July 20, 2013

Primrose









Primrose , petite and pert, she's found a special niche in my heart these past few months.  The sweetest, most forgiving personality, and so darn cute, too!  Prim has adjusted to living with the sheep, and has even grown rather fond of them, I think.  She's only gotten stuck in the fence 5 times, and made her escape about 10.  When she does get out, she goes right back in when you open the gate.  It's super cute. *smile* Even my dad likes her, and he's not a real animal lover so that's saying something.

On a slightly different topic, my ewes have gotten a bad case of worms.  Or rather, their worm load has gotten large enough to start causing some serious respiratory problems.  Ingrid, the ewe who lost her lambs this spring, is doing the most poorly.  She's been coughing, and today she had a runny nose and wasn't interested in eating.  When you've just turned them out onto a lush green pasture, that's not a good sign at all.  So, I isolated her this morning, had a powwow on the phone with my sheep/goat advice friend, and then got to work.  After estimating her weight with my weight tape (which is an awesome little device btw), I got out the big gun - Zimectrin Gold.  It's an ivermectin based horse wormer, but it can be used for sheep, too.  That should take care of tapeworms and lungworms, which the average rubbishy goat/sheep wormer doesn't.  Why do they even sell that stuff?  It doesn't do a thing!  I also wormed the other ewes.

Then, after a bit of research, I concocted my own sheep drench.  A drench is something you give orally.  I mixed Apple Cider Vinegar and water at a 1:1 ratio, then added about 3 Tbs of blackstrap molasses to improve the taste and help with the anemia.  I got about 18 mL down her throat.  After about an hour, she began nibbling at her hay.  I drenched her again and the rest of the ewes this evening (and gave some to Prim - she actually wanted to eat it, and kept getting in the way while I drenched the ewes:), and now Ingrid is really digging into her food.  I also added a bit of Apple Cider Vinegar to all of their drinking water.  That stuff is amazing.  We're not out of the woods yet, but praise the Lord for so much improvement so quickly!

My plan is to drench everyone again in the morning and evening for the next two days, move them all to the horse pasture, and then worm them again in 14 days.  They haven't been in that pasture for over a year, so there should be significantly less parasites there.  Typically, parasites aren't too hard to control here because it's a dry climate.  We have gotten a lot of rain this year though, and I think that's part of what's going on here.

And that's about it.  It's been a busy week, even without the excitement today.  VBS (which was awesome!), cherry picking, bringing in a load of hay, dropping my bro off at the airport (I had to get up at 3:30 AM - no one should have to do that.  But it was very nearly worth it just for the sunrise.  Beautiful!), more VBS, and then today.  Wow, in a way this week flew by, but at the same time Monday seems like a faint memory from long ago.  And now, this farm girl needs some rest...and maybe some Captain America.

Happy Trails, y'all!

Question: Are you a morning person or a night owl?  I want to know!

7 comments:

  1. Ugh, parasites! We have a huge problem here in Florida where there is not enough frost to kill them off in the soil. My daughter has to worm her goat herd on a regular basis as well as her horse. All of our flea preparations used on dogs and cats also has worm prevention included as nobody escapes down here. Once they get into overload, it is very worrisome until the treatment reduces the burden and the animals get into a better balance. I hope your herd continues to improve before it is breeding season or you will have bigger problems with sick moms and pregnancy . Farm life is indeed an ongoing challenge. Between the daisy takeover and the worms, you have been battling some stubborn and persistent problems! Never a boring day on the farm!

    Me, I am a morning person but not a 3:30 am person!! One of the hardest parts of my nursing career was being on call and having to get up and function at all hours of the night. But come 6:30am, I am good to go for the day!

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  2. Hmmm...sounds like the story of my life in this post! So sorry to hear you're having worm problems. I AGREE 100%--those average goat/sheep wormers are rubbish. I use Ivomec myself (Ivermectin based). It seems rather harsh on my goats but it gets rid of the worms and I don't mind taking care of any side effects letter. I'm going to have to make a note of your drench, too.

    I'm definitely a morning person. I get that after-lunch sleepy bug and then "I can't brain, I've got the dumb." LOL ;)

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  3. She's such a sweetie! I would love to have goats or sheep...but we don't have quite enough space for them! :P Maybe someday...
    I'm sorry to hear about your sheep! I hope everything goes ok with treating them and everything!
    Haha, sometimes I'm still up at 3:30 in the morning! Not usually, but sometimes when I've got a good book to read (or an essay to write, haha), it can quickly reach that time! So...yeah, definitely a night owl!

    ~Vicki
    Decked Out in Ruffles

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  4. Prim is so adorable! She really has such a sweet personality. And I love these photos - beautiful.

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  5. I'm a night owl. Not a morning person at ALL.
    If you cut a piece of PVC pipe about a foot long and Gorilla Tape it across the front of Primrose's horns, she will not be able to get her head through the fencing holes. She wont look very pretty, and she won't like it at first, but she will get over it.

    Kimberly

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  6. Primrose is a very cool and adorable goat. She'll be your friend for as long as she lives.

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  7. Winnie - As you now know first hand, life on our farm is never boring! ;)
    It was so nice meeting you!

    Maribeth - Completely rubbish! Hmm, I'll have to check out Ivomec...I'm going to try something called Valbazen, also Hoeggers Herbal Wormer, both recommended by my friend.
    The Apple Cider Vinegar drench is AMAZING! Let me know how it works for you!
    LOL! That's how I feel before lunch, after that I'm good. ;)

    Vicki - My sheep are doing much, much better now, thank goodness!
    Oh yes, I've stayed up that late before, but it's not cool getting up that early. ;)

    Kellie - She's a real sweetie, that's for sure:)

    Kimberly - Hmm, I might just do that if she keeps getting stuck in the fence. So far, it hasn't been anything very serious, but still not fun for her.

    Will - She is that! :)

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