SUCCESS... Where preparation, dedication and hard work come together!

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Arlene Ramsey
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2 SUCCESS... Where preparation, dedication and hard work come together! Show-Rite Lamb Power D13.6 (#66A2) A complete lamb creep formulated to be fed to lambs 2-12 weeks of age. Medicated with Deccox for coccidiosis control. 17% Show Lamb D15 (#650C) A texturized complete feed designed to be fed continuously to growing and finishing show lambs. Medicated with Deccox for coccidiosis control. 17% Show Lamb D11.35 (#650P) A pelleted complete feed designed to be fed continuously to growing and finishing show lambs. Medicated with Deccox for coccidiosis control.

3 Putting You in the SpotLite 1st The show lamb industry is a very competitive game. The management of your lamb project will determine the difference between being in the SpotLite or watching from the sidelines. Many hours of hard work and dedication are needed to get your lamb in show shape. This hard work and dedication to your project starts the day you get your lamb home. The payoff for all of this hard work and time is the gratification of being able to present your lamb in a well-presented manner and know that you have done everything to make your lamb look the BEST on show day. This guide is intended to help you learn management techniques to help you put your animal in the SpotLite on show day!

4 Getting Off to the Rite Start Knowing the date of the fair and matching the weight and frame size of your lamb will help immensely with the success of your lamb project. This is not difficult to do and will help make your project look its best on show day. A simple and easy way to know what size your lamb should be is to know the date of your show and the desired show weight for your project. Keep in mind that not all lambs will look their best at the same weight. This is where frame size and the maturity level come into importance in figuring the correct weight for your lamb project. Simply take an average daily gain of 0.50 to 0.75 pound per day of gain and back figure what the correct weight should be at purchase time. Example: Sale Date April 15th Lamb Weight pounds Show Date August 10th Desired Show Weight pounds Weight Gained until Show pounds Days until Show days Average Daily Gain (Needed to reach desired market weight) pounds (See Show Rite Show Lamb Weight Calculator on page 13.) When you get your lamb home: Have a clean, dry, well-bedded pen ready for your lamb prior to bringing the animal home. Avoid any drafts and have access to clean, fresh water at all times. Feed your lambs high quality alfalfa hay for the first three days when you get your lamb home. Gradually introduce your show feed to the lamb during the first three days. Feed very small amounts of feed and gradually increase your lamb to full feed over an extended period of time. 2

5 When you get your lamb home: Dock Loin Leg Shoulder Rack Pasterns Figure 1 Treat for internal parasites, over-eating disease, tetanus and prevention of coccidiosis with the assistance of your local veterinarian. Once your lamb becomes acclimated to its new environment, slick shear your lamb. Shearing your lamb will keep the animal cooler, thereby increasing appetite and, at the same time, increasing overall growth traits. These steps are all very important to getting your lamb off to a good, healthy start. Proper weight manipulation and desired amount of finish will be achieved by weighing your lambs everyday and monitoring their body condition by handling your lambs and feeling for finish and muscle tone. An easy way to evaluate your lamb s condition is to gently feel for finish over mid rib of the lamb using the tips of your fingers in a circular motion. A good way to describe how condition feels on a market lamb is to take your hand and make a fist. If the condition over the lamb s ribs feels like the back side of your hand, your lamb is over-conditioned. If the lamb s ribs feel like the knuckles on your hand, your lamb is under-conditioned. However, if your lamb s ribs feel similar to the covering on the lower part of the back side of your fingers, you are on the right track. When evaluating muscle tone and volume of your lamb, you are simply feeling for the amount of muscle that your lamb has, how firm the muscle is and if the animal is market ready. This can be achieved by evaluating three areas.

6 Evaluating muscle tone in your lamb: Figure 2: Muscle on lamb s leg 1) Muscle over the lamb s rack: When evaluating the muscle over the lamb s rack, one should start directly behind the shoulder by softly gripping the lamb s top and gliding your hand towards the rear of the animal. This area of the lamb s top should fill your hand and be firm and bulging with no evidence of the spine. 2) Muscle over the lamb s loin: When evaluating the muscle over the lamb s loin, one should look for two areas of importance. The first area is for freshness of muscle tone and condition across the top of the loin. This can be achieved in one of two ways. First, the top of the loin should feel the same as over the rack, once again firm and bulging with no evidence of the spine. The second area of concern is the depth of muscle in the loin. This can be achieved by taking your fingers on the underneath side of the loin and gripping the loin like a sandwich. 4 Place your thumb on the spine of the animal and roll down in an outward motion. If there is less muscle felt on each side of the spine when doing this procedure, your lamb s loin is washed out. Washing out happens when lambs are overworked and under-fed. The lamb loses muscle volume and freshness in this area first. This indicates that the lamb is not show ready and still needs more feed and condition. It will take a minimum of 20 days with little to no exercise to regain muscle tone and freshness in this area. 3) Muscle on the lamb s leg: The final area to be evaluated for muscle tone is the leg of the lamb. Grip the backside of the leg. This area should be extremely firm and expressive. The leg should bulge with muscle from both the inner and outer muscle areas with evidence of expression in the stifle region.

