 6.5 lbs goats)
  • Fiber Yield (5 – 14 lbs sheep, 8 – 16 lbs goats)
  • Carcass Weight (60 – 75 lbs sheep, 24 – 40 lbs goats)
  • Dressing percentage (48 – 56% sheep, 45 -52% goats)
• What do you need to raise sheep and goats?


  • Land
  • Feed
  • Fencing
  • Housing and shelter
  • Feeders
  • Watering system
  • Skilled labor
• Aging Sheep and Goats


  By looking at the teeth - 1 year old: 1st permanent incisors (2), 2 year old: 2nd set of permanent incisors (4)
• Nutrition: Sheep and Goats


  • Plays a major role in the overall productivity, health, and well-being
  • Feed costs – approx. 2/3 of total cost of prod.
  • Nutrient requirements vary with differences in
• Ruminant Gastrointestinal Tract (Sheep)


  • Rumen
• Feeding and Nutrition


  • High proportion of diet = 75 to 90% of total diet
  • Grain given when needed at certain times during production cycle
  • Lambs/kids can be finished to acceptable market grade without need for grain
  • Forage utilization maximized, grain minimized in small ruminants more than other species
• Sheep are grazers


  • Grasses, Clover (legumes)
  • Toxicity of interest: copper
• Goats Browsers


  • Broad leaf plants, Forbes (weed like plants), Trees
  • Two problems that can lead to inefficient consumption of feed: Monkey jaw – undershot jaw, Parrot mouth – over shot jaw
  • Due to the types of forages eaten goats and cattle can be raised on the same pastures
• Lambing/Kidding


  • Critical period for producers
  • Economic return from ewe or doe (except for wool/hair/milk) depends on lamb/kid survival
  • Newborn must receive colostrum in first hour
  • If can't nurse, give colostrum via stomach tube
  • Nurse their dams until weaned (2 to 3 months)
  • Milk replacer if needed – formulated for sheep and goats
  • Lambs- dock tails
  • Castrate males: age varies depending on method. Band 1 to 7 days, Emasculator: 1 to 6 weeks
• Feeding Lambs
• Body condition Score for sheep and goats - very important to monitor body condition throughout the year
• Don't forget the Water!!
• Breeding and Reproduction

  • Short-day breeders (Fall)
  • Seasonally polyestrous
  • Some breeds are less seasonal – can breed in spring for fall lambs. Conception rate not as good.
  • Know the seasonal patterns of the lambing breed that you are going to work with. Breed variations exist.
  • Gulf Coast Native (can breed in summer) vs Suffolk (seasonal, fall)
  • Estrous cycle - Sheep: 17 days, Goats: 21 days
  • Estrus or Standing Heat: 24 – 30 hours
  • Gestation Length: 147 – 150 days
• Breeding and Reproduction


  • Puberty – highly variable depending on breed
  • Males 8 months, Females 10 month
  • Ewe lambs/doelings should not be bred until they achieve approximately 70 percent of their mature size (weight)
  • Prolificacy - 50% singles, 45% twins, 3% triplets
• Shepherds often toss around three terms when discussing ewes


  • Fertility - number of lambings per year
  • Fecundity - number of lambs produced per year
  • Prolificacy - "litter" size (single, twins, triplets, quadruplets)
• Most Common Internal Parasite

  • Haemonchus contortus - "Barber pole worm", Stomach worm, Blood worm, Causes anemia
  • Increasing drug resistance has cause problems with effective parasite control for producers