First Aid Kit

[mylilchix]

We are adding sheep and goats to the family soon. I want to put together a good first aid kit for them before they get here. What do you recommend? The sheep will be a small breeding flock of Katahdins and I'll have a Nubian milk goat (still looking for a buddy for her).
Thanks, Sonja

 

[SheepGirl]

The things I have on hand for my sheep are:

- Thermometer (gets pushed up the sheep's butt whenever I notice one acting off)
- Iodine (spray it on any wound that is bleeding)
- Screw worm spray (spray it on any wound that is bleeding during fly season to prevent fly strike--I had a >1 week old lamb get fly strike where I banded her tail and didn't put this on...maggots were eating her alive NOT a good thing and she was in a lot of pain)
- Pen G (given to any sheep that has a fever)
- CD/T Toxoid (vaccination for my sheep to protect them against overeating disease, enteritis, and tetanus) - you need the ANTI-TOXIN if your sheep ever develops these diseases
- Zinc Sulfate (new sheep get footbaths with a zinc sulfate solution--also can be given to clean the hooves of sheep who develop foot rot or foot scald....haven't had that happen yet but it's good to keep on hand for that reason too)

And really that's it. I have Cydectin, Safeguard, and Privermectin...but they all expired a couple years ago lol. I need to go buy new wormers to have on hand just in case. But my sheep haven't had any issues with worms so I don't feel like spending $60-$80/bottle of wormers when I don't really need it

 

[mylilchix]

Thank you very much! I was starting to get overwhelmed trying to figure out the most important things for the kit.

How often do you worm your sheep? The woman I'm getting mine from worm the sheep as needed.

 

[elevan]

Thank you very much! I was starting to get overwhelmed trying to figure out the most important things for the kit.

How often do you worm your sheep? The woman I'm getting mine from worm the sheep as needed.

Deworm as needed to avoid drug resistant worms.

See the parasite management link in my signature below for some additional reading on the topic.

 

[mylilchix]

Awesome! Thank you.

What should I add to the kit for the goats?

 

[elevan]

Awesome! Thank you.

What should I add to the kit for the goats?

This is what is in my kit... http://www.backyardherds.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2607-goat-med-chest

It's been added to over time.

 

[SheepGirl]

We don't worm at all At my neighbor's, we would only check sheep once a year for barberpole worm infestation (the #1 most problematic internal parasite)...ones that needed it were dewormed and were later sent to auction. In between yearly checks, if the sheep were to develop an infestation, they would die. We would lose 0-3/yr. Usually they were lambs, but we would lose the occasional old ewe. But my one ewe, Ali, did get anemic in the fall (we check in the spring) and so I dewormed her without my neighbor knowing because I didn't want to get rid of her or have her die My old ewe, who was bred by my neighbor, has never been dewormed in her 7 yrs of life.

 

[elevan]

No reason to hide over that SheepGirl. Sounds like your management plan is working which leads to less deworming.

Goats and sheep are 2 different but similar beasts, so best be prepared.