Sheep and Goat Science Commons^™

New Initiatives In Processing Australian Sheep Skins, P G. Frapple

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Australia's exports of 313 million preserved sheep and lamb skins were valued at $A261.2 million FOB (free on board) in 1986-87. Just over 40 per cent (13.1 million) of these skins went to France for fellmongering, which is the process of removing wool from skins, leaving a bare pelt suitable for tanning. The balance went to other countries including Yugoslavia, Spain and West Germany, mainly for tanning with the wool on.

Fox Attacks On Cashmere Goats, John L. Long, Peter Mawson, Peter Hubach, Neville Kok

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Since the fox arrived in Western Australia from South Australia in the early 1900s it has preyed on our native animals and domestic livestock, traditionally lambs and poultry. With the establishment of a Cashmere goat industry in the State, the potential exists for the fox to become an even greater problem.

Control Of Caprine Arthritis-Encephalitis In Goats, T M. Ellis

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Caprine arthritis-encephalitis, CAE for short, is the name given to a disease complex in goats, one form of which, 'big knee', has been recognized in dairy goats in Australia since the late 1950s. There are many forms of this progressive disease, all of which result in premature culling in milking goats

Cereal Straw And Stubble For Sheep Feed, E M. Aitchison

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Many farmers in Western Australia run sheep in addition to their cropping programmes. The resulting cereal straws and stubbles are therefore important as sheep feed during summer and autumn. During this period the diet must provide sufficient energy to maintain liveweight, but additional energy and protein may be required for young stock and pregnant or lactating ewes, and to reduce problems from tender wool.

What Are The Costs Of Running Goats?, P P. Eckersley

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

No abstract provided.

The Potential For The Development Of The Goat Fibre And Meat Industries, R W. Kelly

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

No abstract provided.

The Western Australian Sheep Skin Industry, P G. Frapple

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Sheep skins are a by-product of livestock production and slaughter. Their supply is determined largely by the demand for meat, rather than the demand for leather and leather products. As a result, skin prices fluctuate widely, as happened from April to June, 1988.

Analysing Feeds For Cattle, Sheep And Goats, D J. Barker

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The Department of Agriculture's Feed Evaluation Unit at Bunbury provides a service for farmers and allied industries on a fee-for-service basis, and conducts analyses for research officers, advisers and organisations such as the University ofWestern Australia. It also analyses feedstuffs for Departments of Agriculture in other States.

The Unit analyses about 5000 samples each year. The work load is high because no other laboratory in Western Australia provides the same service. Results are recorded on a computer which makes it easy t6o retrieve results of analyses of particular types of feedstuffs or froma particular owner or district.

Live Sheep Exports : Market Update, E J. O'Loughlin

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The live sheep export trade has made an important contribution to the Western Australian sheep industry, with the value of exports peaking at $100 million f.o.b. in 1980-81. In that year Western Australia accounted for 61 per cent of the value of Australian exports of live sheep. In addition, the growth of the live export industry has contribuited to higher prices for other catagories of sheep than would otherwise have been the case.

Survival Of Lambs, R W. Kelly, David Lindsay

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Between one in every five or six lambs that are born each year in Western Australia die at or about the time of birth. This represents a loss approaching two million lambs and is arguably out single greatest wastage in sheep production. The deaths have an immediate impact on lambing performance and therefore lamb sales, and ultimately effects on such areas as selection of breeding replacement stock, the proportion of ewes and weathers that can be run in a self-replacing flock and the amount of wool produced and its uality.

This article summarises information on what influences lamb survival, and …

Barber's Pole Worm : A New Solution, R B. Besier

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Barber's pole worm (Haemonchus contortus) has been a major problem to the sheep industry for many years. About ten million sheep graze in Western Australia's high rainfall areas where barber's pole worm is prevalent, and the annual cost of losses and control totals millions of dollars each year.

Research in progress in Albany now offers the prospect of prolomged and reliable control of barber's pole worm, by means of few drench treatments.

The Awassi Fat Tail Sheep Project, R J. Lightfoot

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Australia's first Awassi fat tail lambs arrived at Kununurra in January 1987, completing the first major step in an ambitious project to establish a fat tail sheep breeding industry in this country.

Fat tail sheep bred in the Middle East attract much higher prices than merino wethers imported from Australia. The question to be resolved through our product development and market research is what premiums will Middle Eastern buyers pay for fat tail sheep bred in Australia and exported to the region.

The Department of Agriculture believes that there is potential for Sustralian producers to enter these new markets without …

Sheep Lice : Prospects For Eradication, F C. Wilkinson

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Sheep biting lice have been controlled over the past 86 years in Western australia by a combination of routine insecticidal treatment after shearing and action by the department of Agriculture officers under legislation.

