Teresa & Mike CHS - Our journal

[Mike CHS]

I've been comparing notes with several farms in our area and the ones that run fecals are running higher than last year which was high already. Two of the farms that don't take regular fecals are also reporting record losses so I don't understand why they continue on that same road.

Our numbers are way down now compared to early fall but we have done so much to get them under control I would have been disappointed if they weren't down. Those egg counts are the main reason we have a two month gap in lambing groups. I wasn't going to breed that last group at all until we got a handle on them.

Poor Teresa has been doing the fecals and we are taking 10-12 at a time then a follow-up a week or so later.

 

[Southern by choice]

My Dh bought me a new scope!
We suspect the one field has flukes. It is the one that has so many low spots, standing water and the geese can't get to it. There are only a few goats in that one. They get picked on so they are in there. They are thinner than I like and they eat the best feed and hay. Flukes are a PITB!
The problem is two are bred. One looks like she may have slipped. Which NEVER happens here. We are going to send a blood test out. The other is pregnant but looks like a single. I really cannot treat for flukes while they are pregnant. So it stinks but I have to wait.

We aren't having any issue but many farms are having coccidia problems on their adults. We saw that on a lot of farms in 2012... that was another horrible year with constant rain... and it is worse this year.

 

[Mike CHS]

Congratulations of the new scope. I really hope the two girls systems hang in there till they kid.

 

[Hens and Roos]

Teresa and I went down and brought the breeders in to give two of the twelve a dose of garlic concentrate and two that had a high enough egg count that we went ahead and wormed them. Of the other eight, the worm count was still zero in four of them and marginal in the other four and they haven't been wormed since the fall. All of the senior ewes except one is gaining condition and should gain even faster when we pull lambs next week. This group doesn't have a catch pen area but the girl we want to pull a fecal from is one of the original and hand tame. The way things are working we will put the ram in with the whole herd in September. We are planning on taking more head into winter but the actual number is unknown at this point since we still early on the cull list of this years lambs.

I'm heading down to Ardmore in a few minutes to pick up 1000 lbs of feed.

what is the name of the garlic concentrate that you are giving? We need to start running fecals here too.

 

[Mike CHS]

What we have is called Garlic Barrier that was originally marketed as a pest control. I can't validate how effective it is since we are also doing several other things but we have quite a few ewes who have a small egg count that has stayed small through nothing other than the garlic and DE added to their food.

I think Teresa bought it through Amazon.

 

[Mike CHS]

what is the name of the garlic concentrate that you are giving? We need to start running fecals here too.

The uselessness of the Famacha method on our sheep is why we started doing fecals. More often than not, we would do a good Famacha score on one or more of them and not worm, only to do a fecal a few days later to find out they were dangerously high.

 

[Southern by choice]

We don't really have the barberpole so the FAMACHA isn't that effective for us either. We typically just have the stomach worm.
What is a high load on your sheep?
Have you considered sowing the lespedeza?

 

[Mike CHS]

We have barber pole but our sheep seem to handle them pretty well. We culled any that needed multiple treatments for them and this latest batch of lambs seem to be stronger than previous. We do multiple fecals if they seem to be holding over 500 but will give garlic and DE. Over 1000 we may continue to watch depending on condition but definitely will treat at 1200.

I have already ordered some lespedeza seed. We saw some good reviews during a "Pasture Walk" sponsored by U of KY last summer.

What is funny about Famacha scoring is the ewes I was worried about showed 1's and 2's according to the Famacha card. The condition on the ewes was nowhere near where they should have been so we ran fecals anyway. The barber pole load was high enough to be worrisome even though they showed no signs of anemia. Most of the producers that we know don't even bother looking, they just score body condition and run fecals (and these aren't new or small producers). The barber pole population in Kentucky and Tennessee has been good for the microscope companies business.

 

[misfitmorgan]

We have barber pole but our sheep seem to handle them pretty well. We culled any that needed multiple treatments for them and this latest batch of lambs seem to be stronger than previous. We do multiple fecals if they seem to be holding over 500 but will give garlic and DE. Over 1000 we may continue to watch depending on condition but definitely will treat at 1200.

I have already ordered some lespedeza seed. We saw some good reviews during a "Pasture Walk" sponsored by U of KY last summer.

What is funny about Famacha scoring is the ewes I was worried about showed 1's and 2's according to the Famacha card. The condition on the ewes was nowhere near where they should have been so we ran fecals anyway. The barber pole load was high enough to be worrisome even though they showed no signs of anemia. Most of the producers that we know don't even bother looking, they just score body condition and run fecals (and these aren't new or small producers). The barber pole population in Kentucky and Tennessee has been good for the microscope companies business.

What is the purpose behind planting lespedeza seed? i did an internet search and only came up with this
https://www.drovers.com/article/sericea-lespedeza-not-just-southeast-kansas-problem which makes it seem like something you don't really want to plant for ruminants but maybe small scale or sheep are different? Also found some sites that noted it as highly invasive.

Seem the invasive part is only for some types...the non-native types of course but we do have native lespedeza. Says it is also in michigan but i have never seem it that i can recall. https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=LECU

 

[Mike CHS]

UT and U of KY have been doing research on several farms with lespedeza as it has natural worming properties. Sheep love it and on the farm we visit in Kentucky he has to close off fields that has it until it gets some growth on it. The Gregg Bann farm in Kentucky is owned by one of the Ag department heads (and lead researcher) that has been doing the studies. He doesn't have goats but he runs several hundred head of sheep with cattle on rotation.