[minibn]

Good Evening

I have 6x Shetland rams. They were born in April so not quite a year old. I'm new to keeping sheep, so still learning. I have not had any problems with them so far and they are all very friendly. They are pets/lawnmowers to eat the grass that the horses wont touch.

I know that they need shearing once a year and they also get drenched (i think this is what it is called) when this is done. I was planning on worming and doing the feet (if needed) when i have this done. Please can you advise as to if this is correct. As i know my horses and other creatures will be wormed more often. I was not aware that they require any yearly vaccinations.


Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated


Emily

[colliewoman]

1st of all, are your rams castrated? I am guessing so, if not you may want to look into that before you decide to keep them long term
Mine get drenched when they need it. If they get dirty bums and I think it is worms then I drench them. Feet are trimmed if I can't avoid it, vaccinated with heptavac p plus  yearly, though due to a sudden loss I am doing this twice yearly this year at least.
Shearing is once a year unless they roo naturally (shed their fleece so you can pluck it by hand) 3 of mine do this
 
I think it should be obligatory to post photos ASAP

[SteveHants]

....vaccinated with heptavac p plus  yearly, though due to a sudden loss I am doing this twice yearly this year at

Sounds like you are still beating yourself up about your losses - don't. All you can do is vacc them when you feel they are least compromised, its just that vaccinations are not as infallable as people think they are.

[SallyintNorth]

You will also need to check with your local farmers or vet whether yours is a 'flukey' area.  If so, then you'll need to drench them for fluke - your vet will advise when and with what.

[Rosemary]

Your vet may also be able to split a pack of flukicide and wormer for you and just sell you the amount you need. Ours do.

If you do faecal worm egg counts for your horses, you can do them for the sheep as well and just worm as required. We only routinely worm our ewes at lambing, when their systems are compromised and they are likely to excrete high numbers of worm eggs - the rest of the time, we test and worm if required.

With mixed species grazing and if you can rotate the grazing as well, you may not have to worm the sheep (or the horses) very much at all.

You should note though that the egg counts are not reliable for tapeworm in horses or fluke in sheep, so you will need your vet's advice on whether you need to fluke the sheep (I would guess so - we're in the east of Scotland and we have to treat for fluke now) and you'll probably still need to double dose the horses for tapeworm in the autumn.

[Canadian Sheepfarmer]

Worming sheep is a huge topic, and as we move into the future of the industry a huge can of worms.
[sorry. gets coat...]
 
I agree that taking fecal worm counts is the logical way to go. Don't just blanket worm 3-5 times a year because of what the calendar says. However the interpretation of the tests must involve you, not just the vet selling the expensive wormer drench. Be aware!
A sheep specialist vet is the one to listen to, sadly a rare breed here in Canada.
Sadly, worm burdens will likely be worse for smallholders on a small acreage who do not make their own hay and where sheep have been kept for many years.
 
One of our worst worms here is the Barber Pole worm. This sucks blood from its host. It is relatively easy to kill and the best way to see if it is present in your flock is to take random or poorer sheep and roll down the membrane under the eye. If the flesh there is pinkish red that is good but if it is white or grey then the sheep is anemic. A good infestation of these worms will drink a lot of blood and the animal will eventually die.
 
But the real problem is the advent of Superworms. We have 3 main 'families' of wormer drench chemical, whites, clears, and yellows. Most people now try to use a different 'family' of wormer each time they dose, and not stick with the same one. But despite this there are worms that cannot now be killed by these chemicals. A small proportion true, but if you kill all of the susceptible worms and just leave the the whole gutspace vacant for the Superworms they quickly repopulate the whole gut. Now you have 100% of a wormload that you cannot treat.
 
All sheep and animals,  even people, have worms,  organisms learn to tolerate a certain burden, but it is better IMHO to worm less often, and on a fire brigade principle, and to live with the ones that you know you can kill if you have to.

[SteveHants]

Worming sheep is a huge topic, and as we move into the future of the industry a huge can of worms.
[sorry. gets coat...]
 
I agree that taking fecal worm counts is the logical way to go. Don't just blanket worm 3-5 times a year because of what the calendar says. However the interpretation of the tests must involve you, not just the vet selling the expensive wormer drench. Be aware!
A sheep specialist vet is the one to listen to, sadly a rare breed here in Canada.
Sadly, worm burdens will likely be worse for smallholders on a small acreage who do not make their own hay and where sheep have been kept for many years.
 
One of our worst worms here is the Barber Pole worm. This sucks blood from its host. It is relatively easy to kill and the best way to see if it is present in your flock is to take random or poorer sheep and roll down the membrane under the eye. If the flesh there is pinkish red that is good but if it is white or grey then the sheep is anemic. A good infestation of these worms will drink a lot of blood and the animal will eventually die.
 
But the real problem is the advent of Superworms. We have 3 main 'families' of wormer drench chemical, whites, clears, and yellows. Most people now try to use a different 'family' of wormer each time they dose, and not stick with the same one. But despite this there are worms that cannot now be killed by these chemicals. A small proportion true, but if you kill all of the susceptible worms and just leave the the whole gutspace vacant for the Superworms they quickly repopulate the whole gut. Now you have 100% of a wormload that you cannot treat.
 
All sheep and animals,  even people, have worms,  organisms learn to tolerate a certain burden, but it is better IMHO to worm less often, and on a fire brigade principle, and to live with the ones that you know you can kill if you have to.

It is quite possible to breed sheep for worm resistance, and this, imo i what the industry should be doing. One only has to take a look at the Kiwis to see where we should be headed, and the thing is, we already have the benefit of their experience without government suddenly withdrawing subsidies over here. Industry awards over there include prizes for the flock with the greatest natural worm resistance.

[minibn]

Hi

Thank you for all of your replies, all of my sheep are entire. I hadnt planned on getting them castrated, as i dont have any intention of running them with any ewes. As they are all entire they all seem to get on pretty well, although they do have the odd little tift now and again. They are all super freindly with me.

As requested i have uploaded a photo. My sheep are called Hugo, Lewie, Hamish, Henry, Rocky and Ted


Regards Emily

[colliewoman]

3rd from the left, stripy horns. He looks like an awful trouble maker and you should get shot of him ASAP.
My address is......
Just joking
They are all handsome beasters, i wonder how they will get on long term? I must admit I have never known someone keep a flock of just entire rams as pets. Please do be careful if ever they decide to turn(on you or each other, It hurts just as much if they got you by accident )


Good luck I shall be watching this thread with interest