Dairy Sheep Symposium - the Department of Animal Sciences ...
Dairy Sheep Symposium - the Department of Animal Sciences ... Dairy Sheep Symposium - the Department of Animal Sciences ...
8.00% 7.00% 6.00% 5.00% 4.00% 3.00% 2.00% 1.00% 0.00% Chart 3: Comparisons of Protein April May June July August Sept. Protein 2000 Protein 2001 Genetic improvement and good flock management are both essential to improving production. Great strides can be noted in the first few years of integrating dairy sheep genetics into the flock. However, in order to continue to realize production and component increases, it will soon become necessary to seriously explore sire referencing programs with close monitoring of many progeny. At this time, we can only hope that using the rams from our best ewes will pass the desired characteristics onto their offspring. Ewe Flock Health Ewes are dewormed in the fall prior to breeding with Safeguard (if still milking) or Valbazon. They are dewormed just prior to lambing with Safeguard, and then during the summer, only if there seem to be clinical signs of infestation. This will depend on management practices. In 2001, ewes were grazed from May through the fall and showed very limited, if any signs of internal parasites. However, we did not graze intensively this year with ewes eating high on the plants. Ewes are vaccinated just before lambing with Covex 8. This provides protection against some of the nasty bacteria that can lead to toxic mastitis. East Fresians seldom need hoof trimming which saves labor and minimizes hoof problems. Udders, stomachs, and legs are usually free of wool or have very little wool cover. This helps to reduce the probability of manure or vegetable material getting into the milking system. We do not pre-wash or pre-dip teats, but teats are post-dipped with a commercial iodinebased teat dip. CMT (California Mastitis Test) solution is used early in the season to identify problems and throughout the season to confirm high lab mastitis tests. We use cow mastitis treatment products to address high somatic cells counts. Ewes are leg-banded and hand milked until a milk sample returns from the lab clear from inhibitors. Withhold time seems to be about double the label requirements for the ewes. We are very insistent that each ewe who has been treated receive a clear lab test before her milk is shipped. Ewes who do not clear up after the first regimen of treatment are sampled for the type of agent present. A decision, based on the probability of success in further treating of the bacteria, is made as to whether to continue treatment or put the ewe on the cull list. At the end of the season, ewe health conditions are evaluated on body condition, overall health, and somatic cell records. Udders are manually evaluated after dry off to identify possible mastitis problems. Dry treatments are used if appropriate.
Facilities and Equipment The requirements for sheep farming are well known. Items such as barns, grain and forage storage and feeding facilities, lambing and lamb feeding facilities, handling, sorting and weighing equipment, manure-handling equipment, watering and mineral feeding equipment would probably be on everyone’s list. For some the list would include: a tractor, planting and harvesting equipment, perhaps a four-wheeler, etc. There are some additional required investments in facilities and equipment for sheep dairying. For each requirement, there are also options available, depending upon a given farm manager’s goals, marketing methods and requirements and chosen approach to the situation. For us, the basics include: a Grade A milking parlor and milk house with pipeline milking system and bulk tank, a commercial walk-in freezer, barn and lot modifications to facilitate efficient handling of the ewes into and out of the parlor twice a day, a pallet assembly area and truck height loading dock for efficient packaging and shipping of frozen milk The parlor is a New Zealand style (no head gates, the sheep stand side by side) doublesixteen pit parlor with eight units on each side and a 2-inch low line pipeline system. We went with a system like this for several reasons: 1. Cost. We were able to build the sheep handling system within the parlor ourselves using standard 1 1/4” galvanized pipe and bolt together joint fittings available from many different sources. We saved the cost of headgates and an indexing system which some parlors use. These indexing systems are fairly pricey. This also gave us the ability to adjust the position of the various pipes to effectively handle our animals. 