About this module
This module trains you to keep a small flock of sheep, about 10 to 30 animals, from setting up the pen to selling rams. You learn by doing: most of the time you are with the sheep, and every unit ends with a practical task and homework.
Who it is for. Beginners with no formal certificate. The level is National Proficiency I, the first level of Ghana's TVET qualifications, where a trainee does routine tasks under close supervision. CTVET's skills directory lists "livestock farm labourers" at this level: feeding, watering and cleaning animals and their pens, watching the animals and reporting on their condition, and helping with their health. That is what this module teaches.
Where. Southern Ghana, written for the Western Region.
This is not an accredited CTVET programme. CTVET's published training packages for agriculture cover cashew, mango and oil palm only; there is no livestock package. This module follows CTVET's published format so it can be put forward for accreditation later.
How the module works
Each unit has learning outcomes, performance criteria (what you must show you can do), the range (the situations it covers) and the evidence your assessor needs. You are judged Competent or Not Yet Competent on each unit by being watched at work, answering questions, and showing your logbook. About 70% of the time is practical, following CTVET's Oil Palm programme, which uses about 30% in school and 70% at the workplace.
Safety with sheep
Sheep can pass some infections to people, and a ram can knock you down. Read this before you enter the pen.
- Wash your hands after every job, wear gloves and overalls, and never eat or drink in the pen. Infections that pass from sheep to people include Q fever (from birth fluids), orf (from scabs on the lips), brucellosis and stomach bugs.
- Never turn your back on a ram, especially one kept alone. Rams butt and can cause serious leg injuries.
- At lambing, wear gloves. Late abortions can mean an infection that people can catch. Disinfect equipment afterwards.
- Worms found in Ghanaian farmers matched those in their animals, so hygiene matters for you as well as the flock.
- Medicines and dewormers: use only as the label or vet says. Wear gloves. Keep them away from children and food.
Find your vet
Find your district veterinary office and its phone number. Ask what a farmer should do if sheep suddenly have fever, sore mouths and diarrhoea. Write the answer in your logbook.
Unit 1 · Choose the breed and plan the flock
The right breed for southern Ghana is the one that stays healthy in heat, rain and tsetse country.
Competency standard
| Learning outcome | Performance criteria — the trainee… |
|---|---|
| 1.1 Recognise breeds | tells Djallonké from Sahelian sheep by size and appearance |
| 1.2 Choose stock | explains why the Djallonké suits the humid south; picks healthy animals |
| 1.3 Plan the flock | writes a simple plan: number of ewes, one ram, pen size, feed source |
Range. Djallonké, Sahelian and their crosses; flocks of 10–30. Evidence. Oral questions; flock plan in the logbook.
The breeds
| Breed | Size | Good points | Weak points | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Djallonké (West African Dwarf) | 18–35 kg at 2 years | hardy; copes with ticks and tsetse | small, grows slowly | Hagan 2022 |
| Sahelian (from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger) | larger, faster growing | more meat | catches diseases easily; low survival | Hagan 2022 |
| Sahelian × Djallonké cross | in between | heavier lambs | needs good care | Hagan 2022 |
Djallonké rams usually have horns and often a mane; ewes are usually hornless. The breed is valued because it lives and produces in tsetse areas with more than 1,100 mm of rain a year, where imported sheep struggle.
At the CSIR-Animal Research Institute, crossbred lambs were heavier at birth and at weaning:
| Lambs | Birth weight (kg) | Weaning weight at 12 weeks (kg) |
|---|---|---|
| Pure Djallonké | 1.68 | 6.11 |
| 50% Sahelian | 2.28 | 7.41 |
| 75% Sahelian | 2.69 | 7.55 |
For the Western Region, the Djallonké or a cross with only part Sahelian blood is the safer choice: the pure Sahelian's weakness to disease counts heavily in a wet, worm-heavy area.
Plan a flock
You have space and feed for 20 sheep. Write a plan: how many ewes, how many rams, which breed, and why. Say where the feed will come from.
Pick healthy stock
With your trainer, look at the flock (or at sheep for sale). For each of 5 sheep, record: breed, sex, horns or not, whether it walks well, has clear eyes and nose, a clean rear end, and a good appetite. Say which you would buy and why.
Talk to a sheep keeper
Visit someone who keeps sheep. Ask: which breed, how many, what they feed in the dry season, and their biggest problem. Write the answers in your logbook.
Unit 2 · House the flock
Sheep hate mud and wet floors. A dry, airy pen keeps them healthy.
