This study was done from September 2006 to May 2007. A total of 105 Menz breed sheep from Yemenze Gera Midir district in the Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia. The spatial distribution of sheep keds (Melophagus ovinus) and chewing lice (Bovicola ovis) on Menz breed sheep were examined which were naturally infested. The densities if sheep keds and lice were determined through counting aft...

A model analyzing the economics of sheep farming is formulated. The basic idea is simple. Sheep are capital and they are held by farmers as long as their capital value exceeds their slaughter, or meat, value. The farmers are therefore portfolio managers aiming to find the optimal combination of different categories of animals and the yields are compared with the yields from other assets. The mo...

From the time wool grows on the sheep, on through the stages of manufacture and wear, the fibers are subject continually to contamination with micro-organisms. Included in this micro-organic flora may be the pathogenic organisms responsible for disease. There may also be other groups less dangerous to health but capable of multiplying rapidly under favorable conditions and causing the wool fibe...

Using pedigree and performance records obtained from two Merino breeders the phenotypic and genetic relationship between subjectively assessed sheep and wool traits and objectively measured wool traits were estimated. The subjective traits were all favourably genetically correlated with fibre diameter. The genetic relationship with body weight, greasy fleece weight and fibre diameter variation ...

Clinical and laboratory studies in an outbreak of Maedi-visna disease in a flock of sheep and goats were conducted. The clinical findings of the disease were loss of wool, dyspnea and coughing, progressive condition loss, exercise intolerance and chronic mastitis. Nervous signs were developed later and were characterized by gait abnormalities of the hind limbs, ataxia, tremor of facial muscles ...

Substantial rhythms in clean wool, wax and suint production have been observed for dry, spring-shorn Merino ewes maintained od a uniform plane of nutrition in exposed pens. Changes can be related directly to mean daily temperatures. Reversed rhythms were recorded for dry, spring-shorn, grazing sheep where both nutrition and climate were changing. Thus climate corrections would enhance the nutri...

For many centuries people have exploited the characteristics of the wool fibre. Most know the value of woollen clothing for keeping warm and that it retains this feature even when wet. In the home woollen blankets, carpets and materials all make life more comfortable. Sheepskin rugs are widely used on beds for long term patients to help prevent bed sores, and sheep skin car seat covers are very...

Staphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen of many species, including sheep, and impacts on both human and animal health, animal welfare, and farm productivity. Here we present the widest global diversity study of ovine-associated S. aureus to date. We analysed 97 S. aureus isolates from sheep and sheep products from the UK, Turkey, France, Norway, Australia, Canada and the USA using multil...

Considerable evidence was available indicating that wet dipping practices were failing to eradicate lice on sheep and that ineffective wetting was believed to be a major contributory factor. To examine wetting of sheep in plunge and shower dips, a series of experiments were undertaken to investigate both the mechanical and management opportunities which might improve the efficiency and efficacy...

Thyroidectomy surgery performed late in gestation results in perturbations in wool follicle development in foetal sheep, showing the importance of thyroid hormones for wool follicle development. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of transient manipulation of thyroid hormone status at a time corresponding with foetal primary wool follicle initiation. Pregnant Merino ewes (n = 1...