In July 1987 the sheep industry and the State Government will implement a plan to eradicate lice from sheep flocks in the agricultural areas and eventually in the pastoral areas. To achieve this the co-operation of many sectors of the industry will be required. Assuming co-operation is forthcoming, it is possible that by 1996 wool from agricultural areas will be free of lice and insecticidal treatment form …

Dust Elimination From Outdoor Feedlots For Sheep, D J. Carter

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The humble woodchip, widwly used as a soil mulch in Western Australian gardens, is set tto take a new role as a dust inhibito in assembly yards used to hold live sheep for export.

Research by the Department of Agriculture's Soil Conservation Service Branch has shown that, of the materials tested, woodchips were the most effective in preventing dust being generated. Wind speeds had to approach a "near gale" before dust developedfrom the protected soil.

The use of woodchips, therefore, provides a practical alternative to stabalising the soil and preventing an environmental problem associated with one of the State's valuable …

Feeding Behaviour Of Live Sheep During Export, C L. Mcdonald

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Live sheep exporters in Western Australia often hold as many as 00 000 sheep in assembly feedlots while the consignment is being purchased and assembled before shipment. During the assembly phase the sheep ane introduced to the pelleted rations used on board.

Industry reports have highlighted the wide variability in condidtions, facilities and procedures used, and showed that there was little evidence from which to make recommendations to the live sheep shipping indudtry. This article discusses ten experiments by the Department of Agriculture from 1981 to 1985 designed to investigate what influences the feeding behaviour of Merino wethers under conditions …

Phomopsis-Resistanct Lupins : Breakthrough Towards The Control Of Lupinosis, W A. Cowling, J. G. Allen, P Mcr. Wood, J. Hamblin

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Attemots to control lupinosis in sheep have been thwarted by the unpredictable occurence of the disease in the field. The complex interaction of the toxin-producing fungus (Phomopsis leptostromiformis) with its host (the lupin plant), together with variable weather and paddock grazing conditions, have made it difficult to predict when stock are in danger of contracting the disease. The risk of lupinosis discourages many farmers from growing lupins, despite the many potential benefits of including them in crop rotations.

A team of Department of Agriculture plant breeders, plant pathologists, and animal scientists set out in the mid 1970s to find resistance …

Grazing And Management Of Saltland Shrubs, C V. Malcolm, J. E. Pol

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

areas of bare saltland on farms need not be unproductive etesores. Many Western Australian farmers are now successfully growing salt-tolerant or halophytic shrubs such as bluebush (Maireana brevifolia), saltbushes (Atriplex spp.) and samphires (Halosarcia spp.) on these areas.

Department of agriculture trials and farmers' experience indicate that if saltland is planted with recommended shrubs, it can provide two months' valuable grazing for sheep during autumn and early winter, a time when paddock feed is scarce. Research by the Department has also identified a range of salt-tolerant shrubs suited to the various types of saltland.

Grazing trials to …

Ovulation Rate Of Ewes : Role Of Energy And Protein, E Teleni, J. B. Rowe

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Western Australia's sheep farmers are familiar with the low ovulation rate of Merino ewes and how this limits the lambing performance of ewe flocks.

One way in which ovulation rate and therefore lambing percentage may be increased is to feed seed of sweet lupin (Lupinus augustifolius) to ewes at mating. However, Department of Agriculture research has found that these increases do not show up consistently, and that there is considerable variability between farms.

If improved nutrition is to be a useful way to increasing ovulation rate, the mechanism by which nutrition affects ovulation rate must first be understood. This article …

Preventing Lupinosis With Phomopsis-Resistant Lupins, Jeremy G. Allen, W. A. Cowling

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Lupinosis is one of the major livestock siseases in Western Australia. It is caused by stock eating toxins produced by the fungus Phomopsis leptostromiformis which colonises the stems of dead lupin plants.

In 975, the Department of Agriculture started a breeding programme to develop Phompsis-resistant lupins to overcome or control lupinosis. In the previous issue of this Journal the results of small plot evaluations of new lines of Phompsis-resistant lupins developed in this programme were reported. This article describes the first trial involving grazing of Phompsis-resistant lupins.

Supplementary Feeds For Sheep, J B. Rowe

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

No abstract provided.

Wool Staple Strength, I G. Ralph

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The staple strength of western Australia's wool has come under scruitiny since additional wool measurements to those of yield, fibre diameter and vegetable matter began throughout the Australian 985-86 wool selling season.

In 1980, the Sale by Additional Measurement Trial conducted on the September-October wool sales at Fremantle showed a range in staple breaking forcesfrom 10 to 70 Newtons per kilotex, with an average breaking force of between 30 and 35 N/ktex, A third of the lots offered for sale had a staple breaking force of less than 26 N/ktex, a value which, according to the Australian Wool Testing Authority, …

Phomopsis Infection Of Lupin Seed, D S. Petterson, P. Mcr. Wood

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Early reports of lupinosis in Western Australia implicated infected stems and leaves of the sandplain or W,A. blue lupin (Lupinus cosentinii) as the main source of toxicity.

After the introduction of low alkaloid varieties of L. augustifolius, lupinosis continued to oddur on stubbles but random testing of seeds showed only low levels of Phomopsis leptostromiformis infection.

