Stock judging: breeding ewes, finished lambs and lamb carcase

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

Find out more about stock judging

Breeding ewes

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

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

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

Good

Poor

Clean mouth with no signs of wear and gaps:

Two broad teeth = one year old

Four broad teeth = two years old

Six broad teeth = three years old

Eight broad teeth = four years old, or older

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

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

Good

Poor

Bright, bold eyes

Short, broad head

Good

Poor

Wide, well-covered shoulders

Narrow, lacking flesh

Good

Poor

Good length, width and depth

Short, narrow and lacking depth

Good

Poor

Even growth of staple in fleece

Open fleece

Good

Poor

Strong-boned placed on each corner of ewe

Bad legs

Good

Poor

Sound, supple udder with two well-placed teats

Swollen quarters, hard lumps or sores

 

Excessively large teats

Good

Poor

Deep heel with short clees

Lame feet

Well up on pasterns

Down on pasterns

Finished lambs

Before you start

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

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

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

Good

Poor

Neat and compact

Narrow and lacking flesh

Eye muscle development extended well forward

 Checking the finished lambs shoulders.

Good

Poor

Light covering, individual ribs easily detected

Too lean (bare)

 

Too fat (individual ribs undetectable)

Checking the finishing sheep's ribs.

Good

Poor

Spinous and transverse processes felt as corrugations with light pressure

 

Good width and fullness of eye muscle

 

Checking the finishing sheep's loin. Illustration of how to check a finishing sheep's loin.

Illustration of the skeletal structure of the loin.

Good

Poor

Individual bones easy to detect with light pressure

Too lean (narrow and bones bare)

 

Too fat (broad, soft and individual bones undetectable)

Illustration of how to check a sheep's tail (dock).

Good

Poor

Broad and well filled to the shank

 

Lamb carcase

Be methodical. Start at:

  • The hind leg
  • Then chump
  • Then back
  • Then shoulder

A) Leg

B) Chump

C) Loin

D) Shoulder

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

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

Lamb carcase which is too fat.

Ideal lamb carcase

Conformation

The legs

Good

Poor

Short-boned

V-shaped

Broad and well filled to the shank

The chump

Good

Poor

Well-developed

 

Full and broad

The loin

Good

Poor

Good width and fullness of eye muscle

 

The shoulder

Good

Poor

Well-extended eye muscle

 

Neat and compact

Fat

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

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

Dock – broad dock indicates excess fat.

Useful links

Download our guide to stock judging

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

×