I had wormed my sheep every month and then noticed bottle jaw on one ewe that was still nursing her twins. Sample showed worm overlaod. Now I have wormed the entire flock seven times this month and the vet says today that they have very heavy overload of worms and I need to worm with twice the dose for the next three days in a roll. I change wormers have two large pastures. I am beside myself, has anyone experience this. Debbie

-- Debbie Wolcott (bwolcott@cwis.net), July 21, 2000

Answers

What are you using? When I had sheep, I used the horse wormer "Ivermectin". Comes in a syringe sort of tube with a scale adjusted for weight. I used to estimate the sheep's weight and inject the paste into their mouths, much easier than a bolus. Once, The locking ring (which controls the amount, hence dosage) slipped, and I dosed a favorite ewe as if she weighed in excess of 1000lbs. (she didn't!) Called the vet, and he informed me there was no antidote, and I probably would have a dead ewe. Au contraire! Didn't bother her a bit. Based on that, I feel it's pretty safe, and surely effective. Incidentally, ivermectin is the wormer used for heartworm control in dogs, although in very small amounts. GL!

-- Brad (Homefixer@SacoRiver.net), July 21, 2000.

correct me if im wrong but i belive worms have not built up a resistance to ivomec yet, We use it at the horse ranch i work at. And as brad pointed out it is pretty safe.

-- kathy h (saddlebronc@msn.com), July 21, 2000.

Ask your vet which worms he is seeing, is he sure he isn't seeing cocci occycts? This time of year we always see worm eggs in our fecal sample with the goats, though they are usually less than 200 parts per gram. So we don't worm. During the winter we will let the number get to 1000 before we are alarmed enough to worm. All goats and sheep will have some worm eggs and cocci occycts in their fecal sample, always! The trick is to find a vet or have him send it off to a University that can tell you which worms you have and how many. If you truly do have this type of worm burden that is causing bottle jaw, then you might need to use both classes of wormers as a cocktail, something Texas A&M worked on. You use a bensazole like, Safeguard, Panacur, Valbazen, Strongid or Synathic at 3 times the dosage for cattle, at the same time you use a Mectin, Ivermectin, cydectin, Dectomax also orally at 1 and 1/2 times the dosage for cattle. I would go the route of sending in my fresh fecal sample to a teaching college first and get more accurate information. Surely you have other sheep owners in your area that you can talk to to find out what they are using for what worms. In our area some of the information that vets give would end in a dead goat, they simply don't understand the metabolism of goats is so different from sheep and cows. You would do your animals a favor by speaking to the vets at Pipestone Veternary Supply, as long as you pay for the phone call during office hours, you can ask them any question you want, you could also probably send a fresh fecal to them, in a zip lock baggie, one day mail and have the results over the phone the next day. Their question information Number is 507-825-5687 and is answered Monday - Friday 8am to 4:30pm (CST) Also get their very informative catalog, they only do sheep and some goats. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), July 21, 2000.

Thank you, I have used Ivomectin both sheep drench and cattle injectable, valbazen, panacur and now safeguard. I have alot of money in wormer. The bottle jaw seems to be almost if not gone, of course the ewe that was nursing is alot skinner than I like but the other sheep look fine. I am wondering if this not being sheep or goat country (vets only know an animal if it has a saddle on) that they just see worms. I must find out the count of worms, I have asked but they don't seem to know. They just say stomach worms the worst kind as one vet said! I am not as worry about them just dying but that their rumens will stop with all that wormer in them, also is their an end to parasites. Maybe in Eastern Ok. you can't raise sheep. I have only been doing it here for a year. I lived way up North before that.

-- Debbie Wolcott (bwolcott@cwis.net), July 21, 2000.

Might be an idea longer-term to break the pasture down into smaller areas - maybe just with movable electric fencing. There is more than the obvious advantage of better management, so you can get better use of the pasture by having them eat it all down, rather than just "cherry-picking" the most palatable plants. You can also stop the parasite burden from building up over time, and you can have a "clean-out" area they can be put into after worming, before being put onto fresh pasture.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), July 22, 2000.

Debbie, You have lots of good advice and Vicki always knows what she is talking about. I am no sxpert on sheep but I do know you can raise them in Oklahoma! My experience with vets is huge and I would check with the Ag college in Oklahoma. I know Langston University knows all about goats, you might ask them about your sheep. And I would see if there are any other vets in your area. In Tennessee, a lot of the goat raisers would drive the 50 miles, past several vets to get to Dr. Brown(in another county) because he liked goats and would really help you. good luck. karen

-- Karen Mauk (dairygoatmama@hotmail.com), July 23, 2000.

Just a passing thought on pasture rotation, did you know to truly rest a pasture in the south it has to sit unused for one year? That is why having a holding pen to worm into and to keep the girls in it until they have passed all of the worms and eggs (12 hours for most bensazoles and 24 for most mectins). Then move them back into the area where they are going to graze. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), July 23, 2000.

I just took in another pasture, a little leary about if the horses will jump the small electric fence or sheep. The mistake I just made was that I wormed as told three days in a roll, last time a few hours ago and put them into this clean fresh pasture to mess up. I just read the last two posts after doing it. I should have put them in the old pasture for a day then into the clean one. Thank you all I have learned alot from this post, you were all helpful. Debbie

-- Debbie Wolcott (bwolcott@cwis.net), July 23, 2000.

Resting pasture - that's what crops are for (in part).

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), July 25, 2000.