Goats

Thanks to Michelle Arnold for this excellent article! There are many important diseases in sheep and goats but none are as common or threaten the herd health as much as internal parasites (worms). Although there are many types of worms that may contribute to a parasite problem, the blood-sucking barber pole worm (Haemonchus contortus) is […]

Multi-species grazing isn’t just about diversifying your operation and making good use of your pastures. It can also be a way to protect small ruminants from predation!

I first published this story in November of 2017. It’s full of great lessons about caring for young animals and for those faced with hand-raising a lot of baby goats or lambs, the early weaning feed recipe is a life saver. There are a number of reasons you might be raising goat kids by hand. […]

Thanks to Kim Cassida for this great piece. Here she focuses on practices for small ruminants, but the principles work for cattle as well. A common question among new small ruminant producers is “which forage is best for my animals?” The answer isn’t only about nutrients, but also involves parasite management and sustainable forage production. […]

The parasites that infest sheep can be an enormous drag on sheep production. Year in and year out, they probably cause more death and disease in some producers’ lamb crops than any other single factor, including predators. The days when the answer to parasite management was to drench all the sheep every month are behind […]

Back in 1998, when I was two years into my research project looking at the best ways to manage goats to build firebreaks and manage vegetation, a fellow Utah State University researcher gave me 35 does because he was done with his own research. To my project partner and I it seemed like the next […]

This article comes to us from the Beef Cattle Research Council of Canada. We’ll be including future articles in this series that include newborn calf management practices and intervention strategies to help producers create positive calving outcomes. For those of you raising small ruminants, check out these resuscitation tips and then check the link for […]

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture Research Service (ARS) has developed a groundbreaking treatment for barber’s pole worm (Haemonchus contortus), the number one health issue in the sheep industry. In live-animal trials, the new treatment reduced fecal egg counts by 90% and overall parasite burdens by 72%. Perhaps most importantly, the treatment impacted female parasites […]

This week, we’re talking a bit about diversification, providing some examples of what it might look for different operations and how folks make the decision to diversify. This example comes to us from Suzanne and George England. We also share a story about the Anderson’s of Whitman, Nebraska who describe how they decide which enterprises […]

In 2002, I was raising 60 baby goats by hand. We started them in a barn, and by Spring had transferred them to pasture where they were learning to graze. One morning, during my usual check on them, I noticed one was acting oddly. He didn’t seem to be able to see, and was turning […]

It’s hot out there, and in some places it’s really humid too! If you’re feeling it, so is your livestock. To help you figure out if there’s a problem and to do what you can to protect them, here are some tips from Rob Eirich, Nebraska Beef Quality Assurance Coordinator, and Mariah Woolsoncroft, Nebraska Extension […]

Recent Dickinson Research Extension Center sales caused me to ponder the concept of adding a sheep for every cow. The center sold market cows on March 9 for $68.24 per hundredweight (cwt), or $995.58 per head, and a market ewe on March 13 for $71 per cwt, or $113.60 per head. When adjusted for body […]

Can guardian dogs make a difference against coyotes and other predators, even when both the livestock owner and the dogs are inexperienced? Steve Bryns, Texas A&M AgriLife News editor shares what researchers found, along with resources you can use to get started with dogs.

What is the first line of defense when parasites attack livestock? A drug (chemical) is immediately purchased and applied to the animal. Does it work? Yes, it usually does. For how long? Days, weeks, months, rarely more than one year and then the predators return. Or does the chemical become ineffective after several years of […]

It turns out, treating every animal in the herd 2 or more times a year, as many of us were taught, creates more problems than it solves. Here’s what we should do instead.