Best Management Practices

Youth Market Lamb Projects

by Susan Schoenian
Sheep and Goat Specialist
University of Maryland Cooperative Extension
Date created or last revised: 20-Feb-2008

Docking and castrating

A lamb’s tail is usually docked (shortened, not removed) to prevent fecal matter (“poop”) from accumulating on its tail and hindquarters, which could result in fly strike (wool maggots), a painful, sometimes fatal condition in lambs. Male (ram) lambs must be castrated (neutered) in order to be shown in youth market lamb shows. Wether lambs (castrated ram lambs) are easier for youth to manage and produce more desirable carcasses.

The most common method of docking and castrating lambs is to place a rubber ring around the tail (or scrotum) using an elastrator. The ring cuts off blood supply to the tail (or scrotum) and the tail (scrotum) eventually falls off. Sometimes, the “dead” tail or scrotum is cut off. Banding is painful to lambs and should be done when the lamb is between 1 and 7 days of age.

The tail should be docked no shorter than the distal end (farthest point from the body) of the caudal tail fold. The caudal fold is a flap of skin attached to the underside of the tail near the rectum that is clearly visible when the tail is lifted.

This is in agreement with the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Small Ruminant Practitioners, and the American Sheep Industry Association. It is a practice that gives a 99 percent probability that the lamb’s tail will be at least 0.7 inches long at the time of show (or market). Research has shown lambs with shorter tail docks (less than 0.7 inches) fed high concentrate diets have more rectal prolapses than lambs with longer tail docks.

When purchasing lambs, select lambs whose tail docks are at least 1.4 inches long at the time of “weaning.” This will give a high probability that the lamb’s dock will measure at least 0.7 inches at the time of show (or market).

Consideration should be given to docking ewe lambs longer than ram or wether lambs, as ewe lambs are more prone to rectal prolapses. Many ewe lambs are kept for breeding. A short tail dock makes a ewe lamb more likely to have a vaginal prolapse. It is not necessary to dock the tails of hair sheep (e.g. Katahdin) or rat-tailed (e.g. Finn) lambs.

Purchased lambs should already be docked, castrated, and properly healed. Late docking and castrating compromises the welfare of the lamb and should NOT be done. Do not purchase lambs from breeders who engage in these inhumane practices.

Feeding and nutrition

Forage (hay and/or grass) should be included in the diets of ALL lambs. Sheep are ruminants. Their “stomach” is divided into four compartments. They chew their cud (previously swallowed food). While ruminants can adjust to mostly grain diets, their digestive systems were designed to consume tough plant material. Lambs should have forage in their diets to ensure a healthy digestive system. Forage in the diet helps to prevent health problems such as free gas bloat, acidosis (grain poisoning), enterotoxemia (overeating disease), polioencephalomalacia (polio), urinary calculi (kidney stones), and rectal prolapses.

A small amount of forage (1 lb. per day) does usually not result in a big hay belly. At the same time, it’s okay to remove the hay from the diet of the lamb a day or two before the show, but you should not feed any extra grain to compensate for the loss of hay in the diet.

When feeding concentrate diets (grain or meal products), lambs should be fed rations that have been specifically formulated for lambs. They should not be fed goat, cattle, dairy, horse, pig, rabbit, or chicken feed due to the copper content in these feeds. Sheep have a low tolerance for excess copper in their diets. It is a good idea to feed rations that contain Bovatec® or Deccox® to prevent coccidiosis. Ammonium chloride in the ration will help to prevent urinary calculi. It is not necessary to feed a ration that contains antibiotics or other feed additives.

It’s okay to mix your own feed ration for your lambs, but the ration needs to be 100% nutritionally balanced with the proper amounts of protein, energy, vitamins, and minerals. For example, feeding corn by itself or corn and soybean meal together is not a good feed for lambs. While corn is very high in energy, it is low in protein and calcium. Both rations would have a poor balance of calcium to phosphorus, which could lead to kidney stones in male lambs. This is why it’s best to buy commercial lamb feeds which are 100% nutritionally balanced for lambs. Other feeds should not be added to complete feeds, because they will change the balance of nutrients in the ration and could result in the lambs getting sick.