Competency standard
| Learning outcome | Performance criteria — the trainee… |
|---|---|
| 2.1 Check the pen | checks roof, floor, drainage, shade and fence; reports problems |
| 2.2 Work out space | calculates floor space and feeder length for the flock |
| 2.3 Clean the pen | removes dung and wet bedding; keeps feeders and water clean |
Range. Raised slatted pens and concrete-floor pens; flocks of 10–30. Evidence. Observation of daily cleaning; space calculation in the logbook.
The pen
FAO's farm-buildings guide says:
- Build only on well-drained ground; sheep do badly in mud.
- In high-rainfall areas, a house on stilts with a slatted floor 1–1.5 m above the ground makes dung and urine easy to collect.
- Slats 70–100 mm wide, 25–30 mm thick, with 25 mm gaps.
- An earth floor should slope toward the open front so it drains.
In Ghana's heat, also make sure the pen has shade and air moving through it.
Space
| Animal | Solid floor | Slatted floor |
|---|---|---|
| Ewe, 35 kg | 0.8 m² | 0.7 m² |
| Lamb | 0.4–0.5 m² | 0.3–0.4 m² |
| Ram | 3.0 m² | 2.5 m² |
Feeder space: 0.35–0.5 m per animal. Lambing pens about 1.5 m across, one per ewe. Djallonké ewes are smaller than 35 kg, so the 35 kg figures are a safe maximum.
How much space for a ewe? FAO's farm-buildings guide gives 0.7–0.8 m² for a 35 kg ewe. Another FAO guide gives more: 1.0–1.2 m² for a dry ewe, 1.8 m² for a ewe with one lamb and 2.2 m² with twins. Build for the larger figure if you can: ewes with lambs need room.
Grazing or cut-and-carry?
In the Kumasi area, 45% of sheep keepers fed by hand or cut-and-carry, and 33% let sheep roam and also fed by hand. At Ejura, sheep were housed at night and tied out by day in the farming season. Good forage for humid West Africa includes Guinea grass, elephant grass, Brachiaria, and the legumes Pueraria, Centrosema and Stylosanthes.
Size the pen
A flock has 15 ewes, 1 ram and 10 lambs on a slatted floor. Using the table, work out the floor area needed, and the feeder length at 0.4 m per adult.
Daily pen care
For two weeks, as part of the daily round: remove dung and wet bedding, clean feeders and water troughs, check the floor and fence for damage, and record what you did.
Draw a pen
Draw a sheep pen for 10 ewes and 1 ram, with measurements. Mark the slatted floor, the feeder, the water and the ram's separate space.
Unit 3 · Feed and water
A sheep eats a set share of its body weight every day. Shortage in the dry season is the biggest feeding problem in Ghana.
Competency standard
| Learning outcome | Performance criteria — the trainee… |
|---|---|
| 3.1 Feed the flock | gives forage and supplement in the right amounts; records feed given |
| 3.2 Prepare cassava peels safely | dries or ensiles peels before feeding; never feeds fresh peels in quantity |
| 3.3 Water the flock | keeps clean water available all day |
Range. Grazing, cut grass, browse, cassava peels, wheat bran; dry and rainy seasons. Evidence. Observation; feed record in the logbook; oral questions.
How much does a sheep eat?
A grown sheep eats about 2–3% of its body weight in dry feed each day; young ewes 3–3.5%. A 25 kg Djallonké ewe at 2.5% eats about 0.6 kg of dry feed a day (calculated). Fresh grass is mostly water, so she eats several times that weight of fresh grass.
Water: about 2–3 litres for each kg of dry feed, more in heat; a ewe feeding lambs needs about three times what a dry ewe needs. Always keep clean water in the pen.
Supplements used in Ghana
- Cassava peels are the most used supplement in the Coastal Savannah, then wheat bran; farmers also use dry maize, cut grass and brewers' grains.
- Cassava peels contain a poison (cyanide). Sun-drying removes more of it; ensiling raises the protein and gave better growth. Always dry or ensile peels before feeding.
- Feed the ewe and the lamb. At CSIR-ARI near Accra, a supplement of cassava peels, maize bran and soya given to both mother and lamb raised lamb growth from 44 to 72 g a day.
- Fattening rams: Djallonké rams given 250 g a day of a concentrate (cottonseed cake, wheat bran, groundnut skins) gained 63–71 g a day.
- Browse that stays green: Griffonia and Baphia keep their leaves through the dry season with 15–20% protein.
Plants that can poison sheep. Leucaena is good feed in small amounts, but above about 30% of the diet it causes hair loss, poor appetite, lameness and lost pregnancies. Lantana is toxic to sheep and goats. No Ghana list of poisonous plants was found. Ask an experienced keeper or your extension officer which plants to avoid locally.
