#PolingShowSheepShowTips

We have had a lot of  fan inquiries about animal care and practical show questions, so we have put together a page to keep you in top show gear throughout the year!  This will be a list of our top #PolingShowSheepShowTips , in no specific order, that will be added to as we post them on our Facebook page. {You can check out our Facebook page HERE }  These will be a mixture of basic and detailed helpful hints, suggestions, and ways to keep you and your lamb in top shape for show day. They will range widely in topic from feeding tips, exercise routines, & practical lambing information– to showmanship aids, carcass quality details, and much much more!  Putting many of these into practice at home—whether it’s show season or not— can help you strengthen your own sheep program from the barn up!! We LOVE this industry, and we want to see you succeed and love it just as much as we have!

Tip #8: Every show animal, even those “big time” expensive lambs out there, will have BOTH strengths and weaknesses. There are NO perfect animals! Just because you didn’t pay thousands of dollars for your lamb, doesn’t mean you can’t run with the big boys. Have confidence, and work hard. We won our first jackpot show back in 2005 with a wether that was worked hard, fed right, and only cost $200. Back in 1999, we won the Indiana State Fair Champion Hereford Steer with a $600 animal through miles of walking, dozens of baths, and hundreds of hours of practice. Genetics do help, yes—especially if you’re in the breeding business. However, if you start with a structurally correct, well balanced animal and educate yourself on the best ways to feed, exercise, and train them; you can be more successful in the show ring than you might think! Your goal as a showman is to set up your specific animal to draw attention to its best characteristics, and minimize those less attractive attributes in front of the judge. Knowing your animals strengths AND weaknesses, and putting in the hours of effort is vital to raising & showing a quality animal; not necessarily how much you paid for it! Never give up, and put in the hard work it takes to be great!

Tip #16: Remember showmanship is won at home, not in the ring on show day! Hard work and practice make for a less stressful, fun experience for you and your animals. If your animals know what to expect from you, they will be ready to better handle it in the show ring too. One key showmanship tool is to keep your lamb between yourself and the judge at all times while in the ring. You always want to make sure the judge has the best possible view of your lamb, no matter where he or she is standing in the ring. Here is a simple, yet helpful little chart to show where your placement ought to be (S) in respect to the judge (J). You can easily practice this at home by having someone else walk around as the judge would. It also might be helpful to have them approach your lamb and feel down their top and hip as a judge would to get your lamb accustomed to being handled by different people in this manner. If you’re a 4-Her, try to get your lamb out to at least 1 spring jackpot show for practice before your fair! It’s a great way to meet new people, learn a lot, ask questions, and it trains your lamb on what to expect at a show. Exposing your animal to the sights, sounds, and smells of an open show will help alleviate additional stress later; which can cause the unwanted effects of decreased feed or water intake, jumpy animals in the show ring, and loss of overall bloom in appearance. (Photo credit: projects.ncsu.edu)

Tip #17: When you’re at home practicing the correct way to set up your lamb, and refine your skills– use a mirror! This is a very helpful little tip that will improve your show skills very easily at home with no additional help needed! Simply mount an old mirror to a wall in your barn and you’re ready to go. (Check out Craigslist, or local rummage sales for large cheap mirrors!) This method can easily allow you to see how your lamb looks AND get an appropriate feel for the best possible stance and bracing technique for that specific animal. As mentioned before, NO show animal is perfect, and this is a great way to learn a better way to position their stance to minimize the appearance of those less desirable characteristics; AND show off those great things that you love about your lamb too! Plus, the more you practice, the quicker you will be able to get your lamb set right on the first try—which is a terrific skill in a showmanship class!! **Helpful  YouTube video from Purina on using a mirror to set up lambs  HERE **

Tip# 20: It’s a good idea to shear before lambing. As a general practice, we shear our sheep twice a year (excluding show lambs of course). Once in late spring, and again in late fall before lambing. This keeps their fleeces short to avoid build up of manure, burrs from the pasture, and insect infestations—but also allows for enough wool re-growth through the summer when flies are biting, and through the winter when it’s chilly. When it comes to lambing here are a few reasons you might find it beneficial to shear prior to lambing. 1) It’s easier to body condition score and properly feed a ewe that is shorn. It’s also easier to see any health issues that might normally be hiding beneath the fleece. 2) Cleanliness. A shorn ewe will typically stay cleaner and have fewer manure tags hanging around the udder where lambs are trying to nurse. It also typically encourages newborn lambs to find the udder faster if they have less wool & dirt to “nose” through. 3) Udder visibility/ accessibility. It will be easy to spot irregularities & issues in an udder of a ewe that is shorn, and easier to milk her out in the case of an infection, or the need to tube a lamb. 4) If you lamb on pasture or allow your girls to go in and out during the winter around lambing time; a ewe that is shorn will hang around the barn more and be less likely to birth outside or take a new lamb out into harsh weather for long period of time because she’s cold too! 5) A heavily pregnant ewe is much easier to shear & handle than one that has a lamb at her side! Most pregnant females don’t have much fight in them toward the end of that last trimester! LOL It also eliminates the probability of cutting a large udder full of milk–which is not a fun experience!

