CARING FOR YOUR SHEEP

8/7/2019 CARING FOR YOUR SHEEP

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CARING FOR YOUR SHEEP

The following are my suggestions for caring for your sheep. I am not a vet,or a scientist, or any kind of specialist – this information is based on my experience and research. Every situation is different so you should always doyour own research and absolutely consult a competent veterinarianconcerning health issues.

Also, just like people, every sheep is different. Every farm isdifferent. Every sheep owner's personality is different. There are no cookiecutter approches.

SHELTER

You don’t need a full size barn although it sure is nice. A three-sidedshelter is fine. If you have a regular barn with stalls then you should also havean area outside that’s shaded. An overhang off the barn works great (seepictures below).

This is a picture of the ewe stalls - I say stalls because I have two 10 x 12 stalls connected



with a door that can be opened and secured to all them free access to both sides or close

it off if I need a sick room or an extra lambing jug.

This is a picture of the overhang we built across the back of the main barn. You can see

the stalls open up and allow the sheep to go in and out.

In hot climates (is there anywhere in the US that doesn’t get hot at leastonce in a while? Okay Alaska maybe) it is a good idea to have a fan in eachstall and cross ventilation fans in the barn (see pictures). A fan not only getsthe air moving but it keeps flies at bay. On very hot days my sheep all line upin front of the fans – it’s a hoot!



The top picture if of the type of fan we put in each stall. The bottom picture is the barn

fan we use. There is one mounted on each side.



I use pine shavings in my stalls. Way better than straw. Yes it does stick to their wool a little but so what? I muck out all the stalls 2x a year andreplace all bedding. Once a month I sprinkle PDZ in each stall and under theoverhang outside. This neutralizes urine. (www.sweetpdz.com.) Hopefully your feed store carries it or can get it for you. Occasionally State Line Tack has

free shipping and they sell PDZ at a great price.I do not lock my sheep up at night.

PASTURE

Mostly sheep eat grass, clover, forbs, and other pasture plants. They especially love forbs. It is usually their first choice of food in a pasture. A forbis a broad-leaf plant other than grass. Sheep are very selective in their grazinghabits. Sheep have a split in their upper lip; with this they are able to pick the

preferred leaves off the plant.

Sheep will graze for an average of seven hours per day, mostly in thehours around dawn and in the late afternoon, near sunset.

The amount of pasture or range land that it takes to feed a sheepdepends upon the quality of the land (soil), the amount and distribution of rainfall, and the management of the pasture. In dry climates, an acre of pasture or rangeland cannot feed as many sheep as an acre of pasture in amoist climate. An acre of pasture in the wet season (spring and fall) can

obviously feed more sheep than an acre in the dry season (usually summer)

There are many published guidelines for how many sheep one acre of pasture can support. The real answer is: “it depends.” If you want tomaintain good grass growth you will have to rotate pastures by either dividingup one larger pasture or creating 2 or more adjacent pastures. PastureManagement is a big topic – too big for this little article. Check out TheStockman Grass Farmer (www.stockmangrassfarmer.net). It’s a great place tostart educating yourself on the various pasture management theories.FENCING

Fences serve two purposes – keep animals in and keep predatorsout. Coyotes and dogs are smart - they can dig under, jump over and risk getting shocked by climbing between wires. The type of fence you choose canmake the difference between raising your sheep successfully or losing them allto predators. Never say it can’t happen to me.

http://www.sweetpdz.com/



http://www.stockmangrassfarmer.net/






Any pasture where you will have lambs will require a woven wirefence. Check them out at either Premier1 (www.premier1supplies.com) or Stay-Tuff (www.staytuff.com.)

This is a picture of the woven wire fence for the ewes and lambs. It's a little hard to see I'm afraid.

If you do not plan to have lambs in a particular pasture you can use ahigh tensile wire fence that you electrify. I use a 7 wire fence as I foundanything less allows escapes. You only need to electrify every other wire.

http://www.premier1supplies.com/



http://www.staytuff.com./







This is our 7 wire high tensile fence for the rams and we use the same thing for our horse and donkeys.