The dry season
In a humid-forest flock, the November–March dry season gave poor breeding because of feed shortage. Plan dry-season feed early: dried cassava peels, wheat bran, brewers' grains and browse.
Feed sums
Your flock is 12 ewes of about 25 kg. (1) How much dry feed do they need each day at 2.5% of body weight? (2) How much for 30 days? (3) If dried cassava peels make up a quarter of that, how many kg of peels for 30 days?
Dry cassava peels and feed the flock
- Help spread fresh cassava peels thinly on a clean surface in the sun. Turn them each day until fully dry and crisp. Record the days taken.
- For one week, weigh and record the supplement given each morning, and check the water three times a day.
- Note any sheep that does not come to feed, and tell your trainer.
Feed prices
At a market or mill, record the price of a bag of wheat bran and the cost of cassava peels or brewers' grains near you. Which is cheapest per kg?
Unit 4 · Handle, check and record
You cannot look after a sheep you cannot catch, identify and check. This unit teaches the hands-on basics.
Competency standard
| Learning outcome | Performance criteria — the trainee… |
|---|---|
| 4.1 Catch and hold | catches and holds a sheep calmly without hurting it or themself |
| 4.2 Score body condition | gives a body condition score from 1 to 5 |
| 4.3 Identify and record | reads ear tags; fills in the flock record book |
Range. Ewes, lambs; with trainer present for rams. Evidence. Observation; condition scores and records in the logbook.
Catching
Move the flock quietly into a small space before catching. Hold a sheep under the jaw and by the body, never by the wool or a leg. Your trainer will demonstrate first.
Body condition score (1 to 5)
Feel the backbone and loin, between the last rib and the hip:
| Score | What you feel |
|---|---|
| 1 | Backbone sharp; fingers go under each bone easily. Very thin |
| 2 | Backbone sticks out but smooth |
| 3 | Smooth and rounded; firm pressure needed to feel bone |
| 4 | Backbone felt only as a line |
| 5 | Bones cannot be felt. Very fat |
Target scores. One guide says 3–4 at mating and 2.5–3 at weaning. Another says 3–3.5 at mating and at least 2 at weaning. Both agree: fit, not fat, at mating, and never below 2. A humid-forest flock in Ghana averaged only 1, so most local sheep need better feeding.
Weighing
Use a scale where possible. A tape-measure method for Djallonké sheep has been published, but its figures were not available, and the formula widely shared online is for an Indian breed. Do not use it.
Records and ear tags
Ear tags are the most common way to identify sheep. Keep records of health, feed, mating, lambing (dam, birth weight, date, single or twin, sex) and money. Fill them in on the day, with measured values, not guesses.
Score from description
Your trainer reads five descriptions of how a sheep's backbone feels. Give each a score from 1 to 5 and say what you would do.
Check ten sheep
- With your trainer, pen the flock quietly.
- Catch and hold 10 sheep in turn.
- For each: read the ear tag, give a body condition score, and weigh it if a scale is available.
- Record everything in the flock book.
Make a record page
Draw a flock record page with columns for: tag number, sex, date of birth, mother's tag, weights, condition scores, treatments. Fill in the first row for one sheep you know.
Unit 5 · Keep the flock healthy
Two problems kill most sheep in Ghana: the disease PPR and worms. Vaccination stops PPR. Checking and dosing correctly controls worms.
Competency standard
| Learning outcome | Performance criteria — the trainee… |
|---|---|
| 5.1 Spot a sick sheep | recognises signs of illness; takes temperature; reports at once |
| 5.2 Help prevent PPR | knows PPR signs; helps with vaccination; keeps vaccine cold |
| 5.3 Control worms | checks eye colour; helps with drenching as directed; records doses |
| 5.4 Care for feet | checks feet; helps with trimming under supervision |
Range. PPR, worms, mange, foot rot; vaccination and drenching days. Evidence. Observation; health records; oral questions.
Signs of a sick sheep
Off feed and water, laboured or noisy breathing, dull coat, standing apart, drooping ears.
Normal temperature. One guide gives 39.0–40.5 °C, pulse 60–90 and breathing 12–20 a minute. Another gives 38.9–39.4 °C for adults, heart rate 70–90 and breathing 10–20. Above about 40.5 °C, call your trainer or vet.
PPR (peste des petits ruminants)
The most serious sheep and goat disease in Ghana. It has been in Ghana since 1976 and can kill up to 80% of an unprotected flock; signs are fever, breathing trouble, mouth sores and severe diarrhoea. Ghana aims to wipe it out by 2028.
