Shepherds test sheep DNA: Blood samples determine disease, pregnancy

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. — Shepherds collect blood samples for several reasons, including DNA testing.

“You can get DNA in a lot of different ways,” said Rick Adams, who raises sheep near Chebanse. “I take blood samples to determine genetic markers for disease.”

Spider lamb syndrome is a condition that results in lambs with crooked legs or twisted spines.

“It is genetic, and you can test sheep to see if they are a carrier,” Adams said during a Sheep and Goat Workshop hosted by University of Illinois Extension in Kankakee County. “Now that syndrome is almost completely gone.”

Sheep also are tested for resistance to scrapie, which is a neurological disease.

“We can test for the genetic markers for resistance to scrapie, and we’ve practically eliminated scrapie in the sheep herd,” Adams said.

“Now we test for hairy lamb syndrome, which is a problem for Southdown sheep,” said the shepherd, who owns a 75-ewe flock of white faced sheep and a 175-ewe flock of black faced ewes. “The skin has a deformity, and it is not as fatal as spider lamb syndrome, but it is still not a good thing.”

In addition, there are good traits that also can be identified by genetic testing including the callipyge gene.

“With this gene, the sheep have muscle cells that are twice the size of normal muscle cells,” Adams said. “When these lambs go to market, they have 30% more lean meat and 10% less fat.”

DNA testing requires purple top tubes that have a chemical in them so the blood does not coagulate, Adams said.

“After the needle is in the vein, push the tube on and the tube will fill with blood if you have it in the right place,” he said.

If he has a problem finding a vein because of the wool, Adams said, he clips a small area on the sheep’s neck.

Adams also draws blood from his sheep for pregnancy testing.

“The red top tubes are for pregnancy testing because the serum and cells separate and the lab tests the serum,” he said. “Buy plastic tubes so they won’t break when you put them in an envelope and mail them to the lab.”

The shepherd sends the tubes by priority mail.

“If they get to them on a Wednesday morning, I will know by Thursday morning if the ewes are pregnant, and the lab is 95% accurate for positive results and 99.9% accurate if the result is negative,” he said.

Adams along with Elton Mau, who raises sheep near Arrowsmith, also talked about the proper way to give shots to sheep, as well as drenching techniques.

“I use a drench gun that has an automatic refill,” Mau said about delivering oral medications to his flock.

“If you have more than 10 head of sheep to drench, get an automatic gun because it is worth the time savings,” Adams said.

“Put the gun towards the back of their throat so the medicine gets on the back of their tongue and they’ll swallow it,” he said. “If it is too far forward, they’ll spit it out.”

Adams stressed the importance of giving shots to sheep in the correct location.

“Don’t give shots in the rear leg or across the top of the loin,” Adams said.

“Most shots are given subcutaneous or just under the skin,” he said. “The best place to give a shot is in the skin fold area underneath the front leg, and if you need to go intramuscular, this is still a good spot to find muscle.”

Mau keeps all his supplies for administering shots and drenching in metal cabinets to protect them from rodents.

Another tip from Mau is to keep a bottle of Dawn dish soap handy when treating sheep.

“Dawn works great for a multitude of things like if you need to slide a rubber hose on a hard piece of plastic,” he said. “Put a little soap on it and that makes everything slide together.”