Sheep Terms Glossary
A comprehensive listing of terms used in the sheep industry has been compiled as a reference tool for producers, consumers and media. This glossary has been extracted from the ASI Publication The Sheep Industry Handbook.
1080 livestock protection collar - Tool used to selectively kill coyotes that attack sheep or goats.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
Abomasum - The fourth or true digestive part of a ruminant's stomach that contains gastric juices and enzymes that begin the breakdown of complex materials.
Abortifacient - Describes any substance that can cause an abortion.
Abortion - The premature delivery of a non-viable lamb.
Acaricide - A treatment active against ticks and mites.
Accelerated lambing - The management schedule in which individual ewes lamb more than once per year.
Accuracy - A measure of the closeness of a test result to the true value.
Accuracy values (ACC) - Describes the reliability of an estimate; associated with Estimated Breeding Values (EBV), Expected Progeny Differences (EPD) and Flock Expected Progeny Difference (FEPD).
Acidosis - A condition when the rumen becomes too acidic. It is usually due to over-consumption of grain.
Acquired immunity - Non-heritable resistance to disease acquired from the dam, developed as a result of exposure to microorganisms in the environment or developed from the injection of serums or vaccines. Across flock ties - Genetic links between individuals that are in two or more flocks.
Acute disease - A disease which is rapid in onset and usually short in duration.
Ad libitum - Unlimited access to feedstuffs.
Adaptability - Ability of breeds to survive and produce in a given environment with available resources.
Additive effects - Gene effects in which each allele of a gene pair has an independent negative or positive effect on the expression of a particular quantitative trait.
ADF Nitrogen - Nitrogen bound to undigestible fiber. Represents protein unavailable to the animal.
Adjustment factors - Known environmental and management effects that are part of every performance measurement and can be accounted for in genetic evaluation process. Examples include flock, year, season, sex, age of dam, type of birth, type of rearing, level of management and age at measurement.
Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) - A hormone produced by the pituitary that acts on the adrenal gland for corticosteroid release.
Afterbirth - The placenta expelled by ewe after lambs are born.
Airflow - An instrument used to measure the average fiber diameter of wool.
Alkaloids - One of a large group of organic base substances found in plants. These substances often have toxic effects on animals.
Allele - One group of genes that occupies a locus on a chromosome.
Almeter - An electronic machine used for calculating the fiber length distribution in wool slivers.
Alveolar milk - Milk stored in the vesicles formed by secretory cells.
Ambient - The temperature of the environment. American Wool Logo - Identifies products that are made with at least 20 percent American Wool (if blended with other natural fibers) or 30 percent American wool (if blended with manmade fibers).
Amino Acid - Group of organic compounds containing nitrogen that are the building blocks of protein.
Anaerobic - Environment that contains no oxygen.
Analgesia - Refers to the relief of pain without loss of consciousness.
Androgenized - Ewes or wethers that have been given large doses of testosterone.
Anemia - Too few red blood cells circulating in the blood; this can occur from direct loss, as in hemorrhage or blood sucking parasites, or it can occur as a result of disease processes that destroy the red blood cells in the body.
Anesthesia - Loss of sensation or consciousness, may be local, regional, or general.
Anestrus - The time in which sheep are sexually inactive, usually during spring and summer months. Animal Damage Control (ADC) - Division of Department of Agriculture that oversees control of predators.
Animal unit month (AUM) - Amount of forage used by an animal unit (a cow and her calf) for one month. Antagonistic correlation - Selection for one trait results in an undesirable change in correlated traits.
Anthelmintic - A chemical treatment that kills internal parasites, a dewormer.
Anthrax - Infectious disease also known as "Wool Sorters" disease.
Antibody - A protein formed by the body's immune system that acts to defend against infections; high levels of antibody are found in blood and colostrums.
Antigen - A component of living organisms or tissues, usually made of protein, that causes an antibody response when an animal is exposed to it.
Antiserum - An antibody product usually made by immunizing an animal against a specific disease process and then harvesting and processing blood serum for the antibodies.
Arthritis - Inflammation of a joint.
Arthropod - A division of the Animal Kingdom that includes the "bugs"; those animals that have paired jointed legs and hard external skeleton or shell; includes insects (six-legged), keds, mosquitoes, flies; and arachnids (eight-legged), mites and ticks.
Artificial insemination - Management technique which requires a person to collect semen from the male and deposit it into the female.
Artificial rearing - Raising a lamb on milk or milk replacer.
Artificial selection - Selection of breeding stock with the purpose of improving economically important traits.
Artificial vagina - Hand-held cylinder containing a glass collection tube that is used to collect semen from ram.
As-fed basis - Feed "as it is fed" containing both dry matter and water.
Ataxia - An inability to coordinate voluntary muscle movements.
ATLAS - Acronym for Automatic Tester for Length And Strength. Available Forage Mass - The Total Forage Mass less the Residual Forage Mass. This is the amount of forage that animals can graze or that will be removed from the field as hay or silage.
Aversion - Concept that causes predators to avoid sheep and seek alternate prey.
Aversive conditioning - Practice of feeding a coyote prey-like bait laced with agent (such as lithium chloride) that causes coyote to become ill and avoid subsequent contact with prey.
Avicide - A pesticide specifically designed to control birds.
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B
Backwashing - The washing of dyed or undyed wool sliver before or after gilling and/or combing.
Bacterin - A type of vaccine that is made of killed, whole, bacterial cells, sometimes combined with a toxoid.
Bale - A compressed pack of wool in a convenient form for transit, varying in weight from 150 pounds to 1,000 pounds.
Barbe - One term used to describe the mean length of fibers in a top. It is a weight-biased distribution.
Barber-pole worm - Tiny nematode (slender roundworm approximately one inch in length with red gut) which causes Haemonchosis.
Barren ewes - Ewes that have not produced a lamb.
Base carcass price - The general or market price level of a carcass. BCS - Body condition score.
Belly-wool - Wool growing on the belly of the sheep. It is often uneven, tender, and shorter than wool from other parts of the body.
Belly-wool fault - A defect that is often associated with and commonly referred to as "belly wool" in which the staple length is comparable to the rest of the fleece but is not as dense and, like belly wool, is often discolored, with the crimp appearing to be more prominent and sometimes finer.
Beneficial correlation - Selection for one trait results in a desirable improvement in correlated traits.
Biodiversity - Diversity of plant species and other organisms; such as animals, insects, and bacteria, that exist within the environment of a given area.
Biosecurity - Those management practices designed to prevent introduction of disease agents to a flock and those practices that prevent spread of disease within a flock.
Blending - The mixing together of various qualities of materials, in either the raw or semi-manufactured state, in order to modify color, quality, or price of the resultant bulk.
Blood grade - Denotes the fineness of the wool as compared with pure Merino, which is called full blood.
Blow - Shearing stroke.
Bluebag - Gangrene of the udder or gangrenous mastitis.
Bluetongue - Viral disease transmitted by infected biting no-see-ums found throughout the United States during warm weather.
Body condition score (BCS) - Value from one to five (thin to fat) used to estimate condition.
Bolus - A large oval pill often containing antibiotics.
Bone morphogentic protein receptor 1B (BMPR1B) - Gene responsible for the high prolificacy Booroola phenotype.
Booroola Merino - Merino sheep that carries one or two copies of the F-gene, which increases prolificacy.
Bots - Tiny larvae that crawl into nasal passages.
Box trap - Large, box-like trap used for catching bobcats, domestic dogs, and mountain lions.
Boxed lamb - The process of breaking carcasses in a central location and shipping the cuts in boxes rather than as whole carcasses. Primal and subprimal cuts are vacuum-packed to increase shelf life.
Break wool - Due to illness or poor nutrition at some time during the growth of the wool, it is weak at one particular point of the staple but sound above and below the break.
Breaker - Those who cut carcasses into primal, subprimal and individual cuts for resale to retail stores and foodservice outlets.
Breakeven price - The selling price needed to cover all costs.
Breeding capacity - The number of ewes that a ram can mate and still achieve high fertility within the shortest breeding interval.
Breeding season - The period of time when the ewe is showing estrus. Breeding Soundness Examination (BSE) - Physical and visual examination of a ram (including a microscopic analysis of his semen) to evaluate reproductive performance.
Breeding Value (BV) - Genetic effects that are consistently transmitted from parents to progeny.
Bright wool - Light-appearing clean wool, such as is grown in the farming states.
Britch wool - Wool from the hindquarters of the sheep, usually the coarsest on the body, often approaching hair in its characteristics.
Broken mouth - Stage in sheep's life when teeth begin to fall out.
Broken wool - Fiber that pulls apart very easily in a specific position.
Browse - Broad-leafed woody plant, shrub, bush or tree of small stature.
Buccal mucosa - The lining of the inside of the cheek.
Buffers - Feed additives that minimize digestive disturbances by preventing large changes in rumen pH, particularly when adjusting lambs to finishing diets.
Burdizzo - Tool used to castrate lambs by severing the cord without breaking the skin of the scrotum.
Burr - A rough or prickly seed which becomes entangled in the wool.
Burry wool - Wool containing vegetable impurities.
Butting - Method of fighting among rams characterized by the striking of the head and horns.
Bypass protein - Protein that passes through the rumen without being degraded by microorganisms.
By-products - Edible and inedible items produced from non-meat portion of lamb. Items include leather, sausage casings, tallow, cosmetics, glycerine, sutures and lanolin.
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C
Calcium-to-Phosphorus Ratio - Relative amounts of calcium and phosphorus in the total ration. Usually recommended to be at least 2:1.
Calculi - An abnormal concretion occurring within the animal body and usually composed of mineral salts.
Calling - Imitating the sound of an injured animal in distress to lure predators to a certain location.
Callipyge - An inherited condition discovered in U.S. polled Dorset sheep which results in extreme muscle development, especially in loins and rear legs.
Campylobacteriosis - Type of infectious abortion also called vibriosis.
Carbonizing - The extracting of vegetable matter from wool, noil, waste or rags after converting it into carbon by the action of acid and heat.
Carcass traits - Moderate to highly heritable traits that are difficult to measure on live animals.
Carcass weight - The weight of the lamb after it has been slaughtered and the by-products have been removed.
Carding - After wool is scoured and dried it is fed into a carding machine which opens up the wool into an even layer (removing as much burr and seed as possible) and draws the fibers parallel to each other to form a single continuous strand of fibers called a 'sliver.'
Carpet wool - Short, coarse wool used in the manufacture of carpets.
Carrion - Rotting meat of dead animals.