Tip #22: Do you have a late fair? Are you trying to hold a lamb or two back so they don’t become over conditioned? Remember that fat around the dock is an indication of over conditioning. Here are a few things you can do to try and maintain their condition, without loosing that solid handle & bloom! 1) Exercise! While exercising early before condition is established can actually hurt the development of your lamb, now that you have that condition work that lamb every day! 2) Decrease the fat content in the feed. Keep them on a show feed with higher fiber, and less fat (less than 3%). If you need to transition feeds, mix them together for awhile before totally switching. You can also add things like beet pulp to their feed for filler, while slightly decreasing the amount of feed they get on a daily basis. 3) Dramatically increase the amount of protein in their feed—or ideally, add a high protein top dress or drench. There are readily available high protein top dresses on the market that will add the muscle and shape to your lamb without leaving the hallow look & soft feel. You can also personally mix a protein drench that you give lambs 1 or 2 times a day that work great. In addition to these you can slightly decrease the amount of feed they get, as the increased protein will keep that bloom without adding fat!

Tip#23:  Are you ready for lambing?? It’s our favorite time of year, but a time that requires preparation to ensure success!  It’s vitally important to have the right supplies on hand in your barn. Having the correct supplies, medications, and equipment on hand and ready to use can often times mean the difference between life and death (and a lot of investment dollars lost or gained) for animals at this critical time. From our experience, sheep rarely (if ever) lamb on warm days conveniently at feeding time. It’s always at 3AM, when the windchill is -20 outside, & there’s a power outage. While everyone’s “lambing list” differs a bit, we will share ours so as to perhaps help out some folks newer to the sheep business. Depending upon your regional location (weather), time of year you lamb, your flocks typical unique “issues”, how many ewes you lamb, and your facilities—your list might need more, or a lot fewer items on it. However, this is just a basic list of items that we have found to be helpful for us to have on hand when those lambs are hitting the ground!

 Tip#31: Set your lamb running uphill if at all possible. While this one might be more of an obvious tip, it’s something that’s often forgotten in all the excitement of show day. While minor, it can nevertheless have a strong impact on how the judge perceives your lamb in those precious few minutes you have in front of them. You might be asking, “How in the world can you do that with a level show ring?” Well, for starters, very few show rings have an absolutely 100% flat surface. Most are composed of sand, fine gravel, wood chips, or shavings. If the ring surface is very uneven, scope out a good spot to set up your lamb before your class starts that would put a little more elevation under their front legs. If it’s a mostly level show arena, once you stop to set up your lamb, scrape your boot across the show ring surface to gather just a little material up to form a small mound. Place your lamb’s front legs on this newly formed mound as you set up your animal for the judge. If your animal is even ever-so-slightly elevated in the front, it will greatly improve their overall eye appeal—drawing the judges eye to their topline and hip; and naturally correcting their posture. A well trained lamb when running uphill will naturally brace, emphasizing their muscling without a lot of effort. This little tip can potentially win you a few brownie points in a showmanship class as well; demonstrating your knowledge and skill set before you have even had the opportunity to speak a word to the judge. You have a very limited few minutes in front of that judge, so take advantage of every moment, every glance, and every look they give you!

Tip #38:  Always remember to keep the neck of your lamb at a 90* angle to their back! A properly posed lamb has a lot of eye-appeal. A lot of novice showmen (and don’t feel bad if you’re learning–we’ve all been there!) have the habit of pulling their lamb’s head across their leg while bracing in the show ring. You should never have to pull your lamb while bracing! If your lamb wants to “switch gears” to reverse, lightly pinch or pat their dock to get them to go forward and push into you. A lamb that has been worked with regularly ought to push back into your leg, and at which time you can reestablish a 90* angle at the shoulder/neck junction.

