The Sheep Show podcast

Get in touch to share sheeping stories or questions anytime!

Here are some resources for this episode:
https://www.wormx.info/tapeworms
What about tapeworms in sheep? (wormboss.com.au)

Support the show

Want more! Want to show us some sheep love? Sign up for extra content via our sheep supporters tab !
https://www.buzzsprout.com/954910/supporters/new

Get in touch to share sheeping stories or questions anytime!

Colostrum is the first milk a newborn lamb will receive from its mother. A concentrated mix of vitamins, minerals, fats, protein, carbohydrates, antimicrobials, growth and immune factors. It acts as a laxative, aids ewe and lamb bonding, provides energy for thermoregulation and acts as a vital source of immunoglobulins required for passive immunity against intestinal and respiratory pathogens. Lamb morbidity and mortality has a significant impact on sheep production systems with the majority of pre-weaning losses occurring within the first two weeks of life. Poor quality and quantity of colostrum in the first 24 hours plays a significant role in lamb death, disease, future growth and reproductive performance.

Immediately postpartum, the lamb experiences an environmental and microbial assault. Lambs have a small surface area to weight ratio, once exposed to the environment, they lose heat quickly and require a boost of rapidly usable energy to aid essential thermoregulation. Cold, wet and windy conditions accelerate heat loss and add extra stressors. Colostrum is vital to stave off hypoglycaemia and hypothermia as it is energy dense with fats, lactose and non-immune proteins necessary to generate heat. Approximately 150-290ml/kg of colostrum is required in the first 24 hours depending on weather conditions, ideally with 50ml/kg received immediately after birth (Banchero, 2015).

Support the show

Want more! Want to show us some sheep love? Sign up for extra content via our sheep supporters tab !
https://www.buzzsprout.com/954910/supporters/new

Get in touch to share sheeping stories or questions anytime!

Cud spilling or broken cud is a colloquial term for an abnormality in sheep. We typically notice dark staining around the bottom lip and jaw when the sheep is eating or chewing their cud. Affected sheep are usually culled and definitely not breed with as they usually do not grow or thrive well. But what causes cud spilling and how come it is such a mystery?

What causes the staining?

The staining around the mouth is due to the animal dribbling saliva and ingesta during rumination. This is most likely from an inability to control the cud efficiently. Although the nature of cud spilling is generally not understood very well in either farming or research circles there is one piece of research on the topic in the archives which we can look at to shed some light on the mystery.

WIB Beveridge researched cud spilling. His research was reported in The Australian Veterinary Journal in 1936, eight out of the 13 cases examined were due to partial or complete absence of the free end of the tongue. Of the five remaining cases that Beveridge looked at, two showed no obvious structural abnormality, one had deformed cheek teeth and one had a cyst in the pharynx and one had an old fracture of the mandible (jaw bone).

Beveridge concluded that the staining was most commonly caused by the partial or complete absence of the free end of the tongue. He noted that the amount of staining varied as did the degree of deformity of the tongue. The cause of the deformity of the tongue is not known. Interestingly in Beveridge’s paper he suggested that the tongue issues may have been caused by foxes who are partial to lamb’s tongue it seems.

Other causes or theories on cud spilling

Dysphagia is difficulty swallowing — taking more time and effort to move food or liquid from the mouth to the stomach. Dysphagia can be painful for the animal.

The technical word for cud spilling is that the sheep or lamb is dysphagic and drops it cud, this can arise for a number of reasons. It can be an indication of diseases of the teeth, gums, or conditions that would cause a sore mouth. Less commonly it has been seen in sheep with high stomach acidity or on poor feed. This arises because the acidic cud has a sharp pH, bad taste, or because of pain.

If you have a sheep who is dropping cud, then the first step would be for you/your vet to perform an oral examination. The teeth, soft tissues, and bone should be examined and palpated, as you need to check for dental disease but also inflammation or abscessation of the gums, ulcerations/lacerations/vesicles of the mucosa, changes to the tongue (for example, wooden tongue) and swellings of the bone (like lumpy jaw). The lymph nodes under the jaw should be checked as these can enlarge with infectious and inflammatory causes of oral disease.

