Glossary

Condition Score (CS)  
Condition Score is a process for assessing body reserves (quantity of fat and muscle) on a mature sheep using an assessment of cover on the backbone and short ribs and fullness of the eye muscle

Condition score profile
The condition score profile sets the CS targets for key times during the ewe reproductive cycle.  these can be found in the 'Guidelines' section for each region.

Digestibility  
The proportion of plant matter that is retained in an animal's body after eating

Dry pasture   
Pasture in a perennial system that has entered the late flowering stage or pasture in an annual system that has passed senessence (haying off)

Early to mid-pregnancy
From the point of joining to day 90 of pregnancy- (approximately from day 10 to day 105 of rams in)

Ewe mortality 
The difference between the original count of ewes at joining and the count at weaning expressed as a % 

Fat Score
Fat score is a method of assesing a sheep's condition and is often used in the meat trade.  It is an assessment of cover or tissue depth approximately half way down the long ribs.

Feed-On-Offer (FOO)  
Measurement of the total quantity of pasture in a paddock, expressed in kilograms of pasture dry matter per hectare (kg DM/ha)

Green pasture  
Pasture that is actively growing, whether in an annual or perennial system

Joining period   
The number of days that ewes are exposed to rams (usually 35 days)

Late-pregnancy   
Day 90 to day 150 of pregnancy

Marking %  
Number of lambs marked to number of ewes joined, expressed as a %

Metabolisable Energy (ME)  
Metabolisable Energy is expressed in terms of megajoules of metabolisable energy per kilogram of dry matter (MJ/kg DM)

ME requirements   
The daily requirements of ME an animal needs to eat to maintain body condition.  this varies with the amount of walking required, quality of the diet, size and condition of the sheep and climatic factors.

Pasture Composition  
The plant species within a pasture sward and the proportion of each species present

Reproductive Rate (RR)   
The number of foetuses per 100 ewes scanned which includes both the proportion of ewes that failed to conceive as well as those carrying multiple foetuses.

Standard Reference Weight (SRW)  
The weight of a dry adult animal that is bare shorn and in good condition (CS 3).  This is reflects the frame size of the sheep.

Worm Egg Count (WEC)   
Measure of the worm burden (faecal) a sheep is carrying (eggs per gram)