Pictures?
Ridgetop - our place and how we muddle along
- Thread starter Ridgetop
- Start date
farmerjan
Herd Master
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2016
- Messages
- 13,436
- Reaction score
- 57,273
- Points
- 768
- Location
- Shenandoah Valley Virginia
Cydectin, and Primervectin are the same family... "Avermectins".... Safeguard is in the "Benzimidazoles"....
Prohibit/Levamisole is in the Cholinergic antagonist family....
Prohibit/Levamisole is in the Cholinergic antagonist family....
Baymule
Herd Master
Prohibit sterilizes the barber pole worms that it does not kill. So at least the survivors can’t multiply. But there’s always plenty more worms out on the fields ! Ya just can’t win!
The mectin wormers don’t kill all the worms either and the survivors can’t multiply and do multiply, leading to resistant worms.
I just went off on a rant on my lambing thread, I tagged you on it. I’m trying a homeopathic wormer.
The mectin wormers don’t kill all the worms either and the survivors can’t multiply and do multiply, leading to resistant worms.
I just went off on a rant on my lambing thread, I tagged you on it. I’m trying a homeopathic wormer.
Baymule
Herd Master
Baymule’s 2026 Lambing + December 2025
It’s cloudy today and 60 degRees, chilly. I put Tinkerbelle and Maybelline outside. They took over Carson’s bed on the porch. No warm sunshine!
www.backyardherds.com
- Thread starter
- #5,035
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Bottle lambs doing well on 12 ounces am and pm. Ram is drinking well now too. Got our plans to go to California finalized. We will be leaving first week of February. Have a ranch sitter. Will talk to our vet and leave my credit card number on file for any emergencies. Cody said no problem with Payton coming over to replace hay in feeders while we are gone. We will get in enough pellet and grain feed to last a month. Found corn at Potts Feed in Quitman. We pass it every Friday so that is good.
DS1 and I spent 3 hours at Lowes today looking for a special pin to repair a tool. He finally had to order it on line. While at Lowes, we found some heavy duty bins on sale for a really good price. They are like the heavy duty black ones with the heavy yellow lids, just red and green for Christmas storage which is why they were so cheap. LOL Since we will be labeling them for our buiding supplies we didn't care about the colors. A lot of our plastic storage bins cracked and broke either during the trip out, or from being oddly stacked on each other or on cardboard boxes that collapsed in the tool shed once we got here. Whle at Lowes, we looked at tool benches. Found the same thing at Harbor freight for $200 cheaper but decided to wait until the tool shed is finished. We agreed to tighten up the joints on the old Craftsman bench with drawers and use it for now. DS1 wants to build a 4'x8' work bench that he can use with his table saw. We can get him another tool bench later. He wants to think about exactly what he wants. We may also have some cabinets in CA that we can bring back that he can build into his work bench.
Bryan is coming on Monday to look at the shed and hopefully schedule it in for insulating the roof and putting up a ceiling over the insulation. There are 1-2" gaps between the walls and the metal roofing. Since DS1 wants to put in a window AC, I said those gaps have to be sealed. We can also find out how much Bryan would charge to install all the extra circuits and outlets DS1 wants. DS1 can do the electric when we return but if Bryan gives us a cheap bid, we might as well have him do them while we are in CA.
Then we went to 3 places looking for those plastic coated wire shelf thingys you hang over a door or mount to the wall to give you pantry space for cans. Nothing. He finally found those online so we need to order those as well. They will go on the wall near the work bench and hold plastic mayo jars with assorted screws, nails, etc. I did bring two sets of small bins that mount on the wall for small miscellaneous hardware items. Got home just in time to feed. It is supposed to drop to 28 degrees tomight so we left the heat lamps on in the barn. We also gave Skittles and Josie the Mule a small feeding of all stock pellet and rice bran since it is going to be so cold. I may have to invest in a water proof winter blanket for Skittles since she has such a fine coat. On the other hand, if she wears a winter blanket she won't grow a heavy winter coat. Also there are plenty of trees for a wind break and underbrush for them to shelter in near the pond. I am glad that we got the sheep shelter set up for the other ewes. Even if they don't use it, my conscience is clear. LOL
The new rams arrive on the 23rd. They have a shelter and we just have to set up the last cradle feeder with a hay bale for them. I think we should worm them when they arrive. And possibly give them each a dose of CDT.
Still have a lot more stuff to do before we leave for CA. Once we get there we will be working non stop on our place to get it ready for sale. Also helping DS2 with his house and heling mve furniture over there. The plumbing repairs have left him with holes in the walls that he will have to repair as well as a stucco repair on the front of the house. He is going to tear out the rest of the bathroom wall since it needs to go back in in cement board for the shower wall. the plumber put in the new copper piping and then told him that the header was rotted. He had to have the plumbr remove the plumbing again and he and his father-in-law are replacing the header this weekend. He is not happy. I will try to find time to do some of the painting for him in the rooms where the drywall has to be patched. I also have to do some final patching and painting in our house too.
