Sheep Flock Health: Mineral Nutrition, Wool Quality & Body Score

Score bodies, don't guess

Handle the loin and check the spine and short ribs at four points in the year: pre-mating, mid-pregnancy, lambing and weaning. A flock kept between 2.5 and 3.5 conceives better, lambs more easily and raises heavier lambs.

Minerals that matter most

• Cobalt and Vitamin B12 for growth in young sheep — deficiency looks like unexplained ill-thrift.
• Selenium and Vitamin E to prevent white muscle disease in fast-growing lambs.
• Calcium and magnesium in late pregnancy, when twin-bearing ewes are most vulnerable.
• Copper with caution: sheep are far more sensitive to copper toxicity than cattle — never feed cattle mineral mixtures to sheep.
• Zinc and iodine for skin integrity and wool fibre strength.

Wool quality follows nutrition

A period of underfeeding or illness leaves a permanent weak point along the fibre. Steady year-round protein and mineral intake produces a more uniform staple and a better clip.

Flock routines worth keeping

• Strategic deworming based on faecal egg counts rather than the calendar.
• Regular hoof inspection and a dry loafing area to control footrot.
• Quarantine new arrivals for two to three weeks.
• Flush ewes with better nutrition two to three weeks before mating to lift ovulation.