2. We had heard discussions among dairy people who were questioning whether the slightly higher vacuum required to pull the milk up to a high line system would cause damage to the milk, or to the ewes’ udders. We decided to use a low line to avoid possible future problems, as this issue seemed unresolved at that time. 3. We constructed our parlor inside of an existing pole building on the farm, which had a limited ceiling height. This eliminated the option of a platform system – we had to go down, there was no room for the sheep to go up. We hired a dairy facilities specialist to install the pipeline system with bulk tank, vacuum pump, receiver, and clean in place system. We had previously purchased the basic components from an out of business cow dairy farm. In addition to fitting and installing these components, the installer supplied electronic pulsation units with an adjustable central controller. This was very helpful during the first two years because we were able to make small adjustments to the pulsation rate and vacuum, seeking settings that seemed to provide the best results for us. We currently run a pulsation rate of 180 ppm, with a 50/50 ratio and a vacuum of 10 psi (37kpa). Anytime we think the pulsation may not be giving the milking efficiency we desire, it is quite easy to make one quick change and all units will be pulsating at the chosen rate. We use the “Uniclaw” milking unit made by Interpuls. This assembly uses silicone rubber inflations, which we are very pleased with. The silicone maintains its properties longer than standard rubber, which allows us to change inflations every other season. In addition, because it is almost clear and uses a clear plastic shell, you can visually see if the teat is properly positioned in the unit after placement. This unit also does not contain a claw with reservoir; the two sides are simply connected to a “Y” fitting, and then to the pipeline with milk tubing. We have not
- Page 1 and 2: Proceedings of the 7 th Great Lakes
- Page 3 and 4: ORGANIZING COMMITTEE 7 TH GREAT LAK
- Page 5 and 6: Thursday, November 1 Noon Registrat
- Page 7 and 8: SPEAKERS Dr. Juan-José Arranz, Dpt
- Page 9 and 10: Table of Contents (continued) Lates
- Page 11 and 12: eeding and were created to have hig
- Page 13 and 14: Disease in the U.K. and subsequentl
- Page 15 and 16: sheep production conditions in Wisc
- Page 17 and 18: Pinelli, F., P. A. Oltenacu, G. Ian
- Page 19 and 20: Bucket milking and elevated platfor
- Page 21 and 22: Throughputs in different parlors No
- Page 23 and 24: 1 - Stand up as straight as possibl
- Page 25 and 26: Roques J.L.. 1997. Traite des brebi
- Page 27 and 28: Grade B milk quality is as follows:
- Page 29 and 30: (c) Not Applicable (d) At least 10
- Page 31 and 32: TOILET AND WATER SUPPLY 7. Toilet (
- Page 33 and 34: (c) Drugs and medicinals shall be l
- Page 35 and 36: FARMSTEAD CHEESE AND MARKETING Stev
- Page 37 and 38: 5. Cheese is delivered in person, w
- Page 39 and 40: to participate with us, we are enga
- Page 41 and 42: The key points to this plan were: Y
- Page 43 and 44: Milk is supplied in two major forms
- Page 45 and 46: MANAGEMENT OF A DAIRY SHEEP OPERATI
- Page 47: 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 Chart 1: Mi
- Page 51 and 52: from the ewes at 12 to 24 hours of
- Page 53 and 54: COMPARISON OF EAST FRIESIAN AND LAC
- Page 55 and 56: two-year-olds in 2001. East Friesia
- Page 57 and 58: Reproduction. Table 4 compares the
- Page 59 and 60: six ewes were sired by Lacaune ram
- Page 61 and 62: FACTORS AFFECTING THE QUALITY OF EW
- Page 63 and 64: Sheep Genetic factors breed and gen
- Page 65 and 66: Genetic factors The breed and genot
- Page 67 and 68: Physiological factors affecting she
- Page 69 and 70: Management factors affecting the qu
- Page 71 and 72: sheep with one peak of milk ejectio
- Page 73 and 74: An important aspect of dietary fibr
- Page 75 and 76: References Alais C. (1974). Science
- Page 77 and 78: Bufano G., Dario C. and Laudadio V.
