What flooring and bedding materials are you using in your feedlot?

Brady Campbell, Program Coordinator, OSU Sheep Team

What effect does pen flooring type and bedding have on the performance of finishing lambs?

A common management practice used to finish lambs is to house and feed lambs in an enclosed feedlot. Feedlots are used to protect the lambs from several environmental factors, predators, and parasites as well as ensuring the quality and amount of feed each lamb is receiving. Within the feedlot environment, variation in structural design and feedlot management is to be expected. As a producer, have you ever considered Continue reading →

Webinar: Replacement Ewe Selection and Culling of Underperforming Ewes

Brady Campbell, Program Coordinator, OSU Sheep Team

Last Tuesday evening, Susan Schoenian, Sheep and Goat Specialist from the University of Maryland Extension, presented a webinar entitled: Replacement Ewe Selection and Culling of Underperforming Ewes. The webinar was sponsored by the Let’s Grow Committee of the American Sheep Industry Association.

Susan has been with Maryland extension since 1988 and is a sheep producer herself. Susan emphasizes that it is the ewe that makes the money on an operation and therefore it is critical to assess the selection and culling criteria of your flock. Selection of the highest quality females is important in securing a progressive flock. She also expresses that any ewe that fails to raise a lamb (i.e. failure to conceive or does not raise the lamb) should be culled from the flock regardless of her status. To listen to Susan’s seminar, please follow the link provided below.

http://www.sheepagriculture.com/webinars/replacement-ewe-selection-and-culling-of-underperforming-ewes/

 

Ram Management

Tim Barnes, OSU Extension Educator, Marion County

(Image source: Shearwell Data – marking harness)

To achieve maximal fertility, rams should be physically examined for reproductive fitness to detect abnormalities that may affect breeding performance.  A breeding soundness examination can be completed before breeding season.  The scrotum and its contents as well as the penis and prepuce must be carefully examined.  The size and symmetry of both testes and epididymides should be assessed, and both testes should be firmly palpated for consistency and resilience. Semen can be collected and evaluated to check potential sires, particularly in ram lambs.  All screening procedures should be done Continue reading →

Fall Grazing Management

Rory Lewandowski, OSU Extension Educator, Wayne County

After clipping pastures throughout the growing season and managing pasture rotations to insure that plants are not overgrazed and that there is enough rest period between grazing passes, it can be tempting in the fall to let grazing management slide. There is fall crop harvest and a number of other fall tasks to get done before winter. However, from a plant health standpoint, overgrazing during the fall is Continue reading →

The Future of Finishing Lambs

Brady Campbell, Program Coordinator, OSU Sheep Team

Can the implementation of growth promotants or forage grazed finishing diets increase lean muscle gain in lambs without increasing carcass fat?

Marketing lambs at a high lean to fat carcass ratio is important in producing consistent and quality retail lamb products.

Lambs fed high concentrate diets finish at a younger age when compared to forage fed lambs. However, lambs fed high concentrate diets accumulate more carcass fat than lambs on grazed forage diets. The use of either growth promotants or forage finishing diets may provide producers with Continue reading →

Re-Cap: Mid-Ohio Valley Grazing Conference

Brady Campbell, Program Coordinator, OSU Sheep Team

On this past Saturday, 57 livestock producers and forage enthusiasts attended the Mid-Ohio Valley Grazing Conference in Fleming Ohio at Lazy H Farms. The event was sponsored by The Ohio State University Extension, West Virginia University Extension, Washington County Soil and Water Conservation District, Ohio Farm Bureau, The Career Center – Adult Technical Training, and The James Barret Endowment Fund. The speakers of the event were Bob Hendershot, Dr. Mark Sulc, and Dr. Edward B. Rayburn.

Mr. Bob Hendershot, retired State Grassland Conservationist, NRCS and the 2017 Distinguished Grasslander Award recipient, began the morning session by talking about Continue reading →

EHD Virus Confirmed in Ohio Deer and Cattle

Ohio Department of Agriculture (News Release from 8-22-17)

The first confirmed case of epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) was recently confirmed in both white-tailed deer and cattle in Ohio. The virus was diagnosed by the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s (ODA) Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (ADDL).

