Sheep Program
To meet needs of target audiences, our sheep programs vary from tradition to cutting edge.
Ewe Profit Schools, initiated in 1977, offer hands-on, day-to-day experience and training for new and developing sheep producers. Winter Lambing and Shearing schools provide more intensive educational opportunities. Sheeprofit Day, a nationally recognized field day, has been attended by sheep producers from the state and region for 33 years.
Sheep are superb models for teaching animal behavior and characteristics. Thus, livestock management/handling skills, applicable to all livestock, is taught to novice as well as experienced personnel. The sheep maintained at the Sheep Unit are used in numerous phases of hands-on instruction in undergraduate courses taught by the Animal Sciences faculty. They are also used by graduate students pursuing degrees in nutrition, physiology and food science.
Areas of undergraduate learning that use sheep include docking, castrating, internal parasite control, disease prevention and control, feeding systems, evaluation, artificial insemination, and harvesting food and fiber. Graduate students learn digestibility determination techniques, surgical procedures, pasture management, estrous synchronization, and food and fiber harvesting in relation to human consumption. Learning sheep production principles and management/handling skills provide young people a career-lasting knowledge base that extends throughout the animal industry.
Upcoming Events
- Aug. 27 - AFS Welcome Back Picnic
- Sept. 5 - Animal & Food Sciences Alumni Reunion
- KY Master Small Ruminant Nutrition Course
- Ky Small Ruminant Profit School
(online classes)
News
- Updated Graduate Student Handbook
7/21•Animal & Food Sciences - Animal Sciences Dean's List (Spring 2025)
6/13•UK Animal & Food Sciences
Educational Workshops
Eweprofit II School will be held at the C. Oran Little Research Center Sheep Unit at 1171 Midway Road, Versailles, KY 40383. Google Maps Directions
This school is designed for new and prospective sheep producers, although veteran producers are welcome to come and hone their shepherding skills. Topics of discussion, demonstration and hands-on include:
- Internal parasite control
- Foot care
- Body condition scoring ewes
- Vaccinations
- Preparing ewes for lambing
Emphasis is placed on “hands-on."
The school begins at 10 a.m. (ET), with lunch on your own from 12 to 1 p.m., and will conclude by 3 p.m. There is no pre-registration or fee for Eweprofit II. However, the school does ask that participants call Dr. Don Ely at 859-257-2717 or email to dely@uky.edu to verify attendance.
Dates to be determined.
The dates for the University of Kentucky Lambing Schools are to be determined. There is no registration fee, but those planning to attend should contact Dr. Don Ely at 859-257-2717 or email at dely@uky.edu to indicate the date when you plan to attend.
If a maximum number of registrants for a specific date is reached, potential registrants may be asked to attend another date. Each school will be held at the C. Oran Little Research Center Sheep Unit, 1171 Midway Road, Versailles, KY 40383. Google Maps Directions
Each school will begin at 10 a.m. (ET), with a break for lunch on your own from 12 to 1 p.m. The day's instruction will conclude by 3 p.m.
This school is designed for new and prospective sheep producers, although veteran producers are welcome. Topics of discussion, demonstration and hands-on include: ewe management prior to, during and after lambing. Greatest shepherding expertise is required during the first week after lambing, therefore attendees will have the opportunity to work with and learn from ewes that will be lambing at the Sheep Unit.
The shearing school is designed for beginner or experienced shearers. An important aspect of the school is learning about maintenance and care of shearing equipment.