I am ordering a roll off dumpster so we can just sort and dump stuff as we empty the various buildings and lofts. We csidered getting apos and storing some of the stuff then having it shipped but no one has any pods - they all want to come out and "do it all for you". I told them that we didn't need them to wrap up everything inmoving pads since it was mostly junk and rough stuff. I told them that we already had about 30 moving pads, a couple of dollies, tie downs, and what they wanted for the job was too much money. Since we will be coming back and forth to see our grandchildren anyway, we can store what little will escape the dumpster and pick it up on another trip out. I figure we will be bringing our stock trailer and picking up alfalfa every time we come out anyway.
DS1 and I spent 3 hours at Lowes today looking for a special pin to repair a tool. He finally had to order it on line. While at Lowes, we found some heavy duty bins on sale for a really good price. They are like the heavy duty black ones with the heavy yellow lids, just red and green for Christmas storage which is why they were so cheap. LOL Since we will be labeling them for our buiding supplies we didn't care about the colors. A lot of our plastic storage bins cracked and broke either during the trip out, or from being oddly stacked on each other or on cardboard boxes that collapsed in the tool shed once we got here. Whle at Lowes, we looked at tool benches. Found the same thing at Harbor freight for $200 cheaper but decided to wait until the tool shed is finished. We agreed to tighten up the joints on the old Craftsman bench with drawers and use it for now. DS1 wants to build a 4'x8' work bench that he can use with his table saw. We can get him another tool bench later. He wants to think about exactly what he wants. We may also have some cabinets in CA that we can bring back that he can build into his work bench.
Bryan is coming on Monday to look at the shed and hopefully schedule it in for insulating the roof and putting up a ceiling over the insulation. There are 1-2" gaps between the walls and the metal roofing. Since DS1 wants to put in a window AC, I said those gaps have to be sealed. We can also find out how much Bryan would charge to install all the extra circuits and outlets DS1 wants. DS1 can do the electric when we return but if Bryan gives us a cheap bid, we might as well have him do them while we are in CA.
Then we went to 3 places looking for those plastic coated wire shelf thingys you hang over a door or mount to the wall to give you pantry space for cans. Nothing. He finally found those online so we need to order those as well. They will go on the wall near the work bench and hold plastic mayo jars with assorted screws, nails, etc. I did bring two sets of small bins that mount on the wall for small miscellaneous hardware items. Got home just in time to feed. It is supposed to drop to 28 degrees tomight so we left the heat lamps on in the barn. We also gave Skittles and Josie the Mule a small feeding of all stock pellet and rice bran since it is going to be so cold. I may have to invest in a water proof winter blanket for Skittles since she has such a fine coat. On the other hand, if she wears a winter blanket she won't grow a heavy winter coat. Also there are plenty of trees for a wind break and underbrush for them to shelter in near the pond. I am glad that we got the sheep shelter set up for the other ewes. Even if they don't use it, my conscience is clear. LOL
The new rams arrive on the 23rd. They have a shelter and we just have to set up the last cradle feeder with a hay bale for them. I think we should worm them when they arrive. And possibly give them each a dose of CDT.
Still have a lot more stuff to do before we leave for CA. Once we get there we will be working non stop on our place to get it ready for sale. Also helping DS2 with his house and heling mve furniture over there. The plumbing repairs have left him with holes in the walls that he will have to repair as well as a stucco repair on the front of the house. He is going to tear out the rest of the bathroom wall since it needs to go back in in cement board for the shower wall. the plumber put in the new copper piping and then told him that the header was rotted. He had to have the plumbr remove the plumbing again and he and his father-in-law are replacing the header this weekend. He is not happy. I will try to find time to do some of the painting for him in the rooms where the drywall has to be patched. I also have to do some final patching and painting in our house too.
I am ordering a roll off dumpster so we can just sort and dump stuff as we empty the various buildings and lofts. We csidered getting apos and storing some of the stuff then having it shipped but no one has any pods - they all want to come out and "do it all for you". I told them that we didn't need them to wrap up everything inmoving pads since it was mostly junk and rough stuff. I told them that we already had about 30 moving pads, a couple of dollies, tie downs, and what they wanted for the job was too much money. Since we will be coming back and forth to see our grandchildren anyway, we can store what little will escape the dumpster and pick it up on another trip out. I figure we will be bringing our stock trailer and picking up alfalfa every time we come out anyway.
Mike CHS
Herd Master
I think I have mentioned it before but one thing we do different than the majority of sheep growers is our minerals. One of the biggest producers in our area was telling us several years ago that he mixes goat mineral half and half with sheep mineral He had a study but it was several years old and I don't have it.