7 Exercising Your Lamb The Key to Toning and Conditioning Continually monitoring fat deposition and muscle development will be essential in developing the ideal show lamb. Knowing how your lamb responds to a combination of feed and exercise will determine the outcome of this feeding and exercise regimen. If lambs continue to be over-conditioned and soft-handling, one may consider decreasing the feed intake and increasing the amount of exercise. If lambs are losing too much condition, one needs to consider decreasing the exercise and increasing the amount of feed. If the condition of the lamb is not continually monitored, lambs will either wash out or become over-conditioned. Not all lambs respond to exercise and feeding programs in the same manner so each lamb needs to be monitored individually on a daily basis. The ultimate goal of a feeding and exercise program is to have your animal handling the best that it can on show day. A term used to describe this is being at twelve o clock. Common mistakes in exercising lambs: The biggest mistake in exercising lambs is to exercise them before they have enough condition on them. Exercising lambs for too long a period will actually tear down muscle, rather than build muscle. A 350- to 450-yard sprint is plenty. The goal of an exercising program is to produce adrenaline and get the adrenaline running through the lamb s body. Adrenaline production encourages the development of muscle. Failing to keep the lamb replenished with fluid to allow for proper muscle development is a costly mistake. A lamb s muscle is made up of 70 to 80 percent water.

8 Exercising Your Lamb continued: Keep in mind that exercise and nutrition go hand in hand. Consider the following when choosing a nutritional program for your lamb project: High quality ingredients Ingredients in the right ratio Locked formulas for consistency Show Rite Lamb Feeds are designed with the following ingredients: Soypass a bypass protein that is high in quality for maximum muscle growth Fish meal and blood meal for fit, not fat, muscular lambs Vitamin E and selenium needed for fast growth and a healthy immune system Distillers grains high in B complex vitamins for increased appetite Linseed meal needed for optimal muscle deposition Barley and oats an excellent supply of slow-released energy and highly digestible fiber Cottonseed hulls to help increase rumen digestibility Deccox a drug that initially works as a coccidiostat, but then works to increase the rumen s digestible efficiency Ammonium chloride helps keep the urinary tract healthy (no water bellies or other related problems such as kidney stones) 6

9 Showmanship Making your animal look its BEST on show day: Showmanship contests are won at home not at the show. The amount of time and hard work that you put into your project at home will be in direct correlation with the amount of success that you will experience at the fair. Showmanship is divided into two parts: 1) Pre-show preparation 2) Show ring presentation Pre-show preparation Keep in mind the following factors: Some lambs are gentle and easy to train, while others are difficult and harder to train. Most lambs can be trained, provided enough time and effort are spent. Halter breaking: First of all, lambs need to be halter broken. The easiest way to halter break a lamb is to catch the lamb, halter it and tie it to a fence. Tie the lamb allowing 12 inches of slack. This amount of space should be enough to create respect for the halter, but should not allow the lamb to hurt itself. Remember, never leave tied lambs unattended. While lambs are tied, place your lamb s feet properly in order to get your lamb accustomed to being set up. (See Figure 4 on following page.) Show them the Rite Way The Show-Rite Way!

10 Showmanship continued: Figure 3: Leading your lamb Acceptable ways to lead a show lamb: When leading your lamb, get rid of the halter and place one hand under the chin and one hand on the backside of his head. Some lambs will balk when you begin applying this technique but all you need to do is place one hand on the dock of your lamb and keep the other hand underneath its chin while moving forward. This will teach the lamb to lead correctly in the show ring. Always lead with your arm extended and your body 1 to 1 1/2 feet away from the lamb. Setting your lamb up: After the lamb is taught to lead, it is time to teach your lamb how to set up properly. First, the hind legs should be properly set by reaching over the top of the lamb and setting the rear legs squarely underneath Figure 4: Setting your lamb up the lamb. Then place the front legs by setting the legs in the same manner as the rear legs. Always remember, once you have the legs set squarely underneath the lamb, keep the head and neck in a straight line and the head held in a highly proud position with the ears up and forward. This gives the impression that your lamb is long-necked and stylish. 8

11 Showmanship continued: Figure 5: Teaching your lamb to brace Teaching your lamb to brace: After the lamb is trained to lead and the feet are properly set, the lamb is ready to be taught to brace. Bracing is where the lamb pushes or braces himself against the exhibitor when the judge handles the lamb. Bracing is a constant steady pressure that enables the lamb to express muscle definition and firmness for the judge. By getting a good brace on your lamb, you will enable the judge to evaluate your lamb easier. Always keep the lamb s front legs on the ground when bracing. Many different techniques are used when teaching the lamb to brace. Use the technique that your lamb will respond to. Remember, never overpower your lamb when teaching it to brace. Also remember, when a lamb starts bad habits, it will be difficult to break the lamb from those bad habits. The best way to avoid the development of bad habits is to be careful not to over-practice when teaching the lamb how to push.