It is a good idea to have portable panels that can be configured into pensfor sick animals, new animals, or for use as lambing jugs. I use panels fromNorth East Gate Mfg (www.northeastgatemfg.com.) Check out Lazy J Ranch

web site for pictures and ideas using these panels (www.lazyjranch.com.) Ipurchased extra wall brackets and put them up where I might need temporary pens. I put the brackets on the outside of the stalls under the overhang areaand I put 2 sets of brackets in my hay stall. During lambing season I clear outthe hay on one side and set up two lambing jugs.

PREDATORS

In 2004, it was estimated that 224,200 sheep and lambs were killed by predators in the United States (USDA, 2007). Predation accounted for 37.3

percent of sheep and lamb death losses for the year. Coyotes were responsiblefor 51.7 percent of the total losses. However, in terms of number of sheepoperations affected, free-ranging or wild dogs may be the most commonpredator problem.

Each predator species has traits peculiar to it. Coyotes typically attack sheep at the throat. Dogs are usually indiscriminate in how and where they



attack. Regardless of the predator or the method of attack, your any attackedsheep will be dead. Most predators go for lambs (for obvious reasons).

A livestock guardian dog (LGD) will pay for itself 10x over. Some of themore common breeds used in the U.S. include Great Pyrenees (France),Akbash and Anatolian Shepherd (Turkey), Komondor and Kuvasz (Hungary),Maremma (Italy), Polish Tatra (Poland), and Tibetan Mastiff (Tibet). Many of the breeds are related.

Unless you can wait for protection and have lots of time to devote totraining –do not get a pup. An LGD is born with its guarding instincts but itdoesn’t become fully effective until about 2 years old. It’s easy to find LGD’swho need new homes. One group to join to learn more or look for a dog is theYahoo Group WorkingLGDs.

I found that having one dog is not sufficient. A coyote could easily use adecoy to distract the dog while another coyote circles around and attacks.Other animals are sometimes used as guardians, i.e. llamas, anddonkeys. Donkeys and llamas have an inherent dislike for dogs. In fact, any animal that displays aggressive behavior to intruding predators may be adeterrent.

This is Bongo and Golda. They live with the ewes and lambs.



This is Elka. She lives with the rams.

Running sheep and cattle together has been shown to reduce predatorlosses, but in order for mixed species grazing to be an effective deterrent topredators, the sheep and cattle must "bond" together. Young lambs can be

bonded with cattle by penning them in confinement close to the cattle. Whenbonded lambs and cattle are turned out to pasture, the lambs will follow thecattle. When they are threatened by a predator, the lambs will run and huddleamong the cattle. A mixed group of cattle and sheep is called a "flerd."

FOOD

Hay

If you’ve got a good stand of grass – there is no need to supplement withhay. In summer and in cases where the pasture is not sufficient – you’ll need agood source for hay. I prefer grass hay – alfalfa is too rich (and tooexpensive). We are lucky here in Virginia – the hay season has beengreat. We pay about $4 for a 50# bale. That’s a far cry from the $22 for a100# bale we paid in California.

Again, opinions vary, but I use the guideline of 1.5# of hay per 100# of body weight. I estimate the weight of each sheep – add it up and divide by



100# then multiply by 1.5. I split that into two feedings – am/pm. You may already be wondering how you ensure that each sheep gets its share of the hay – short answer – you don’t. Unless you were to feed each sheep separately there is no way to make sure that a 100# ewe gets 1.5# and a 50# ewe only gets .75#. You just put it out and hope for the best.

Hay racks that have something underneath to catch the droppings arebest. Less waste. Otherwise hay racks that hang on a fence aregreat. Throwing hay on the ground is not a good idea because sheep are nottoo bright and they will urinate and poop on the hay. Sheep have thewonderful ability to eat and pee or poop at the same time.

Grains

Grain is often fed to sheep with higher nutritional needs, such as

pregnant ewes during late gestation, and nursing ewes. Sheep love the taste of grain and can get sick if they eat too much grain too fast. They can die if thebloat is severe. Grain consumption needs to be regulated, introduced slowly and gradually increased.

Grains are unnecessary during normal conditions. Hay, water andminerals are all your sheep need.

