Stock judging: breeding ewes, finished lambs and lamb carcase

When stock judging sheep, the points below should help you to understand what to look for.

Breeding ewes

The ewe needs to be healthy, with length, width and depth of body; she needs to eat, walk and feed two lambs. So, the order of checking is:

Teeth – eating is essential.
Feet – need to be able to walk to find food.
Udder – to rear two lambs.

Remember: wool can mask a great deal about the animal, so handle animals at the key points.

1. Mouth

Good	Poor
Clean mouth with no signs of wear and gaps: Two broad teeth = one year old Four broad teeth = two years old Six broad teeth = three years old Eight broad teeth = four years old, or older Up to 12 months old, sheep will have a full set of milk teeth. In older sheep, the teeth will start to wear down, have gaps and fall out	Broken mouth with signs of wear/gaps/teeth fallen out indicates old ewe

Good

Poor

Clean mouth with no signs of wear and gaps:

Two broad teeth = one year old

Four broad teeth = two years old

Six broad teeth = three years old

Eight broad teeth = four years old, or older

Up to 12 months old, sheep will have a full set of milk teeth. In older sheep, the teeth will start to wear down, have gaps and fall out

Broken mouth with signs of wear/gaps/teeth fallen out indicates old ewe

2. Head

Good	Poor
Bright, bold eyes	Short, broad head

3. Shoulders

Good	Poor
Wide, well-covered shoulders	Narrow, lacking flesh

4. Body

Good	Poor
Good length, width and depth	Short, narrow and lacking depth

5. Wool

Good	Poor
Even growth of staple in fleece	Open fleece

6. Legs

Good	Poor
Strong-boned placed on each corner of ewe	Bad legs

7. Udder

Good	Poor
Sound, supple udder with two well-placed teats	Swollen quarters, hard lumps or sores
	Excessively large teats

8. Feet

Good	Poor
Deep heel with short clees	Lame feet
Well up on pasterns	Down on pasterns

Finished lambs

Before you start

Stand back and have a good look at the group from a distance. Get a general impression of the lambs you have to judge, noting their appearance, type, etc. Pay close attention to distinguishing marks, colour of wool, face, etc.

Be methodical and start at one end and work your way up to the other end, inspecting and handling as you go.

Remember: wool can mask a great deal about the animal, so handle animals at the key points.

1. The shoulder

Good	Poor
Neat and compact	Narrow and lacking flesh
Eye muscle development extended well forward

2. The ribs

Good	Poor
Light covering, individual ribs easily detected	Too lean (bare)
	Too fat (individual ribs undetectable)

3. The loin

Good	Poor
Spinous and transverse processes felt as corrugations with light pressure
Good width and fullness of eye muscle

4. The tail (dock)

Good	Poor
Individual bones easy to detect with light pressure	Too lean (narrow and bones bare)
	Too fat (broad, soft and individual bones undetectable)

5. The legs

Good	Poor
Broad and well filled to the shank

Lamb carcase

Be methodical. Start at:

The hind leg
Then chump
Then back
Then shoulder

A) Leg

B) Chump

C) Loin

D) Shoulder

A lamb carcase with markers to indicate what to look for when judging stock. A - Leg, B - Chump, C - Loin and D - Shoulder.

Lean meat should not be too dark with a fine-grained texture.

A lamb carcase which shows too much fat.

Lamb carcase which is too fat.

Ideal lamb carcase

Conformation

The legs

Good	Poor
Short-boned	V-shaped
Broad and well filled to the shank

The chump

Good	Poor
Well-developed
Full and broad

The loin

Good	Poor
Good width and fullness of eye muscle

The shoulder

Good	Poor
Well-extended eye muscle
Neat and compact

Fat

Depth of fat over legs and loin should be in correct proportion. Fat on breasts to be in correct proportion.

Ribs – light with high lean-to-fat ratio.

Dock – broad dock indicates excess fat.

Useful links

Download our guide to stock judging

If you would like a hard copy of A guide to stock judging please contact publications@ahdb.org.uk or call 0247 799 0069.

Topics:

Selection and carcase classification

Sectors:

Beef & Lamb

Tags:

Young Farmers YFC sheep stock judging