condition scoring

You just cannot tell by looking at a ewe how fat or thin she is, because of all that wool! This is where condition scoring comes in.

Basically, having a feel of the ewe's spine in the lin area, just above the hips. Feel across the back and along the short ribs to the sides.

Here are a couple of links that give good diagrams:

sheep management factsheet 14

government of Western Australia guide

score as follows:

0 nearly dead

1 sharp spines

2 sharp spines with some smoothing off

3 smooth spines

4 spines can be felt with firm pressure

5 spines cannot be felt.

 

It's still not that easy, and I guess comes with practice and a co-operative ewe.

Ideally, the ewes (lowland) should score 3.5 before tupping and this should be maintained throughout pregnancy.

 

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