Caruncle - Small raised areas on the inner surface of the uterus that form the attachment sites for the placenta.
Casein - The most important protein found in milk.
Case-ready products - Products packaged in the slaughtering or breaking plant which are ready to be put into the retail store meat case for sale.
Casse - Name of the farm on which the first sheep milking machine was developed.
Castration - Process of removing testicles from male lambs.
Catarrhal - A thick, cloudy nasal discharge. CC or Cubic Centimeter - A common unit of measure for fluids used in treatments; equivalent to one milliliter (ml).
Cellulose - One of the main fibrous substances in plant walls. Center-post gate - A gate with a center post and two swinging gates that can each swing in a full circle like the hands of a clock.
Central nervous system diseases - Diseases affecting the brain and spinal cord.
Central ram test - See Ram test.
Cervix - Region of the female reproductive tract between the uterus and vagina.
Cessation - Temporary or final stopping of action.
Character - A true, sound-stapled wool with evenness of quality and regularity of crimp and serrations.
Chlamydia - Small organisms (that cannot live outside of living cells) associated with pneumonia, abortion, diarrhea, conjunctivitis, arthritis and encephalitis.
Chlamydiosis - Type of infectious abortion. The most common abortion disease experienced by the sheep industry.
Chromosomes - DNA molecules that are organized into pairs in the nucleus of every cell. Each individual has the exact same set of chromosomes in every cell and sheep have 54 chromosomes (27 pairs).
Chronic disease - A disease which develops slowly and runs a prolonged course.
Circulatory disease - Disease affecting the heart and blood.
Cistern - Reservoir in the udder in which the milk is stored.
Classing - Preliminary sorting of the fleece according to its quality.
Clean basis - Refers to the price of the clean, scoured wool, excluding loss and charges due to scouring.
Clean color - The color of the wool after scouring. Measured in terms of brightness and yellowness, both of which can affect dyeing potential.
Clean wool - Wool after it has been scoured or cleaned, removing dirt, grease, and other foreign material. Clean wool fibers present (CWFP) - That portion of the wool which is free of all vegetable and other foreign matter.
Clinical symptoms - Signs of disease are apparent from observation of the animal.
Clip - One season's yield of wool.
Cloning - The production of genes or individuals which are genetically the same as the donor.
Clostridial organisms - Anaerobic bacteria that produce spores under certain conditions.
Clothing wool - Short fibers used in the manufacture of woolens.
CLPG - The allele that results in the callipyge condition of extreme muscle development.
Cluster - Part of the milking machine including the teat cups and the claw.
Coarse-edge - The extremely coarse fibers in a given lot of wool.
Coccidiosis - Disease in feeder lambs characterized by diarrhea, dehydration, loss of weight, and weakness.
Coccidiostat - A drug used to interrupt the life cycle of coccidian in the intestine of the sheep; only lasalocid and decoquinate are approved for use in sheep at the present time.
Cockle - A defect in a pelt caused by keds.
Co-dominant - The phenotypic situation when both alleles of a heterozygous pair express themselves equally.
Codon - A sequence of three of the basic components of DNA molecule which specify the production of a particular amino acid. Coefficient of variation (CV%) - A statistical term used to describe the amount of variation within a set of measurements.
Color defect - Presence of colors, other than white, which cannot be removed in scouring.
Colored-fiber ratio - The ratio of colored-to-white fibers in a given lot of wool.
Colorimeter - An instrument used to measure the clean color of wool.
Colostrum - The first milk produced, rich in antibodies, energy, and vitamin A.
Combined selection - Most accurate method of artificial selection based on an individual's breeding value, which was estimated by combining all performance information for selected and correlated traits.
Combing - Process by which the short fibers, entangled fibers and vegetable material are separated from the long fibers and the latter are straightened out and laid parallel to each other.
Commercial flock - Flock that sells pounds of lamb and wool instead of breeding stock.
Commission firm - A company which sells livestock for a commission or a fee based on a percentage of total dollar sales.
Common ancestor - Animal in an individual's pedigree that is found on both the sire and dam side.
Communicable disease - Infectious disease which spreads rapidly from one individual to another. All contagious diseases are infectious, but not all infectious diseases are contagious.
Complementarity - Mating system that places breeds in complementary roles that maximize strengths and minimize weakness.
Composite breed - Crossing of two or more breeds with subsequent mating among these crossbred ewes and rams.
Concentration - Market dominance by a few large firms in an industry.
Condition - The degree of oil in grease wool.
Condition scoring - Estimating the amount of fat cover on a sheep by feeling along the back and over the loin.
Conditioning - Allowing textile materials, slivers, yarns, and fabrics to come to hygroscopic equilibrium with the surrounding atmosphere or with the standard atmosphere for testing.
Confidence limits - Used to express the precision of a measure.
Conformation - General body proportions of the animal and the ratio of meat to bone.
Contagious - The ability of a disease to spread to another animal. Contemporary group - A uniformly managed group of animals of similar breed composition, age, and sex. A method of adjusting for unknown non-genetic effects.
Continuous trait - Trait with a value that cannot be classified into discrete categories.
Controlled escape - The principle of letting sheep think that they are escaping their handlers.
Cool season grasses - Grasses that form a 3-carbon carbohydrate as the first product of photosynthesis. These species provide grazing in the spring and then generally mature during the summer becoming less productive.
Cooperative - Marketing method used by small independent producers to collectively sell their product in order to gain some advantages of economies of scale.
Cooperative Extension Service - Educational arm of the USDA located in each state and most counties.
Cooperative wool warehouses - A company organized as a cooperative which collects, stores, and sells wool.
Core sample - The sample extracted from a bale of wool by inserting a sharpened hollow tube the length of the bale.
Coronary band - The junction between the hoof wall and the skin above the hoof.
Corpus luteum - Structure on ovary that produces progesterone after ovulation.
Correlated response - Change in one trait is caused by selection for another trait that is correlated to it.
Correlated traits - Two traits affected by some of the same gene pairs. Selection for a trait will result in some change for any traits that are correlated.
Correlation - A measure of the relationship (can be positive or negative) between two variables. Corticosteroids - Steroid hormones produced by the adrenal gland after ACTH stimulation.
Cotted fleece - A fleece in which the fibers are matted or tangled. Count of yarn - A number indicating the mass per unit length or the length per unit mass of a yarn.
Country-of-origin labeling - The requirement that certain retail meat cuts and ground product be labeled as to country of origin.
Coyote - Major predator of sheep in the western United States.
Crabbing - Process used in the worsted trade to set the fabric in a smooth flat state so that it will not cockle, pucker or wrinkle during subsequent wet processing.
Creep feeding - Method of providing supplemental feed for lambs during the nursing period.
Crimp - The natural waviness of the wool fiber.
Critical temperature - Maximum or minimum environmental temperature tolerated by the animal before additional dietary energy is required to maintain normal body temperature.
Crop aftermath - Necessary residual forage of grain production.
Crossbred - The offspring resulting from mating a ram and ewe of different breeds.
Crossbreeding - Mating plan involving two or more breeds.
Crowd gate - Solid gate used to move sheep into smaller area.
Crude fiber (CF) - Antiquated measure of the fibrous portion of feed.
Crude protein (CP) - Term representing both true protein and non-protein nitrogen content.
Crutching - Shearing of wool from around the dock and udder.
Crutchings - Wool removed from the fleece a month or two before the final shearing.
Cryptorchidism - See Cryptorchism.
Cryptorchism - Failure of one or both testes to descend from the abdominal cavity into the scrotum during fetal development. Also known as retained testicles.
Cryptosporidiosis - Organism that proliferates in small intestine and possibly cecum.
Culling - Process of removing animals that are below average in production, unsound, or undesirable.
Culls - Sheep which are below a required standard.
Curing - Process that uses salt to preserve pelt by creating an environment in which protein-destroying organisms cannot function.
Custom feeding - The practice of having livestock fed and managed for the livestock owner in another facility for a fee.
Cut-out value - Value of lamb products and byproducts from slaughtering and processing.
Cutting gate - See-through gate used to sort sheep to different pens.
Cyanogenic glycosides - Substances found in plant leaves which are acted upon by rumen microorganisms to produce cyanide.
Cystic ovaries - Physiological problem found in cycling ewes.
Cysticercosis - The condition where a larval form of a tapeworm has encysted or embedded itself in the tissue of its host.
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D
Dam - The mother.
Dam breed - Breed noted for adaptability to the production environment and high levels of performance for wool production, litter size, milk production, mothering ability, or out-of-season breeding ability.
Dead wool - Wool removed from the skin of dead sheep (not slaughtered) by sweating.
Decatizing - Finishing process, chiefly to improve the handle and appearance of fabric, in which the fabric, wound tightly on a perforated roller, is either immersed in hot water, which is also circulated through the fabric, or has steam blown through it.
Defect - Characteristic which reduces the possibility of survival or impairs the producing ability of the animal. Deleterious alleles - Alleles that cause genetic abnormalities.
Demand - The market clearing price-quantity relationship for a product at any point in time.
Denning - Locating the den and removing the pups and/or the adult pair of coyotes responsible for depredation.
Density - The number of fibers produced on a given area of the sheep's body.
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) - Genetic material which controls how an animal looks and performs. DNA molecules are organized into pairs of chromosomes.
Dermis - Thick inner layer of sheep skin that extends down to the muscle.
Deviation - A method used to compare genetic value of animals within a contemporary group. A deviation is the difference between the performance of an individual and the mean performance of its contemporaries.
Deworming - Management practice of administering medication to alleviate internal worms.
DHIA - Dairy Herd Improvement Association.
Digestive disease - Disease of the stomach and/or intestines.
Diluent - Fluid containing an energy source (fructose or glucose), chemical buffer, antibiotics and a cryoprotectant that is added to semen.
Direct sales - Marketing process in which producers bypass traditional channels by dealing directly with final buyer. (RT: Direct marketing, Forward contract, Order buyer, Packer.)
Discrete traits - Traits that can be classified, with little or no error, into distinct categories.
Docking - Process of removing long tails.
Doggy wools - Short, harsh, coarser than type, comparatively straight wools.
Domestic wool - All wools grown in the United States.
Dominant - In a heterozygous gene pair, it is the allele that expresses itself. A dominant allele is usually denoted by upper case letters.
Doppler principle - The process of transmitting ultrasound frequencies that are modified proportionally to the velocity of a moving object. Frequency shifts can be used to determine a fetal heartbeat and pregnancy.
Doublings - A number of laps, slivers, slubbings and rovings fed simultaneously into a machine for drafting into a single end.