Like a lot of things with small ruminates, there was a lot of discussion about copper and it wound up that sheep don't need much copper and that evolved to the point that your sheep mineral that you buy has NO copper. We have fed mix for the last several years and we have had to worm a fraction of the time before. This is by no means, scienteific but I like the results. We have bred for parasite resistance since we started years ago but this eeems to be one of the biggest things that we have done that has shown results
Like a lot of things with small ruminates, there was a lot of discussion about copper and it wound up that sheep don't need much copper and that evolved to the point that your sheep mineral that you buy has NO copper. We have fed mix for the last several years and we have had to worm a fraction of the time before. This is by no means, scienteific but I like the results. We have bred for parasite resistance since we started years ago but this eeems to be one of the biggest things that we have done that has shown results
Baymule
Herd Master
How much copper is in the goat mineral that you use?
farmerjan
Herd Master
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2016
- Messages
- 13,436
- Reaction score
- 57,273
- Points
- 768
- Location
- Shenandoah Valley Virginia
Glad to hear that someone else is NOT in the "oh no sheep can't have anything with copper in it" group of idiots. They do not need as much as goats, or as cattle... but they do need some copper. Little secret... this is going to go tea totally AGAINST what every one is told... but our sheep often get the cattle mineral.... and they do not die from it.. If they were force fed it, then it could be a problem... but have often had the sheep in with the cows and they get what the cows get.
Mixing it half and half sounds like a very sensible way to go to me....
Does anyone possibly think that out in the wild sheep did not eat anything that had much/any copper in it??? They will go eat places where nature tells their body they will get what their system is craving... it is our confining them to pastures and lots and such that has created the situation that we have to provide what they need... yet we don't always do that right because we get too extreme with something that the sheep experts tell us has to be "this way"....
SageHill
Herd Master
That's for sure!!
- Thread starter
- #5,040
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Sheep do need some copper. I use regular mineral block for everyone in the field. It has some copper in it. I like the block instead of loose mineral in the open because with our TX humidity loose mineral turns to block anyway. LOL I do use loose mineral and salt inside the barn. I think I will start using goat and sheep mineral half and half. Dorpers (and most hair sheep) are supposed to be less susceptible to copper poisoning. I do check the amount of copper in the feed I buy but am not worried about feeding too much copper as long as I stay away from cattle and dairy mixes.
Copper is most necessary for pregnant ewes since it directly affects the developing fetus. Copper deficency in pregnant ewes can lead to stillborn lambs, and ambs tht have growth problems related to copper deficiency. It is also necessary for lactating ewes. Growing lambs require more copper than open and non lactating sheep although not as much as pregnant ewes. Copper levels in supplemental feeds should be kept between 7-15ppm. If your sheep are pasture raised, and you lime your pastures, the lime will cut the available coper in the forage they consume. This can lead to copper deficiency.
I am beginning to wonder if the reason sheep people have so much trouble with parasites is because they are trying to cut all copper from their sheep feed. Copper is a natural parasitic so if our sheep are on the low side of copper requirements they could be more susceptible to parasites. I am not advocating giving them a lot more copper, but if the copper level is low in the soil where your hay and forages are grown your sheep may not be getting enough copper.
I probably need to have soil tests done on my pasture and hay field so I can be more informed about the minerals in my hay. Then I can make an informed decision on how much I need to supplement and with what minerals.
In the meantime I will try the lye solution with straight grain instead of the extruded pellet once a month and see what happens. Cutting the sheep mineral with goat mineral will be worth a try as well. Culling for parasite resistance is the best solution, but if a copper deficiency occurs, their parasite resistance will plummet. Different times of the year, different conditions in the flock (bred or open) may be influencing the parasite bloom.
On to other subjects - 21 degrees at 9:00 am when we went to church. It didn't warm up to 45 until late afternoon. Supposed to be even colder tomorrow and Tuesday. The ewes and lambs have the barn which cuts the wind and has straw. There is a heat lamb over the creep too. The sheep in the breeding pen are avoiding their new pallet palace - obviously haven't read the reviews - and instead are crowding into the sweep portion of the chute for warmth.
While it cuts the wind it is open on top but if it rains I suppose they will discover the shelter is not an enemy.We have enough pallets to build another large shelter in the next pasture. DS1 will fence in the next 3 pastures when we get back from California in March. We will need one shelter in each pasture. The one in Pasture 1 is only 8'x12', so maybe we will add on to it. The one in Pasture 2 is a roof only and 6' high. We can add tarps around the sides if needed, but mainly it is for shade since there are no trees in that pasture. These sheep pallet shelters are a work in progress - learning as we go. They have the benefit of being reasonable in cost and fast to assemble so I like them. We still have a number of corral roof panels that we can use for other shelters. The ram pen has 2 of them attached to the fence which gives the some shelter in bad weather.
Tomorrow Bryan is supposed to come and give us an estimate on insulating and weather proofing the tool shed. Once that is done, we can plug in electric heaters and sort tools. I left a verticle 4 drawer metal file cabinet in California that my son said he didn't want. I will bring that back and use it in the tack room to store extra boxes of medical supplies that are not weather sensitive. Since it is metal rodents won't be able to nest in it. Moving the multiple boxes of syringes, bandages, first aid and medical supplies, worming and grooming equipment, etc. to the file drawers in the feed room will free up half my spare room closet, and several shelves in the laundry room.
With each connex, tool shed, feed room storage we finish I reclaim storage in the house!
I am WOMAN - watch me STORE!
