Transporting Sheep Safely

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Summer is often the busiest time for transporting sheep since the buying and purchasing of new animals is at its peak. It is also the season for hauling animals to sales, shows, fairgrounds and livestock markets. Unfortunately, it can also be the most stressful time for animals with long trips, escalating temperatures, and crowded conditions. This article attempts to address some of those concerns and provide a plan for preparing for the trip, ways to reduce stress and keep animals healthy during transport, and how to handle new arrivals to maintain biosecurity on your farm. First and foremost, do not…

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Selecting for Parasite Resistant Katahdins

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People frequently ask us for suggestions on improving the parasite resistance of their flocks and how to identify resistant animals, and with good reason. Intestinal worms, or parasites, are one of the most limiting factors to profitable production for shepherds raising sheep on pasture. Lambs and late gestation and lactating ewes are the most susceptible. The main parasite of concern in much of the U.S. is Haemonchus contortus or barber pole worm. The most obvious cost to producers is through deaths of lambs and ewes. But probably more loss occurs in lambs because of anemia, reduced appetite, slower growth, delays…

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Drug Withdrawal Times for Sheep

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Whenever we sell animals, be it at auction, privately as feeder lambs, breeding stock or even just pets and lawnmowers it is our responsibility to make sure that the animals we are selling will not enter the food chain with illegal drug residues in their tissue. Animals that are sold at auction need to be ready to slaughter as many enter the food chain within hours or days after being sold. Private sale feeder lambs, pets and breeding stock animals can be sold before their drug withdrawal times are over as long as you tell the buyer and they are…

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Weaning Management

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Weaning can be a stressful time for both ewes and lambs. Since a lamb's immune system is not fully developed, weaning stress can negatively affect both a lamb's health and its growth rate. Weaning lambs while ewes are still producing a lot of milk increases the risk of mastitis. There are several ways you can help reduce weaning stress and other potential problems for both ewes and lambs. Determining when to wean should be based on age of the lambs, body condition of the ewes, available. resources, and management considerations. Most shepherds wean between 60-120 days of age depending on…

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Polio in Sheep: A Medical Emergency

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Polioencephalomalacia (PEM or Polio) is a common disease in sheep. Unlike the human form of Polio, it is not a viral infection, but a neurological disease characterized by brain swelling that, if left untreated, progresses to degeneration of brain tissue due to pressure necrosis. Early treatment is critical to lamb survival. A deficiency in thiamine (vitamin B1) is the most common cause of Polio and is usually induced by a disruption in normal rumen function, especially acidosis. Thiamine plays a key role in glucose metabolism and proper brain function. Since thiamine is produced from rumen microbes, lambs at greatest risk…

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BODY CONDITION SCORING – Why Is It So Important?

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To best express their genetic potential, sheep must be in optimal body condition. Both overly fat sheep and sheep that are too thin are not as productive as they can potentially be. Body condition scoring (BCS) enables you to identify the animals that fall outside of a preferred range. You can use this information to evaluate feeding strategies and to identify animals that are not doing well in your management system. This article will cover the use of BCS as a management tool. Links to information on how to perform BCS can be found in the reference section at the…

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