The positive diagnoses were from a cow from Jefferson County and a wild white-tailed deer buck from Lorain County. The discovery is not unusual, Continue reading →

Mid-Ohio Valley Grazing Conference (September 16, 2017)

Stan Smith, OSU Extension PA, Fairfield County

If you pasture livestock or want to know more about pasture management, then please do not miss this upcoming opportunity to learn from the region’s “Who’s Who” among forages and pasture management.  Ohio State University Extension, West Virginia University Extension, Washington County Farm Bureau, Washington Soil and Water Conservation District, and The Career Center, Adult Technical Training is pleased to offer our region the Mid-Ohio Valley Grazing Conference Continue reading →

Recap: 2017 Ohio Sheep Day

Brady Campbell, Program Coordinator, OSU Sheep Team

Ewes and lambs in the field at the 2017 Ohio Sheep Day at OARDC in Wooster, OH (Image source: Farm and Dairy)

Another successful sheep day is in the books as the 2017 Ohio Sheep Day wrapped up on July 15th at the Ohio Agricultural and Research Development Center (OARDC) sheep research center in Wooster, Ohio. Producers, researchers, and sheep enthusiasts all joined in an exciting day filled with a diverse range of topics that were both practical and applicable on farm. Each year, the goal of Ohio Sheep Day is to provide producers with both scientific information and resources/contacts to better their sheep operations.

The highlight of this year’s event was Continue reading →

2014 Ohio Sheep Day Programing

Roger High, OSU Ohio State Sheep Extension Specialist

The 2014 Ohio Sheep Day is scheduled for Saturday, July 12, 2014. It will be held at the Ray Family Farm, home of Shawn and Kim Ray and Family. The farm is located in beautiful Noble County, at 50725 Ray Ln., Cumberland, OH 43732.

Ray Family Farm is a primarily grass based commercial sheep, goat, and cattle operation in the heart of Appalachia Ohio, concentrating their efforts on providing the highest quality forages to their livestock. The farm is located in Southeastern Ohio where the terrain is very rough and rolling, making it an ideal location ruminant livestock production.

This year’s Ohio Sheep Day Continue reading →

The Importance of Colostrum Management

Dr. Cassandra Plummer, DVM, Small Ruminant Veterinarian, Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine

As we find breeding season winding to a close it is time to start making preparations for lambing season to begin. When preparing for lambing, one thing to consider is your plan for colostrum management. How are you going to get colostrum into your lambs? What if a ewe doesn’t have colostrum? How will you handle orphan lambs or bottle lambs? All of these things need Continue reading →

Protect Sheep and Goats with CDT Vaccine

Peggy Coffeen, Dairy/Livestock Editor

Failing to arm sheep and goats disease protection is a bit like heading into a tackle football game with no helmets or pads. Less protection means greater risk. Vaccines are an important component in suiting up small ruminants to hit the field – or pasture. At minimum, sheep and goats of all ages and stages should be protected from clostridial diseases.

Dr. Eric Gordon, DVM, The Ohio State University, believes that clostridial diseases are Continue reading →

Lamb 509 is Back!

Tracy Turner, OSU CFAES CommTech

Sheep producers can learn innovative new techniques to produce consistent, high quality lamb and how to better market their specialty meats during a two-day course Dec. 17-18. The course will be taught by livestock experts from Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) and industry experts. Continue reading →

Fall Grazing Management and Plant Health

Rory Lewandowski, OSU Extension Educator, Wayne County

Grazing management during the months of September and October directly impacts the vigor and growth of pasture in the spring. For the perennial grass plant, the fall season is a time of laying the foundation for next year’s growth. Although seed production is one way that a perennial plant can survive from year to year, in pastures the more important way that plants survive is through re-growth from buds located at the crown of the plant. It is during the short day, long night periods in the fall of the year that flower buds are formed/initiated on the crown of the plant. The plant leaf Continue reading →

2013 Ohio Sheep Day Programming

Roger High, OSU Ohio State Sheep Extension Specialist

The Ohio Sheep Day is scheduled for Saturday, July 13, 2013, 8 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. It will be held at the OARDC Sheep Research Unit, located at 5743 Fredericksburg Road, Wooster OH 44691.