The most common cause of throat injury is from improper use of a drench gun. Where anthelmintics have trace elements added, especially copper, the damaged throat lining can become ulcerated. Poor bolus administration can cause the same problem. Many with this injury do not improve.

Some suggest that lambs with cud spilling will grow out of it once their mouth and teeth have developed fully. Most stud breeders have zero tolerance and simply don’t risk it and cull from the first sight of cud spilling regardless.

So the jury is still out on what we and the researchers think causes cud spilling. What ideas do you have?

If you are interested you can find the full Beveridge article online at W

Support the show

Want more! Want to show us some sheep love? Sign up for extra content via our sheep supporters tab !
https://www.buzzsprout.com/954910/supporters/new

Get in touch to share sheeping stories or questions anytime!

Possibly one of the most famous butchers in the country Lochie Waters from Uniplaza Meats is very passionate about his work and helps us get a clearer picture of what butchers are looking for in a lamb carcase.

A career as a butcher and an impressive recent win at Meatstock

Lochie started his career in the meat industry in 2013 in country Qld as a wash up boy at the age of 14. Starting the very afternoon his Grandma had been in the shop and was asked by the butcher if she knew anyone suitable for the job. He was there for 12 months and was then offered a school based apprenticeship which he did through to year 12.

Then things became quite tough in rural Qld and the butcher he was working for closed down which led him to move to Toowoomba and complete the apprenticeship with Uniplaza meats in 2018. He then managed the shop for 2 years. In 2020 he purchased the shop at 21 years of age.

Lochie says they’ve built a reputation for supplying high quality products, all sourced within 100km of the shop front door.

What are the benefits for you and other butchers in participating in Butcher Wars and Meatstock?

What do you look for in a carcase of a lamb?

What can you tell about the lamb from their carcase?

What about some butcher terms like blue back, fat cover, eye muscle size, colour, hot carcase weight, on the hooks, shrinkage, trim – what other terms do we as lamb producers need to understand?

What are your thoughts on weighing lambs or condition scoring when selecting a n animal for slaughter? Should producers put their hands on their animals or just focus on weight?

What can/should we be looking for or feeling for when we put our hands on the live animal?

Can you tell different breeds of sheep from their carcases – for example can you tell if the animal is an African breed, a wool breed or a British breed sheep by looking at the carcase?

We seem to be focused on generic lamb in Australia, where as beef is marketed as Angus or Highland – should we as a producers be moving away from generic lamb and marketing specific breeds like Southdowns or Wiltshire Horn?

How come lamb looks so pale when you see it on supermarket shelves?

What about the colour of the lamb fat – should it be white or yellow, should the fat be hard or soft – what do these things tell us about the production environment of the lamb?

What else can you tell about the production environment when you see a carcase hanging in your cool room?

What about the age of despatching – is it different for different breeds?

Should we eat milk fed lamb like they do in Europe? What are the pros and cons of this?

When you buy lamb carcases for your shop what are you looking for – for example uniformity, consistently, breed, age, size?

Support the show

Want more! Want to show us some sheep love? Sign up for extra content via our sheep supporters tab !
https://www.buzzsprout.com/954910/supporters/new

Get in touch to share sheeping stories or questions anytime!

Imagine sheepbreeding reimagined? That's what Jake Wolki, a farmer and producer from Albury NSW is doing? He never wanted sheep on his farm and now they are his favourite and most valuable source of revenue in his business.

Jake never takes his rams out, wants to breed all year round and doesn't cull for some of the other traits most of might cull for.

This episode will flip your thinking on traditional sheep breeding and farming and Jake is refreshing and innovative in his thinking. I hope you enjoy this episode as much I I enjoyed chatting with Jake.

Connect with Jake online:

@wolkifarm

Wolkifarm.com.au

Support the show

Want more! Want to show us some sheep love? Sign up for extra content via our sheep supporters tab !
https://www.buzzsprout.com/954910/supporters/new