Drafting - The process for attenuating laps, slivers, slubbings and rovings to decrease the mass per unit length.
Draw stations - Natural areas or places set up intentionally to draw coyotes or red foxes to a particular location.
Drawing - Operations by which slivers are blended, leveled, and by drafting, reduced to the stage of roving.
DRC-1339 - Bird toxicant used for control of ravens.
Drenching - The oral administration of medication.
Dressing percentage (DP) - The carcass weight divided by the live weight.
Drift lambing - Each day the ewes that have not lambed are moved to a new pasture and the ewes with newborn lambs are left behind.
Dry ice - Frozen carbon dioxide (CO2) at -110Á F.
Dry matter (DM) - The portion of the feed that is not water.
Dry period - Period of ewe's production cycle in which she is not lactating or pregnant.
Dry-spun - Worsted yarn produced from dry-combed top.
Dual product - Two products marketed from the same animal, wool and meat for sheep.
Dual-purpose breeds - Breeds that can be used as ewe or ram breed depending upon production situation.
Dwarfism - Inherited defect in which animals grow to a smaller size than normal.
Dystocia - Difficult lamb birth.
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E
E. coli scours - Disease that affects lambs in first five to seven days of life causing watery, yellow diarrhea, dehydration, and rapid death.
Ecology - Branch of biology that deals with the relationship between living organisms and their environment.
Economically important traits - Those traits which directly impact profitability.
Economies of size - The per-unit cost advantage associated with larger size operations.
Ecosystem - Functional relationships between the physical and biological components of a given area.
Edema - The accumulation of abnormal amounts of fluid in the tissue of the body.
Ejaculate - Semen sample of ram.
Elasticity - Ability to return to former position or length after being stretched, due in large part to soundness and crimp.
Elastrator - An instrument used to apply elastrator rings, which are heavy constrictive rubber bands that are placed around the base of the tail or scrotum for tail docking and castration.
Elastrator bands - Specially-designed, heavy-duty rubber bands that are used to castrate and dock lambs.
Electroejaculation - Management procedure used to ejaculate ram for semen collection.
Electrolytes - A solution of crucial salts administered to replace those lost during illness.
Electronic market - Markets, such as teleauctions, computer auctions and satellite auctions, that allow producers to expose their products to buyers outside of their local area.
ELISA - Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay. A method of testing for various diseases including a Brucella Ovis infection.
Emaciation - To waste away physically.
Emasculatome (Burdizzo tool) - An instrument used to crush the spermatic cord within the scrotum without surgically opening the scrotum
Emasculator - An instrument used to surgically remove the testicles and which is designed to crush the spermatic cord while cutting it above the testicle. It is sometimes used for tail docking.
Embryo transfer - Recently fertilized eggs from donor ewe are transferred to the uterus of a recipient ewe, usually by surgically exposing the uterus of the recipient.
Encephalitis - Inflammation of the brain usually with severe signs, such as fever, incoordination, and convulsions.
Endangered Species Act (ESA) - Law that protects threatened species.
Endotoxin - A component of gram negative bacterial cell walls that can produce signs of depression, dehydration, diarrhea, circulatory collapse, and shock. When the bacteria die, the endotoxin is absorbed from the digestive tract, lungs, or other tissues.
Enteritis - An inflammation of the intestinal tract.
Enterotoxemia type C - Disease that affects lambs in first two weeks of life causing bloody infection of the small intestine and rapid death.
Enterotoxemia type C and D toxoid - Vaccination given to young lambs to build up antibodies against Enterotoxemia type C and D. It also is available combined with the tetanus vaccination.
Enterotoxemia type D - Disease that affects unvaccinated lambs that have been placed on high-energy diets.
Entropion - A turning in of the eyelid such that the eyeball is irritated by the hair and wool.
Enzyme - A type of protein that facilitates a metabolic reaction.
Epidemiology - The study of the factors which determine the frequency and incidence of disease in animal and human populations.
Epidermis - Outer layer of sheep skin.
Epididymis - Male reproductive organ at base of scrotum that stores semen.
Epididymitis - Inflammation of the epididymis, tubular portion of the testis that collects the sperm from the testicle.
Epidural - "Above the dura" referring to the placement of an anesthetic agent or other drug in the spinal canal.
Epistasis - Interaction among genes at different loci. The expression of genes at one locus may be influenced by genes present at another locus.
Esophageal feeder - Tube placed down esophagus of lamb to administer milk or other liquid.
Estimated Breeding Value (EBV) - Predictions of genetic value derived from the application of genetic theory and statistics to performance records.
Estrogen - Hormone that causes regression of the corpus luteum and stimulates estrus.
Estrous cycle - Time period from the beginning of one heat to the beginning of the next heat. Usually approximately 16-17 days.
Estrus - Period of time when the female is sexually receptive to the male. Usually 24-36 hours. Also known as "heat."
Etiology - The agent that causes the disease.
Euthanasia - The induction of death in an animal quickly and painlessly.
Ewe - A female sheep.
Ewe breed - Usually white-faced breeds of fine-wool type developed primarily from crosses of fine and long-wool types and highly prolific breeds.
Ewe effect - Physiological effect that causes increased blood concentrations of LH in ram in response to females in estrus.
Exotoxin - A toxin produced by bacteria that is liberated into the surrounding tissues or blood stream and which may have specific effects; tetanus toxin, epsilon toxin from C. perfringens in exterotoxemia.
Expected Progeny Difference (EPD) - An estimate of how much better or poorer an individual's progeny will perform compared to the average of all individuals in the breed. EPD is one half of the EBV.
Extensive management - Production system where sheep graze most or all of the year on pastures or range. Minimal facilities are required.
External fat thickness - Amount of fat over the ribeye muscle between the 12th and 13th rib. Used to calculate yield grade.
External parasite - Parasites that may be found on the fleece, skin and in the nasal and ear passages.
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F
Fabric - A manufactured assembly of fibers and/or yarns.
Fabrication - Process of cutting lamb carcasses into wholesale or primal cuts in the slaughter plant.
Facing - Correcting wool blindness by removing wool from face.
Fallers - Straight, pinned, metal bars employed in the control of fibers between drafting rollers.
Family selection - Selection or rejection of whole families according to the average performance or phenotypic value of the family.
Fatty Acids - Essential elements of fat.
Febrile - Animal with temperature above normal.
Felt - A textile structure composed entirely of fibers physically interlocked and consolidated by the utilization of mechanical work, chemical action and moisture not by weaving, knitting, stitching, thermal bonding or adhesive.
Felting - The property of wool fibers to interlock with each other if they are rubbed together under pressure in moist condition while being heated.
Fermentation - Microbial decomposition of organic matter in an oxygen-free (anaerobic) environment.
Fertility - Proportion or percentage of ewes lambing that were exposed to ram.
Fetus - The unborn lamb during its development in a ewe's uterus.
F-gene - Gene that has major control of prolificacy.
Fiber - A unit of matter characterized by flexibility, fineness, and high ratio of length to thickness.
Fiber diameter - Thickness of individual wool fibers.
Fiber fineness distribution analyzer - Machine that measures the diameter of several thousand individual fiber snippets and calculates both the average fiber diameter and the fiber diameter variability.
Fiber length - Describes the length of an individual wool fiber or group of fibers.
Filiform appendage - A small extension of the penile urethra from the end of the ram's penis.
Filling - Crosswise threads or yarns in a cloth, used to "fill" the warp.
Financial risk - The risk associated with not repaying debt or paying expenses.
Fine - A grade of wool in the American system of grading. Equivalent of 64s, 70s and 80s spinning counts.
Fineness - A general term used for textile fibers, yarns, and fabrics with special references to their transverse dimensions.
Finishing - Everything that happens to wool fabric after leaving the loom until it is ready for the cutter.
Flank streaking - The amount of intramuscular fat found in the flank. Used to determine quality grade.
Flap gate - Small, self-closing gate that a sheep can push open. Used to "lead" sheep.
Fleece - The entire coat of wool shorn from the sheep at one time.
Fleece traits - Moderately to highly heritable traits that determine the value of the wool clip.
Fleece wool - (1) Wool other than the first clip, just as it is shorn from live sheep. (RT: Lamb's wool, Virgin wool, Yearling wool), (2) Wool grown in the farm areas of the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri.
Flehmen - Behavioral display of "lip curl" made by ram in response to ewe in estrus.
Flight zone - Minimum zone of comfort or security.
Flock Expected Progeny Difference (FEPD) - An estimate of how much better or poorer an individual's progeny will perform compared to the average of all individuals within its flock. Measure of genetic value within flock.
Flocking instinct - Social and behavioral relationship that causes animals to remain as a group.
Floor skirting - Shearer makes an effort to drop the leg and belly wool onto the shearing floor so that it can be picked up.
Flushing - Management practice of improving a ewe's plane of nutrition just prior to mating to improve ovulation rate.
Fly strike - Blow or bottle flies that are attracted to soiled wool, wounds, and dying tissue. Causes myiasis or maggot infestation.
Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) - Protein hormone released by the pituitary; stimulates the development of follicles on the ovary.
Follicles - Small blister-like structures on the surface of the ovary. The egg or ovum is located within the follicle.
Fomites - Inanimate objects that may carry or harbor disease causing germs: clothing, boots, shearing equipment, grooming equipment.
Food service industry - The group of companies and institutions which prepare and serve food, such as restaurants, nursing homes, and airlines.
Footbath - Chemical and water mixture, that sheep stand in, used for prevention and/or treatment of foot rot and footscald.
Forage - Fiber-containing feedstuffs, such as silage, hay, and pasture.
Forbs - Broadleafed, herbaceous plants. Many are commonly referred to as "weeds" but some can be nutritious forages.
Forcing pen - Pen used to confine small groups of animals prior to moving them into treatment chutes.
Forward contract - Agreement between buyer and seller specifying price and future delivery date.
Four-firm concentration ratio - Proportion of the industry's sheep and lambs that are slaughtered by the four largest firms.
Frame size - Classification used to determine feeder lamb grades based on the projected weight when slaughter lambs reach 0.2-inch fat thickness.
Free - This term is used to indicate the absence of defects (usually means free from burrs).
French combing - Blood grade denoting a wool long enough to be combed on a French comb but too short to be combed on a Noble comb.
Fribs - Short and dirty locks of small size such as dungy bits of wool and second cuts.
Frightening devices - Tactics useful for reducing predator losses for short periods until predators can be removed.
Frowsy wool - A lifeless appearing wool with the fibers lying in random directions. Usually dry and harsh.
