DROUGHT MANAGEMENT FOR SHEEP AND GOATS

1. Sell all livestock.

2. Reduce livestock numbers either all at once or gradually. Some feeding may still be required.

3. Keep all livestock and feed. This can be done in the pasture, in drylot or in a feedlot. Very expensive.

4. Temporarily move livestock. This could be to a nearby ranch with available forage, irrigated pasture or some area farther away with abundant forage.

Reducing Sheep and Goat Numbers

1. Pregnancy test and sell all open females. Separate females carrying twins from those carrying singles.

2. Sell least productive females.

a. Three to six year old females are most productive. Sell females greater than six years of age.

b. Sell all females that have broken mouths or jaw defects.

c. Sell all females with udder problems - mastitis, one teat cut off, etc.

d. If records are kept, sell females that produce low fleece weights and/or wean offspring with low weaning weights.

e. Sell males and females with inferior genetics. In flocks that are stratified into high, medium and low groups, sell low group first.

f. Females should settle within the first two to three heat cycles (35 to 65 days) after introduction of the males. Ewes or does that lamb or kid after the third heat cycle should be sold.

g. In Angora goats, sell all habitual aborters.

3. In Angora goats sell muttons before producing females unless your rangeland will only run muttons or the drought is so severe that muttons are the only thing that will survive. If drought is severe you might consider running non-bred females.

4. Sell replacement doe kids and ewe lambs as it will probably take extra feed to get them into production.

5. If running Spanish goats, sell females that do not have cashmere fiber.

6. Early wean lambs and kids to save pasture, if feed supply is a factor or females need to be culled and sold early.

7. Creeping feeding lambs during a drought will often pay.

8. If drought is severe collect embryos from genetically superior females, freeze embryos, sell all females, wait for drought to break, implant genetically superior embryos into recipient females and start over.