- In surveys, PPR and mange were farmers' top sheep and goat diseases, but only 20% vaccinated.
- In the Eastern Region, vaccination fell from 34.5% in 2023 to 13.1% in 2024.
- The Veterinary Services Directorate runs PPR vaccination campaigns with FAO.
- One dose of the live vaccine protects for life, but it must be kept cold all the way. CSIR-ARI vaccinates its flock once a year.
PPR must be reported. If you see its signs, separate the sick sheep, do not sell or move any sheep, and call the vet.
Worms
The barber's pole worm (Haemonchus contortus) is the most common worm in Ghanaian sheep and goats, and rain makes pastures more infective. It sucks blood, so infected sheep become pale inside the eyelid.
The FAMACHA eye check:
- Cover the top eyelid and press gently; pull down the lower lid.
- Compare the colour with the card: 1 red, 2 red-pink, 3 pink, 4 pink-white, 5 white.
- Always treat 4 and 5. Treat 3 if young, pregnant, feeding lambs or thin. Do not treat 1 and 2.
- Check every 2–3 weeks, or every 7–10 days in warm, wet weather.
It only works where barber's pole worm is the main worm, and the card is given only after formal training.
How often to deworm? CSIR-ARI doses its station flock with albendazole every month. A study in Ethiopia dosed all sheep at the start of each rainy season and found signs that worms were becoming resistant. The FAMACHA method treats only the sheep that need it. Dosing every sheep often makes worms resistant faster. Follow your vet's plan, and record every dose.
Feet
Overgrown hooves lead to foot rot in muddy conditions. Trim about every 2 months, at least 2–3 times a year, and avoid trimming in late pregnancy. Foot rot occurs in Ghana's Coastal Savannah flocks.
What would you do?
For each case, say what is wrong and what to do: (1) a ewe with a pale-white eyelid and a swollen jaw; (2) three sheep with fever, runny noses, mouth sores and diarrhoea; (3) a ram limping, with a long, cracked hoof.
Health round
- Each week, look at every sheep: eating, breathing, walking, droppings.
- Take the temperature of any sheep that looks dull, and record it.
- With a trained person, do FAMACHA checks on 10 sheep and record the scores.
- Assist on a drenching or vaccination day: hold animals, record tag, product, dose and date.
- Check feet of 5 sheep and help trim one under supervision.
Vaccine check
Call or visit your district veterinary office. Ask when the next PPR vaccination is, and what it costs. Write it in your logbook.
Unit 6 · Breeding and lambing
A good lambing is the reward for everything else. Know the signs, be ready, and get colostrum into every lamb.
Competency standard
| Learning outcome | Performance criteria — the trainee… |
|---|---|
| 6.1 Plan mating | knows the right age and condition for mating; keeps young rams away from ewes |
| 6.2 Watch for lambing | recognises signs of lambing; prepares a clean lambing pen |
| 6.3 Care for newborn lambs | checks the lamb breathes and sucks; dips the navel; records birth details |
Range. Ewes, rams; single and twin births; normal births (difficult births are for the trainer or vet). Evidence. Observation; lambing records in the logbook; oral questions.
Breeding facts
- A ewe comes into heat about every 17 days (13–19), for about 30 hours. Signs are hard to see: tail wagging, standing to be mounted.
- Mate a ewe only when she reaches at least 70% of adult weight.
- A ram lamb can serve 15–30 ewes; a mature ram 35–50. Take young males away from females before 4 months old.
- Djallonké ewes in Ghana lambed about every 264–273 days.
How long is a sheep pregnant? Djallonké ewes in Benin averaged 152.5 days. A general guide gives 138–159 days. Plan for about 5 months.
Age at first lambing in Ghana. 460 days on a research station and 595 days on farms in the Northern Region; 572 days at Ejura; 638 days in the forest belt. Better feeding brings first lambing earlier.
Signs that lambing is near
The udder fills 1–3 weeks before and gets tight in the last day; the vulva swells and may show a clear discharge; the ewe looks "dropped", paws the ground, lifts her tail and breathes faster.
At lambing
- From the water bag showing to birth takes about 30–60 minutes; twins come 20–30 minutes apart; the lamb should stand and suck within 30–60 minutes.
- Call the trainer or vet if the ewe strains with no progress, is exhausted, or you see only one foot and the nose, or legs that don't match. Call the vet if nothing happens within an hour of the water bag breaking.
- After birth: clear the lamb's nose and mouth, dip the navel in iodine, weigh and tag.
Colostrum (the first milk) must reach the lamb in the first 12 hours. A lamb with none by 12–24 hours is likely to die.