Fulling - The process of consolidating or compacting fabric by combining the effects of moisture, heat and pressure to permanently shrink and felt the material.
Full-sibs - Animals that have the same sire and dam.
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G
Gambrel restrainer - Restraining device that is a gambrel-shaped piece of PVC plastic that is placed over the top of the animal's neck, with slots on either side to hold both front legs of the animal.
Gare - Australian term referring to long, medullated fibers lacking crimp, generally found in the britch wool of the sheep.
Garnetting - Shredding a used wool product back into a fibrous state prior to manufacturing a new product.
Gastroenteritis - An inflammation of the stomach and intestine.
Gastro-intestinal tract - Responsible for the digestion and absorption of nutrients from the diet as well as the elimination of undigested dietary residues and excretion of solid waste products.
Gathering pen - Fenced pen that will comfortably hold the largest number of sheep you expect to work at one time.
Gene - Found in pairs in chromosomes, genes form the coding system that directs the production of enzymes and other proteins which influence development, performance, and appearance of an animal.
Gene transfer - Movement of a gene of one individual to another individual of the same or different species.
Generation interval - The average time lapse between birth of an animal and birth of its replacement.
Genetic correlation - Relative change in one trait associated with selection for another. Traits are affected by some of the same gene pairs.
Genetic improvement per generation - Heritability multiplied by selection differential.
Genetic improvement per year - Method of expressing the effectiveness of a selection program.
Genetic marker - Genes located close to a gene of interest on the same chromosome.
Genome map - Diagram showing assignment of genes and genetic markers to specific regions along the 27 chromosomes.
Genotype - Genetic composition of an individual or a listing of genes that an individual possesses.
Gestation - Period of pregnancy beginning at conception and ending with lambing.
Gill box - A drafting machine, used in worsted processing, in which the motion of the fibers is in part controlled by pins fixed on moving bars.
Gilling - Blending and drawing operation that is applied to card sliver before combing.
Goitrogens - Substances found in some plants that prevent the thyroid gland from properly accumulating nutritional iodine.
Gonadostat hypothesis - The theory that during the prepuberal and anestrous period the hypothalamus becomes very sensitive to negative feedback effects of estrogen and decreases reproductive activity.
Gonadotropin releasing hormone(GnRH) - Hormone released by the hypothalamus, which stimulates FSH and LH release from the pituitary.
Gonadotropins - Category of hormones used to stimulate follicle development and induce follicles to ovulate.
Grab sample - Sample of greasy wool taken at random positions from every bale in a sale lot.
Grade - The relative fineness of the wool determined by the average of the diameters in a single fleece.
Graded wool - Fleeces that have been individually handled and visually classed according to fiber diameter, length, and other processing characteristics. Grading - 1) Grouping fleeces according to measurable characteristics such as fineness, yield, vegetable matter, length, strength and color. 2) Determining quality of carcass.
Grading up - Repeated crossing of ewes and their female progeny to rams of a single breed to produce a flock representative of the sire breed that will eventually be indistinguishable from a purebred flock of that breed.
Grafting - Fostering a lamb onto a ewe that is not its natural mother.
Grass - Plant species that generally have long, narrow leaves, jointed stems, flowers on stems, and seed-like fruit.
Grazing Period - Number of days that animals remain in the same paddock.
Grazing Wedge - A graphical tool for planning grazing movements. A histogram showing the total forage mass for every paddock on the farm, in descending order.
Grease price - Price paid for grease wool. Determined by multiplying the yield times the clean price.
Grease wool - Wool in its natural state. Greasy heavily conditioned wool - Refers to low-yielding wool with a high content of grease and suint, and its ability to attract and react with dirt, moisture and atmospheric conditions.
Group breeding scheme - Complex selection system involving a number of cooperating flocks.
Guaranteed yield - Pricing method by which packers calculate payment for slaughter lambs on a fixed dressing percentage.
Guard dog - Dog that stays with sheep without harming them and aggressively repels predators.
Gummer - Stage in sheep's life when they have no teeth at all.
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H
Habitat - Region where a plant or animal naturally grows or lives.
Hair - Straight, non-elastic and glossy fiber that is stronger, smoother and usually coarser than wool.
Hair Sheep - Sheep of tropical origin, lacking wool. Coat resembles that of cattle or many goats.
Half blood - American designation of wool compared in fineness to the full-blooded Merino as standard.
Half-sibs - Animals that have either the same sire or the same dam.
Hand breeding - Management practice that keeps rams and ewes separated until individual ewes can be mated to specific rams.
Hand-fed - Method of feeding animals at regular intervals, allowing them to clean up the feed before they are fed again.
Handle - Term used to denote wool quality when wool is judged by feel.
Hauteur - Term used to describe the mean fiber length in the top.
Health - State of well-being in which an animal can express its genetic potential. Heat increment - Heat produced in the body from digestive processes.
Heavy wool - Wool with a high shrinkage in scouring.
Hemocytometer - An instrument used for counting sperm cells and estimating sperm concentration.
Hemolytic - Referring to any process where red blood cells are destroyed directly.
Hemorrhage - A loss of blood.
Herbivore - Animals that consume primarily grass and other plant materials.
Herders - Person(s) responsible for the care of sheep while in large pastures.
Heritability (h2) - The proportion of differences among animals for performance traits that are due to differences in the additive effects of the genes they possess.
Hernia - Condition in which a weakness of the abdominal inguinal rings allows the intestines to descend into the scrotum.
Heterosis - Hybrid vigor. Superiority of a crossbred individual relative to the average performance of the purebred parents included in the cross.
Heterotype - Medullated fibers that generally lack crimp and tend to be longer than true wool fibers and finer than kemp fibers.
Heterozygous - Genetic profile in which the two genes that form a gene pair are different. High-tensile wire - Steel wire having greater elasticity than regular wire of the same strength. When stretched, it will retain its tension longer without sagging.
Hirschmann-Herfindahl Index (HHI) - A measure of concentration in an industry. The higher the value, the more concentrated the industry.
Holding pen - Pen that is filled as sheep are sorted.
Homozygous - Genetic profile in which the two genes that form a gene pair are identical.
Hormone - Chemical substance produced in one region of the body which is transported to a different region and has a specific action on a target cell.
Hot boning - Removing muscles prior to chilling carcass.
Hot carcass weight - Weight taken on slaughter floor immediately after head, pelt and other byproducts have been removed.
Hot irons - Tool used to dock lambs by cutting and cauterizing the tail. When properly used, there is little bleeding and little chance for infection.
Hunting dog - Dogs often trained to find coyote dens and then distract coyote until the hunter gets a clear shot.
Hybrid Vigor (HV) - Heterosis. Superiority of a crossbred individual relative to the average performance of the purebred parents included in the cross.
Hydatidosis - Cysts found in the body cavity of sheep.
Hydranencephaly - Abnormal condition of water in the brain.
Hyperemia - More than the normal amount of blood in an area causing increased redness.
Hypobiosis - A stage of parasite larval dormancy where nematode parasite larvae escape harsh environmental conditions by remaining in the wall of the abomasums.
Hypocalcemia - Low levels of calcium in the blood.
Hypomagnesemia - Low levels of blood sugar; often seen in pregnancy disease.
Hypothalamic pulse generator - An indistinct region of the hypothalamus that produces a regular rhythmic pattern of electrical activity, like the pacemaker of the heart.
Hypothalamus - A part of the brain that processes the internal and external cues involved in controlling reproductive functions.
Hypothermia - Body temperature below the normal range; usually seen in newborn lambs but can be observed in adults under severe environmental conditions of cold and moisture.
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I
Immune - The resistance to infection.
Immune system - The system of the body that protects it from disease.
Immunity - Natural or acquired resistance of the animal to "germs" or factors causing the disease.
Immunodeficient - Unable to mount an immune response to a disease.
Immunohistochemistry - A technique that uses specialized antibodies to label, or make visible, tiny structures in cells observed under the light microscope. These structures might otherwise be invisible and include such particles as viruses and prions.
Implantation - The process in which the fertilized embryo attaches to the uterine wall.
Imports - Products purchased from another country.
Imprinting - Genetic phenomenon in which only one of two alleles is actively expressed in an individual, depending on the sex of the parent from which the gene came.
In the grease - Signifies wool in its natural state, as it comes from the sheep's back with all the grease and other impurities attached to it.
Inbreeding (Fx) - Mating of individuals more closely related than the average of the breed.
Inbreeding coefficient - Value that expresses the amount an individual is inbred.
Inbreeding depression - Reduced performance that results from inbreeding.
Incubation period - The time interval between contracting the "germs" which causes the disease and the actual development of symptoms.
Independent culling levels (ICL) - Multiple-trait selection method in which minimum standards are set for each trait.
Independent traits - Traits that have no genes in common and a genetic correlation of zero.
Individual selection - Selecting potential parents on their own performance record or phenotype.
Infection - Invasion of the body by harmful bacteria, viruses, or parasites other than insects.
Infectious disease - Disease caused by infectious agents, such as bacteria and viruses, commonly referred to as germs. Can be treated with antibiotics.
Infestation - The invasion of the body by insects.
Inflammation - A basic response of the body to an injury, irritation, or infection; it is characterized by heat, redness, swelling, and pain.
Infundibulum - Oviductal tissue, adjacent to ovaries, that catches the egg at ovulation and directs it to the oviduct.
Ingest - To swallow.
Inherited defect - A characteristic inherited from parents that reduces the possibility of survival or impairs productive ability.
Integrated predation management - The practice of including good husbandry practices with effective control methods.
Integrated Resource Management (IRM) - A systematic approach to management, entailing both production and financial management.
Integumentary disease - Disease affecting the skin, hooves, or horns.
Intensive management - Production system where sheep are fed harvested feed thus requiring higher levels of management and facilities.
Intermediate host - An animal or other living body in which a parasite completes part of its life cycle and usually causes no damage.
Internal parasites - Parasites, generally a type of nematode worm, located in the stomach and intestine of sheep.
International unit (IU) - Unit of measurement of the potency or biological activity of vitamins and drugs.
Intramuscular injection (IM) - An injection into the heavy muscle tissue.
Intraperitoneal - Inside the abdominal cavity but outside the intestines; usually refers to where injections of fluid or medications are given.
Intrauterine artificial insemination - Surgical insemination using a laparoscope, in which semen is injected directly into uterine horn.
Intravenous injection (IV) - An injection directly into the bloodstream (usually through the jugular vein).
Iodine - Disinfectant used on navels of newborns that helps dry up the navel, thus destroying the passageway into the body of the lamb. Veterinary tincture of iodine contains 7 percent iodine, while common tincture of iodine for humans contains 2 percent iodine.
