Presentation given at 2016 Katahdin Hair Sheep International Expo in Tennessee.

1. Conformation 101
SUSAN SCHOENIAN
Sheep & Goat Specialist
University of Maryland Extension
sschoen@umd.edu - www.sheepandgoat.com
www.slideshare.net/schoenian/ or go to www.sheepandgoat.com
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2. An animal’s value is the sum of its
performance and what it looks like.
Date of birth: February 15, 2015
Type of birth: triplet
Type of rearing: triplet
Birth weight: 10.0 lbs.
Adj. 60-d weaning weight: 70 lbs.
Adj. 120-d weight: 120 lbs.
Post-weaning FEC: 600 epg
Scrapie genotype: RR
BWT MMWT WWT PWWT NLB NLW
-0.48
85
2.01
60
5.38
83
7.52
69
22
52
18
53
(NSIP) Estimated breeding values

3. What is conformation?
Internet definitions
• The shape or structure of
something, especially an
animal.
• Structural arrangement.
• A symmetrical arrangement
of the parts of a thing.
• Visual aspects of an animal.
• What it looks like!

4. Why is conformation important?
• Elements of conformation are thought to
be heritable.
• Animals that have conformation defects
may have reduced productivity and/or
longevity.
• Many conformation defects get worse
with age.
• If physical traits are not positively
selected for, they will be gradually lost.
• Animals with good conformation are
valued and usually worth more money.
No one likes to look at ugly sheep!

5. Importance of conformation may
differ according to purpose of flock.
Registered stock
• Cull hard,
especially males.
• Registered
animals are
representative of
the breed and the
means by which
the breed is
improved.
Show stock
• Cull hard, both
sexes.
• Select animals
with superior
conformation.
• Show animals are
valued for their
conformation.
• The show ring is
all about what the
animal looks like.
Commercial flock
• Establish
minimum
standards.
• Hold rams to a
higher standard
than ewes.
• Not all
conformation
“defects” have a
negative effect on
performance.
• What is deemed
acceptable varies.

6. What constitutes
conformation in a sheep?
• Mouth (teeth and bite)
• Feet, legs, and hooves
• Back, top line, shoulder
• Volume and capacity
• Substance of bone
• Muscling
• Frame size
• Condition
• Sex characteristics
• Balance and eye appeal

7. Sound mouth
Bite (jaw alignment) Teeth

8. Jaw alignment (bite)
• Properly aligned jaw
• Teeth should meet dental pad
• Sheep with jaw abnormalities
may have difficulty nursing,
eating and/or grazing.
• Bites rarely improve with age.
• Jaw defects are inherited.
Cull both parents, if known (?)
• Diet can affect jaw alignment.

9. Jaw abnormalities
Overshot (parrot mouth) Undershot (monkey mouth)

10. Jaw abnormalities vary in severity
Do you cull? Who do you cull?
Normal Slight defect
1-3 mm
Cull rams (?)
Keep ewes
Severe defect
>3 mm
Cull rams and ewes
Cull sires and dams
KHSI considers an over- or under-shot jaw to be a defect – but by how much?
Source: Visual Scores, Sheep
Genetics, Australia

11. Teeth
More of a consideration in mature animals.
• Sheep have 32 teeth: 8 permanent incisors on the upper jaw
and 24 molars on the upper and lower jaws.
• The incisors are used to nibble grass.
• The molars are used to chew the cud.

12. Incisors
• A lamb is born with eight milk teeth at the front; a pair of milk teeth is replaced
each year starting with the pair in the middle.
• You can tell the approximate age of a sheep by its (incisor) teeth.
• Cull (don’t buy) sheep with premature loss of incisor teeth
Cull (don’t buy) sheep with with worn, broken or missing teeth (i.e. aged).
• Loss of incisor teeth is more problematic in grazing situations; is of less
importance if sheep are fed concentrates.
Lamb Yearling Solid (full) Broken Gummer

13. Molars
• Sheep have 24 molars: 6 pairs of molars on each jaw.
• Cull (don’t buy) sheep with overgrown, worn, or missing molar teeth.
As evidenced by impaction of food in cheeks, short, jerky jaw movements, fibrous
feed protruding from corners of mouth, dropping of large wads of masticated
fibrous food from mouth.
Image source: NADIS UK

14. Feet, legs, hooves
• Move freely
• Painlessly
• Normal gait
• Straight legs that
come out of each
corner of body
• Stand squarely
• Proper angle to
pasterns.
• Healthy hooves

15. Front legs (side view)
Correct Calf-
kneed
Weak
pasterns
(KHSI defect)
Buck-
kneed
Source: http://www.danekeclublambs.com/SheepFeetandLegStructureTest.html

16. Pasterns

17. Pasterns
Culling decisions
20-40º
Slight defect
Cull rams (?)
Keep ewes
Slight defect
Cull rams (?)
Keep ewes
Severe defect
Cull rams
and ewes
Severe defect
Cull rams
and ewes
Source: Visual Scores, Sheep
Genetics, Australia