12 Show Day Preparation There is more to getting your lamb ready for the show than just getting it sheared. Lambs should be washed prior to shearing with any livestock soap or commercial dishwashing liquid soap. Make sure that you get all of the soap rinsed out of your lamb s wool prior to shearing. After the lamb is rinsed, use either a blow dryer or chamois to dry your lamb. Shearing tips and equipment: Some people like to shear their lambs while the wool is still damp but, by washing your lamb prior to shearing, you will not only extend clipper blade life, you will also get a closer, smoother cut on your lamb s wool. This will make your lamb feel tighter hided and firmer to the touch. By clipping closer to the time of the show, you will also help your lamb keep the appearance of a tighter hide and Figure 7: One area of caution when shearing Figure 6: Slick shearing a smoother handle. The smoothest and closest shear for your lamb can be achieved by using durable, high-quality clippers. The appropriate blade and accurate blade tensioning will lessen the probability of cutting the lamb when shearing the caution areas. Areas of caution when shearing your lamb are the flank, the brisket, the elbow pocket, the sheath and the area around the eyes and ears. These areas are very tender and cut easily. When slick shearing your lamb, run the clippers horizontally rather than vertically to the length of the body on your lamb. Shearing the lamb this way will make your lamb look longer bodied and more balanced. You will also need to trim the wool and hair below the knees and hock. This improves the balance and eye appeal of the lamb. The hair and wool in this area needs to be carded or combed and blended with hand shears or small electrical clippers. 10

13 Getting Ready to Rumble Figure 8: Keep your lamb alert. While getting your lamb ready for show is important, it is equally important that you are also show day ready. This includes being properly attired for the occasion. If you look the part, you will be the part. No caps or hats should be worn. Be neat in appearance but not overdressed. No halters should be used in the show ring. Before you show your lamb, go to the show ring and become familiar with the ring and how the judge handles the lambs. This can give you a decided advantage later on when you are going to show your lamb. Watch how the judge evaluates a class so that you know how he works the lambs in the ring. A good showman will emphasize the strong points of the lamb and minimize the weak points. Remain calm at all times and display a pleasant facial expression. Stay alert and keep one eye on the judge and one eye on your project. Be courteous to all exhibitors and find a good place to set your lamb up, making the lamb look its very best. Stay out of the corners, out of low places in the show ring and leave plenty of space between you and other exhibitors. Set your lamb properly, keeping the body and neck in a straight and upright position. Keep the lamb s head up at all times and ears forward. Keep the lamb alert and on its toes.

14 It s Show Time! Figure 9: Have your lamb properly braced Have your lamb properly braced when the judge handles your lamb. Remember, always keep the lamb bracing properly because you may only have 10 to 15 seconds to influence the judge s opinion. If your lamb gets out of line, you will need to circle it. This is done by pulling your lamb forward, going through the area where your lamb was standing and coming back through the same place. Never back your lamb out, as this is an example of overpowering the animal, which will break the lamb of the will to brace. Keep your lamb between yourself and the judge and do not cover your lamb with your body, thus blocking the judge s view. 1st The most important values to remember in showmanship: Win without bragging! Lose without complaining! Congratulate the winners! Do your best... that s all you can do! Don t ever give up! The class is not over until the ribbons are distributed. 12

15 Show-Rite Show Lamb Weight Calculator The Show-Rite Show Feeds... Putting You in the SpotLite!

16 SHOW-RITE Show Lamb Feeds are designed for the exhibitor who wants their lamb to perform its very best. Added Ammonium Chloride to help prevent urinary calculi Added Probiotics to optimize digestion Protienated Mineral for better mineral utilization and absorption Heat Processed Grains to aid in digestibility Medicated with Deccox to help control coccidiosis Quality in every bag! The name says it all! W60310 (Rev. 01/09)

By Neal Smith Extension Area Specialist 4-H

By Neal Smith Extension Area Specialist 4-H Module 6: Sheep Judging Market Lambs Ideal market lamb: Weighs approximately 110 to 120 lbs. Fat covering extremely important: Be able to detect lamb s backbone