Minerals

There are a wide variety of minerals on the market. Many minerals are

especially for goats or sheep or horses etc. Since I have horses, donkeys, goatsand sheep, I buy a general-purpose loose mineral from Tractor Supply. Inorder to use a mineral for sheep it must say on the bag that it is safe forsheep. Sheep need copper but too much will kill them. Goats can toleratemuch higher degrees of copper.

I keep a mineral feeder in every stall. The animals take what they want. I do not use mineral blocks because they don’t last very long and they don’t get enough of what they need each day by just licking a solid block. Youwill save money by using the loose minerals.

I also provide free choice baking soda. When they get an upset stomach(all 4 of them and 3 are actually rumens) – they will automatically go to thebaking soda.

Water



Fresh water is a must. A typical sheep will consumer a couple of gallonsof water each day. For that reason, and because I hate schlepping buckets of water – I use automatic waterers. I bought the heavy black tubs from TractorSupply and separate float valves that are attached to the tub and a watersource. The tub automatically fills itself as the animals drink. Once a week I

scrub the tub as it tends to grow algae and I keep a small strainer with ahandle nearby to scoop out leaves and bugs.

This is one of the automatic waterers we have set up. Below is a picture of the kind of water outlets we had

installed all over the place.



Winter is a bit tricky. The water does freeze – so we have to shut off thewater when we know the temp will drop below freezing lest you have burstpipes. So each morning I remove the layer of ice and then schlep buckets of warm water to each water tub. I have a hot water heater in my barn office so if I’m lucky and the lines are not frozen I can get my hot water from the barn. If

they are frozen – you guessed it – schlepping buckets from the house to thebarn. I carry two 3 gallon buckets at a time and make about 3 trips (I have 5water tubs.) I repeat the process in the evening. If you are lucky and only have one or two water tubs you can buy a heating device which will keep thewater from freezing – I don’t think it actually heats the water though and icecold water – just like hot water is not high on a sheep’s list of favorites. Youwill also need an electrical source.

Treats

Sheep seem to love most all fruit as well as carrots. I also keep a large

container of animal crackers around – yup – animal crackers. They lovethem. So do the horses, donkeys, goats and dogs. They are easy to use fortraining. I use grain sparingly as a treat. Mainly to herd them from one placeto another.

GROOMING



Shearing

Sheep are usually sheared once per year, usually before lambing or in thespring before the onset of warm weather. Sheep with long fleeces aresometimes sheared twice a year.

Sheep grow wool continuously. If they are not sheared at least once ayear, they become very stressed and uncomfortable, especially when it is hotand humid. Eventually, the wool will become matted and more difficult toremove.Hair sheep do not require shearing because they lack sufficient wool fibers orbecause their coats naturally shed. However, crosses between hair sheep andwooled breeds need to be sheared. Therefore the Barbado Dolls do need to besheared. Their fleece is not good for spinning.

A professional shearer can shear a sheep in less than 2 minutes and willremove the fleece in one piece. The world record for shearing sheep is 839lambs in 9 hours by Rodney Sutton of New Zealand (2000) and 720 ewes in 9hours by Darin Forde of New Zealand. The most sheep shorn in an 8 hourperiod using hand blades is 50 by Janos Marton of Hungary (2003).

Most shearers travel around. A good source for finding a shearer by stateis at www.nebraskasheep.com. You’ll pay around $8 or so per sheep just forshearing. It’s well worth the price.

http://www.nebraskasheep.com/






This is a picture of Zach being sheared this year.

Nail Trimming

Hoof growth is affected by the breed and genetics of the sheep, soilmoisture and soil characteristics. Sheep grazed on rocky, dry soil may notrequire the extent of hoof care needed for sheep on soil that is free of rocksand higher in moisture content. Sheep in high rainfall areas will need to havetheir hooves inspected more regularly than those on dry ground. How oftenwill depend on the specific conditions.

A good pair of shears is important. You can find them on line at almostall livestock supply stores.

