I am having the worst time with these horrible worms in my sheep this year. And especially in these 2 darker wool sheep. Lucinda, the ewe in the top picture, was lagging behind this morning. In fact, she's been doing that the last few days. I had wormed her then and gave her a shot of penicillan and thiamine too. So this morning she's not there when I bring the feed nor is her ewe lamb. I saw Anabelle over in the pasture but not Lucinda. I had a bad feeling, like maybe she was dead. But then there she was, ambling over. So I ran back inside and got some Cydectin, Ivomec, penicilla and thiamine and caught her,( not an easy thing to do) and gave her all that. I hope she'll be ok. I had to do all this with the youngest Finn ewe a few days ago as well.
And again with Abraham, the ram lamb. He got all the same treatment a few days ago. It's like they are being attacked by these worms more than any of the others. I have not had to do a thing with any of the hair sheep. They are all fine. I did worm them a few months ago just to be safe. But these 2 dark wool sheep are having a hard time.
So what I am wondering is there a natural predator that would attack and eat the Barber Pole worm larva? I have a friend who keeps the pastures mowed down and it's been awhile since the last time he mowed. I just called this morning to get him to do it again. I know that helps. But is there some kind of bug that I could get that would kill the worms? And is anyone else having a bad worm year too? What are you doing about it? I need to learn more about how to prevent this from going on every few months. What could I be doing to keep the worm population down here?
4 comments:
Hi Kris,
I left you a comment on MJF, The hair sheep are really one of those breeds that are not really affected by the BPW ... Unfortunate for your others tho.
Call the vet and really try your AG agent, they may know of something to help manage them, like I said, maybe through different pasture maintaince or maybe you could pen them and get rid of the worm and then try building them back up before returning them to the pasture.
And again, it might just be the breed.
I worm my sheep 2 x a years.
Now, I will tell you that when I had fractured the bone in my leg, I was down for 4 weeks and did not get the chance to rotate (hubby is NOT a shepherd) so once I was able to I wormed and rotated and they have been fine.
Not gonna tell you that it is not a lot of work, but your sheep will love ewe for it.
Goo luck!
Teri
Teri, I have been rotating but right now I am breeding goats and ran out of room. I am trying to sell my 2 doelings so if and when I sell them, I'll have that pasture again. I could put then with the meat chickens for a few weeks again til I can get that pasture where they are now under control again. I thought I was doing pretty good but I guess not. I might just need to sell these Finn sheep and just have hair sheep. But I love them. I need to get some fecal samples to the vet right now I guess.
Some folks I know who keep sheep and goats and alpacas as well keep several muscovy ducks and allow them to run with their heard to keep down many kinds of insects and larvae. Some others I know just rotate their free grazing chickens with their sheep for example once the sheep have been moved they move the chicken tractor to that pasture and turn them loose however they do have a barrier from the bottom board of their fence to the ground so as to keep them somewhat contained which I understand would be an expense and a job to boot. I hope you find the answers and let us know how things are going. Will be thinking of you.
Malena (desperadosdream@hotmail.com)
I think this has been so bad is because I have had to coop my chickens to have a garden. Before I did this, the chickens were all over and scratching around the poop. Seems like since I had to put the chickens up, there have been worms.
I have started letting the chickens out in the afternoons now. I clipped wings and plugged up any holes big enough for them to go through. The sheep are in where the chickens are now. So maybe this will help.
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