However in 1976, scientists at the University of Western Australia who were evaluating the use of an all lupin seed ration for drought feeding sheep encounted lupinosis in one of their trials.Seven per cent of the seed used was found to be infected …

Control Strategies For Annual Ryegrass Toxicity, W J. Burdass

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

In 982-83, annual ryegrass tocicity (ARGT) was estimated to have cost Western Australian sheep farmers between $7 and $8 million in total economic losses.

The disease can severely disrupt farming operations. Sheep must be checked daily and if affected moved to a 'safe' paddock. The availability of paddock feed is reduced, as is stock carrying capacity. Worry about the possibility of dramatic stock losses, and uncertainty about what decisions to make, are all stressful.

Stock losses from ARGT can be minimised by the use of selective herbicides to control ryegrass in pastures and crops. This breaks the disease cycle - …

Annual Ryegrass Toxicity Research Update, A G P Brown, P. Vogal

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Annual ryegrass toxicity (ARGT) is a complex disease that kills sheep and cattle grazing pastures which contain infected ryegrass. The disease results when a nematode (Anguina agrostis) and a batcerium (Corynebacterium sp.) invade annual ryegrass and cause the seed heads to become toxic as the grass dries off.

The bacterium produces a complex toxin of 18 glycolipid compounds or corynetoxins which have been found to be virtually identical to the antibiotic tunicamycin.

Pregnancy Diagnosis Using Ultrasound, M A C Johns

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Few Western Australian ewe flocks are diagnosed for pregnancy despite the precence of high numbers of barren ewes. Surveys of farm flocks in the early 1970s recorded that between 14 and 29 per cent of ewes failed to lamb each year.

Techniques for diagnosing pregnant ewes have been available for many years, but ultrasonic devices and computer technology have made it possible for skilled operators to determine whether ewes are pregnant and more importantly, whether they have one, two or more foetuses.

Once the number of pregnant ewes is known farmers can use labour more efficiently. They can minimise the …

Reproductive Wastage In Sheep, R W. Kelly

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The average lambing performance of Western Australia's ewe flock fluctuates between 60 and 70 per cent. Although this level of performance and variation between years is important for the sheep industry, individual farmers are more concerned about performance of their own flocks.

Figure shows the range in lambing performances that exist between farms in this State in 1983-84. The seriously poor performance of many flocks is apparentm - 28 percent of farms had less than 60 per cent lambing. By contrast, 24 farms had performances better than 100 per cent. The reasons for the large differences between farms ( and …

More Lambs From Feed And Chemical Treatments, K P. Croker

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

The ovulation rate, or the number of eggs shed per ovulating ewe, represents the upper limit of the capacity of a flock of ewes toproduce lambs. Several methods can be used to increase ovulation rates and lambing percentages of ewes, including selection for better breeding, feeding and the use of chemicals.

The potential for improving the reproductive performance of Western Australia's ewe flocks by the use of different approaches to breeding was discussed by L.G. Butler and R.P. Lewer in the Journal of Agriculture in 1983.

This article mainly discusses the research conducted by the Department of Agriculture's Sheep and …

Protein Enrichment Of Cereal Grains For Livestock, Andrew C. Dunlop, C. L. Mcdonald

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Every year Western Australian farmers feed about 759,000 tonnes of cereal grain to livestock, mostly to sheep but also to dairy and beef cattle. These grains are fed as drought feeds, as supplements to augment poor quality or scarce paddock feed or in growth rations to attain higher levels of production. Many grains fed, however, have a low protien content and are therefore used inefficiently by animals.

Several methods of improving the low protien content of feed grains have been tested. They include the addition of lupin seed, spraying oats with urea and gassing oats with ammonia.

Feed For Autumn Lambing Ewes, B R. Beetson

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Department of Agriculture feeding trials with grazing sheep have consistently shown that the level of supplementation should be set for survival and little more, because beyond that the additional costs of supplementary feeding usually outstrip the benefits from extra production.

Even sheep in the greatest need - autumn lambing ewes in late pregnancy and the early part of lactation before and during the break of season - can be fed less than was thought necessary to achieve acceptable production.

A Survey Of Drench Resistance In Sheep Worms, J R. Edwards, R. Wroth, G. C. De Chaneet, R. B. Besier, J. Karlsson, P. W. Morcombe, D. Roberts, G. Dalton-Morgan

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Sheep worms which are resistant to chemical drenches have been detected with increasing freuency is Western Australia's south-western farming areas between 977 and 1980. These worms have anthelmintic resistance and such genetis resistance puts essential internal parasite control practices at risk.

This prompted veterinarians in the Esperance, Albany, Bunbury, Geraldton and Northam areas to survey farms to determine the prevalence of resistance to drenches and to define those sheep management practices which encourage its development.

This article describes the survey which was conducted to assess the extent of drench resistance, what causes its build-up and how it can be controlled …