Sheep Guides for Australian Conditions
Breed comparisons, flock care, nutrition, health management and lambing — written for Australian climate, parasite and market conditions.
Sheep management for the Australian landscape
Sheep are the foundation of Australian pastoral agriculture. The country runs more sheep than any comparable pastoral nation, produces some of the world's finest wool, and exports prime lamb to markets across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Behind this scale lies a diversity of enterprises — from small lifestyle flocks of a dozen Dorpers to commercial Merino operations running tens of thousands of animals on marginal pastoral country — each requiring management adapted to its specific conditions.
The challenges are distinctly Australian: anthelmintic resistance in worm populations that is among the worst in the world, blowfly strike pressure that kills animals within days without adequate prevention, the nutritional demands of late pregnancy in ewes carrying multiple lambs, and a wool market that rewards quality precision with exponential price premiums. These guides address these challenges directly, with management advice calibrated to the Australian production environment rather than adapted from European or North American sources.
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Sheep Breeds in Australia
Compare 13 sheep breeds across wool, meat, dual-purpose and terminal sire categories. Each breed rated for heat tolerance, drought hardiness, cold tolerance, parasite resistance, wool production, meat yield and fertility. Detailed breed guides cover production specifications, care notes, Australian suitability, and comprehensive pros and cons.
Sheep Care
Daily observation and what normal looks like, low-stress stockmanship and dog handling, shearing timing and post-shearing welfare management, crutching, hoof health (foot scald vs virulent foot rot), wool management between shearings, blowfly strike prevention and management, and seasonal management through the Australian year.
Sheep Feeding
Pasture assessment and dry matter measurement, hay quality selection (lucerne, cereal hays, grass hays), grain supplementation (oats, barley, lupins, wheat), water management, Australian mineral deficiencies (selenium, copper, iodine, cobalt), feeding through the production cycle from flushing to lambing and weaning, and drought feeding decisions.
Sheep Health
Core vaccination programs (5-in-1, 6-in-1, Footvax), internal parasite management including the drench resistance crisis, refugia-based strategic drenching and WormBoss, blowfly strike prevention and mulesing, foot rot eradication programs, Johne's disease management, pregnancy toxaemia, and biosecurity including LPA accreditation.
Lambing
Understanding what kills lambs (the SME complex), six weeks of pre-lambing preparation, recognising normal labour versus dystocia, assisting malpresentations, neonatal care including colostrum, stomach tubing and hypothermia treatment, lamb marking (docking, castration, NLIS), and a systematic approach to improving lamb survival using post-mortem investigation and data tracking.