It is best to hand feed lambs twice per day. Hand feeding is when you give the lambs the amount of feed they will eat in 15 to 20 minutes. Three feedings per day is suggested if larger amounts of grain are being fed to encourage faster gain. It is important to feed at the same time each day. When starting lambs on grain, start by feeding small amounts (1/4 to ½ lb.). Increase the amount of grain in the ration slowly and NEVER make abrupt changes in the ration. You should always weigh your feed so you’ll know how much you’re feeding.

Hand feeding allows you to more closely monitor the health and performance of your lambs. Ideally, you should weigh your lambs to monitor their growth rate. Another way to monitor the progress of your lambs is to feel for fat cover over their backbone, ribs, and loin. When feeling a lamb, keep your fingers together and use the pad of your fingers, not your fingertips, to feel the lamb. If you have a hard time feeling a lamb’s bones, it is probably getting fat. If the bones feel sharp, the lamb is probably too thin. Realize that lambs have different skin types and may feel different to you.

After feeding, feeders should be removed from the pen or turned over. If the feeders cannot be moved out of the reach of the lambs, they should be cleaned before any new feed is added. Feed, including hay, should not be fed on the ground. This can spread diseases. It will also waste feed, making your project more expensive.

Make sure you start with the right size lambs for your fair or show. If the lambs you start with are too big (or old), they may get too fat too soon. If you try to maintain a big lamb’s weight, the lamb may not meet the show’s requirement for rate-of-gain. If the lambs you start with are too small (or young), they may not make the show’s requirements for minimum weight or rate-of-gain.

It is a good idea to provide your lambs with a free choice mineral mix or plain salt. Loose mineral is preferred to blocks. This will encourage the lambs to drink water which helps to prevent urinary calculi.

Ewe lambs
Ewe lambs should be fed separately from wether lambs. They should not be fed for maximum rate-of-gain. Research has shown that ewe lambs that receive too much feed before they reach puberty (sexual maturity) will deposit fat in their udders, resulting in a decreased amount of milk for their offspring.

Since ewe lambs already have more internal fat (fat around their internal organs) than male lambs, extra nutrition will also make them more likely to have a rectal prolapse. Overfeeding can also have a negative effect on the reproductive performance of ram lambs.

Water
Water is the most important nutrient that lambs require. It should NEVER be restricted. Lambs should have access to fresh, clean water at all times. The amount of water they drink will depend upon the environmental temperature, the cleanliness and temperature of the water, and the amount of moisture in their diet. Sheep do not like to drink dirty water. If you’re not willing to drink their water, don’t expect them to. Lambs that do not drink adequate water eat less and gain less weight.

Exercise

Lambs should have adequate exercise and be raised in an environment that allows them to express their natural behavior. If your lambs do not have a large pen or access to pasture, they should be removed from their pen daily for exercise. Taking them for a walk is the best form of exercise. Some running, jumping hurdles, or going up and down hills is okay, but make sure you exercise your lambs in the coolest part of the day. Your lambs should always have access to shelter or natural shade.

Excessive exercise should be avoided. Lambs should NOT be dragged behind ATVs or lawn tractors. Chariots and treadmills should NOT be used to force exercise lambs. Track dogs incite fear in lambs and should not be used to exercise lambs.

It’s important to remember that you are NOT raising an athlete that is going to compete in a race or body building contest. You are raising an animal that somebody is going to eat. Lambs that feel rock hard are NOT good to eat. Some exercise practices promote rectal prolpases.

Health care

Whenever you’re not sure what to do about your lambs, it’s best to call your 4-H leader, an experienced shepherd, or a large animal veterinarian. Make sure you have a veterinarian for your 4-H sheep project.

Vaccinations
Lambs should be vaccinated twice (with the toxoid product) for overeating disease (clostridium perfringins type C & D) and tetanus. If purchased lambs were not vaccinated for CD-T or their vaccination status is unknown, give them two shots of CD-T, 2 to 4 weeks apart. The injection should be given under the skin, preferably under the front leg. Shots should never be given in the loin, rump, or legs, because these are valuable parts of the lamb carcass. Injections can damage muscle tissue. Use a clean needle for each injection. Pregnant ewes should be vaccinated about a month before lambing so that they pass antibodies to their lambs via the colostrum (first milk).

