Productivity Practices Best Practices That
Drive Productivity and Profitability

Breeding & Genetics
Lambing Success
Health & Nutrition
Reproduction Management

For sheep producers, improving flock productivity comes down to steady, practical decisions that fit your operation.

The American Lamb Board’s Best Practices worksheets pair research-based guidance with real-world management strategies to help you boost reproductive efficiency and profitability. Twelve practices to lift your lamb crop. Pick the one that fits your operation and start there.

Breeding & Genetics

Genetic decisions shape flock performance for years to come. These practices focus on selecting, testing, and managing breeding stock to improve efficiency, fertility, and long term productivity.

Genetic Selection & NSIP

Use performance data and NSIP benchmarks to make breeding decisions that improve flock genetics over time.

Using Crossbreeding

Plan crossbreeding systems that fit your market goals, forage base, and replacement strategy.

Testing Rams for Breeding Soundness

Evaluate breeding soundness before the season starts so you can reduce surprises and improve conception rates.

Breeding Ewe Lambs at 7–9 Months

Learn when ewe lambs are ready to breed and how early breeding can support lifetime productivity.

Lambing Success

More lambs on the ground means more revenue in your pocket. These resources focus on the management practices that reduce lamb loss, improve ewe performance, and help you get more out of every breeding season.

Culling Practices

Identify and remove underperforming ewes to improve flock productivity and resource efficiency.

Reducing Lamb Loss

Apply proven management practices to improve lamb survival from birth through weaning.

Health & Nutrition

A healthy flock is a productive flock. These resources cover the disease prevention strategies and nutrition programs that keep your animals thriving at every stage of production.

Disease Prevention & Nutrition

Implement proactive health strategies to prevent disease and respond effectively when health issues arise.

Optimal Nutrition

Provide balanced nutrition at each production stage to support animal health, reproduction, and growth.

Reproduction Management

Reproductive efficiency is the engine of a profitable sheep operation. These resources help you understand and manage the biological and seasonal factors that influence conception rates, lambing cycles, and overall flock output.

Match Reproduction to Management

Plan breeding and lambing around your feed resources, labor, facilities, and market goals to improve fertility, reduce lamb loss, and run a more efficient flock.

Pregnancy Testing

Identify open ewes, estimate lambing dates, and sort by litter size to improve feeding efficiency, make earlier culling decisions, and better prepare for lambing season.

Seasonal Changes in Reproduction

Day length drives when ewes cycle and lamb most successfully. Learn how to plan mating seasons and align lambing with forage availability, labor, and market goals.

Accelerated Lambing Cycles

Reduce the time between lamb crops so ewes produce more frequently than once per year, increasing flock productivity, year-round availability, and marketing opportunities, with careful planning and higher management intensity.

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