20. HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD MALE (RAM) AND FEMALE SHEEP (EWE) BREEDS TO BE USED AS BREEDERS ?

Female

• Age 1 year old

• No defect and healthy

• From a good lineage such as able to raise its offspring and produce enough milk for them.

Male:

• Age 2 years and above

• No defect, well built and possess big and strong back muscles.

• Medium and uniformed sized testicles.

21. HOW TO MANAGE A NEW BORN LAMB?

• Ensure the lamb received colostrums; might need human assistance.
• Separate the lamb and mother from other groups.
• For a weak lamb, its body need to be dried and placed in a dry area and introduced to its mother.
• Apply iodine or any other antiseptics to the offspring's umbilical cord.

22. WHY THE NEED TO SHEAR SHEEPS' WOOL EVERY 6 MONTHS ?

The purpose is to cool the body and prevent dirt or flies laying eggs in between wools under Malaysia's humid weather.

23. WHAT IS THE FREQUENCY TO ADMINISTER ANTHELMINTIC MEDICINE ?

Once every 3 weeks. But 2 weeks after administering the anthelmintic medicine, it is recommended to inspect the faeces to check the presence of worm or worm eggs for further treatment.

24. WHAT ARE THE COMMONLY CONTRACTED BY SHEEPS ?

Worm – this can cause death. The heavy infestation of worms in the body will cause the sheep to be thin, lacking appetite, weak, diarrhetic and pale.

Orf (or Contagious Ecthyma) – is caused by virus. Orf grows on the lips, mouth and nose. The orf will damage skin and make infection easy. The infection is not serious and the sheep will recover on its own.

Bluetongue – is caused by virus. Imported sheep are susceptible to it. The cuticle of the tongue or mouth, lips and gum will be red and inflamed. Strands of saliva from its mouth and the infected sheep will be limping.

Bloated – is caused by grazing too much young grass and proteins such as legumes. It can be prevented by providing enough grass to graze.

25. HOW BAD THE EFFECT OF BLUETONGUE DISEASE TOWARDS SHEEP ?

It is untreatable but can be prevented by administering anaesthetic injection. The infection rate is 30% and the mortality rate is 5 – 50% of the infected sheep. This disease can be prevented by eliminating mosquito from the genus Culicoides that carry this virus by fogging or chemical sprays such as malathion.

26. WHAT ARE THE STEPS TO BE TAKEN IF SHEEP DIES ?

The cause of dead livestock needs to be known by reporting to the Department of Veterinary Services Officer. This is important to prevent the death of other sheep based on the same cause.

The Department of Veterinary Services will prepare the death certificate, record in the sharecropper record books and conduct post mortem. The corpse will be buried at least 4 feet deep or incinerated.

27. HOW ARE THE SHEEP SOLD / MARKETED ?

The breeding ewe may be sold to private farms that require it and ram may be sold as studs or slaughtered for its meat.

At the moment there is no body or party managing the marketing of sheep but that is now being planned by government agencies under the Ministry of Agriculture.

28. WHY THE NEED TO HAVE LIVESTOCK PERFORMANCE RECORDS ?

Useful as a reference to every sheep livestock when:

• The sheep need to be sold or eliminated

• To preserve the breed or for breeding purposes

• To conduct treatment and disease control

29. HOW WE CAN OBTAIN ADVICE IN REGARDS TO COMMERCIAL SHEEP BREEDING?

A number of officers at state level have been well-trained. Guidebooks have also been published.

Study tour to existing project may be arranged with Department of Veterinary Services.

Note

1.The word biri-biri may also be called bebiri.
2.The local sheep is also named MALIN. As such, the word MALIN must be used whenever it is associated with local sheep.