The OARDC Sheep Research Unit has a long history of conducting research to answer questions that help sheep producers be profitable. That has not changed. Come and see what has been learned in the last five years. Continue reading →

Footrot: Coming Soon to a Flock Near You

Dr. Bill Shulaw, OSU Extension Veterinarian

Green grass is beginning to peek through the brown plant residues on many Ohio pastures. If our weather pattern is typical this spring, we will soon be enjoying warmer, but wetter, weather. Although we will welcome the flush of new forage that this weather will bring, this is the major transmission season for one of the most common of sheep diseases: contagious footrot. Warm wet weather softens the hoof and soft tissues between the toes making the foot more susceptible to infection. It also favors the transmission of Continue reading →

Diagnostic Sample Submissions for Animals

Dr. Bill Shulaw, OSU Extension Veterinarian

Lambing, kidding, and calving seasons are well underway and the typical questions about abortions, calf scours, and other problems have been asked. This week I was asked if I would provide some general guidelines about obtaining help with disease diagnosis.

First of all, getting at least a tentative diagnosis is crucial to formulating appropriate and cost-effective treatment, control, or prevention plans. Sometimes this isn’t easy or simple, but it should start with your local veterinarian. Most veterinarians can provide at least some diagnostic services that might Continue reading →

A Decision Making Support Tool Now Available

Rory Lewandowski, OSU Extension Educator, Wayne County

Sorting through the information on sheep and goat parasite control: A decision making support tool is now available.

Farmers confronted with parasite infections in their sheep and goats soon realize there is no “magic bullet” or “one size fits all” solution. They can be quickly bombarded with a lot of information available on internal parasite control but with no help in sorting out which options they should consider in their farming operation.

OSU Extension personnel have developed a decision making support tool for farmers to develop Continue reading →

Poisonous Trees

Clif Little, OSU Extension Educator, Guernsey and Noble Counties

Recent storms downed many trees throughout Ohio and some of these pose a threat to livestock. Poisoning is most common when grazing is scarce, such as periods of dry weather coupled with thunderstorms that down trees during the mid to late summer months.
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Listed below are some of the most common poisonous trees found in Ohio pastures. Continue reading →

Use FAMACHA Correctly for Best Results

Rory Lewandowski, OSU Extension Educator, Wayne County

An important component of summer management is internal parasite control.  By this point in the calendar year sheep, and/or goats on many farms have rotated through pasture paddocks at least a couple of times. Lactating ewes and does can shed large numbers of parasite eggs, effectively seeding pasture paddocks with parasite larvae that are waiting to be ingested with the next grazing pass.  As young lambs and kids learn to graze at the side of their mothers, they are very susceptible to acquiring large parasite infections. However, parasite loads are not equally distributed within the herd or flock.

Over the past several years targeted selective de-worming treatment of sheep and goats has been promoted as one way to avoid treating the entire flock or herd. Selective treatment can slow down the process of the parasite acquiring chemical resistance and thereby prolong the effectiveness of those chemical de-wormers available to sheep and goat owners. One tool that is being used to determine selective treatment is the FAMACHA system. Continue reading →

Identify and Control Poison Hemlock

Rory Lewandowski, OSU Extension Educator, Wayne County

As I have driven around the county the past few weeks, I have noticed some patches of poison hemlock on roadside banks and also in some fields. This is a concern because all parts of this plant including leaves, stems and roots are poisonous when ingested. This is a good time to scout both hay fields and pastures for this weed and take steps to control it. This is not a weed that livestock owners can afford to ignore.

Poison hemlock has an appearance similar to wild carrot and is a member of the parsley family. The plant has compound leaves made up of multiple leaflets that are finely divided and have a triangular shape. Some descriptions say the leaf has a lacy appearance. One of the key identifying characteristics is the stem. The stem of poison hemlock is Continue reading →

2011 Buckeye Shepherd’s Symposium Programming

Roger High, OSU Ohio State Sheep Extension Specialist

The 2011 Buckeye Shepherd’s Symposium will concentrate on “Small Ruminant (Sheep and Goat) Nutrition”. This year’s annual event will be held on Saturday, December 10, 2011 at the Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI), Skou Hall, 1328 Dover Rd., Wooster, OH 44691.