In Ghana, 17–28% of Djallonké lambs died before weaning in studies. Most deaths at Ejura were from disease. Weaning is at 12 weeks on the CSIR-ARI station; lambs wean themselves at about 4 months in village flocks.
Lambing calendar
A ewe was mated on 10 January. Using about 150 days, when should she lamb? When should you put her in the lambing pen (about 1 week before)? When would her lamb be weaned at 12 weeks?
Lambing duty
- Help prepare a clean, dry lambing pen with bedding.
- Watch ewes close to lambing twice a day and record signs.
- At a lambing (with the trainer), wear gloves, watch the birth, and check the lamb is breathing and sucking within an hour.
- Help dip the navel, weigh the lamb, and record: date, ewe tag, lamb tag, sex, single or twin, birth weight.
Birth records
Ask a sheep keeper how many lambs their ewes had last year, how many were twins, and how many died. Work out the % that died and compare with the 17–28% in this unit.
Unit 7 · Sell at the right time
Sheep sell best when demand is high. Good records show if the flock is making money.
Competency standard
| Learning outcome | Performance criteria — the trainee… |
|---|---|
| 7.1 Plan sales | names the high-demand seasons; plans rams to be ready for them |
| 7.2 Keep money records | records costs and sales; works out profit or loss |
Range. Rams and cull ewes; local markets and festival sales. Evidence. Sales plan and money records in the logbook.
When sheep sell best
- In the Coastal Savannah, demand for mutton stays low until Muslim festivals.
- Around Kumasi, 27% of keepers sold at religious or social occasions, when buyers pay more; at Ejura, most people keep sheep as emergency cash.
- Prices at Eid ul-Adha: GH¢2,000–2,500 for average rams and GH¢5,000–8,000 for large rams in Accra in June 2025, with most animals coming from the Sahel and slow sales; GH¢3,000–5,000 at Asesewa in June 2024. Prices change every year.
No Ghana standard market age or weight for Djallonké sheep was found.
Profit or loss
A keeper buys 5 young rams at GH¢800 each, spends GH¢1,200 on feed and GH¢300 on vaccines and dewormers, and sells them at Eid for GH¢2,000 each. One ram dies. What is the profit?
Money book
For the course flock, keep a money page for one month: every cost (feed, medicine, tags, labour) and every sale. At the end, total each and work out the difference.
Market visit
Visit a livestock market. Record the prices of three sheep (small, medium, large), their breed if you can tell, and where the seller says they came from.
Glossary
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Body condition score | A 1 to 5 score of how fat or thin a sheep is |
| Colostrum | The first, thick milk; protects the newborn lamb |
| Competent / Not Yet Competent | The two possible results of a CBT assessment |
| Djallonké | Ghana's small, hardy local sheep (West African Dwarf) |
| Drench | Liquid medicine given by mouth, usually for worms |
| Ewe | Female sheep |
| FAMACHA | An eye-colour check for anaemia from worms |
| Lamb | Young sheep |
| PPR | Peste des petits ruminants, a deadly virus disease of sheep and goats |
| Ram | Male sheep kept for breeding |
| Weaning | Separating lambs from their mothers' milk |
Logbook
Copy these pages into an exercise book. Your logbook is part of your assessment evidence.
- Unit 1: stock check of 5 sheep; flock plan
- Unit 2: daily pen care record; space sum
- Unit 3: cassava-peel drying record; daily supplement and water
- Unit 4: tag, condition score and weight of 10 sheep; record page
- Unit 5: weekly health round; FAMACHA scores; every dose and vaccine (date, product, dose, tag)
- Unit 6: lambing watch notes; lambing records
- Unit 7: one month of money records
- Every homework, dated
Your trainer initials your logbook each week.
Self-check quiz
- Which breed suits southern Ghana best, and why?
- How much floor space does a ram need on a slatted floor?
- About how much dry feed does a sheep eat each day?
- Why must cassava peels be dried or ensiled?
- Describe body condition score 1 and score 5.
- Name three signs of PPR.
- What should you do if you suspect PPR?
- What does a white inner eyelid mean?
- How long is a sheep pregnant, roughly?
- Within how many hours must a lamb get colostrum?
- When do sheep usually sell at the best price in Ghana?
Further reading and sources
Best next reads: your district veterinary office's advice on PPR vaccination; the FAO chapter on the Djallonké; the CSIR-ARI studies listed below.
What this module does not cover: treating diseases (a vet's job), goats, fattening for export, building costs, and a tape-measure weight formula for Djallonké (not available).
Every source used in this manual is listed, with links, in the Teacher Copy.