Reference intervals for the sheep — biochemistry, haematology, urinalysis and specialised tests, in one place, with the provenance of every value stated.
Hover any value to see its source and how to check it. The symbol tells you what kind of evidence it is.
- 🔗 66 — Online source — click and verify
- ✎ 1 — Citation key on file — full details on request
66 of 67 values (99%) can be checked by anyone, today, without asking us.
Biochemistry
Serum and plasma biochemistry, blood gases and acid–base — 27 values, every one cited; 1 further entry states that no interval has been established.
Haematology
Complete blood count, red cell indices, reticulocytes and platelet fractions — 17 values, every one cited; 1 further entry states that no interval has been established.
Urinalysis
Urine concentration, protein and tubular injury markers — 3 values, every one cited.
| Marker | Reference interval | Source |
|---|---|---|
| PH | 7.4-8.5 | Published ruminant urine pH |
| Specific gravity | 1.015-1.045 | Merck / MSD Veterinary Manual — Urine Volume a |
| UPC | 0.21-1.34 (reported range) | Athanasiou LV et al. J Vet Diagn Invest 2021 |
Coagulation and viscoelastic testing
Clotting times, inhibitors, fibrinolysis and whole-blood viscoelastic testing — 2 values, every one cited.
| Marker | Reference interval | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Fibrin degradation products | baseline <5 µg/mL (interpretive bands) | UC Davis VMTH Clinical Chemistry Reference Int |
| Haptoglobin | 0-0.8 g/L | Animal Health Laboratory |
Endocrine and reproductive assays
Adrenal, thyroid, pancreatic and gonadal hormones, including stimulation-test values — 1 value, every one cited.
| Marker | Reference interval | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Cortisol basal | 2-50 ng/mL | LABOKLIN — Farm Animals reference table |
Trace elements, vitamins and amino acids
Micronutrient status, vitamin metabolites, plasma amino acids and toxic metals — 12 values, every one cited.
| Marker | Reference interval | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Cobalt | 0.18-2.0 ppb | Prairie Diagnostic Services — Trace Minerals & |
| Cobalt b12 | adequate >500 pmol/L (adequacy threshold) | Awanui Veterinary |
| Copper | 0.70-2.0 ppm | UPEI Veterinary Diagnostic Services |
| Copper prog | threshold <0.5 mg/L meaning en a concentration below this threshold indicates copper deficiency (deficiency threshold) | Mohammed A |
| Iron | 20-30 µmol/L | LABOKLIN — Farm Animals reference table |
| Manganese | 0.001-0.006 ppm | Prairie Diagnostic Services — Trace Minerals & |
| Manganese whole blood | 0.02-0.025 ppm | Prairie Diagnostic Services — Trace Minerals & |
| Molybdenum | 0.001-0.050 ppm | Prairie Diagnostic Services — Trace Minerals & |
| Selenium | 120-150 ng/mL | Stowe HD |
| Vitamin a | 0.3-0.6 ppm | Prairie Diagnostic Services — Trace Minerals & |
| Vitamin e | 1.5-3.0 µg/mL | Prairie Diagnostic Services — Trace Minerals & |
| Zinc | 0.80-1.20 ppm | UPEI Veterinary Diagnostic Services |
Other specialised assays
Pancreatic and inflammatory markers, cardiac and renal function tests, cerebrospinal fluid and therapeutic drug monitoring — 5 values, every one cited; 2 further entries state that no interval has been established.
| Marker | Reference interval | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Ammonia | not established | No ovine reference interval is published: marked NA in Smith BP et al., Large Animal Internal Medicine, 6th ed., Table 22.2 (Clinical Chemistry: Normal Range for Large Animals), p. 399 and left blank in Kaneko JJ et al., Clinical Biochemistry of Domestic Animals, 6th ed., Appendix VIII (Blood Analyte Reference Values in Large Animals). |
| Bicarbonate | 20-26 mmol/L | UC Davis VMTH Clinical Chemistry Reference Int |
| CSF total protein | 0-40 mg/dL | UC Davis VMTH Clinical Chemistry Reference Int |
| Creatine kinase | 100-547 U/L | UC Davis VMTH Clinical Chemistry Reference Int |
| Lipase dggr | not established | Not listed for sheep in laboratory farm-animal tables; no validated DGGR interval. |
| TIBC | 43.3-88.1 µmol/L | Frye EA et al. Complete blood count and bioche |
| Troponin I | 0-0.21 mean 0.15 ng/mL (observed in healthy animals) | Basbugan Y et al. An investigation on serum tr |
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Sources
All 17 sources behind the values on this page. The number after each value points here. Nothing here comes from anywhere else.
