I just gonna throw this out guys. When I sold feed , I would get on yards of commercail breeders in my area every day. Genetics were basically the same ,as many of those sheep are ewes that produce lambs for superior farms. And would also get on several club lamb producers flocks. The average life of ewe on most of these ops is less than 5 years old.It's rate for many to have very few over that, both commercial and clubby. Most feed large amounts of grain.
A Ruminant is designed to convert roughage . And the rumen is not designed to digest corn. Anytime more than 1 pound of starch is in that sheep's rumen, it's converted to an acid vat.
That damage is irreversible.
Western range stock is never fed close to anything of that . True they live in a different climate. I grew up there.
That swollen midsection you see on Midwest grain fed livestock is partially because of thicken rumen wall .That results from grain feeding.
As well as feet issues caused by chronic laminitis ,also a direct result of grain feeding.
Diet is everything, and Midwesterners love grain.That will never change.
They don't feed dairy cows like feedlot steers.
Yet sheep people, think ewes should be fed like feedlot steers.
Rams die young,because they have had grain and fat pounded down their face since birth.