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1080 livestock protection collar - Tool used to selectively kill coyotes that attack sheep or goats.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A
Abomasum - The fourth or true digestive part of a ruminant's stomach that contains gastric juices and enzymes that begin the breakdown of complex materials.
Abortifacient - Describes any substance that can cause an abortion.
Abortion - The premature delivery of a non-viable lamb.
Acaricide - A treatment active against ticks and mites.
Accelerated lambing - The management schedule in which individual ewes lamb more than once per year.
Accuracy - A measure of the closeness of a test result to the true value.
Accuracy values (ACC) - Describes the reliability of an estimate; associated with Estimated Breeding Values (EBV), Expected Progeny Differences (EPD) and Flock Expected Progeny Difference (FEPD).
Acidosis - A condition when the rumen becomes too acidic. It is usually due to over-consumption of grain.
Acquired immunity - Non-heritable resistance to disease acquired from the dam, developed as a result of exposure to microorganisms in the environment or developed from the injection of serums or vaccines. Across flock ties - Genetic links between individuals that are in two or more flocks.
Acute disease - A disease which is rapid in onset and usually short in duration.
Ad libitum - Unlimited access to feedstuffs.
Adaptability - Ability of breeds to survive and produce in a given environment with available resources.
Additive effects - Gene effects in which each allele of a gene pair has an independent negative or positive effect on the expression of a particular quantitative trait.
ADF Nitrogen - Nitrogen bound to undigestible fiber. Represents protein unavailable to the animal.
Adjustment factors - Known environmental and management effects that are part of every performance measurement and can be accounted for in genetic evaluation process. Examples include flock, year, season, sex, age of dam, type of birth, type of rearing, level of management and age at measurement.
Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) - A hormone produced by the pituitary that acts on the adrenal gland for corticosteroid release.
Afterbirth - The placenta expelled by ewe after lambs are born.
Airflow - An instrument used to measure the average fiber diameter of wool.
Alkaloids - One of a large group of organic base substances found in plants. These substances often have toxic effects on animals.
Allele - One group of genes that occupies a locus on a chromosome.
Almeter - An electronic machine used for calculating the fiber length distribution in wool slivers.
Alveolar milk - Milk stored in the vesicles formed by secretory cells.
Ambient - The temperature of the environment. American Wool Logo - Identifies products that are made with at least 20 percent American Wool (if blended with other natural fibers) or 30 percent American wool (if blended with manmade fibers).
Amino Acid - Group of organic compounds containing nitrogen that are the building blocks of protein.
Anaerobic - Environment that contains no oxygen.
Analgesia - Refers to the relief of pain without loss of consciousness.
Androgenized - Ewes or wethers that have been given large doses of testosterone.
Anemia - Too few red blood cells circulating in the blood; this can occur from direct loss, as in hemorrhage or blood sucking parasites, or it can occur as a result of disease processes that destroy the red blood cells in the body.
Anesthesia - Loss of sensation or consciousness, may be local, regional, or general.
Anestrus - The time in which sheep are sexually inactive, usually during spring and summer months. Animal Damage Control (ADC) - Division of Department of Agriculture that oversees control of predators.
Animal unit month (AUM) - Amount of forage used by an animal unit (a cow and her calf) for one month. Antagonistic correlation - Selection for one trait results in an undesirable change in correlated traits.
Anthelmintic - A chemical treatment that kills internal parasites, a dewormer.
Anthrax - Infectious disease also known as "Wool Sorters" disease.
Antibody - A protein formed by the body's immune system that acts to defend against infections; high levels of antibody are found in blood and colostrums.
Antigen - A component of living organisms or tissues, usually made of protein, that causes an antibody response when an animal is exposed to it.
Antiserum - An antibody product usually made by immunizing an animal against a specific disease process and then harvesting and processing blood serum for the antibodies.
Arthritis - Inflammation of a joint.
Arthropod - A division of the Animal Kingdom that includes the "bugs"; those animals that have paired jointed legs and hard external skeleton or shell; includes insects (six-legged), keds, mosquitoes, flies; and arachnids (eight-legged), mites and ticks.
Artificial insemination - Management technique which requires a person to collect semen from the male and deposit it into the female.
Artificial rearing - Raising a lamb on milk or milk replacer.
Artificial selection - Selection of breeding stock with the purpose of improving economically important traits.
Artificial vagina - Hand-held cylinder containing a glass collection tube that is used to collect semen from ram.
As-fed basis - Feed "as it is fed" containing both dry matter and water.
Ataxia - An inability to coordinate voluntary muscle movements.
ATLAS - Acronym for Automatic Tester for Length And Strength. Available Forage Mass - The Total Forage Mass less the Residual Forage Mass. This is the amount of forage that animals can graze or that will be removed from the field as hay or silage.
Aversion - Concept that causes predators to avoid sheep and seek alternate prey.
Aversive conditioning - Practice of feeding a coyote prey-like bait laced with agent (such as lithium chloride) that causes coyote to become ill and avoid subsequent contact with prey.
Avicide - A pesticide specifically designed to control birds.
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B
Backwashing - The washing of dyed or undyed wool sliver before or after gilling and/or combing.
Bacterin - A type of vaccine that is made of killed, whole, bacterial cells, sometimes combined with a toxoid.
Bale - A compressed pack of wool in a convenient form for transit, varying in weight from 150 pounds to 1,000 pounds.
Barbe - One term used to describe the mean length of fibers in a top. It is a weight-biased distribution.
Barber-pole worm - Tiny nematode (slender roundworm approximately one inch in length with red gut) which causes Haemonchosis.
Barren ewes - Ewes that have not produced a lamb.
Base carcass price - The general or market price level of a carcass. BCS - Body condition score.
Belly-wool - Wool growing on the belly of the sheep. It is often uneven, tender, and shorter than wool from other parts of the body.
Belly-wool fault - A defect that is often associated with and commonly referred to as "belly wool" in which the staple length is comparable to the rest of the fleece but is not as dense and, like belly wool, is often discolored, with the crimp appearing to be more prominent and sometimes finer.
Beneficial correlation - Selection for one trait results in a desirable improvement in correlated traits.
Biodiversity - Diversity of plant species and other organisms; such as animals, insects, and bacteria, that exist within the environment of a given area.
Biosecurity - Those management practices designed to prevent introduction of disease agents to a flock and those practices that prevent spread of disease within a flock.
Blending - The mixing together of various qualities of materials, in either the raw or semi-manufactured state, in order to modify color, quality, or price of the resultant bulk.
Blood grade - Denotes the fineness of the wool as compared with pure Merino, which is called full blood.
Blow - Shearing stroke.
Bluebag - Gangrene of the udder or gangrenous mastitis.
Bluetongue - Viral disease transmitted by infected biting no-see-ums found throughout the United States during warm weather.
Body condition score (BCS) - Value from one to five (thin to fat) used to estimate condition.
Bolus - A large oval pill often containing antibiotics.
Bone morphogentic protein receptor 1B (BMPR1B) - Gene responsible for the high prolificacy Booroola phenotype.
Booroola Merino - Merino sheep that carries one or two copies of the F-gene, which increases prolificacy.
Bots - Tiny larvae that crawl into nasal passages.
Box trap - Large, box-like trap used for catching bobcats, domestic dogs, and mountain lions.
Boxed lamb - The process of breaking carcasses in a central location and shipping the cuts in boxes rather than as whole carcasses. Primal and subprimal cuts are vacuum-packed to increase shelf life.
Break wool - Due to illness or poor nutrition at some time during the growth of the wool, it is weak at one particular point of the staple but sound above and below the break.
Breaker - Those who cut carcasses into primal, subprimal and individual cuts for resale to retail stores and foodservice outlets.
Breakeven price - The selling price needed to cover all costs.
Breeding capacity - The number of ewes that a ram can mate and still achieve high fertility within the shortest breeding interval.
Breeding season - The period of time when the ewe is showing estrus. Breeding Soundness Examination (BSE) - Physical and visual examination of a ram (including a microscopic analysis of his semen) to evaluate reproductive performance.
Breeding Value (BV) - Genetic effects that are consistently transmitted from parents to progeny.
Bright wool - Light-appearing clean wool, such as is grown in the farming states.
Britch wool - Wool from the hindquarters of the sheep, usually the coarsest on the body, often approaching hair in its characteristics.
Broken mouth - Stage in sheep's life when teeth begin to fall out.
Broken wool - Fiber that pulls apart very easily in a specific position.
Browse - Broad-leafed woody plant, shrub, bush or tree of small stature.
Buccal mucosa - The lining of the inside of the cheek.
Buffers - Feed additives that minimize digestive disturbances by preventing large changes in rumen pH, particularly when adjusting lambs to finishing diets.
Burdizzo - Tool used to castrate lambs by severing the cord without breaking the skin of the scrotum.
Burr - A rough or prickly seed which becomes entangled in the wool.
Burry wool - Wool containing vegetable impurities.
Butting - Method of fighting among rams characterized by the striking of the head and horns.
Bypass protein - Protein that passes through the rumen without being degraded by microorganisms.
By-products - Edible and inedible items produced from non-meat portion of lamb. Items include leather, sausage casings, tallow, cosmetics, glycerine, sutures and lanolin.
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C
Calcium-to-Phosphorus Ratio - Relative amounts of calcium and phosphorus in the total ration. Usually recommended to be at least 2:1.
Calculi - An abnormal concretion occurring within the animal body and usually composed of mineral salts.
Calling - Imitating the sound of an injured animal in distress to lure predators to a certain location.
Callipyge - An inherited condition discovered in U.S. polled Dorset sheep which results in extreme muscle development, especially in loins and rear legs.
Campylobacteriosis - Type of infectious abortion also called vibriosis.
Carbonizing - The extracting of vegetable matter from wool, noil, waste or rags after converting it into carbon by the action of acid and heat.
Carcass traits - Moderate to highly heritable traits that are difficult to measure on live animals.
Carcass weight - The weight of the lamb after it has been slaughtered and the by-products have been removed.
Carding - After wool is scoured and dried it is fed into a carding machine which opens up the wool into an even layer (removing as much burr and seed as possible) and draws the fibers parallel to each other to form a single continuous strand of fibers called a 'sliver.'
Carpet wool - Short, coarse wool used in the manufacture of carpets.
Carrion - Rotting meat of dead animals.
Caruncle - Small raised areas on the inner surface of the uterus that form the attachment sites for the placenta.
Casein - The most important protein found in milk.
