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Welcome to The Blue Ribbon - Youth Livestock Projects blog. The purpose of this blog is to provide information, advice and suggestions for improving youth livestock projects from multiple sources. The information, advice and suggestions in this blog come from professional agricultural educators who have multiple years of experience working with youth and their livestock projects. If you ever have a question or a particular subject you would like addressed, please feel free to contact Scott Stinnett via email, or leave a comment and we will do our best to assist or address the subject. Should the question or subject be more technical, we will help direct you to an appropriate resource for the best possible answer.

Thank you,

Scott Stinnett and The Blue Ribbon Contributors

Friday, January 11, 2019

Sock'em

     If you have been to a sheep or goat show, you have seen those animals wearing various forms of coverings. They are called socks, tubes, blankets, sheets, and slinkys. Each of these different type of coverings can serve a different purpose or can be used together.

     So why do we use them? The main reason is because with market lambs and goats, we shear their wool or hair off. This removes the natural layer of warmth and protection they have to better show off their muscling. And since we remove the wool and hair, we need to replace it with layers to help protect them.

     Starting with the lightest, we can use a sheet on hot days to protect their skin from sunburn, biting insects and if we are getting ready to go into the show ring, keep them clean.
Photo Credit: Sullivan Supply

     Tubes are used to help maintain body heat. For sheep, even on a warm day a tube is used to help them maintain some basic heat since they are missing their wool or hair.
Photo Credit: Sullivan Supply

     Blankets are usually made out of heavy canvas or nylon. They are used to provide warmth and protection from things that might tear or rip a tube. Blankets that cover the whole body of lambs and goats help prevent wool fungus and ringworm transfer as well. Due to removing lanolin from sheep, and goats being prone to getting fungus, full blankets can help reduce the exposure to these at shows and other times lambs and goats are exposed to new facilities and animals. 
Photo Credit: Sullivan Supply

     Layering of these coverings is not uncommon. If you are going to a winter jackpot, your sheep or goat may go in and out of various temperature ranges during the day. Think about a winter jackpot show day. In the morning you load them into a drafty trailer and go down the road for an hour or more in below freezing temperatures. To keep them warm you put on two tubes and a blanket. Once you get to the show, they get to be stalled in an indoor facility that is around 60 degrees, so they wear just the blanket to stay warm and clean. When it is time to head home in the afternoon, it is above freezing, but they still ride in the drafty trailer. A tube and a blanket go on for the ride home. One day and multiple needs for different layerings of tubes and blankets.

     Two more things to remember about coverings. First, sheep and goats grow and tubes, blankets and sheets need to fit properly. Most blankets are made to fit an animal of a certain weight and species. Sheep tend to be longer backed than goats. Goats tend to be deeper chested than sheep. A tube meant to fit a 50-75 lbs. sheep will be too long and pretty tight around the chest of a goat. A covering that does not fit properly can cause problems. I have seen animals get their legs caught in the straps of blankets that were too big. Ones that are too small usually leave the animal's rump exposed. It would be like sleeping on a cold night without a big enough blanket. Even though part of your body is covered, you will be cold because not all of you is covered.

     Second thing to remember is although a sheep or goat can only wear a couple of layers at once, they do get dirty. Have multiple tubes and blankets available. When you take off a dirty one, immediately put on a clean one. Most tubes, blankets and sheets can be cleaned in a washing machine with mild detergent.

I hope this helps you sort out the uses for the various coverings for sheep and goats.

Thanks to J.D. Sexton, 4-H Livestock and Agriculture Agent in Logan County, Colorado for his input on this post.


Scott Stinnett
Extension Associate
Kit Carson County
Golden Plains Area
Colorado State University Extension




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