I have the shearer trim hooves at the same time he shears. He charges a

couple of dollars per animal. Again – well worth the price. I keep an eye ontheir feet and if I notice overgrowth I trim. Any time I have to handle a sheepfor any reason I use the opportunity to check feet. The rate at which hooveswill grow out varies with the type of ground they are on and genetics. I know breeders who trim monthly. I think that the more you trim the more thehooves grow – just my own philosophy. Twice a year has been sufficient formy flock and I have not any foot problems.

Crutching

Crutching is a process of shearing or trimming only the area around the

anus and also the teats. It is a good idea to do this before lambing starts. Igenerally have my sheep sheared in Mid-March which is prior to lambing so Idon’ t need to trim them again. But if I see their fleece getting dirty aroundthe butt – I trim it down. I also sometimes trim the fleece around the eyes onmy Babydolls in order to prevent wool blindness.

HEALTH ISSUES

Parasites

Gastro-intestinal parasites (i.e. worms) are usually the primary diseaseaffecting sheep and lambs. Sheep are more susceptible to internal parasitesthan most other types of farm livestock for several reasons. Their small fecalpellets disintegrate very easily thus releasing the worm larvae ontopastures. There’s a lot to learn about the different worms. The best place tolearn all you need to know iswww.wormboss.com. It’s an Australian site. TheAussies have been at the bleeding edge of all sorts of research involvingsheep. I would take their recommendations without any reservations.

http://www.wormboss.com/





Sheep graze close to the soil surface and to their feces. They are slow toacquire immunity. It takes 10 to 12 months for most lambs to developimmunity to parasites. Sheep also suffer a loss of immunity at the time of lambing, which does not restore itself until approximately four weeks afterlambing.

Heavy stocking rates and insufficient pasture rest periods furthercontribute to the incidence of parasitic disease in sheep and lambs. Internalparasites tend to be much less of a problem under range-type conditionswhere sheep do not graze the same pasture twice in the same grazing season.They are also less of a problem in arid regions, because parasites requiremoisture for their development.

In the past, most breeders relied heavily on anti-parasitic drugs, called

"anthelmintics" to control internal parasites in their flocks. But the long-timeuse and in some cases misuse of these drugs has resulted in parasites that havebecome increasingly resistant to anthelmintics. Drug resistance has beendocumented in all three-drug families and is most commonly reported withivermectin and the benzimidazoles.

In the U.S., few anthelmintics are FDA-approved for use in sheep andlambs, and no new drugs are likely to be developed. As a result, we all mustdevelop more integrated programs for controlling parasites, which do not rely exclusively on drug therapy.

The current recommendations are to only use drugs when worms arefound at a sufficient load to be harmful to the animal. How do you know that– you have to have a fecal egg count done. No getting around it.

You can either do your own test or send out samples to a local lab whichyou can find through your extension office. The labs charge around $8 persample. To do your own fecal analysis, you need a microscope, flotationsolution, mixing vials, strainer, stirring rod, slides, and cover slips. You do notneed an elaborate microscope. 100X power is sufficient. You can purchase

flotation solution from veterinary supply companies or make your own by mixing a saturated salt or sugar solution. Your mixing vials can be jars, pillbottles, film canisters, test tubes, or something similar. You can use a teastrainer or cheesecloth to strain the feces. The stirring rod can be a pencil orpopsicle stick.



If you want to count eggs, you want to get a McMaster Egg Countingslide available HERE. The McMaster slide has chambers that making eggcounting easier. The Paracount-EPG™ Fecal Analysis Kit with McMaster-TypeCounting Slides is available for $40 from the Chalex Corporation.

Since fecal counts only estimate the parasite load, there is no clear-cutlevel at which worming is indicated. As a general guide, a level of about 500eggs per gram of feces would indicate that worming is needed for sheep. A more effective way of deciding when to treat would be to monitor fecals every 4-8 weeks and deworm when there is a dramatic rise in egg counts.

The FAMACHA© system was developed in South Africa due to theemergence of drug-resistant worms. The system utilizes an eye anemia guideto evaluate the eyelid color of a sheep (or goat) to determine the severity of

parasite infection (as evidenced by anemia) and the need for deworming. Thetest is only valid for Barber Pole worms and you cannot get a chart unless youtake one of the classes on how to use it.