Case-ready products - Products packaged in the slaughtering or breaking plant which are ready to be put into the retail store meat case for sale.
Casse - Name of the farm on which the first sheep milking machine was developed.
Castration - Process of removing testicles from male lambs.
Catarrhal - A thick, cloudy nasal discharge. CC or Cubic Centimeter - A common unit of measure for fluids used in treatments; equivalent to one milliliter (ml).
Cellulose - One of the main fibrous substances in plant walls. Center-post gate - A gate with a center post and two swinging gates that can each swing in a full circle like the hands of a clock.
Central nervous system diseases - Diseases affecting the brain and spinal cord.
Central ram test - See Ram test.
Cervix - Region of the female reproductive tract between the uterus and vagina.
Cessation - Temporary or final stopping of action.
Character - A true, sound-stapled wool with evenness of quality and regularity of crimp and serrations.
Chlamydia - Small organisms (that cannot live outside of living cells) associated with pneumonia, abortion, diarrhea, conjunctivitis, arthritis and encephalitis.
Chlamydiosis - Type of infectious abortion. The most common abortion disease experienced by the sheep industry.
Chromosomes - DNA molecules that are organized into pairs in the nucleus of every cell. Each individual has the exact same set of chromosomes in every cell and sheep have 54 chromosomes (27 pairs).
Chronic disease - A disease which develops slowly and runs a prolonged course.
Circulatory disease - Disease affecting the heart and blood.
Cistern - Reservoir in the udder in which the milk is stored.
Classing - Preliminary sorting of the fleece according to its quality.
Clean basis - Refers to the price of the clean, scoured wool, excluding loss and charges due to scouring.
Clean color - The color of the wool after scouring. Measured in terms of brightness and yellowness, both of which can affect dyeing potential.
Clean wool - Wool after it has been scoured or cleaned, removing dirt, grease, and other foreign material. Clean wool fibers present (CWFP) - That portion of the wool which is free of all vegetable and other foreign matter.
Clinical symptoms - Signs of disease are apparent from observation of the animal.
Clip - One season's yield of wool.
Cloning - The production of genes or individuals which are genetically the same as the donor.
Clostridial organisms - Anaerobic bacteria that produce spores under certain conditions.
Clothing wool - Short fibers used in the manufacture of woolens.
CLPG - The allele that results in the callipyge condition of extreme muscle development.
Cluster - Part of the milking machine including the teat cups and the claw.
Coarse-edge - The extremely coarse fibers in a given lot of wool.
Coccidiosis - Disease in feeder lambs characterized by diarrhea, dehydration, loss of weight, and weakness.
Coccidiostat - A drug used to interrupt the life cycle of coccidian in the intestine of the sheep; only lasalocid and decoquinate are approved for use in sheep at the present time.
Cockle - A defect in a pelt caused by keds.
Co-dominant - The phenotypic situation when both alleles of a heterozygous pair express themselves equally.
Codon - A sequence of three of the basic components of DNA molecule which specify the production of a particular amino acid. Coefficient of variation (CV%) - A statistical term used to describe the amount of variation within a set of measurements.
Color defect - Presence of colors, other than white, which cannot be removed in scouring.
Colored-fiber ratio - The ratio of colored-to-white fibers in a given lot of wool.
Colorimeter - An instrument used to measure the clean color of wool.
Colostrum - The first milk produced, rich in antibodies, energy, and vitamin A.
Combined selection - Most accurate method of artificial selection based on an individual's breeding value, which was estimated by combining all performance information for selected and correlated traits.
Combing - Process by which the short fibers, entangled fibers and vegetable material are separated from the long fibers and the latter are straightened out and laid parallel to each other.
Commercial flock - Flock that sells pounds of lamb and wool instead of breeding stock.
Commission firm - A company which sells livestock for a commission or a fee based on a percentage of total dollar sales.
Common ancestor - Animal in an individual's pedigree that is found on both the sire and dam side.
Communicable disease - Infectious disease which spreads rapidly from one individual to another. All contagious diseases are infectious, but not all infectious diseases are contagious.
Complementarity - Mating system that places breeds in complementary roles that maximize strengths and minimize weakness.
Composite breed - Crossing of two or more breeds with subsequent mating among these crossbred ewes and rams.
Concentration - Market dominance by a few large firms in an industry.
Condition - The degree of oil in grease wool.
Condition scoring - Estimating the amount of fat cover on a sheep by feeling along the back and over the loin.
Conditioning - Allowing textile materials, slivers, yarns, and fabrics to come to hygroscopic equilibrium with the surrounding atmosphere or with the standard atmosphere for testing.
Confidence limits - Used to express the precision of a measure.
Conformation - General body proportions of the animal and the ratio of meat to bone.
Contagious - The ability of a disease to spread to another animal. Contemporary group - A uniformly managed group of animals of similar breed composition, age, and sex. A method of adjusting for unknown non-genetic effects.
Continuous trait - Trait with a value that cannot be classified into discrete categories.
Controlled escape - The principle of letting sheep think that they are escaping their handlers.
Cool season grasses - Grasses that form a 3-carbon carbohydrate as the first product of photosynthesis. These species provide grazing in the spring and then generally mature during the summer becoming less productive.
Cooperative - Marketing method used by small independent producers to collectively sell their product in order to gain some advantages of economies of scale.
Cooperative Extension Service - Educational arm of the USDA located in each state and most counties.
Cooperative wool warehouses - A company organized as a cooperative which collects, stores, and sells wool.
Core sample - The sample extracted from a bale of wool by inserting a sharpened hollow tube the length of the bale.
Coronary band - The junction between the hoof wall and the skin above the hoof.
Corpus luteum - Structure on ovary that produces progesterone after ovulation.
Correlated response - Change in one trait is caused by selection for another trait that is correlated to it.
Correlated traits - Two traits affected by some of the same gene pairs. Selection for a trait will result in some change for any traits that are correlated.
Correlation - A measure of the relationship (can be positive or negative) between two variables. Corticosteroids - Steroid hormones produced by the adrenal gland after ACTH stimulation.
Cotted fleece - A fleece in which the fibers are matted or tangled. Count of yarn - A number indicating the mass per unit length or the length per unit mass of a yarn.
Country-of-origin labeling - The requirement that certain retail meat cuts and ground product be labeled as to country of origin.
Coyote - Major predator of sheep in the western United States.
Crabbing - Process used in the worsted trade to set the fabric in a smooth flat state so that it will not cockle, pucker or wrinkle during subsequent wet processing.
Creep feeding - Method of providing supplemental feed for lambs during the nursing period.
Crimp - The natural waviness of the wool fiber.
Critical temperature - Maximum or minimum environmental temperature tolerated by the animal before additional dietary energy is required to maintain normal body temperature.
Crop aftermath - Necessary residual forage of grain production.
Crossbred - The offspring resulting from mating a ram and ewe of different breeds.
Crossbreeding - Mating plan involving two or more breeds.
Crowd gate - Solid gate used to move sheep into smaller area.
Crude fiber (CF) - Antiquated measure of the fibrous portion of feed.
Crude protein (CP) - Term representing both true protein and non-protein nitrogen content.
Crutching - Shearing of wool from around the dock and udder.
Crutchings - Wool removed from the fleece a month or two before the final shearing.
Cryptorchidism - See Cryptorchism.
Cryptorchism - Failure of one or both testes to descend from the abdominal cavity into the scrotum during fetal development. Also known as retained testicles.
Cryptosporidiosis - Organism that proliferates in small intestine and possibly cecum.
Culling - Process of removing animals that are below average in production, unsound, or undesirable.
Culls - Sheep which are below a required standard.
Curing - Process that uses salt to preserve pelt by creating an environment in which protein-destroying organisms cannot function.
Custom feeding - The practice of having livestock fed and managed for the livestock owner in another facility for a fee.
Cut-out value - Value of lamb products and byproducts from slaughtering and processing.
Cutting gate - See-through gate used to sort sheep to different pens.
Cyanogenic glycosides - Substances found in plant leaves which are acted upon by rumen microorganisms to produce cyanide.
Cystic ovaries - Physiological problem found in cycling ewes.
Cysticercosis - The condition where a larval form of a tapeworm has encysted or embedded itself in the tissue of its host.
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D
Dam - The mother.
Dam breed - Breed noted for adaptability to the production environment and high levels of performance for wool production, litter size, milk production, mothering ability, or out-of-season breeding ability.
Dead wool - Wool removed from the skin of dead sheep (not slaughtered) by sweating.
Decatizing - Finishing process, chiefly to improve the handle and appearance of fabric, in which the fabric, wound tightly on a perforated roller, is either immersed in hot water, which is also circulated through the fabric, or has steam blown through it.
Defect - Characteristic which reduces the possibility of survival or impairs the producing ability of the animal. Deleterious alleles - Alleles that cause genetic abnormalities.
Demand - The market clearing price-quantity relationship for a product at any point in time.
Denning - Locating the den and removing the pups and/or the adult pair of coyotes responsible for depredation.
Density - The number of fibers produced on a given area of the sheep's body.
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) - Genetic material which controls how an animal looks and performs. DNA molecules are organized into pairs of chromosomes.
Dermis - Thick inner layer of sheep skin that extends down to the muscle.
Deviation - A method used to compare genetic value of animals within a contemporary group. A deviation is the difference between the performance of an individual and the mean performance of its contemporaries.
Deworming - Management practice of administering medication to alleviate internal worms.
DHIA - Dairy Herd Improvement Association.
Digestive disease - Disease of the stomach and/or intestines.
Diluent - Fluid containing an energy source (fructose or glucose), chemical buffer, antibiotics and a cryoprotectant that is added to semen.
Direct sales - Marketing process in which producers bypass traditional channels by dealing directly with final buyer. (RT: Direct marketing, Forward contract, Order buyer, Packer.)
Discrete traits - Traits that can be classified, with little or no error, into distinct categories.
Docking - Process of removing long tails.
Doggy wools - Short, harsh, coarser than type, comparatively straight wools.
Domestic wool - All wools grown in the United States.
Dominant - In a heterozygous gene pair, it is the allele that expresses itself. A dominant allele is usually denoted by upper case letters.
Doppler principle - The process of transmitting ultrasound frequencies that are modified proportionally to the velocity of a moving object. Frequency shifts can be used to determine a fetal heartbeat and pregnancy.
Doublings - A number of laps, slivers, slubbings and rovings fed simultaneously into a machine for drafting into a single end.
Drafting - The process for attenuating laps, slivers, slubbings and rovings to decrease the mass per unit length.