With the diversity of the sheep and goat industry, we have made this an intense Continue reading →

2011 Sheep-O-Rama

Roger High, OSU Ohio State Sheep Extension Specialist

Delaware County will play host to Sheep-O-Rama – a one-day educational event to promote the development of the Sheep Dairy Industry in Ohio. Set for Saturday, October 1, 2011, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Delaware County (OH) Fairgrounds, this event was organized by the Heart of Ohio RC&D and the Ohio Sheep Milk & Cheese Initiative and sponsored in part by Innovative Farmers of Ohio.

The day’s events will focus on Continue reading →

2011 Ohio Sheep Day Programming

Roger High, OSU Ohio State Sheep Extension Specialist

What: Ohio Sheep Day
When: Saturday, July 16, 2011
Where: Blue Heron Farm, c/o Cynthia Koonce
32994 Teegarden Rd., Lisbon, OH 44432

The 2011 Ohio Sheep Day is scheduled for Saturday, July 16, 2011. It will be held at Blue Heron Farm, home farm of Cynthia Koonce, located outside of Lisbon, Ohio in beautiful Columbiana County. Continue reading →

2010 Buckeye Shepherd’s Symposium Programming

Roger High, OSU Ohio State Sheep Extension Specialist

Date: December 11, 2010
Start Time: 7:30 – 9 a.m. Registration and Trade Show
Location: Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI), Wooster, OH

The focus of the 2010 Buckeye Shepherd’s Symposium will be “Marketing for a Profitable Sheep Farm.” This year’s annual event will be held on Continue reading →

To Finish or Sell at Weaning

Clif Little, OSU Extension Educator, Guernsey County

The economics of selling lambs at weaning or finishing them out is heavily influenced by the cost of feed. Assuming at your facility, you have the option of selling lightweight weaned lambs or finishing them, let us compare the two scenarios.

Feed prices may vary considerably and a recent check with local dealers revealed a range in cost for 14-16 % crude protein grower/finisher feed of $136.40 – $207.00 per ton. Prices will vary throughout the area and it is possible to custom blend your own recipe even cheaper. However, Continue reading →

Common Poisonous Plants

Roger High, OSU Ohio State Sheep Extension Specialist

While most plants are beneficial, some are hazardous to animal and human life. Ohio has about 100 toxic plants and some of these are responsible for deaths of domestic livestock every year. The number of cases of toxicosis (plant poisoning) in livestock far outweighs those reported for humans. Accurate statistics are not available, but it is estimated that several thousand animals die annually in the U.S. from plant toxicosis.

With houses springing up everywhere in Ohio, the rural/urban interface is dramatically increasing. Many farm neighbors are unfamiliar Continue reading →

Use FAMACHA Correctly

Rory Lewandowski, OSU Extension Educator, Athens County

A number of sheep and goat owners have been trained across Ohio in the use of the FAMACHA system, yet problems with internal parasites, in particular, with Haemonchus contortus continue. This is to be expected. The FAMACHA system utilizes an eyelid scorecard that can help a farmer make a decision to treat or not to treat the animal with a chemical de-wormer. The FAMACHA system is not a cure-all, or a silver bullet for dealing with internal parasites. It is one tool that can be a part of an overall parasite control strategy. In order for this tool to be effective Continue reading →

Pasture, Parasites, and Risk Management

Rory Lewandowski, OSU Extension Educator, Athens County

May through early June is generally a time of good pasture growth and corresponding livestock production. However, if you are grazing sheep and goats this is the time of year that needs careful consideration in regards to internal parasites, in particular Haemonchus contortus, the barber pole worm. One way to approach this grazing season is to think in terms of risk management.

What can be done to reduce or minimize the risk of a heavy parasite infection while sheep and goats graze pastures? Continue reading →

Establishing a New Forage Seeding

Rory Lewandowski, OSU Extension Educator, Athens County

Early spring provides us with a window of opportunity to get a new forage stand established. The actual success in getting that new seeding established depends upon several factors including: soil fertility, species selection, weed control, timing of planting, planting depth, post planting management. Let’s look at each factor in a little more detail.

