Sheep

Since the last article, lambing has commenced for us at Markway Ranch. While it is an exciting time in the year of the sheep, I wish I could say lambing is all sunshine and roses. As with anything in life there are ups and downs, good days, and days we wish would have gone more […]

It’s the time of year we eagerly anticipate, as winter moves into hibernation and spring awakens. The greening of the grass, the song of spring peepers, gobbling turkeys, mushroom hunting, fish biting and warmer days are all blessings we look forward to. In the year of the sheep, a new beginning is soon to arrive […]

Let me introduce myself. I am Jeremia Markway, a rancher from central Missouri. I know… when most people think of ranching, they think of vast spreads out west with lots of sky, country, some cattle and maybe a few horses. Call it a ranch or farm, we don’t do any row cropping or hay baling. […]

Where is your herd (or flock) spending this winter? Right about now, with snow, ice, mud and manure building up, you may be wishing you had a different option than the one you’re using. Here’s a solution you can start considering and maybe planning for next year!

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!

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 […]

Last week we shared a video from Boyd Holden about best practices for low-stress sheep handling. Boyd is an animal handling consultant from Australia who covers handling of both cattle and sheep in a series of training videos. I appreciate his approach of starting from the beginning and then sharing techniques in little chunks like […]

If you’ve been reading On Pasture for very long, you’ve certainly seen Whit Hibbard’s articles sharing the ins and outs of moving cattle and other livestock. But sometimes it helps to see the principles in action. So here’s a video prepared by our friends down under, with the help of animal handling consultant Boyd Holden. […]

For the past few weeks we’ve been sharing articles from folks at the American Solar Grazing Association about the business of using sheep to manage vegetation in solar arrays. It might have some of you cattlemen/women thinking about raising sheep. With that in mind, here’s the voice of experience from someone just like you – […]

For the past few weeks we’ve been sharing articles from folks at the American Solar Grazing Association about the business of using sheep to manage vegetation in solar arrays. It might have some of you cattlemen/women thinking about raising sheep. With that in mind, here’s the voice of experience from someone just like you – […]