Managing Newly Purchased Lambs

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If you’re a new shepherd buying your first breeding lambs, the following are a few tips to make the transition easier and to keep them healthy and growing. Infrastructure needs should be met before lambs arrive: a clean water source, hay/feed/adequate pasture space, minerals (for sheep), secure fencing, and shelter or shade. If you’re using guardian animals, allow them to become accustomed to each other through the fence before mingling. If you’re adding new sheep to an existing flock, isolate the new lambs in an area separate from your existing sheep for at least 30 days to prevent the possibility…

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Meet the EAPK Board of Directors Candidates

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Meet the four candidates that have stepped up and are running for the two seats that are opening up on the EAPK Board in July. Marti Carlson Lee Holcomb Colt Robinson Larry Weeks The elected members will serve from July 2026 - June 2029. Learn more about the candidates, in their own words, below. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order. Please vote for two candidates when you receive your ballot. Marti Carlson My name is Marti Carlson and I am honored to be considered for a position on the Board of Directors for EAPK. While you may recognize my name…

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Getting Started with Sheep: Part II – Now That You’re a Shepherd

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Congratulations if you’ve recently purchased sheep or are making plans to acquire your own flock. Now that you are officially a shepherd, the following information can be used as a guide to keeping your sheep healthy and productive. Links to earlier EAPK blogs provide resources for further information on particular topics. Information resources One of the most important “tools” you can have as a shepherd is a strong support system. It’s not a question of “if” but “when” things will go wrong. It happens to all of us – a sick animal, forage or equipment challenges, parasite pressure, genetics that…

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Survey Results

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A big THANK YOU! to everyone who participated in our survey. Thank you for taking the time and effort to share your thoughts and ideas. We cannot improve, if we do not know what you want. The survey was sent to our email list, and also available on Facebook. The summary does not include free form responses, as I feel that I cannot do them justice by trying to summarize them. Rest assured, the Board and Communication Committee are looking at all your responses and taking them into consideration. We have already reduced the membership fee for Associate members, and…

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Creep Feeding: Is it the Right Choice for your Operation?

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Creep feeding is a means of providing supplemental nutrition to lambs before weaning. Not all producers creep feed their lambs since most can easily thrive on mother’s milk and good quality hay or forage. For those that lamb in winter, under drought conditions, or have poor quality hay/forage, creep feeding allows producers to market their lambs sooner by meeting the nutritional needs of their lambs while improving body condition and growth. Advantages: Accelerates growth and helps smaller triplets or struggling lambs to thrive. Helps lambs reach ideal weight earlier for specific markets Acts as a nutritional supplement for lambs on…

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Preventing Lamb Losses: 30 Days Through Weaning

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For the purposes of this article, we assume that lambs will be weaned around 60-90 days of age. At 30 days old, lambs’ rumens are still developing, and they are not able to survive on just forage. They still need milk and/or adequate amounts of creep feed to thrive. Lambs that are fed only milk and forage should ideally not be weaned until 90-100 days of age, when their rumens are fully functional. Creep fed lambs can be weaned earlier, as long as you continue grain supplementation after weaning.  Making sure that your lambs receive adequate nutrition during this time…

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Not all sheep ailments are common ones

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In August we euthanized a Katahdin yearling ewe that was later diagnosed with large cell lymphoma (LCL), a cancer of the blood that leads to leukemia and tumors in lymph nodes, heart, lungs and other organs. LCL and other neoplastic (tumor-producing) disorders are thought to be rare in sheep according to surveys conducted at animal slaughterhouses, with an overall tumor incidence of around .002 percent, compared to .23 percent in cattle (ref. 1). Symptoms We first noticed the ewe’s lack of appetite. She would rush to the hay feeder with the others, but eat very little.  Since the poor appetite…

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Getting Started with Sheep: Part I – Things to Consider

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So, you’ve decided that sheep might be a nice addition to your existing farm, or a good place to start your farming adventures. You may have decided that Katahdins would be the best breed for your situation. After all, they’re hardy, easy care with their shedding hair coat and parasite resistance, and they’re wonderful mothers. Everything sounds great so far, but what now? Where do you go from here? And how do you actually get started? Part 1 of this two-part series will offer questions for you to consider on lots of important topics with links to other EAPK blogs…

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Preventing Lamb Losses: The first 30 days

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Lambing is an exciting time of year, especially when everything goes well. It’s also an economically important time; after all, you can’t sell lambs that don’t make it to weaning. Getting your lambs off to a good start goes a long way to ensuring an enjoyable and profitable lamb crop. The old adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is good advice for shepherds since it’s easier and more effective to prevent illnesses than it is to treat sick lambs. Part I of this two-part series will discuss management tasks to prevent illness, critical times to…

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Sheep Vaccines

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There are multiple vaccines licensed for sheep in the USA, and it might be difficult to decide which ones to use on your farm. We will discuss how vaccines work, as well as best practices for handling and administering vaccines. Finally, we will look at the different types of vaccines that are available as well as how to decide if a particular vaccine is indicated for your flock. How do Vaccines Work The general idea with a vaccine is to expose an animal to a specific pathogen (or combinations of pathogens) in a way that is not likely to make…

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