One sure way to lose every last one of your livestock is by not knowing the signs of parasite infestation in your flock. To know the signs you need to know your livestock. To know your livestock you need to be hands on.

I am not saying that you have to talk to your sheep, or pet them daily – although I do both. 😉 My husband however, does not – he prefers a more practical approach of “check, feed, water, let them be animals”. And this method is great, too.

So many lose too many animals to a preventable cause. And today we are going to talk about one of those causes. In the beginning we did all the things that we thought we’re needed to care for our our flock. We’d feed, water, check daily, and worm on a schedule, etc.

Did you know that you could be killing your animals?

By doing all the things that you might think are right? You prevent parasites by worming regularly, right? So the reason you might be losing your flock or herd has nothing to do with a heavy worm load, right?

Likely, wrong.

When we worm on a regular bases we are building resistance in the parasites that are in our animals. At the same time we are killing the good microbial activity within our soil.

So I want to talk with you about how to notice the signs. What to do when signs are presented. And how to properly manage and avoid heavy parasite loads on your land.

First checking often is essential. We cannot domesticate an animal and then expect it to live as an undomesticated animal while still behaving like a domesticated animal when we are near. Sheep and goats, especially, should not be left to defend themselves or kicked to a small pasture and be expected to thrive for a long period of time.

In the wild these animals will graze and roam, moving often, thus having less of a contaminated area to feed on.

When checking your sheep or goats for parasites:

Start by visually evaluating your animals. How does their hair coat look? Is their back bone showing? Are their eyes clear? Is the jaw line swollen? Is the tail clean? Do they have drainage from their nose? The eyes, jaw, back, tail, hair coat and nose. Should always be glanced over to judge if your animal is healthy. Taking a FAMACHA score to evaluate if your animal is dealing with blood-feeding parasites such as the barber pole worm is essential and something I recommend checking every two weeks on all of your animals.

If you have a large flock and are worried about being able to check your entire flock then simply select the slowest to greet you and the ones that aren’t meeting the visual evaluation. A good rule it to check every two weeks in the spring-summer months and every 3-4 in the cooler months.

How to know when to worm:

If you are not familiar with the FAMACHA score method, I highly encourage you to learn about it. You can learn more at this site – Here. We use this method and it has saved us more times then I can count. Being in the middle to southern states in the U.S. we face heavy loads of barber pole worm (Haemonchus contortus) These are parasites that suck the blood right out of your animal causing anemia, bottle jaw (swollen jaw line inflammation), and in the end will cause death if not caught soon enough of addressed in time. SO before you just reach for the closest wormer be sure to look at the above site, learn how to properly check your animals, and also learn what wormers are still effective in the treatment of parasites on your farm.

Through the centuries we have build antibiotic resistance as well as our animals and the parasites living within them a resistance. Being sure that you are treating in an effective way and with the proper medication can help you, your farm, and all of the livestock living there in. Follow this link for a sheep deworming chart.

We all have to start learning somewhere:

No matter how long you have been farming or ranching – this life is ever changing. Being willing to be taught and to learn is essential to the success of your flock and herd. Look over the FAMACHA scoring method, learn it, use it! And then you will have the tools to keep your animals healthier and fight against the plague that is parasites. You can never fully rid your farm of them, but you can help your animals better fight against time with proper management.

Tips for moving forward:

Know and use visual evaluation daily on your farm.
Check your flock’s FAMACHA score every two weeks in the spring-summer months or when warm. 
Understand how to use wormers properly and how to combination worm in the correct way. 
Learn how to best use your land for pasture rotation allowing 60 days, if possible, for resting from grazing. 

If you have questions – We are here to help! If we’ve shared something that you’d like to learn more about but aren’t sure where to start, let us know! We will happily share with you what we have learned and how we have found to work best. We offer educational classes for those who are interested in a bit more learning and have more classes and opportunities on our farm coming!

Until next time,

Happy Shepherding!

I will bless the Lord who counsels me – even at night when my thoughts trouble me.
Psalm 16:7