18. Front legs (front view)
Correct Splay-footed
(KHSI defect)
Pigeon-toed Knock-kneed
Source: http://www.danekeclublambs.com/SheepFeetandLegStructureTest.html

19. Rear legs (side view)
Correct Sickle hocked
(KHSI defect)
Post-legged
Source: http://www.danekeclublambs.com/SheepFeetandLegStructureTest.html

20. Rear legs (rear view)
Correct Bow-legged Cow-hocked
(KSHI defect)
Source: http://www.danekeclublambs.com/SheepFeetandLegStructureTest.html

21. Healthy hooves
• Free from disease
• No abnormal growth
• No excessive growth
• Favor dark colored hooves (?)

22. Back, topline, shoulder
KHSI
• Neck: Strong, of medium
length: extends straight into the
shoulder.
• Shoulders: Blend smoothly
into the neck and back; shoulder
blades have good width between
and are level with or slightly
higher than the back.
• Back: Strong, smooth, and
broad.
• Weak shoulders or back are
considered a defect by KHSI.

23. Volume
capacity, spring of rib
KHSI
• Chest: Wide and deep enough to
provide ample room for good
heart and lung capacity.
Slightly less width than
hindquarters in females.
• Ribs: Well sprung, wide and
deep.
• Abdomen: Large capacity for
consuming forage and carrying
lambs (bottom or side line should
not necessarily be straight).

24. Muscling
KHSI
• Katahdins are a heavy-muscled (?),
medium-sized breed.
• Well-developed upper arm muscle in
rams.
• Strong, smooth, and broad back.
• Loin long, wide, deep and well-
fleshed.
• Wide and well fleshed rump; rounded
appearance; deep in twist.
• Muscles of the thigh are thick, with
obvious muscularity on the inner and
outer thigh, carried down to the
shank.
Select for adequate vs. superior?

25. Substance of bone
• Thickness of the cannon bone of the front leg
• Light bone structure is considered a defect in the Katahdin breed (KHSI).

26. Frame size
height (mostly) + length
• Katahdins are a medium sized breed (KHSI)
• Mature weight (OSU Breeds of Livestock)
120-160 lbs. (ewes)
180-250 lbs. (rams)
95-115 lbs. (market wethers)
• Frame size is used to predict the size of the lamb
when it is finished; larger framed lambs finish at
heavier weights than smaller framed lambs.
• Frame size may influence the ease with which lambs
are finished, especially on forage diets.
• Selection (especially single trait selection) for growth
may lead to increased mature size.
• Large framed animals tend to have higher feed
requirements, but lower maintenance costs than
smaller framed animals (moderate: ideal?).
• There are differences among Katahdin breeders, with
regards to the desired frame size, mature body
weights, and finish weight of market lambs. What is the ideal size
Katahdin ewe?

27. Condition
• Avoid sheep that are overly fat
or thin.
• Use body condition scoring to
assess fat and muscle.
1. Emaciated (very thin)
2. Thin
3. Average
4. Fat
5. Obese (very fat)
• Prefer BCS 2.5-3.5 for ewes
• Prefer BCS 2-3 for market-
ready lambs.

28. Sex characteristics
Rams should be masculine Ewes should be feminine

29. Testicles
• Two testicles
• Well hung
• Free from disease
• Similar size
• Firm
• Movable
• Lumps
• Deformities
• Cryptorchid or monocryptorchid
(KHSI defect)
• Adequate size
(Extremely small testicles are considered to be a defect by KSHI)
Ram age Questionable Satisfactory Exceptional
8-14 months < 30 cm 30-36 cm > 36 cm
> 14 months < 32 cm 32-40 cm > 40 cm

30. Teats and udder
• Two normal teats
• Equal size udder halves
• Free from disease
• No lumps, hardness
• Good attachment
• Two functional halves!
• Scar tissue
• Malformed teats
• Low hanging udder
• Oversized teats
• Supernumerary teats
Missing or malformed teats are
considered to be a defect by KHSI.

31. Balance and eye appeal
• How well the animal’s
parts fit together.
• Straightness of lines
• Proportionalism
• Smoothness
• Attractiveness

32. An animal’s value is the sum of its
performance and what it looks like.
Date of birth: March 16, 2016
Type of birth: quadruplet
Type of rearing: quadruplet
Birth weight: 8.3 lbs.
Adj. 60-d weaning weight: 46 lbs.
Adj. 120-d weight: 77 lbs.
Post-weaning FEC: 500 epg
Scrapie genotype: RR
BWT MMWT WWT PWWT NLB NLW
-0.29
85
3.01
60
4.35
83
2.52
67
25
51
23
42
(NSIP) Estimated breeding values

33. SUSAN SCHOENIAN
Sheep & Goat Specialist
University of Maryland Extension
sschoen@umd.edu
www.sheepandgoat.com
Thank you for your attention. Questions? Comments?