There are certain minimum, sometimes termed critical, Continue reading →

CIDRs Now Officially Approved for Sheep

FDA Announces the Approval of a New Product for the Management of Reproduction in Sheep
November 16, 2009

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today is announcing the approval of EAZI-Breed CIDR Sheep Insert (progesterone solid matrix) for induction of estrus in ewes (sheep) during seasonal anestrus. This progesterone Continue reading →

Recap: 2009 Ohio Sheep Day

Roger High, Executive Director, OSIA
Susan Schultz, OSIA President

OARDC Eastern Research Station in Caldwell, OH hosted the 2009 Ohio Sheep Day

The weather was absolutely gorgeous, with a glint of rain in the air all day, and finally it rained near the end of the program, which was very much appreciated in the drought stricken area of southeastern Ohio.  The air was filled with positive thoughts of an exciting Ohio sheep industry and the OSIA/OSWP/OSU coordinated Ohio Sheep Day was another overwhelming success.   Sheep producers from all over Ohio and Continue reading →

Dodder (Cuscuta spp.) Rears its Ugly Head in Western Ohio in 2009

Joy Aufderhaar, OSU Extension Agriculture Program Assistant, Shelby County
Roger Bender, OSU Extension Educator, Shelby County

As you looked across your pasture and hay fields this past September you may have noticed not only were the surrounding trees turning fall colors, but your red clover and alfalfa were also showing colors of fall? But this is not a color of fall we like to see especially in our red clover and alfalfa.

(Image source: UMass Extension Landscape, Nursery & Urban Forestry Program)

Yellow or orange threadlike stems were reported  in red clover and alfalfa fields in several western Ohio counties in September. The stems are stringlike, twining, smooth and branching to form dense masses in some fields.

Purdue’s Glen Nice says that dodder is a parasitic plant without any leaves or any chlorophyll to produce its own food. It lives by attaching to a host with small appendages (called “haustoria”) and extracting the host plant’s carbohydrates. Continue reading →

Grazing Corn Residue

Jeff McCutcheon, OSU Extension Educator, Morrow County

To survive the current feed economy livestock producers need to graze their livestock as long as they can.  Every day livestock are meeting their nutritional needs through grazing they are being fed as economically as possible.  Typically cattle producers utilize corn residue as a feed source but, Continue reading →

Breeding Season Preparation

Rory Lewandowski, OSU Extension Educator, Athens County

Reproductive performance is an important factor in determining profitability in the sheep flock. Most breeds of sheep have seasonal breeding patterns and the majority of flocks in Ohio are spring lambing. In this scenario, the peak fertility of the ewe is from late September through November. The breeding season will extend Continue reading →

Parasite Management for Small Ruminants Begins… in the Fall?

Rory Lewandowski, OSU Extension Educator, Athens County

The biggest enemy of pasture based sheep and goat production has got to be internal parasites and especially, Haemonchus contortus, or the barber pole worm.  Its incredible reproductive capacity, an adult female can lay up to 5,000-10,000 eggs/day, combined with the fact that the infective third stage (L3) larvae can survive 60 to 90 days or more on pasture during Continue reading →

HSUS Paints Bulls-eye on Ohio

Elizabeth Harsh, Executive Director of Ohio Cattlemen’s Association

In recent months the leadership of Ohio Agriculture has been facing the reality that the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has painted a bulls-eye on our Buckeye State. The group has publicly stated it would like to make Ohio its next victory, seeking to initiate and pass provisions similar to those that passed with a two-thirds majority in California as Proposition 2.

At a meeting they requested with Ohio Ag groups in February, HSUS representatives said Continue reading →

Dog Attacks on Sheep and What the Ohio Revised Code Says

Joy Aufderhaar, OSU Extension, Agriculture Program Assistant, Shelby County

After 30 years of our family raising market sheep, this past April we had a first… our ewes and lambs were attacked by dogs. We have had many close calls with coyotes and stray dogs, but never an actual attack. A family friend witnessed the attack and contacted my husband. After receiving the call and knowing my husband would arrive at the scene before I would, I began to worry about his comment, Continue reading →

Fall Grazing Management

Jeff McCutcheon, OSU Extension Educator, Knox County

Fall is one of the most crucial time periods for our cool season pastures. The most important activity a livestock producer should be doing to help the pastures survive winter and remain productive next year is to avoid over-grazing.