Tip #41: There is no shame in asking questions! Asking those for help who have been in the business longer than you can be the key to your future success. We all had to start somewhere! After a show, go up to the judge and ask them what they liked or didn’t like about your animal so you can learn from them in more detail. The few minor reasons you caught from the judge over the loud speaker as you were exiting the ring won’t always be enough. Ask them to give you more details like, what could you do to improve your lamb? Is it an issue that can be resolved by more feed or exercise; or is it a structural issue? Was I setting up my lamb correctly, or could I do something better? These little bits of dialog are extremely valuable coming from someone who sees livestock on a regular basis—and can help you improve your show program at home from the barn up!

Tip #45: This is our #1 piece of advice for lambing time—-know how to tube feed lambs! These little catheters, which cost about $1.50 a piece, have saved more lambs on our farm than any other item in our lambing preparation kit! Don’t be intimidated at all, it really isn’t hard to learn— but it’s a tool that we absolutely recommend EVERY shepherd learn. If you have a sick, chilled, or weak lamb they will often times not nurse from a bottle. If you force a bottle on them, they can end up with milk in their lungs which usually doesn’t end well. Newborn lambs have a layer of brown fat that gives them energy until they find their legs and are up to nurse. But this reserve is burned up rather quickly, and might not be enough if it’s very cold out/ lambs are small, weak, stressed, or momma is a 1st timer with not much maternal instinct. Tubing a lamb can give them enough of a boost to keep them from getting extremely ill or chilled; which usually ends up in a downward spiral. This is also a helpful tool, if like us, you’re not a full-time shepherd and have other work obligations. Often times we will check the barn for lambs in the morning early, and if any newborns are up but don’t look terribly vigorous, we will milk out the ewe directly into the syringe and tube the lambs about 2 ounces (120cc) before leaving for the day. This simple little tool usually saves weak or chilled lambs about 95% of the time!! If you’re unfamiliar with the tubers, they are a (typically) red flexible rubber catheter that affixes easily to a wide tipped 60cc (or other size—we use 60) syringe, and can be gently fed down the esophagus to directly deposit warm milk or colostrum in a newborn or weak lamb. After mastered, it takes only seconds to feed a weak lamb, and has tremendous benefit.  *1.)Start by milking out colostrum directly from the ewe into syringe, and then depressing the plunger until milk dribbles out the end of the catheter. This ensures you’re not putting air into the lambs stomach. 2.) Hold up the tube to the side of the lamb (as all lambs are differing sizes) so you can get an idea of how much to insert; by starting at the mouth, going down the neck to just past the shoulder. Pinch the tube at that length, and look at it to get an idea of how far to insert it into the lambs mouth. Not inserting enough could end up with milk in the lungs, but inserting too much would kink the tube making it difficult to depress. 3.) Straddle the lamb between your legs, lamb facing forward and neck and chin extended upward. Feed the tube slowly into the right side of the lamb’s mouth and gently insert—watching to make sure the lamb is swallowing the tube as you push in. It is natural for the lamb to swallow. If you have to force the tube in, or it does not feed easily/ lamb is coughing—you’re probably in the trachea, so gently pull it out and try again. If you ever have a question as to if you’re in the right place, just pull it out and reinsert. Looking down the neck of the lamb you will also be able to see the “bump” the tube makes and actually see it move as you insert down the neck. 4.) Once inserted to your “measured” length, gently depress the plunger (some folks prefer to let gravity do the work instead) to the syringe and SLOWLY deposit milk into stomach. After contents is emptied, kink tube with fingers, and gently remove to ensure no drops of milk get into trachea. Repeat as needed! Congratulations, you just learned a life saving trick!

Photo Credits:<http://smallfarms.oregonstate.edu/sfn/su08ruminants  http://www.solacefinnsheep.com/…/41621626-tubing-a-lamb-or-…https://www.premier1supplies.com/…/using-a-stomach-tuber%E…/>

 Tip #48:  Know the cuts of meat that come from your lamb and where they are located on the carcass! This is especially important if you’re showing a market animal in a showmanship class. However, it can still come up as a question from a judge if you’re showing a breeding animal or commercial animal of a meat breed. If you are going to be competing in junior shows, the more advanced the division you’re in, the more detailed the questions can be. Plus, if you intend on being in the sheep industry long term, are in FFA/ 4-H or have several years left to show—this is great information to know! There are a lot of different diagrams out there with varying detail, but this is a great simple chart showing the basic cuts of meat that come from your lamb. < Diagram Credit:  https://www.britannica.com/topic/lamb-meat >