- 🔗 Animal Health Laboratory, University of Guelph — Biochemistry reference intervals (accessed 2026-08-09) — https://www.uoguelph.ca/ahl/biochemistry-reference-intervals
- 🔗 Animal Health Laboratory, University of Guelph — Hematology reference intervals (accessed 2026-08-09) — https://www.uoguelph.ca/ahl/content/hematology-reference-intervals
- 🔗 Athanasiou LV, Katsoulos PD, Spanou VM, et al. Effect of storage time on the urine protein: creatinine ratio in alkaline ovine urine. J Vet Diagn Invest. 2021;33(6):1176-1179 — doi:10.1177/10406387211031517
- 🔗 Awanui Veterinary (New Zealand) — Cobalt (B12): adequacy thresholds for cattle and sheep; the page states no reference ranges exist for goats — https://www.awanuivets.co.nz/cobalt-b12/
- 🔗 Basbugan Y et al. An investigation on serum troponin concentration in healthy ruminants. Kafkas Univ Vet Fak Derg 2010;16(4):641–645 — https://vetdergi.kafkas.edu.tr/extdocs/2010_4/641_645.pdf
- 🔗 Frye EA et al. Complete blood count and biochemistry reference intervals for healthy adult sheep, northeastern United States. Vet Clin Pathol 2022;51:119–125 (ADVIA 2120i / Cobas 501; Table 2 p.122, Table 3 p.123) — https://doi.org/10.1111/vcp.13059
- 🔗 LABOKLIN — Farm Animals reference table (December 2022; cattle, sheep and goat columns) — https://laboklin.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Referenztabelle_Nutztier_12.2022_EN_S.1.pdf
- 🔗 Merck / MSD Veterinary Manual — Urine Volume and Specific Gravity table (adapted from Reece WO, Dukes' Physiology of Domestic Animals, 13th ed.) — https://www.msdvetmanual.com/multimedia/table/urine-volume-and-specific-gravity
- 🔗 Merck Veterinary Manual — Hematologic Reference Ranges — https://www.merckvetmanual.com/special-subjects/reference-guides/hematologic-reference-ranges
- 🔗 Merck Veterinary Manual — Serum Biochemical Reference Ranges — https://www.merckvetmanual.com/multimedia/table/serum-biochemical-analysis-reference-ranges
- 🔗 Mohammed A, Campbell M, Youssef FG. Serum copper and haematological values of sheep of different physiological stages in the dry and wet seasons of central trinidad. Vet Med Int. 2014;2014:972074 — doi:10.1155/2014/972074
- 🔗 Prairie Diagnostic Services — Trace Minerals & Vitamin Reference Intervals (ovine vitamin E; the page states ppm = mg/L for fluids) — https://pdsinc.ca/materials/trace-minerals-vitamin-reference-intervals/
- ✎ Published ruminant urine pH (pasture-sheep study; AVMA goat baseline study) – consistent with Awanui horse/cattle — Citation key on file — full bibliographic details on request
- 🔗 Sekisui Diagnostics SDH Assay (2023) — https://sekisuidiagnostics.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/IN74025-2.pdf
- 🔗 Stowe HD, Herdt TH. Clinical assessment of selenium status of livestock. J Anim Sci. 1992;70(12):3928-33 — doi:10.2527/1992.70123928x · PMID 1474029
- 🔗 UC Davis VMTH Clinical Chemistry Reference Intervals, Rev 6/2025 (multi-species table; column-verified) — https://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk491/files/inline-files/Chemistry_Reference_Intervals_6.2025_0.pdf
- 🔗 UPEI Veterinary Diagnostic Services (Atlantic Veterinary College) — Reference intervals for trace elements in serum — https://diagnosticservices.avc.upei.ca/reference-guide/reference-intervals/
Method
Evidence-based veterinary medicine (EBVM) only. This page follows the principles of evidence-based veterinary medicine: every value is traceable to a named source, and where the evidence does not exist we say so. A value appears here solely when it can be traced to a named source: a laboratory reference document, an established veterinary clinical pathology reference, or peer-reviewed literature. There is no category of “commonly quoted” or “textbook approximate” value on this site.
Gaps stay gaps. Where an interval has not been established, the entry is absent. We do not substitute a value from a related species and we do not average across sources. 0 values held internally are withheld from these pages because their provenance is not recorded.
One dataset. Every number here is the number our articles use, with the same source attached.
Derived values are labelled. Where an interval was calculated from a published mean and standard deviation rather than formally established, the source entry says so explicitly.
Marcin Siedlecki. Sheep Blood Test Reference Ranges. VetBlood, 2026. https://vetblood.io/veterinary-reference-ranges/sheep/
Quote or reference it, in whole or in part, with attribution and a link back.
Compiled by Marcin Siedlecki. Last reviewed 2026-08-12. Corrections are welcome at vetblood@vetblood.io — if a value here disagrees with a source you trust, tell us and we will check it.