Sheepies Flashcards
What are some management considerations unique to small ruminants?
-Predators: coyotes and others will be more likely to target them due to their size
-Fencing- woven wire is the best (keeps animals in and predators out)
-deworming- intestinal parasites are the primary reason for production losses
-Market: often producers have to sell to specialty markets up north, a lot of planning has to go into when you send your animals to market
What type of sheep are gaining popularity in the US for meat?
Hair sheep! The wool on meat wool sheep isnt worth anything anyways
What are the most common breeds of meat goats? Dairy?
Meat: Bohr
Dairy: Nubians and Saanen
How much colostrum should newborn small ruminants receive in the first 2 hours of life? What about in the first 24 hours?
2 hrs: 50 ml/kg minimum
24 hours: 200 ml/kg (but most of this should be in the first 12 hours as this is when the gut is close to being closed)
What is the current recommendation for how to dip the navel of newborn small ruminants?
1/3 blue chlorhex solution, 2/3 water
When should you give Bo-se?
If you are in a selenium deficient area
- should give in the first couple of days of life, and if known problem in the herd you can give again at weaning
What is the preferred nipple type for bottle feeding?
Pritchard
What is a good backup if you dont have lamb colostrum replacer on hand?
Bovine
- both are made with bovine IgG
What should be done between days 2-5 of life of a small ruminant?
-Disbudding
-tail docking
What is the toxic dose of lidocaine in small ruminants?
6 mg/kg
- it is vital that you get an accurate weight on the youngins
-consider diluting to 1% with sodium bicarb (reduces chance of toxicity and chance of pain on injection)
Describe the process of disbudding in small ruminants
Use lidocaine on cornual nerve and try to hit some of the nerves caudal to the bud as well
-need to do this early as after the bud attaches to the skull there is a high risk of exposed sinus and sinusitis
-should sedate with xylazine (0.5 mg/kg- dilute to 1 mg/mL and give IM)
-can use a disbud box for proper restraint
-use the 3 seconds on and 3 seconds off technique to avoid the risk of thermal injury
-use alushield for fly control
-consider NSAIDs for pain- either injectable or oral
How short should you dock the tail of a sheep? What is the risk of cutting too short?
No shorter than the distal end of the caudal tail fold
-many use banding techniqu
Risks: cutting too short can cause loose anal tone and increased risk of prolapses, urinary incontinence and infection
When should lambs/kids receive their first dose of CD & T?
At 6-8 weeks of age (aka prior to weaning)
-should booster 4 weeks later
-use 18 or 20 g, .75-1 inch needle SQ in the armpit
-begin monthly FAMACHA
When should you start weaning lambs/kids? How should you go about it?
Start weaning when they reach 2-2.5X their birth weight or when they are eating 0.25 lbs of grain per day, plus some hay
-start creep feeding with a lamb/kid starter grain that contains amprolium (15 mg/kg for prevention, 50 mg/kg PO for 5 days for treatment)
When should you perform castration if you intend to keep an animal as a wether?
Wait until 6 months of age in order to avoid the risk of urinary calculi
-can use emasculator like a horse or if older you can perform scrotal ablation
-be sure the animals are vaccinated for tetanus
-be sure there is adequate fly control
-consider local blocks to either the cord or in the testicle- can give sedation in the testicle as well (ketamine and midazolam)
-pain management with banamine or meloxicam
What are some important things that you should do pre-breeding in ewes and rams?
Booster CD & T
-if there is a problem in the herd consider chlamydia, campylobacter or leptospirosis
-FAMACHA/foot trim
-BSE on ram/buck
-think about any culls- poor udder conformation or fibrosis present, prolapses, thin and obese females
How long should you leave bucks and rams in for the breeding season?
Bucks - 32 days
Rams- 27 days
Why is laparoscopic AI gaining so much popularity in sheep?
-They have a very complicated cervix
-in goats you can perform cervical AI with fresh semen, but in sheep in order to ensure success you have to go laparoscopically (conception rate 50-80%)