Draw stations - Natural areas or places set up intentionally to draw coyotes or red foxes to a particular location.
Drawing - Operations by which slivers are blended, leveled, and by drafting, reduced to the stage of roving.
DRC-1339 - Bird toxicant used for control of ravens.
Drenching - The oral administration of medication.
Dressing percentage (DP) - The carcass weight divided by the live weight.
Drift lambing - Each day the ewes that have not lambed are moved to a new pasture and the ewes with newborn lambs are left behind.
Dry ice - Frozen carbon dioxide (CO2) at -110Á F.
Dry matter (DM) - The portion of the feed that is not water.
Dry period - Period of ewe's production cycle in which she is not lactating or pregnant.
Dry-spun - Worsted yarn produced from dry-combed top.
Dual product - Two products marketed from the same animal, wool and meat for sheep.
Dual-purpose breeds - Breeds that can be used as ewe or ram breed depending upon production situation.
Dwarfism - Inherited defect in which animals grow to a smaller size than normal.
Dystocia - Difficult lamb birth.
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E
E. coli scours - Disease that affects lambs in first five to seven days of life causing watery, yellow diarrhea, dehydration, and rapid death.
Ecology - Branch of biology that deals with the relationship between living organisms and their environment.
Economically important traits - Those traits which directly impact profitability.
Economies of size - The per-unit cost advantage associated with larger size operations.
Ecosystem - Functional relationships between the physical and biological components of a given area.
Edema - The accumulation of abnormal amounts of fluid in the tissue of the body.
Ejaculate - Semen sample of ram.
Elasticity - Ability to return to former position or length after being stretched, due in large part to soundness and crimp.
Elastrator - An instrument used to apply elastrator rings, which are heavy constrictive rubber bands that are placed around the base of the tail or scrotum for tail docking and castration.
Elastrator bands - Specially-designed, heavy-duty rubber bands that are used to castrate and dock lambs.
Electroejaculation - Management procedure used to ejaculate ram for semen collection.
Electrolytes - A solution of crucial salts administered to replace those lost during illness.
Electronic market - Markets, such as teleauctions, computer auctions and satellite auctions, that allow producers to expose their products to buyers outside of their local area.
ELISA - Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay. A method of testing for various diseases including a Brucella Ovis infection.
Emaciation - To waste away physically.
Emasculatome (Burdizzo tool) - An instrument used to crush the spermatic cord within the scrotum without surgically opening the scrotum
Emasculator - An instrument used to surgically remove the testicles and which is designed to crush the spermatic cord while cutting it above the testicle. It is sometimes used for tail docking.
Embryo transfer - Recently fertilized eggs from donor ewe are transferred to the uterus of a recipient ewe, usually by surgically exposing the uterus of the recipient.
Encephalitis - Inflammation of the brain usually with severe signs, such as fever, incoordination, and convulsions.
Endangered Species Act (ESA) - Law that protects threatened species.
Endotoxin - A component of gram negative bacterial cell walls that can produce signs of depression, dehydration, diarrhea, circulatory collapse, and shock. When the bacteria die, the endotoxin is absorbed from the digestive tract, lungs, or other tissues.
Enteritis - An inflammation of the intestinal tract.
Enterotoxemia type C - Disease that affects lambs in first two weeks of life causing bloody infection of the small intestine and rapid death.
Enterotoxemia type C and D toxoid - Vaccination given to young lambs to build up antibodies against Enterotoxemia type C and D. It also is available combined with the tetanus vaccination.
Enterotoxemia type D - Disease that affects unvaccinated lambs that have been placed on high-energy diets.
Entropion - A turning in of the eyelid such that the eyeball is irritated by the hair and wool.
Enzyme - A type of protein that facilitates a metabolic reaction.
Epidemiology - The study of the factors which determine the frequency and incidence of disease in animal and human populations.
Epidermis - Outer layer of sheep skin.
Epididymis - Male reproductive organ at base of scrotum that stores semen.
Epididymitis - Inflammation of the epididymis, tubular portion of the testis that collects the sperm from the testicle.
Epidural - "Above the dura" referring to the placement of an anesthetic agent or other drug in the spinal canal.
Epistasis - Interaction among genes at different loci. The expression of genes at one locus may be influenced by genes present at another locus.
Esophageal feeder - Tube placed down esophagus of lamb to administer milk or other liquid.
Estimated Breeding Value (EBV) - Predictions of genetic value derived from the application of genetic theory and statistics to performance records.
Estrogen - Hormone that causes regression of the corpus luteum and stimulates estrus.
Estrous cycle - Time period from the beginning of one heat to the beginning of the next heat. Usually approximately 16-17 days.
Estrus - Period of time when the female is sexually receptive to the male. Usually 24-36 hours. Also known as "heat."
Etiology - The agent that causes the disease.
Euthanasia - The induction of death in an animal quickly and painlessly.
Ewe - A female sheep.
Ewe breed - Usually white-faced breeds of fine-wool type developed primarily from crosses of fine and long-wool types and highly prolific breeds.
Ewe effect - Physiological effect that causes increased blood concentrations of LH in ram in response to females in estrus.
Exotoxin - A toxin produced by bacteria that is liberated into the surrounding tissues or blood stream and which may have specific effects; tetanus toxin, epsilon toxin from C. perfringens in exterotoxemia.
Expected Progeny Difference (EPD) - An estimate of how much better or poorer an individual's progeny will perform compared to the average of all individuals in the breed. EPD is one half of the EBV.
Extensive management - Production system where sheep graze most or all of the year on pastures or range. Minimal facilities are required.
External fat thickness - Amount of fat over the ribeye muscle between the 12th and 13th rib. Used to calculate yield grade.
External parasite - Parasites that may be found on the fleece, skin and in the nasal and ear passages.
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F
Fabric - A manufactured assembly of fibers and/or yarns.
Fabrication - Process of cutting lamb carcasses into wholesale or primal cuts in the slaughter plant.
Facing - Correcting wool blindness by removing wool from face.
Fallers - Straight, pinned, metal bars employed in the control of fibers between drafting rollers.
Family selection - Selection or rejection of whole families according to the average performance or phenotypic value of the family.
Fatty Acids - Essential elements of fat.
Febrile - Animal with temperature above normal.
Felt - A textile structure composed entirely of fibers physically interlocked and consolidated by the utilization of mechanical work, chemical action and moisture not by weaving, knitting, stitching, thermal bonding or adhesive.
Felting - The property of wool fibers to interlock with each other if they are rubbed together under pressure in moist condition while being heated.
Fermentation - Microbial decomposition of organic matter in an oxygen-free (anaerobic) environment.
Fertility - Proportion or percentage of ewes lambing that were exposed to ram.
Fetus - The unborn lamb during its development in a ewe's uterus.
F-gene - Gene that has major control of prolificacy.
Fiber - A unit of matter characterized by flexibility, fineness, and high ratio of length to thickness.
Fiber diameter - Thickness of individual wool fibers.
Fiber fineness distribution analyzer - Machine that measures the diameter of several thousand individual fiber snippets and calculates both the average fiber diameter and the fiber diameter variability.
Fiber length - Describes the length of an individual wool fiber or group of fibers.
Filiform appendage - A small extension of the penile urethra from the end of the ram's penis.
Filling - Crosswise threads or yarns in a cloth, used to "fill" the warp.
Financial risk - The risk associated with not repaying debt or paying expenses.
Fine - A grade of wool in the American system of grading. Equivalent of 64s, 70s and 80s spinning counts.
Fineness - A general term used for textile fibers, yarns, and fabrics with special references to their transverse dimensions.
Finishing - Everything that happens to wool fabric after leaving the loom until it is ready for the cutter.
Flank streaking - The amount of intramuscular fat found in the flank. Used to determine quality grade.
Flap gate - Small, self-closing gate that a sheep can push open. Used to "lead" sheep.
Fleece - The entire coat of wool shorn from the sheep at one time.
Fleece traits - Moderately to highly heritable traits that determine the value of the wool clip.
Fleece wool - (1) Wool other than the first clip, just as it is shorn from live sheep. (RT: Lamb's wool, Virgin wool, Yearling wool), (2) Wool grown in the farm areas of the Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri.
Flehmen - Behavioral display of "lip curl" made by ram in response to ewe in estrus.
Flight zone - Minimum zone of comfort or security.
Flock Expected Progeny Difference (FEPD) - An estimate of how much better or poorer an individual's progeny will perform compared to the average of all individuals within its flock. Measure of genetic value within flock.
Flocking instinct - Social and behavioral relationship that causes animals to remain as a group.
Floor skirting - Shearer makes an effort to drop the leg and belly wool onto the shearing floor so that it can be picked up.
Flushing - Management practice of improving a ewe's plane of nutrition just prior to mating to improve ovulation rate.
Fly strike - Blow or bottle flies that are attracted to soiled wool, wounds, and dying tissue. Causes myiasis or maggot infestation.
Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) - Protein hormone released by the pituitary; stimulates the development of follicles on the ovary.
Follicles - Small blister-like structures on the surface of the ovary. The egg or ovum is located within the follicle.
Fomites - Inanimate objects that may carry or harbor disease causing germs: clothing, boots, shearing equipment, grooming equipment.
Food service industry - The group of companies and institutions which prepare and serve food, such as restaurants, nursing homes, and airlines.
Footbath - Chemical and water mixture, that sheep stand in, used for prevention and/or treatment of foot rot and footscald.
Forage - Fiber-containing feedstuffs, such as silage, hay, and pasture.
Forbs - Broadleafed, herbaceous plants. Many are commonly referred to as "weeds" but some can be nutritious forages.
Forcing pen - Pen used to confine small groups of animals prior to moving them into treatment chutes.
Forward contract - Agreement between buyer and seller specifying price and future delivery date.
Four-firm concentration ratio - Proportion of the industry's sheep and lambs that are slaughtered by the four largest firms.
Frame size - Classification used to determine feeder lamb grades based on the projected weight when slaughter lambs reach 0.2-inch fat thickness.
Free - This term is used to indicate the absence of defects (usually means free from burrs).
French combing - Blood grade denoting a wool long enough to be combed on a French comb but too short to be combed on a Noble comb.
Fribs - Short and dirty locks of small size such as dungy bits of wool and second cuts.
Frightening devices - Tactics useful for reducing predator losses for short periods until predators can be removed.
Frowsy wool - A lifeless appearing wool with the fibers lying in random directions. Usually dry and harsh.
Fulling - The process of consolidating or compacting fabric by combining the effects of moisture, heat and pressure to permanently shrink and felt the material.
