Simply Sheep

[tortoise]

fecal egg count. fecal egg count. fecal egg count. Do the whole flock. Cull the heavy shedders. 80% of parasite problem comes from 20% of the animals. or something like that, I don't remember the numbers. Remember the goal is not to eradicate parasites - which is impossible - but to keep the parasite load low enough that lambs are gaining well and ewes are holding condition well through gestation and lactation.

DE only works in a dry environment. The inside of an animal is not dry. It does not work on the inside of an animal. Just like Lazy Gardener was saying above. Great for other purposes - just not that one. There is lots of evidence to show DE works to prevent insect infestations in stored grain. It works to keep flies off a surface - I assume it makes it unpleasant for them to land on.

As far as my sheep, we do fecal egg counts annually plus if we note anything not-quite-right (which happened once, two failure to thrive lambs with high parasite load, they did not survive despite vet diagnosis and treatment). The last few years we've done one worming for ewes with ivermectin in spring. We don't have much problem with parasites here, other than those two ne'er-do-well lambs the one year. One was an orphan/reject, the other was a preemie from terminal c-section.

 

[Beekissed]

@Beekissed don't you also use Basic H for worming also? I'll have to check out the minced garlic at Walmart. I didn't know that about ginger. I love ginger. When I have a cold I make ginger-garlic-chicken broth. It's good!

I don't use diatomaceous earth either. I read all that hype and fed it to my horses, it didn't help with anything, didn't kill worms either.

I did with my cows and my previous sheep...worked just fine. Glossed that cow up like a new penny. So much so that I sold her a few months after getting her, but for $500 more than I paid for her. She was pretty rough looking when I got her.

You'll find that minced garlic in the produce section, nearby the whole garlic bulbs.

Different studies on different types of parasites and the use of ginger, curcumin, etc.

The Control of Internal Parasites in Ruminants

eap.mcgill.ca

Ovicidal effect of the methanolic extract of ginger (Zingiber officinale) on Fasciola hepatica eggs: an in vitro study

Fasciolosis is of considerable economic and public health importance worldwide. Little information is available on the ovicidal effects of anthelminthic drugs. The use of ovicidal anthelmintics can be effective in disease control. In this study, the effectiveness ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0001706X14002319

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7331063_In_vivo_anthelmintic_activity_of_ginger_against_gastrointestinal_nematodes_of_sheep

In vitro and in vivo screening of anthelmintic activity of ginger and curcumin on Ascaridia galli - PubMed

Intestinal helmintic infection, continue to be a cause of major concern in several parts of the world, particularly in the developing nations. The use of plant extracts to control poultry helminths is increasing in different rearing systems. The anthelmintic activity of ginger and curcumin was...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Lazy Gardener]

LIKE, LIKE, LIKE. Bee, you get all my bonus points for the day. I love it when statements are backed up by supportive studies, Love it even more when you post the meat of the study along with the reference!!!

 

[flowerbug]

fecal egg count. fecal egg count. fecal egg count. Do the whole flock. Cull the heavy shedders. 80% of parasite problem comes from 20% of the animals. or something like that, I don't remember the numbers. Remember the goal is not to eradicate parasites - which is impossible - but to keep the parasite load low enough that lambs are gaining well and ewes are holding condition well through gestation and lactation.

DE only works in a dry environment. The inside of an animal is not dry. It does not work on the inside of an animal. Just like Lazy Gardener was saying above. Great for other purposes - just not that one. There is lots of evidence to show DE works to prevent insect infestations in stored grain. It works to keep flies off a surface - I assume it makes it unpleasant for them to land on.

As far as my sheep, we do fecal egg counts annually plus if we note anything not-quite-right (which happened once, two failure to thrive lambs with high parasite load, they did not survive despite vet diagnosis and treatment). The last few years we've done one worming for ewes with ivermectin in spring. We don't have much problem with parasites here, other than those two ne'er-do-well lambs the one year. One was an orphan/reject, the other was a preemie from terminal c-section.

do you rotate your grazing so the parasites can't easily complete their life cycle?

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Bee has been posting some awesome videos about that topic. The info presented is beneficial for anyone who is managing land, not just the herd owner!

 

[flowerbug]

a cheap source of raw garlic you can often find at the big box stores already peeled and in a container or bag.

 

[tortoise]

do you rotate your grazing so the parasites can't easily complete their life cycle?

We rotateafter shearing until their wool is long enough they're unphased by electric fence. It's a free-for-all after that. We have a lot of pasture, I don't know if that matters. We have like 10 ewes and 20 acres of pasture.

 

[baymule]

I don't have enough land to leave fallow for the time needed to break the worm cycle. Plus, they go to their barn every night, so that is a source of reinfection. I use all the natural remedies I can, but will not hesitate to use chemical means if that is what it takes. In the upcoming week, it is time to run them all through the chute, dose with garlic, lambs included, then again in 10 days and 10 days after that. Then I'll run fecals to see if any need a whallop of wormers. I am also culling for worm resistance now that I learned to run fecals.

 

[Beekissed]

I don't have enough land to leave fallow for the time needed to break the worm cycle. Plus, they go to their barn every night, so that is a source of reinfection. I use all the natural remedies I can, but will not hesitate to use chemical means if that is what it takes. In the upcoming week, it is time to run them all through the chute, dose with garlic, lambs included, then again in 10 days and 10 days after that. Then I'll run fecals to see if any need a whallop of wormers. I am also culling for worm resistance now that I learned to run fecals.

How many acres do you have, Bay?

 

[baymule]

We have 8 acres. We probably have an acre open for the yard. There is a 70'x100' fenced garden. there is a 60'x60' pig pen. The horses have about 2 1/2 or 3 acres that was heavily wooded before we had it forestry mulched. We'll be working on it this winter, getting it ready for planting grass. There is 3 pastures for the sheep, also half wooded. My husband fights me tooth and toenail over cutting trees. He loves the trees, but then gripes over the cost of feeding the animals. We struck a happy medium on the forestry mulching-that took out a lot of small trees, he still has the big ones. there is the pipeline pasture, we had the back corner forestry mulched on the other side of the pipeline. There is still a strip of heavy forest on the other side of the pipeline that we left.