Why is fall a critical time for our cool season perennial forages? Continue reading →

Monitor Lamb/Kid Worm Burden

Rory Lewandowski, OSU Extension Educator, Athens County

July through September are critical times to closely monitor the internal parasite burden of lambs and kids. Preferably monitoring would start in June. The internal parasite of principal concern during the summer months is Haemonchus contortus, the barber pole worm. Lambs and kids grazing on pastures that are contaminated with large numbers of infective Haemonchus contortus larvae can go downhill very rapidly in July and August. It would not be uncommon that within a 7-10 day period Continue reading →

Options for Fall and Winter Grazing

Jeff McCutcheon, OSU Extension Educator, Knox County

In Ohio it is possible to graze year round. Of course grazing in winter does take planning. Summer is the best time to plan for fall and winter grazing. Why? Because many of our options have tasks associated with them in summer. By planning ahead it is possible in Ohio to have adequate Continue reading →

Oats, Planted Late, Continue to be Our Most Dependable Forage?!?!

Curt Stivison, Fairfield SWCD Engineering Technician
Stan Smith, OSU Extension Program Assistant, Fairfield County

Most know that for the past seven years, we’ve spent much time in Fairfield County investigating the virtues of oats as an annual forage when they are planted during mid to late summer, or even into early fall. While we’ve harvested from 2 to 5 tons, and consistently realized average yields of 3+ tons of dry matter from oats planted in July and August after a harvested wheat crop, it’s also apparent that yield and quality can vary greatly as planting date, nitrogen fertilization, and perhaps even oat varieties differ from each field planted.

For those looking to grow a cost-effective alternative forage crop Continue reading →

Pasture Measurement

Rory Lewandowski, OSU Extension Educator Athens County

Pasture measurement allows a grazier to determine an estimate of how much forage dry matter (DM) is available in a pasture paddock. Once forage DM is estimated, then the grazier can figure out how many animals can be grazed in that paddock for a given period of time. This is something that experienced graziers gain an eye for over time with practice. For beginning graziers, pasture measurement Continue reading →

Spring Pasture Management

Mark Landefeld, OSU Extension Educator, Monroe County

The time of year is quickly approaching when keeping pasture plants in a vegetative state is probably the hardest for forage producers. Managing pasture growth early in the growing season is important to maintain high quality and high quantity forage production throughout the spring, summer and fall. A “spring flush” occurs Continue reading →

Interested in Finding Out How Your Lambs are Performing? Have Them Scanned!

Bill and Susan Shultz, Logan County Sheep Producers

Bill and Susan Shultz will be scanning their 2009 lamb crop on Friday, June 20, 2009 at their farm in DeGraff, Ohio. They have contracted with Bonnie Bradford, a skilled technician, to do the scanning of loin eye and back fat as she has done the past three years for the Shultz’s. Continue reading →

What Resources are Available to Help Improve Your Sheep Operation?

Curt Cline, Director for Commercial Flock Owners, Co-Chairman of Membership Services OSIA
Daryl Clark, Director for Lamb Feeders, Co-Chairman of Membership Services OSIA

As I begin to embark on this subject, I can’t help but think I should have changed the title to, “Where are the resources available to improve your sheep operation?” Maybe I should begin by explaining what type of resource I am talking about. Natural resources are well, natural if you will. Financial resources come in many shapes. I suppose most people would consider Continue reading →

Helpful Resources Available from the American Sheep Industry Association

Tim Fine, OSU Miami County Program Assistant
Dr. Bill Shulaw, OSU Extension Veterinarian

If you are producing sheep in the United States, there are a few resources provided by ASI that you will want to become familiar with.

