Why you should NOT use lye as a dewormer

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There’s been some talk lately on social media about using lye to deworm livestock and you may be wondering if it works. As with so many things in life, if something sounds too easy or too good to be true, it is probably not a good idea. What is lye? Lye is a strong alkali (can be either sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide), having a high pH, that is highly corrosive. That means it can burn the skin or eyes upon contact. It is often used to make soap from oils or fats (such as goats milk). Protective gloves, safety…

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Understanding How the Heat Beats Your Sheep

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Have you felt pretty beat up by the heat when you work outside for long hours in the summertime? Well, let me tell you that the summer heat does not only affect us, but also our flock. Imagine that you are training for a marathon at 100 degrees Fahrenheit with a quilted puffer jacket on. That is exactly how our animals feel when experiencing heat stress conditions. Heat stress is defined as when the ambient temperature and relative humidity increase to a point where it affects the animal’s capacity to dissipate their internal heat to the exterior, causing an increase…

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Evaluating Breeding Animals

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Unfortunately, defects show up in some of our animals and even though those animals might be exceptional in other areas, for the betterment of the breed we should not propagate these defects. Always check your animals before keeping them as replacements or selling them as breeding stock. Bite In lambs the bottom teeth should “bite” into the dental pad. They should not extend in front of it (monkey mouth, undershot), nor be too far backwards (parrot mouth, overshot). If a bite is VERY off you can easily see that the bottom jaw is markedly longer or shorter than normal at…

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Sick Sheep? Let Us Inspect Their Earwax.

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Reprinted with permission. Ambrook Research publishes original research and stories on issues facing modern agriculture, to read more:  Ambrook Research A USDA lab devised a way to ID toxins from common poisonous plants using “non-traditional” bodily excretions. Recently, Raye Walck recounted for this inquisitive journalist a grim story from some high-desert grazing lands in Grand Junction, Colorado. “I had a case a couple of years ago where these sheep came off the range and were brought into a dry lot situation, into a bunch of old pens,” the director of the Western Slope Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at Colorado State University (CSU)…

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Preparing for the Storm

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As many are aware, and many experienced, extreme weather devastated the southeast region last fall. These storms caused significant loss of life and billions of dollars in damages. As we reflect on these losses and look ahead to future extreme weather events, we need to consider the resiliency of our operations. Some questions that I have pondered over the last few months include; how reliant is a flock on outside resources? How adapted are livestock to their environment? If you were shut off from the world for a week, would you and your flock survive? What about for two weeks?…

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Genetic Aspects of Udder Health

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Sheep GEMS News Brief 10 – February 2025 In the last Sheep GEMS news brief, we presented the economics of subclinical mastitis in meat and wool ewes. Despite the major production impact that subclinical mastitis poses, the only way to diagnose it involves collecting and testing milk from every ewe. Take it from the guy who has milked the rankest Rambouillet and most cantankerous Katahdin ewes, you don’t want to go down that road! So, we’re at a bit of an impasse; we have a disease that costs us money, but we don’t know which ewes have it. How can…

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Economic Impacts of Udder Diseases

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Sheep GEMS News Brief 9 – January 2025 A nationwide survey conducted in 2011 by the USDA APHIS estimated that 14% of U.S. ewes (402,000 head) are culled each year. Of ewes culled, 56% are removed for old age. Culling for age is a good thing as these ewes have been productive for years, but we have limited resources and need to make room for younger, genetically superior females. The flip side is that 44% of cull ewes leave the flock early, which is not a good thing. The most common reasons for culling ewes prematurely are failure to lamb…

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Efficacy of a Novel Herbal Dewormer on Katahdin Lambs

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Introduction: Most shepherds are familiar with the need to deworm their sheep and the added stresses that go along with it. Over time, the Barber Pole Worm and other economically devastating parasites have become more resistant to conventional dewormers, creating a quickly growing need for alternative deworming practices. An effective herbal dewormer could be a solution available to sheep farmers, especially those using organic practices. During the summer of 2022, for our senior capstone study at the University of Maine, we tested the novel herbal dewormer Early Bird to evaluate whether it was an effective option. Early Bird is a…

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Using genotypes to reduce susceptibility to Ovine Progressive Pneumonia (OPP)

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Sheep GEMS News Brief 5 – late-August 2024 In the U.S., the disease Ovine Progressive Pneumonia (OPP) causes extensive welfare and financial losses due to decreased ewe productivity of about 20% and eventual culling or death of breeding stock. Surveys of U.S. sheep have shown that 36% of sheep operations have infected animals and 24% of all animals tested were seropositive. Once infected, sheep remain infected for life, and there is no effective treatment or vaccine. Sheep producers can eradicate OPP from a flock in two ways. First, is by serological testing and removing all infected sheep with the obvious…

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Biosecurity Testing

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Sheep can be affected by infectious diseases that affect the productivity of your flock. Some diseases can only be transmitted by close contact between sheep, as the organisms responsible only survive in the environment for a short time. Other diseases can be spread via people, vehicles, birds, insects and wildlife, as the organisms responsible can survive in the environment for extended periods of time. It is easier to keep diseases that are spread directly from one sheep to another out of your flock: Make sure that your animals stay confined to your property Keep other sheep fenced out of your…

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