Frequently Asked Questions
Production:
Question: Do your ewes breed naturally out of season?
Answer: Some of our ewes will breed naturally out of season; however, to simplify management and improve our out of season breeding results, we use Monogestoerone Acetate as a feed additive along with PMSG for the April/May breeding. This is significantly cheaper than using sponges.
Question: What are your out of season conception rates?
Answer: Usually out of season conception rates on ewes is around 75%.
Question: How much lower is your lambing % in the fall?
Answer: Our lambing percentage is usually around 180% in this lambing.
Question: Can your ewes raise quads?
Answer: As a result of our successful breeding strategy, we don’t have many quads born. If a ewe has quads we don’t give her the opportunity to raise them. We will foster one of her lambs onto another ewe which allows the lambs to grow better. When managing a large commercial flock we simply don’t have the time to feed a small group of ewes extra supplement or baby-sit lambs.
Health:
Question: I’ve had trouble in the past with some of the diseases that OLIBS is free from. I want to expand my flock without new disease risk issues. Can I mix your high health OLIBS ewes with my existing flock?
Answer: Yes. This has been done a number of times. You should be aware that whatever diseases exist in your flock will be passed along to your OLIBS ewes. You should also consider the value of your existing flock size to the value of your expansion plans. For example, if you have 50 ewes now and are planning to expand to 400 ewes, then taking into account the cost of fighting disease along with a higher flock depreciation cost you obviously would be financially ahead to depopulate, disinfect barns & yards and invest in OLIBS ewes.
Question: This past weekend, a sheep farmer told me that the OLIBS sheep are more susceptible to acquiring health issues from other sheep....that OLIBS sheep have a low resistance to health problems since they have never had to fight off these concerns.
Answer: What health issues? What health problems? The person with whom you were speaking has obviously never spoken with several of our customers who have purchased OLIBS replacements and added them to their existing flock without any issues. It seems that there's people with sheep that believe things to be true which are not based upon sound science. Our OLIBS sheep are free of Scrapie, Maedi-Visna (MV), Johne's, Caseous Lymphadenitis (Caseous), Chlamydial Abortion and Footrot. There is not a single sheep in the whole world that can fight off any of the above diseases by themselves!!! Given enough time MV & Johne's will kill any sheep (although they are usually culled first). In the meantime MV & Johne's greatly hinder performance. There is no treatment for MV or Johne's. Caseous definitely hinders performance with pussy abscesses internally and externally. An internal rupture of an abscess (lungs) has been known to kill sheep. There is a vaccine which is administered in young lambs to suppress Caseous but even when vaccinated the animal is still a carrier. There is no treatment for a sheep with Caseous. Chlamydial Abortion kills lambs. Footrot can be treated but it will cost time and money.
Ewe Lambs:
Question: At what age do you breed your ewe lambs?
Answer: We breed OLIBS ewe lambs at 7 months of age to have their first lambing at 12 months with the exception of the September born ewe lambs which we breed at 11 months of age.
Question: At what weight/age do you sell your ewe lambs?
Answer: We sell ewe lambs at around 120 days of age, between 80-95 lbs. We don’t push our ewe lambs on hard feed to limit the amount of fat stored on the mammary gland. Fat on the mammary gland will reduce milk production during lactation.
Question: I’m considering purchasing your OLIBS ewes and I plan to replace my culls with your stock each year. How will I know you will have enough ewe lambs for me each year?
Answer: We fill all orders for our existing customers first. We will be in contact with you to book the replacements you require for the year.