“The Sheep Care Guide” published in 2006. The Sheep Care Guide was developed to serve as a reference to provide sheep producers with information about Continue reading →

Management Considerations to Lower Lamb Mortalities

Dr. Bill Shulaw, OSU Extension Veterinarian

There are many factors that affect lamb survival. Serious shepherds should consult the Sheep Production Handbook, produced by the American Sheep Industry Association (www.sheepusa.org), for a more complete discussion of the various conditions and infectious diseases which impact lamb survival. However, if a pregnancy is carried to term, most losses occur Continue reading →

Managing Starvation/Hypothermia

Dr. Bill Shulaw, OSU Extension Veterinarian

The starvation/hypothermia complex usually comes about when multiple contributing factors are present and not just the simple occurrence of cold weather. Some of these include failure of the ewe to care for the lamb, difficult birth resulting in a weak lamb, bacterial mastitis in the ewe, “hard bag” in the ewe caused by Continue reading →

Fall Grazing Management and Plant Health

Rory Lewandowski, OSU Extension Educator, Athens County

The experienced grazier knows that how grass pastures are managed in the fall of the year determines what they have to manage in the spring of the year. While we tend to think of fall as bringing an end to pasture growth, it turns out that this is a critical time for the grass plant.

In fact, for our perennial grass plants, fall is not so much an end as it is a beginning, or at least laying a foundation for a beginning. Although seed production is one way Continue reading →

More Tips for a Successful Fall Grazing Plan

Jeff McCutcheon, OSU Extension Educator, Knox County

Fall is an excellent time to complete several pasture related tasks. There are activities a livestock producer should be doing to help the pastures survive winter and remain productive next year.

The first and most important activity is good grazing management. Specifically, keep animals from overgrazing. Overgrazing in the fall could ruin next years forage production. It is more critical now than any other time of the year. Overgrazing is not caused by having too many animals in a field. It occurs Continue reading →

A Producer’s Perspective of the Sheep Industry after the Trip Out West

Roger High, OSU Ohio State Extension Sheep Specialist

As a long time sheep producer, and one that loves the sheep industry and the people involved in it, it was a fabulous, once in a lifetime experience for me. I have never been to “sheep country” so to speak in all of my years of raising and producing sheep, but this area of the United States is just really part of “sheep country”, but it was so great to be in it. The State of Idaho has approximately 100,000 more sheep than Continue reading →

Grazing Wind Damaged Corn Residue

Jeff McCutcheon, OSU Extension Educator, Morrow County

To survive the current feed economy livestock producers need to graze their livestock as long as they can.  Every day livestock are meeting their nutritional needs through grazing they are being fed as economically as possible.  Typically cattle producers utilize corn residue as a feed source but, in Ohio, sheep producers need to consider grazing Continue reading →

Recap: 2008 Ohio Sheep Day

Curt Cline, 2008 Sheep Day Host

Sheep day came and went on our farm on July 12th. The day went off without a hitch, good people, good food, good times! The day was full of events for all aspects of sheep production or, as far as that goes, any livestock production. From pasture tours highlighting the economics behind the forages to listening to Mr. Gordon Oswalt, a Michigan shepherd that manages 1500 ewes, speak about sheep genetics and his personal experiences with a family farm in which multiple generations work together. Continue reading →

Black Vulture Control: Part 2a: How to Apply for a Depredation Permit

Tim Fine, OSU Extension Program Assistant, Miami County

In the previous Sheep Team Newsletter I discussed the steps that a producer must take in order to receive compensation if there was a loss due to a black vulture kill. In this issue I will discuss steps a producer can take to apply for a depredation permit and how to properly hang a vulture in effigy as a deterrent. To start off, let’s talk about the depredation permit process.

If you are experiencing problems with black vultures, here are some options: Continue reading →

Black Vulture Control: Part 2b: Guidelines for Using Effigies to Disperse Nuisance

John S. Humphrey, Eric, A. Tillman, Michael L. Avery, USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Services-National Wildlife Research Center, Florida Field Station, 2820 East University Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32641

(Image source: USDA APHIS Wildlife Services)

WHAT IS AN EFFIGY?
An effigy as defined in Webster’s dictionary, is a “full or partial representation…….. likeness” of a person or object. For dispersing a vulture roost, an effigy can be a fresh carcass, a taxidermic preparation, or an artificial likeness. Continue reading →