Tip #49: As fair season is coming upon many of us, it’s important to be familiar with common genetic abnormalities when selecting an animal for exhibition. While there are literally thousands of different defects in the sheep industry, there are several fairly common abnormalities you can familiarize yourself with in order to make sure you’re selecting a structurally sound, generally well made animal before you make a purchase. When you visit a farm to select an animal, don’t only observe the animal you’re interested in purchasing—but look around at the breeder’s other stock and make sure they do not exhibit any of these defects either. Your lamb could easily be a recessive carrier of the defect without physically exhibiting it, having come from the same genetic base. If you’re purchasing breeding animals to retain, this becomes even more important as these traits can be passed down (both dominant and recessive) in your flock for years if you do not start out with a genetically solid core. When not caught, these issues can cause everything from management issues & profit loss; to increased lamb mortality, and a lot of heart-ache. Here are some of the more common genetic defects to watch out for: Parrot Mouth (undershot jaw), “Sow” or “Monkey” Mouth (overshot jaw), Cryptorchidism (retained testicle(s)– rams only), spider lamb–often lethal (misshapen, twisted/curved spine and limbs), Entropion (inverted eyelids), Cleft Palate, Prolapses (vaginal or rectal), Cow-Hocked/ Bow-Legged, Pigeon-Toed, Knock-Kneed & Splay-Footed. There are many more, but these are a good general list of common abnormalities.

Tip #55: Remember to have patience with your animals as you work with them to give them a more positive experience—and start small! Showing sheep is difficult, and arguably the most physically demanding type of livestock to exhibit. It’s much easier to teach a smaller, younger lamb to brace and stand properly than a heavy, mature lamb. Getting your lamb comfortable with you, and you comfortable with your lamb is vital to having a good show experience; and a nice solid brace. It also eliminates stress on show day; which generally makes your lamb easier to handle and you more prepared to give the judge the best possible view of your animal. **Helpful  YouTube video from Purina on teaching lambs to brace HERE **

Tip# 61: Keep good records!! This may seem like a no-brainer, and for most people it isn’t really an exciting part of animal husbandry—but never the less, a VERY important topic. Accurate records can help you reach your goals faster by identifying “problem” animals to cull, and highlighting positive traits in ewe families to retain. If one of your goals is to maximize your rate of gain and/or weaning weight—- weighing animals at birth, 30 days, and 60 days/weaning will give you trends over the period of a few years that will allow you to better select animals and animal families to retain. You can reach your goals much faster, and make decisions which will enhance progress by referencing notes. Detailed records can help you better learn from your mistakes if an issue happens to pop up again in a following year– because lets face it no matter how long you’re in the industry, you never stop learning and you never see it all. Record keeping can remind you of ewes that may have a history of difficult births, large lambs, or regularly have triplets so that you can be better prepared the following year. It does take some time to establish trends in your barn that you can make business decisions from—but all that data recording and record keeping (which seems daunting at first!) DOES pay off in the long haul with fewer problem animals, easier lambing seasons, and more thrifty, healthy lambs. If you’re not a big record keeper we’ll share our methods that have helped us streamline record keeping process. We put a clip board on the wall at each “station” in our barn with a pencil tied to it (pens freeze in winter!). Our stations change throughout the year, but at lambing our stations consist of our lambing jug area, our group of nursing moms and lambs, our lamb grafting/ bottle feeding area, our ram pen, and our weaning pen. Each station has a pre-made spread sheet specific to that location to identify each animal and any issues that arise. Many of these spreadsheets are available online free with a simple Google search, or you can make your own specific to your needs like we did in Microsoft Excel. Our lambing station sheet would have things like lambing date, # of lambs, # alive/dead, lamb weights, new lamb tag#s, lambing ease, assistance required?, CD/T, Wormed, docked, castrated, health issues?, comments, etc… Most boxes are either an easy yes, no, or X in the box with the space for comments in case of issues. After documenting them on a clipboard and spreadsheet hanging in the barn, we input them into a livestock management application on a tablet later when things slow down. This helps us reference an animal at the touch of a button and know their entire lambing history, lamb growth rates, feed conversion, body condition, vaccination history etc… It also helps us trouble shoot random illnesses that pop up, and better educates us on how to feed and manage each individual animal.

Tip#63: Always make sure you’re offering your lambs fresh, clean, cool water each day to encourage them to drink—especially after exercising and when temperatures are high. A lamb’s muscle is comprised of about 70 to 80 percent water; so not having access to enough water can be a costly mistake for your animal’s muscle development and growth! Fresh water also encourages feed consumption in your animals when outside temperatures begin to rise. An animal that decreases feed consumption due to lack of water will loose condition, bloom, and it can be devastating for muscle growth. Something as simple as offering fresh, clean water each day (or even twice a day!) can really impact your animal in the long haul!!

