Last time when we were discussing culling, we mentioned that there is a right way and a wrong way to compare the growth rates and performance of your sheep. We said you couldn’t just pick out the biggest, nicest looking lambs in the field and expect your flocks performance to improve. Those lambs are actually…
Tag: sheep care
How To Trim Sheep Hooves
Today we are going to show you how to trim sheep hooves. Depending on your soil and the activity level of your sheep, you will likely need to trim their hooves at some point. For some people it’s a 2x a year task, for some its more or less frequently than that, and for the…
How To Help A Sheep With Bottle Jaw
If you own sheep or goats for any length of time, there is a good chance that you will encounter bottle jaw at some point. As a small ruminant owner, it is essential to know what it is, and what to do about it. Bottle jaw is a puffy accumulation of fluid below the chin…
Quarantine: An Important Protection For Your Sheep
In a previous blog post we discussed selecting breeding stock. Today we are going to discuss the next step. Quarantine. When you bring your new prize ram/ewes home, they should go straight into a quarantine pen far away from all your other animals. It doesn’t matter how healthy you think the new animals are or…
Meningeal Worm: How Deer Can Impact Your Flock
Did you know that whitetail deer can share diseases and parasites with your sheep and goats? Meningeal worm, also called brain worm and deer worm, is one of those parasites. It is not as frequently seen or spoken of as other parasite, but it can be deadly if not treated promptly and properly. Thus, it…
Keeping Mastitis Out Of Your Flock Of Sheep
If you breed sheep for any length of time, you’re likely to run across a case of mastitis at some point. This is particularly true for dairy animals. The increased udder volume and the larger, lower placed teats that are desirable for milking make the animals more susceptible to mastitis. So today we are going…
Lambing: What To Expect When Your Ewes Start Expecting
Lambing season is in full swing. If you are new to sheep and this is your first lamb crop, you are likely a bit nervous and apprehensive about what to expect. You are probably also curious about what signs you should be watching for. So today we are going to look at pictures of and…
How To Prevent Pregnancy Toxemia and Milk Fever
A few months ago we discussed both the basics of how to understand a forage analysis, and also how to select the right mineral mix for your sheep. Lambing season is just around the corner, so, today we are going to discuss two very common and completely preventable nutrition-based problems you might encounter. We will…
Choosing The Right Mineral Mix For Your Sheep
A big question that a lot of new sheep owners have is what mineral supplement should I feed my sheep? Most people know that they need to feed a mineral supplement, but have no clue what one to use or why. Even a lot of more experienced sheep owners are not very informed about animal…
How To Body Condition Score Your Sheep
Today we are going to discuss body condition scoring in sheep. As someone who is breeding sheep, it is important to be able to know what sort of condition your animals are in at various stages of production—and what condition they should be in. If your sheep is either too fat or too thin this…