Pasture Establishment/Renovation Economics

Rory Lewandowski, OSU Extension Educator, Athens County

Increased fertilizer, fuel, and equipment costs have made stored forages an expensive commodity. The forage produced in pastures has likewise increased in value. Good pasture management offers the opportunity to lower sheep production costs by utilizing the animal to fertilize and harvest the forage. Often pasture management discussions center around rotational grazing principles. In this article I want to consider another aspect of pasture management. Do your pastures contain the species mix and varieties that will Continue reading →

Culling the Sheep Flock

Roger High, OSU Ohio Sheep Extension Program Specialist

With increasing production costs, livestock producers really need to evaluate each animal and decide whether that animal is really a productive animal or an animal that is “just on the payroll” and not really contributing the profitability of the program. Marginal producing ewes and rams should not be maintained in the flock!

Culling is one of the tools that should be implemented to increase the efficiency of the sheep flock. But what criteria should a producer use to base their culling decision? The following are guidelines Continue reading →

Summer Parasite Management

Rory Lewandowski, OSU Extension Educator, Athens County

July and August are critical months to control the internal parasite, Haemonchus contortus in pasture based sheep and goat production. Often producers may find that lambs and kids seem to “stand still” during the summer, with little or no weight gain. There can be several reasons for this situation. Continue reading →

Pasture Lambing

Bob Hendershot, State Grassland Conservationist

What is lambing like, for your sheep flock, hours per lamb or lambs per hour? The shepherd’s labor and the size of the lambing barn are the two things that limit the size of most Ohio sheep flocks. Pasture-lambing avoids both of these concerns.

Pasture-lambing is the lambing of ewes on pasture where the ewes and newborn lambs bond without being penned or housed. Pasture-lambing works the best in concert with the peak pasture growth. Spring and fall pasture growth can provide the quantity and quality of feed that the ewe will need during the last part of gestation and early lactation. This greatly reduces the feed cost compared Continue reading →

One Activity in May that can Improve Your Pasture Yield

Jeff McCutcheon, OSU Extension Educator, Knox County

After the dry growing season last year many sheep producers are asking what they could do to improve pasture yields. Other than improving soil fertility there is one thing you can do during the month of May that will improve yields. In fact most experienced graziers I know get pretty fanatical about this task. The task is simple; remove Continue reading →

Sudangrass, Could it Work for You?

Rory Lewandowski, OSU Extension Educator, Athens County

Raising sheep within a pasture based production system presents the manager with two challenges; internal parasite control and summer slump production of cool season pastures.  The use of a warm season annual like sudangrass may offer the pasture based sheep producer a parasite control option while at the same time filling in the forage production slump demonstrated by cool season pastures during the hot summer months.  In this article, I’ll draw on some of the results and lessons learned using sudangrass during the summer of 2007 on the Curt Cline farm in Athens County. Continue reading →

Black Vulture Control: Part 1: The Indemnity Process

Jeff Pelc, Wildlife Biologist USDA/APHIS, Wildlife Services
Tim Fine, Extension Program Assistant, Miami County

Black Vultures have become a serious sheep pest in certain areas of Ohio.  This article will focus on the procedures necessary to report a predation loss by black vultures to the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) for reimbursement under the indemnity program.  In the next sheep team newsletter, we will take a look at options for black vulture control.

There are certain procedural steps that must be followed Continue reading →

Nor-98 Like Scrapie Found in the United States

Becky Talley, Sheep Industry News Associate Editor

In February of last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) officially announced the discovery of a Nor98-like scrapie case in a ewe from a flock in Wyoming. This was the first case of scrapie consistent with Nor98 discovered in the United States.

Since then, four more cases have been discovered that originated from flocks in Colorado, Indiana, Minnesota and California. These cases are not related to either the first one in Wyoming or to each other.

This scrapie type was first found in Norway in 1998 Continue reading →

Why Wool Prices Differ

Don Van Nostran, Mid-States Wool Growers

Wool is wool is wool. Unfortunately, this is the feeling of many sheep producers when they look at this secondary product produced by the sheep. However, not all wool is the same and a producer has a big effect on the value of their wool clip just by their management practices. Continue reading →