The best way to manage parasites is to remove the breeding groundwhich is animal manure. That’s why I clean my pastures every day. I have agreat compost pile going. Should be able to provide compost for the entirestate of Virginia in another year….

One note here about cleaning pastures. The 2 hours I spend cleaning the

sheep pasture and “lounging area,” allows me to observe a lot of things. First,I can observe the overall health of the sheep and the LGDs. I take time toscratch and feel both dogs – looking for lumps etc. I also observe how thesheep walk – does anyone need a pedicure. I check out the manure of thesheep and the dogs looking for anything unusual. I also check out thecondition of the fence – looking for breaks or holes. And finally I look foranything in the pasture that the sheep could hurt themselves on. I’m alwaysamazed at what seems to bubble up from under the earth. Glass, pieces of metal, a hairbrush. So I like to walk the pastures regularly.

Tail Docking

Tails are a natural part of sheep. Almost all lambs are born with tails.The length of a lamb's tail is halfway between the length of its mother's tailand its father's tail. In fact, tail length is a highly heritable trait. Eighty-fourpercent of the differences in sheep tail length are due to genetics.



The purpose of the sheep's tail is to protect the anus, vulva, and udderfrom weather extremes. Sheep lift their tails when they defecate and use theirtails, to some extent, to scatter their feces. The tail does not interfere withbreeding or lambing.

Under modern sheep production systems, tails are usually docked(shortened) to prevent fecal matter from accumulating on the backside of thesheep, which can result in fly strike (wool maggots).

I DO NOT DOCK TAILS. FLY STRIKE IS NOT A MAJOR PROBLEM INTHE U.S. – IT IS A PROBLEM IS THE U.K., IRELAND AND SCOTLAND.

This is what a real tail looks like - not docked. You can see it comes to about the hocks which is within the

recommendations I have read on Australian web sites.

Scours

Scours is the sheep version of diarrhea. Lots of things can cause it – from what they eat to disease. A good self-help book on how to diagnose andtreat is important. Most times the problem clears itself but sometimes there issomething more serious going on. Pepto Bismal works in sheep as well aspeople.



You will know your sheep has scours two ways. First by looking at itspoop! It’s one of the reasons I clean the pasture – so I can get a good look atwhat’s coming out the other end of my sheep. The other way to look at theirbutts which you should do regularly. If they have “poopy butt” (if you have adog you’ll understand what that is) – then you have a problem. In addition to

dealing with the scours you need to get the butt cleaned off because the messwill attract green bottle flies (fly strike).

Vaccines

This is another area of great controversy. There are a number of recommended vaccines for a variety of problems. I don’t do it. I have a closedflock and I don’t take them to shows or petting zoos or to Starbucks. Second,they don’t come in contact with rabid critters unless it’s my LGDs and they areonly rabid at dinnertime…..

There is no vaccine for the really deadly diseases like Scrapies. Every sheep owner must do what they feel is best after doing their ownresearch. Most vets will tell you that your sheep need all the vaccines.

Flies

If you have any animal, you have flies. Flies love animals and they loveanimal poop. As you might already suspect, I do not use any chemicals to dealwith flies. There are several good alternatives however – some less painfulthan others (to you that is.) First, I use fly predators. These are tiny little

creatures that love fly larvae. There are several companies that sell these. Iuse Spaldings (www.spalding-labs.com) but there are others. The principal isthe same. You spread them around before fly season gets started and thenmonthly thereafter through the summer. They do work somewhat.

The other product I’ve found is called Cedarcide(www.cedarcide.com.) It’s a cedar oil product and you can use it to spray thebarn stalls and the sheep in fact. I do not go out to the pastures without firstspraying myself. You will smell like a cedar closet but there are worse thingsto smell like…. It seems to work reasonably well – not a miracle product as

touted on its web site but good enough. I spray the stalls once a month.

The real trick to getting rid of most of the flies is to get rid of themanure. I have a small enough area (1.5 acres for the sheep plus theirveranda) that I can and do clean it every day. I get a muck bucket full of manure each day and I know I don’t get it all. I also clean my horse and



donkey pasture every day. Call me crazy but it helps and I’ve lost 15 poundssince moving to the farm.