Worm control
Worms are one of the most common health problems affecting lambs. However, they are a normal part of the sheep’s digestive system. The purpose of deworming is to prevent sickness, not to eliminate all of the worms in the sheep’s gut. Worms are only a problem if there are too many of them and they are making the lamb sick. In fact, sheep need to be exposed to some parasites so that they will be able to develop immunity to them.

Lambs get infected with parasites when they consume infective worm larvae that is on the pasture. The shorter the pasture is the more larvae they will consume. Lambs that are raised in confinement or dry lot are not at a high risk for worms. Well-fed lambs also have the ability to tolerate parasites better than those that are underfed or sickly.

Lambs should be dewormed only if they need it. They should not be dewormed on a regular basis. Frequent deworming has created “super” worms which are resistant to dewormers. Resistant worms cannot be killed by the dewormer, which means some dewormers may not work on your lambs.

You can tell if a sheep needs dewormed by looking at the color of the membranes of its lower eyelids. A pale color (white or pinkish white) is a sign of anemia (low red blood cells) which is the primary symptom of barber pole worm infection. The barber pole worm (Haemonchus contortus) is the primary worm affecting lambs. It is a blood sucking worm that causes blood and protein loss, not diarrhea.

You can look at the feces of a lamb (under a microscope) to see what species of worm eggs are present and to find out how many worm eggs your lamb is passing in its feces. Make sure your veterinarian tells you how many eggs are in the feces, not just if there are some eggs. By itself, a fecal analysis does not tell you whether or not your lamb needs dewormed. However, you can evaluate fecal samples before and after deworming to determine if the drug was effective.

Lambs should be dewormed with anthelmintics (drugs) that are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in sheep. These include Valbazen® drench, Ivomec® drench, Primectin® drench, Prohibit® drench, Tramisol® drench or oblets, and Cydectin® drench. Use of any other product(s) requires veterinary approval. All dewormers should be given to sheep in the mouth, over the tongue using a dosing syringe with a long metal nozzle.

If you see tapeworm segments (flat, rice-like segments) in the feces of your lambs, there is usually no reason to worry or give a dewormer, as tapeworms do not usually make lambs sick. Valbazen® is the only FDA-approved dewormer for sheep that is effective against tapeworms. It should not be given to ewes 30 days prior to after breeding.

Scours (diarrhea)
Diarrhea is another factor that can cause a lamb to prolapse its rectum. There can be many causes of diarrhea in lambs. Infectious causes (bacteria, viruses, protozoa) can spread from one animal to another, while non-infectious causes (worms, nutrition, management, stress) are not contagious. The most common cause of diarrhea in lambs is usually coccidia, a single-cell protozoa (parasite)that damages the lining of the small intestines. The drugs used to treat coccidiosis are different from those used to treat stomach worms and require veterinary approval.

The inclusion of Bovatec® or Deccox® in the ration will help to prevent coccidiosis. There is no slaughter withdrawal for lambs consuming these products. The best protection from coccidiosis is good sanitation and management. Many cases of diarrhea are self limiting, meaning they will generally go away on their own.

Coughing
Simple coughing is not usually a sign of lungworms or serious respiratory disease. Coughing can be the result of many things, such as poor ventilation, dusty feeds, or an obstruction in the airway. Excessive coughing may cause a lamb to prolapse its rectum. A clear, mucous discharge from the nose is not usually a sign of infection. You should take the rectal temperature of any lamb that is coughing excessively or showing other signs of respiratory distress. The normal body temperature of a sheep is 102-103º F. A temperature significantly above 103ºF could be indicative of an infection, in which case an antibiotic should be administered.

Scrapie
Make sure any sheep you buy have been ear-tagged with scrapie tags from the farm where they were born. If you are raising your own lambs, contact the USDA-APHIS office (in MD, 301-349-9708) in your area to register your farm and get free ear tags and pliers. Any sheep that leaves your properly should have a scrapie tag. Health papers require scrapie tag numbers.

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