Full-sibs - Animals that have the same sire and dam.
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G
Gambrel restrainer - Restraining device that is a gambrel-shaped piece of PVC plastic that is placed over the top of the animal's neck, with slots on either side to hold both front legs of the animal.
Gare - Australian term referring to long, medullated fibers lacking crimp, generally found in the britch wool of the sheep.
Garnetting - Shredding a used wool product back into a fibrous state prior to manufacturing a new product.
Gastroenteritis - An inflammation of the stomach and intestine.
Gastro-intestinal tract - Responsible for the digestion and absorption of nutrients from the diet as well as the elimination of undigested dietary residues and excretion of solid waste products.
Gathering pen - Fenced pen that will comfortably hold the largest number of sheep you expect to work at one time.
Gene - Found in pairs in chromosomes, genes form the coding system that directs the production of enzymes and other proteins which influence development, performance, and appearance of an animal.
Gene transfer - Movement of a gene of one individual to another individual of the same or different species.
Generation interval - The average time lapse between birth of an animal and birth of its replacement.
Genetic correlation - Relative change in one trait associated with selection for another. Traits are affected by some of the same gene pairs.
Genetic improvement per generation - Heritability multiplied by selection differential.
Genetic improvement per year - Method of expressing the effectiveness of a selection program.
Genetic marker - Genes located close to a gene of interest on the same chromosome.
Genome map - Diagram showing assignment of genes and genetic markers to specific regions along the 27 chromosomes.
Genotype - Genetic composition of an individual or a listing of genes that an individual possesses.
Gestation - Period of pregnancy beginning at conception and ending with lambing.
Gill box - A drafting machine, used in worsted processing, in which the motion of the fibers is in part controlled by pins fixed on moving bars.
Gilling - Blending and drawing operation that is applied to card sliver before combing.
Goitrogens - Substances found in some plants that prevent the thyroid gland from properly accumulating nutritional iodine.
Gonadostat hypothesis - The theory that during the prepuberal and anestrous period the hypothalamus becomes very sensitive to negative feedback effects of estrogen and decreases reproductive activity.
Gonadotropin releasing hormone(GnRH) - Hormone released by the hypothalamus, which stimulates FSH and LH release from the pituitary.
Gonadotropins - Category of hormones used to stimulate follicle development and induce follicles to ovulate.
Grab sample - Sample of greasy wool taken at random positions from every bale in a sale lot.
Grade - The relative fineness of the wool determined by the average of the diameters in a single fleece.
Graded wool - Fleeces that have been individually handled and visually classed according to fiber diameter, length, and other processing characteristics. Grading - 1) Grouping fleeces according to measurable characteristics such as fineness, yield, vegetable matter, length, strength and color. 2) Determining quality of carcass.
Grading up - Repeated crossing of ewes and their female progeny to rams of a single breed to produce a flock representative of the sire breed that will eventually be indistinguishable from a purebred flock of that breed.
Grafting - Fostering a lamb onto a ewe that is not its natural mother.
Grass - Plant species that generally have long, narrow leaves, jointed stems, flowers on stems, and seed-like fruit.
Grazing Period - Number of days that animals remain in the same paddock.
Grazing Wedge - A graphical tool for planning grazing movements. A histogram showing the total forage mass for every paddock on the farm, in descending order.
Grease price - Price paid for grease wool. Determined by multiplying the yield times the clean price.
Grease wool - Wool in its natural state. Greasy heavily conditioned wool - Refers to low-yielding wool with a high content of grease and suint, and its ability to attract and react with dirt, moisture and atmospheric conditions.
Group breeding scheme - Complex selection system involving a number of cooperating flocks.
Guaranteed yield - Pricing method by which packers calculate payment for slaughter lambs on a fixed dressing percentage.
Guard dog - Dog that stays with sheep without harming them and aggressively repels predators.
Gummer - Stage in sheep's life when they have no teeth at all.
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H
Habitat - Region where a plant or animal naturally grows or lives.
Hair - Straight, non-elastic and glossy fiber that is stronger, smoother and usually coarser than wool.
Hair Sheep - Sheep of tropical origin, lacking wool. Coat resembles that of cattle or many goats.
Half blood - American designation of wool compared in fineness to the full-blooded Merino as standard.
Half-sibs - Animals that have either the same sire or the same dam.
Hand breeding - Management practice that keeps rams and ewes separated until individual ewes can be mated to specific rams.
Hand-fed - Method of feeding animals at regular intervals, allowing them to clean up the feed before they are fed again.
Handle - Term used to denote wool quality when wool is judged by feel.
Hauteur - Term used to describe the mean fiber length in the top.
Health - State of well-being in which an animal can express its genetic potential. Heat increment - Heat produced in the body from digestive processes.
Heavy wool - Wool with a high shrinkage in scouring.
Hemocytometer - An instrument used for counting sperm cells and estimating sperm concentration.
Hemolytic - Referring to any process where red blood cells are destroyed directly.
Hemorrhage - A loss of blood.
Herbivore - Animals that consume primarily grass and other plant materials.
Herders - Person(s) responsible for the care of sheep while in large pastures.
Heritability (h2) - The proportion of differences among animals for performance traits that are due to differences in the additive effects of the genes they possess.
Hernia - Condition in which a weakness of the abdominal inguinal rings allows the intestines to descend into the scrotum.
Heterosis - Hybrid vigor. Superiority of a crossbred individual relative to the average performance of the purebred parents included in the cross.
Heterotype - Medullated fibers that generally lack crimp and tend to be longer than true wool fibers and finer than kemp fibers.
Heterozygous - Genetic profile in which the two genes that form a gene pair are different. High-tensile wire - Steel wire having greater elasticity than regular wire of the same strength. When stretched, it will retain its tension longer without sagging.
Hirschmann-Herfindahl Index (HHI) - A measure of concentration in an industry. The higher the value, the more concentrated the industry.
Holding pen - Pen that is filled as sheep are sorted.
Homozygous - Genetic profile in which the two genes that form a gene pair are identical.
Hormone - Chemical substance produced in one region of the body which is transported to a different region and has a specific action on a target cell.
Hot boning - Removing muscles prior to chilling carcass.
Hot carcass weight - Weight taken on slaughter floor immediately after head, pelt and other byproducts have been removed.
Hot irons - Tool used to dock lambs by cutting and cauterizing the tail. When properly used, there is little bleeding and little chance for infection.
Hunting dog - Dogs often trained to find coyote dens and then distract coyote until the hunter gets a clear shot.
Hybrid Vigor (HV) - Heterosis. Superiority of a crossbred individual relative to the average performance of the purebred parents included in the cross.
Hydatidosis - Cysts found in the body cavity of sheep.
Hydranencephaly - Abnormal condition of water in the brain.
Hyperemia - More than the normal amount of blood in an area causing increased redness.
Hypobiosis - A stage of parasite larval dormancy where nematode parasite larvae escape harsh environmental conditions by remaining in the wall of the abomasums.
Hypocalcemia - Low levels of calcium in the blood.
Hypomagnesemia - Low levels of blood sugar; often seen in pregnancy disease.
Hypothalamic pulse generator - An indistinct region of the hypothalamus that produces a regular rhythmic pattern of electrical activity, like the pacemaker of the heart.
Hypothalamus - A part of the brain that processes the internal and external cues involved in controlling reproductive functions.
Hypothermia - Body temperature below the normal range; usually seen in newborn lambs but can be observed in adults under severe environmental conditions of cold and moisture.
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I
Immune - The resistance to infection.
Immune system - The system of the body that protects it from disease.
Immunity - Natural or acquired resistance of the animal to "germs" or factors causing the disease.
Immunodeficient - Unable to mount an immune response to a disease.
Immunohistochemistry - A technique that uses specialized antibodies to label, or make visible, tiny structures in cells observed under the light microscope. These structures might otherwise be invisible and include such particles as viruses and prions.
Implantation - The process in which the fertilized embryo attaches to the uterine wall.
Imports - Products purchased from another country.
Imprinting - Genetic phenomenon in which only one of two alleles is actively expressed in an individual, depending on the sex of the parent from which the gene came.
In the grease - Signifies wool in its natural state, as it comes from the sheep's back with all the grease and other impurities attached to it.
Inbreeding (Fx) - Mating of individuals more closely related than the average of the breed.
Inbreeding coefficient - Value that expresses the amount an individual is inbred.
Inbreeding depression - Reduced performance that results from inbreeding.
Incubation period - The time interval between contracting the "germs" which causes the disease and the actual development of symptoms.
Independent culling levels (ICL) - Multiple-trait selection method in which minimum standards are set for each trait.
Independent traits - Traits that have no genes in common and a genetic correlation of zero.
Individual selection - Selecting potential parents on their own performance record or phenotype.
Infection - Invasion of the body by harmful bacteria, viruses, or parasites other than insects.
Infectious disease - Disease caused by infectious agents, such as bacteria and viruses, commonly referred to as germs. Can be treated with antibiotics.
Infestation - The invasion of the body by insects.
Inflammation - A basic response of the body to an injury, irritation, or infection; it is characterized by heat, redness, swelling, and pain.
Infundibulum - Oviductal tissue, adjacent to ovaries, that catches the egg at ovulation and directs it to the oviduct.
Ingest - To swallow.
Inherited defect - A characteristic inherited from parents that reduces the possibility of survival or impairs productive ability.
Integrated predation management - The practice of including good husbandry practices with effective control methods.
Integrated Resource Management (IRM) - A systematic approach to management, entailing both production and financial management.
Integumentary disease - Disease affecting the skin, hooves, or horns.
Intensive management - Production system where sheep are fed harvested feed thus requiring higher levels of management and facilities.
Intermediate host - An animal or other living body in which a parasite completes part of its life cycle and usually causes no damage.
Internal parasites - Parasites, generally a type of nematode worm, located in the stomach and intestine of sheep.
International unit (IU) - Unit of measurement of the potency or biological activity of vitamins and drugs.
Intramuscular injection (IM) - An injection into the heavy muscle tissue.
Intraperitoneal - Inside the abdominal cavity but outside the intestines; usually refers to where injections of fluid or medications are given.
Intrauterine artificial insemination - Surgical insemination using a laparoscope, in which semen is injected directly into uterine horn.
Intravenous injection (IV) - An injection directly into the bloodstream (usually through the jugular vein).
Iodine - Disinfectant used on navels of newborns that helps dry up the navel, thus destroying the passageway into the body of the lamb. Veterinary tincture of iodine contains 7 percent iodine, while common tincture of iodine for humans contains 2 percent iodine.
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