Teeth

This really isn’t an issue. But its helpful to know how to estimate the ageof your sheep if it is one you did not breed yourself.

Telling Age With Teeth

Lamb 4 pair of Incisors1 year middle pair of Incisors2 years 2nd pair of permanent Incisors3 years 3rd pair of permanent Incisors4 years 4th pair of permanent Incisors

5 years all permanent Incisors close together6 years Incisors begin spreading apart7-8 years some Incisors broken10-12 years all Incisors missing

LAMBING

So you think you want to breed your own lambs? Okay but be preparedbecause in spite of what is often said about Babydolls being “easy lambers” – problems do, and will, come up. You may have to deliver the lamb. Babydolls

usually mate in the fall and after a 5-month pregnancy (lucky girls) – they deliver in the Spring.

Ewes usually give birth to 1 to 3 lambs. Twins are common in well-fedflocks and with most breeds of sheep. First-time moms, especially yearlings,are more likely to have single births. Ewes produce their largest litters of lambs when they are between the ages of 3 and 6. Having more than 2 lambsis not a good idea since the mother is only capable of easily feeding 2 and any others may have to be bottle fed (think feedings every 2-4 hours round theclock). In Babydolls, the lambs can weigh anywhere from 4 to 10

pounds. Large lambs are not a good idea.

Under ideal circumstances, the lamb is perfectly positioned and the ewecan easily deliver with no problem. Often you will find the mom and lamb(s)when you go down to feed in the morning. However, if the lamb is notpositioned right you may have to assist. I strongly recommend that if you plan



to breed you make arrangements to assist a goat or sheep breeder duringlambing/kidding season to get some hands on experience.

HELPFUL INFO

Definitions

Ruminant : An animal with a multiple-compartment stomachcontaining microbes (bugs) that are able to digest forages

Ram: male of breeding ageWether: castrated maleRam lamb: immature maleEwe lamb: immature femaleLamb: newborn

Flock : group (3 or more)Tupping : act of breedingLambing: act of parturition (giving birth)

Biological Traits

Birth weight 5 - 8 lb.Weaning age 2 - 3 monthsLife span 6 -14 years (well kept sheep have lived

more than 20 years)Chromosome number 54

Average Temperature 102.5Average Respiration Rate 16 breaths per minuteAverage Pulse Rate 75 beats per minuteUrine 10 - 40 ml/kg body weightTeeth Mature sheep have 32 teeth, including

4 pairs of lower incisors, but none in their upper front jaws; a hard dentalpaid replaces the absent upper incisors

RESOURCES

The key to being successful is knowing where to look for information andget help quickly. There was a time when I knew nothing about sheep otherthan you got lamb chops from them (which I no longer eat…)

There are a number of good books to help you muddle through thelearning curve and help you in an emergency. Here are my favorites:



Storey’s Barn Guide To Sheep: This is my favorite. It has step-by-stepinstructions with pictures for doing such things as giving injections, hoof trimming and catching a sheep. I keep this at the barn at all times. If you getnothing else – get this.

Natural Sheep Care by Pat Coleby: If you don’t think much of

homeopathic remedies – don’t buy this book. Hers is a common sense andnatural approach to caring for sheep.

Storey’s Guide to Raising Sheep: A basic book that should be on the shelf of anyone raising sheep.

Hobby Farms Sheep – Small-Scale Sheep Keeping for Pleasure and Profit by

Sue Weaver: A great introduction – easy to read, gives a good overview of whatsheep are and how to care for them.

Sheep – A Complete Owners Manual by Hans Alfred Muller: This is farfrom a complete owners manual but brief and to the point. It was actually originally written in German.

Homeopathy in Veterinary Practice by K.J. Biddis MRCVS : I love this very small pocket book. The author is British – and the Brits know sheep. It’s aneasy to read and understand quick reference for the most common illnesses. Ikeep a homeopathy kit with all the basic remedies on hand.

The Pocket Manual of Homeopathic Veterinary Medicine by Edwd. H.

Ruddock, M.D. : Another Brit – and this little gem was published in New Dehliof all places. I guess they have sheep there. Anyway – I use this inconjunction with one by Dr. Biddis.

CARING FOR YOUR SHEEP

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