great lakes dairy sheep symposium - the Department of Animal ...

During the last 15 years, the average milk yield (in the milking-only period) increased from
64 liters (61 %) for the MRF, 37 litres for the MBF (42 %) and 45 liters for the BB (44 %). In
2005, the milk production recorded in the nucleus was :
- Manech Red Face : 168 liters in 150 days milking only period
- Manech Black Face : 126 liters in 134 days milking only period
- Basco-Bearnaise : 147 liters in 142 days milking only period
Due to the pyramidal organization of the genetic program, the level of production in the
nucleus flocks, submitted to an official milk recording (in average, 158 liters in 146 days) is
higher than in the rest of the population. The difference represents about 15 years of selection.
The annual genetic gain for milk yield explained a large part of these evolutions.
According to the cheese maker demand, the dairy selection objective was revised at the
beginning of the 2000s in order to take into account milk composition (fat and protein contents).
The new goal is to improve the cheese quantity, both by improving the quantity of milk yield and
stabilizing the milk composition. In 2002, the selection for scrapie resistance was implemented.
2. The Management System
2.1. Breeding system
Like other Mediterranean dairy sheep livestock, the Pyrenees breeding system is based on
out-of-season lambing, from October to January for adult ewes. The ewes are milked after a
suckling period of about one month and dried off in July or August, when dairy factories stop or
reduce their activities. During summer, traditional mountain cheese making goes on, particularly
in Béarn. The lambs are slaughtered at weaning (1 month old) for Christmas (traditional period
of consumption of this type of lamb, particularly in Spain). The young ewes lambed in
February/March, and the lambs are slaughtered during Easter period. After the suckling period,
the ewes are milked twice a day. The cooled milk is collected every day, or more often every 2
days, from November to August.
2.2. Feeding
Sheep graze all through the year, but during winter, pasture represents only about 25 % of the
ration. Other forage is given in the barn. For a daily production of 1.75 liters (early lactation),
example rations are:
Ex1: 1.4 kg dry matter hay + 0.55 kg corn (grain) + pasture
Ex2: 0.35 kg hay + 0.30 kg corn silage + 0.25 alfalfa hay (lucerne)
+ 0.3 corn (grain) + pasture
The amount of stored feed for one ewe for the year is 210 kg of forage and 80 kg of
concentrate (yc concentrate for the young female). We can estimate that pasture represents about
50 % of the feeding resources. Sheep graze separately from the cattle. In general, the best forage
of the farm is given in priority to the sheep. In May or June, sheep and cattle go to collective
pasture (sometimes located in high mountains). The ewes are milked by hand and the milk is
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