Sheep Health information:
Products available:
- Antibiotics: wide selection
- Anti-inflammatories
- Vaccines: Casebac, Tasvax 8
- Anthelmintics- ivermectin products, Safeguard and Valbazen:
pour–on, injectable and oral
- Probiotics- Stockman’s choice
- Vitamins and minerals
- Marking crayons and other management products available
Services available:
- feed testing
- nutrition consulting
- flock health programs- vaccination and deworming protocols,
ram semen testing, etc.
- consulting services- abortion storms, pneumonias, footrot
problems, etc.
Flock Health Monitoring Parameters:
1. Ram-ewe ratios at breeding- average ratio 1:30
2. Pregnancy rates – target 95% on Ewes, 75% on Ewe lambs
(abortions <5%)
3. Lambing percentages- target 90% on Ewes, 70% on Ewe lambs
(stillbirths <2%)
4. Ewe and ram mortality and reasons
5. Pre and post weaning lamb mortality rates and reasons.
*BCS ewes at breeding, lambing and weaning.* = A must for
determining nutritional requirements at various production stages.
Culling guidelines:
- productivity
- fertility
- growth rate
- disease and parasite susceptibility
Reference: Sheep and Goat Medicine by D.G. Pugh
Diseases in Sheep:
Overeating Disease:
Causative organism is Clostridium perfringes type D.
Well doing lambs that are on high concentrate rations are typically the
ones affected. There may also be a recent history of feed change or
parasitism problems within the flock.
The clinical signs observed with this disease include:
- abdominal pain, bloody diarrhea, neurological signs, sudden death.
Prevention is routine vaccination with Tasvax at 4-6wks old, booster 3-4wks
later. Then yearly herd vxn.- some flocks may require a more intense
vaccination protocol.
Footrot:
Causative organism is Dichelobacter nodosus. This bacteria can have different
strains of virulence, and causes a severe and contagious footrot. The source
of new infections is infected animals as the organism only survives a few days
to weeks in the environment.
Wet conditions and F necrophorum infections can predispose an infection to
develop.
Typical treatment protocols include:
Frequent foot trimming
Topical antibiotic treatments- oxytet, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate (beware
of copper toxicity)
Foot baths for herd treatment- copper sulfate, zinc sulfate, formalin 5%
**Separate infected from non infected
**Cull severely affected, and those not responding to treatment
Vaccination?
Select genetics/breeds with resistance
May need to isolate organism if animals are unresponsive to treatment or consult
your veterinarian for further advice.
Systemic antibiotics:
- Oxyvet LA
- Nuflor
- Lincomycin
- Erythromycin
- Penicillin
Sheep CIDR Protocol:
In Season:
CIDR in for 10 – 18 days (max)
12 days for goats
After removal they will cycle in 2 days.
At time of removal inject with 350 – 400 IU of P.M.S.G (Folligen)
Off Season:
CIRD in for 7 – 10 days
Inject with 500 IU ewe at a time of CIRD removal.
Ewes should cycle 18 – 24 hours after removal.
PMSG:
1. Folligen- 25ml will provide 6000 IU of PMSG
-2.5ML WILL PROVIDE 500N IU of PMSG
2. Pregnecol 6000- 20ml will provide 6000 IU of PMSG
-1.66ml will provide 500 IU of PMSG
Valbazen use:
Valbazen is an anthelmintic used for the control of internal parasites including adult liver flukes, adult tapeworms, gastric worms, intestinal worms and adult stages of lungworm. The studies done for sheep and goats were at the rate of 7.5mg/kg for the control of adult liver flukes. At the drench concentration of 113.6mg/ml, sheep need to be dosed at 3ml/100lbs. This is less than the label dose indicated for cattle use. There is no adverse effects with giving a higher dose, however, the product will work at the labeled dose, and should be used accordingly as the withdrawal times are longer for higher dose rates. The slaughter withdrawal time is 27 days at label dose.
There is also a caution for use in cattle that are <45 days pregnant. I am unaware of any studies that may have been done to determine if this is relevant to sheep, however, taking the precaution is likely prudent management.
Since Valbazen is used to treat the adult form of parasites, it should be given when sheep come off the pasture in fall, winter or early spring before ingestion of the parasite eggs and larvae forms of the parasites develop.
If you have any questions regarding the use of this product, or others, please give us a call.
Amanda Martens, DVM