- Page 79 and 80: Cowan R.T., Robinson J.J., McHattie
- Page 81 and 82: Folman Y., Volcani R. and Eyal E. (
- Page 83 and 84: Kalantzopoulos G. (1994). Influence
- Page 85 and 86: McHattie I., Fraser C., Thompson J.
- Page 87 and 88: Peart J.N. (1970). The influence of
- Page 89 and 90: Ranieri M.S. (1993). La variazione
- Page 91 and 92: Treacher T.T. (1970). Effects of nu
- Page 93 and 94: EVALUATION OF SENSORY AND CHEMICAL
- Page 95 and 96: ing, the cheeses were brined for 18
- Page 97 and 98: The FFA concentrations generally in
8.00%<br />
7.00%<br />
6.00%<br />
5.00%<br />
4.00%<br />
3.00%<br />
2.00%<br />
1.00%<br />
0.00%<br />
Chart 3: Comparisons <strong>of</strong> Protein<br />
April May June July August Sept.<br />
Protein 2000 Protein 2001<br />
Genetic improvement and good flock management are both essential to improving production.<br />
Great strides can be noted in <strong>the</strong> first few years <strong>of</strong> integrating dairy sheep genetics into <strong>the</strong><br />
flock. However, in order to continue to realize production and component increases, it will soon<br />
become necessary to seriously explore sire referencing programs with close monitoring <strong>of</strong> many<br />
progeny. At this time, we can only hope that using <strong>the</strong> rams from our best ewes will pass <strong>the</strong><br />
desired characteristics onto <strong>the</strong>ir <strong>of</strong>fspring.<br />
Ewe Flock Health<br />
Ewes are dewormed in <strong>the</strong> fall prior to breeding with Safeguard (if still milking) or Valbazon.<br />
They are dewormed just prior to lambing with Safeguard, and <strong>the</strong>n during <strong>the</strong> summer, only if<br />
<strong>the</strong>re seem to be clinical signs <strong>of</strong> infestation. This will depend on management practices. In<br />
2001, ewes were grazed from May through <strong>the</strong> fall and showed very limited, if any signs <strong>of</strong><br />
internal parasites. However, we did not graze intensively this year with ewes eating high on <strong>the</strong><br />
plants.<br />
Ewes are vaccinated just before lambing with Covex 8. This provides protection against<br />
some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> nasty bacteria that can lead to toxic mastitis. East Fresians seldom need ho<strong>of</strong> trimming<br />
which saves labor and minimizes ho<strong>of</strong> problems. Udders, stomachs, and legs are usually<br />
free <strong>of</strong> wool or have very little wool cover. This helps to reduce <strong>the</strong> probability <strong>of</strong> manure or<br />
vegetable material getting into <strong>the</strong> milking system.<br />
We do not pre-wash or pre-dip teats, but teats are post-dipped with a commercial iodinebased<br />
teat dip. CMT (California Mastitis Test) solution is used early in <strong>the</strong> season to identify<br />
problems and throughout <strong>the</strong> season to confirm high lab mastitis tests. We use cow mastitis<br />
treatment products to address high somatic cells counts. Ewes are leg-banded and hand milked<br />
until a milk sample returns from <strong>the</strong> lab clear from inhibitors. Withhold time seems to be about<br />
double <strong>the</strong> label requirements for <strong>the</strong> ewes. We are very insistent that each ewe who has been<br />
treated receive a clear lab test before her milk is shipped. Ewes who do not clear up after <strong>the</strong><br />
first regimen <strong>of</strong> treatment are sampled for <strong>the</strong> type <strong>of</strong> agent present. A decision, based on <strong>the</strong><br />
probability <strong>of</strong> success in fur<strong>the</strong>r treating <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> bacteria, is made as to whe<strong>the</strong>r to continue treatment<br />
or put <strong>the</strong> ewe on <strong>the</strong> cull list. At <strong>the</strong> end <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> season, ewe health conditions are evaluated<br />
on body condition, overall health, and somatic cell records. Udders are manually evaluated after<br />
dry <strong>of</strong>f to identify possible mastitis problems. Dry treatments are used if appropriate.
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