Tip #71: Know the parts of your lamb. If you’re gearing up for showmanship classes this summer, or just want to educate yourself on your lamb project before fair time; here’s a great little diagram of various parts of the lamb. Knowing terminology can really give you a leg up in the ring. Judges often ask questions (especially in senior level divisions) assuming you have some prior knowledge of the basic parts of your animal project. If you are prepared to respond to their questions using correct terminology, you can definitely gain their attention and be able show them what you know! Judges will recognize who has put the time and effort into learning physical show techniques AND terminology— (AKA: walk the walk AND talk the talk!)— and that can set you out above the rest!! <Photo Credit: emaze.com>

Tip# 77: Remain cool in the ring. Smile, and enjoy yourself! After all, you show lambs because you love it—make sure to express that to the judge by your presence & demeanor in the show ring. Staying level headed, focused, and relaxed in a showmanship class will set you out above the rest. Of course you need to know how to set your lamb and have general herdsmanship knowledge; but staying cool in the ring can definitely have an impact on your animal and the judge. If you remain calm, your animal will be less likely to become jumpy and difficult to handle. If you stay cool when things get a bit stressful, the judge WILL take notice. Many of the winners of showmanship classes are not those with the best behaved animals, but those who handle the the poorly behaved animals the best. Expect the unexpected, and be ready. It’s not uncommon to have a judge ask you to switch animals with another showmen in your class. The other showman’s lamb may or may not be handled as much as yours—so be ready for a challenge. Stay focused, work hard, smile, and HAVE FUN— it will pay off in the end.

Tip#79:  Fat deposition can have a large impact on the quality & feel of a market animal. .1 to .2 inches of back fat is ideal on a market lamb. If you’re struggling to get enough condition on your lamb here are some questions to ask yourself. 1.) Am I exercising too much? Cut back on your exercise regimen until you’re lamb has enough condition. 2.) Is my lamb getting adequate fat content in their feed? If it’s condition you need, make sure your feed has at least 5-8% fat content in the ration. There are also a variety of high-fat top dresses available on the market to help. Protein is important too, but without fat, you won’t get the correct feel and overall finish to your animal. 3.) Do I need to treat for internal parasites? Parasites can be known to lower the rate of gain and growth rates in lambs if severe enough. Make sure you’re regularly treating your animals –especially if they are sharing a pasture or lot with others. If you have a market animal, make sure you’re following appropriate withdrawal times on the medication you’re using before that animal would enter the food supply!

Tip #81: A common mistake showmen make is over exercising their lambs before they have had enough time to build up some condition. Exercising lambs for too long can actually break down muscle, rather than build up muscle. A 1000 to 1500 foot quick sprint is usually adequate, as the goal is to produce adrenaline in the lamb’s body which in turn aids in muscle deposition. Try walking a little ways out from your barn, and then letting your lambs loose to sprint back to their pen! Also, switching up your lamb’s exercise routine to treadmill/ walk every-other day, and on your ‘off’ days work on bracing (on a hill is even better!), foot placement, and even backwards walking to build up their lower leg and tighten their tops.

Tip#90: Feeding your ewes correctly before lambing starts can dramatically increase your chances of a low stress, smooth lambing season. Both overweight and underweight ewes bring a host of problems when lambing comes around. From dystocia, prolapses, and higher mortality rates; to pregnancy toxemia, acidosis, and low birth weight lambs—you can really make life easier on yourself by feeding your ewes right in the months leading up to lambing. Analyze your ewe’s body condition scores (see tip #29) to see if you need to sort them into groups and alter diets to hit that acceptable range before lambing. Remember that nutrient demand in ewes increases dramatically in late gestation as about 70% of the lamb’s growth happens in the last 4-6 weeks. That nutrient pull will be even more if she’s carrying twins or triplets….or octuplets?!? (see photo). If you’re able, it is extremely helpful to get an ultrasound for a fetal number on each ewe so you can better group them and feed based on fetal number. Believe it or not this can also save you a ton on your feed bill; as you don’t have to feed everyone like they’re having twins or triplets when they’re only carrying singles! The number one cost of most producers is feed—and this is one huge way to cut that cost down. Ewes carrying more lambs will need more protein, fat, and calcium leading up to birth. A high quality roughage (alfalfa has increased calcium) leading up to birth and during lactation can make a huge difference on you ewes condition and lamb growth rates. We personally feed a high fat grain with mineral and high quality, mostly alfalfa hay at this time—-but there are many acceptable diets, this is just our personal preference.