Stand up and be counted -you're an individual

摘要

AFEATURE that makes sheep and lambs easier to manage is their king instinct. While at times the individualists among them take flight and lead the mob astray, flocking behaviour generally allows producers to manage large numbers of animals reasonablyeasily. But the members of the flock are not identical. Despite many being related to some degree, they have different genetic make-ups and different levels of performance. The drawback to managing sheep as a flock is that total productivity and profitability cannot be maximised. Inevitably outcomes are average outcomes. Greedy sheep deprive sheep needing more feed and in disease and parasite management the likelihood is that healthy sheep are being treated unnecessarily.