Simply Sheep

[Pjhomestead]

I am fairly new to sheep we currently have 2 lambs a female that is around 5-6 months old we got her and her brother as bottle baby's from a nearby farm when her mother couldn't produce milk. Unfortunately he had to be put down a little while back as he developed kidney stones that tore him up inside and the vet couldn't do anything for him. We recently purchased a new neutered male approx 4 months old to keep her company. He had worms really bad when we got him and the vet gave him safe guard. I haven't seen any worms in the last few weeks but he still has no energy and is not gaining much weight. We have purchased some good quality hay for him and he eats his feed every morning. I dont think he had sheep feed before we got him because the first time we gave it to him he didn't seem to know what it was now when he sees me coming with it he cant wait to get it. I am wondering if you have any suggestions on what else we can give him to help him perk backup?
Thanks

 

[Beekissed]

I am fairly new to sheep we currently have 2 lambs a female that is around 5-6 months old we got her and her brother as bottle baby's from a nearby farm when her mother couldn't produce milk. Unfortunately he had to be put down a little while back as he developed kidney stones that tore him up inside and the vet couldn't do anything for him. We recently purchased a new neutered male approx 4 months old to keep her company. He had worms really bad when we got him and the vet gave him safe guard. I haven't seen any worms in the last few weeks but he still has no energy and is not gaining much weight. We have purchased some good quality hay for him and he eats his feed every morning. I dont think he had sheep feed before we got him because the first time we gave it to him he didn't seem to know what it was now when he sees me coming with it he cant wait to get it. I am wondering if you have any suggestions on what else we can give him to help him perk backup?
Thanks
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Seems like there's a couple of folks who have the same situation with a vet telling them to give Safeguard. Turns out both animals had Barber pole worms and Safeguard won't take care of those anymore. Vet said it was like pouring water on them.

I don't give wormers, so can't give any good advice on that but I'm betting a few folks on here could like @baymule, @Mini Horses , etc.

 

[baymule]

I buy the apple flavored Ivermectin for horses at Tractor Supply. Dose him at 50-100 pounds. I have given half a tube before with no ill effects. It has worked for me. I also give Garlic Barrier.

http://www.garlicbarrier.com/ Read the sheep post. I buy it cheaper on Amazon.

 

[Beekissed]

I buy minced garlic by the qt. jar from Walmart....around $3 or so...and it has garlic juice in the jar I just drain off the top, place in the drench gun and give it to them. Easy peasy, garlic squeezy.

Another cool natural dewormer is ginger root, which you can buy in a paste or even make your own into a paste and just wipe it into their mouths....supposed to work on liver flukes, Barber pole, etc.

Another thing that Barber pole responds to, supposedly, is copper oxide....

ACSRPC | COWPs

www.wormx.info

I use sea kelp meal for my minerals and the iodine and copper levels seem to benefit the sheep, in particular, when it comes to parasite control.

 

[flowerbug]

i don't know diddly about keeping animals bigger than a hamster but doesn't diatomaceous earth help with deworming or is that too rough on sheep?

 

[Lazy Gardener]

DE is best used in the garden for slugs. And... it's expensive, when there are many products that work at least as well if not better that are either free or cheaper. DE is very hard on the lungs, can cause respiratory distress. Only effective when dry. Once it enters the digestive system, it is not dry! And the risk of inhalation or even aspiration is high enough that I'd not want to risk giving it to an animal. It's one of those "they say" products that has a reputation of being beneficial, but the reputation is merely anecdotal. One gal showed a pic of red mites happily crawling through a pile of DE. For years, BYC folks have been advocating tossing it around in the coop to kill red mites.

 

[flowerbug]

DE is best used in the garden for slugs. And... it's expensive, when there are many products that work at least as well if not better that are either free or cheaper. DE is very hard on the lungs, can cause respiratory distress. Only effective when dry. Once it enters the digestive system, it is not dry! And the risk of inhalation or even aspiration is high enough that I'd not want to risk giving it to an animal. It's one of those "they say" products that has a reputation of being beneficial, but the reputation is merely anecdotal. One gal showed a pic of red mites happily crawling through a pile of DE. For years, BYC folks have been advocating tossing it around in the coop to kill red mites.

the best thing for mites are more mites (predatory mites). we have red mites of some type here but i never have done anything about them. i just keep encouraging diversity and they seem to not do any damage to plants i care about.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

The red mites I refer to are blood sucking parasites, much different than the little red mites that you will find in your garden. and yes, predatory insects to prey on other insects is a very good thing.

 

[Beekissed]

i don't know diddly about keeping animals bigger than a hamster but doesn't diatomaceous earth help with deworming or is that too rough on sheep?

Some folks like it. I wouldn't feed tiny shards of glass-like material to my sheep or any other animal, nor would I put it anywhere near my garden.

For some reason it has gotten a reputation of a do it all parasite killer but in reality it doesn't work all that well at all for many things.

 

[baymule]

@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.