parisite resistant sheep

we breed worm resistant sheep in australia
haemonchus contourtus is the most lethal one
interested in seeing if any of ewe folks have had positive experiences with herbal remedies for treatment of this nasty little critter

Never heard of it. I treated all my sheep with the same dewormer...garlic juice, mother vinegar, raw honey bolus. If I wanted to switch it up a little I'd give Shaklee's soap or ginger root.

Yep, the common name, Barber Pole worm, is really quite susceptible to copper. I know, you say copper is bad for sheep. Copper sulphate is bad as it is digestible, but copper oxide isn't. We used Copper Oxide wire particles in vegetable based capsules that held about 2 grams with our Jacobs. The copper oxide stays in their system trapped in the folds of their stomachs for up to 6 months and passes through with almost no digestion. Search copper oxide and sheep on the internet and you will find lots of information.

I lost a ewe lamb for the 1st time to barber pole warm (haemonchus) a few days ago. My shearer warned me she didn't look good. I drenched for the 1st time ever but that was 2 months ago. I need to recheck with the Famacha card.

This breed (Black Welsh Mountain) is fairly resistant but in hindsight I shouldn't have fed them on the ground when training them to come to a bell. They kept knocking the trough over so I stopped using it. Pretty handy though to have them come running towards me when I ring the bell.

I'm wondering why you are feeding Black Welsh anything but hay during this time of the year. Aren't they known for thriving best on foraged and grass based feeds instead of grain based feeding?

During the summer I trained them to come to a bell with corn. 1 scoop for 11 sheep. It works great but I do like to reinforce with a little corn when I ring the bell.

It's probably for the best that the 1 died. The stats say 20% of your sheep have 80% of your parasites. Nature can be firmer about culling than I can. The others look ok based on their eyelids.

I agree. I think culling by the flock owner for certain traits also culls for the worm load carriers also. That one sheep that isn't as feed thrifty as the others? Cull her. That one that doesn't have the high wool quality or doesn't rebound from lambing like the others? Cull her. It's more than likely these are your sheep with low immune system function and those who carry a higher parasite load.

Nice breed, those Black Welsh...very pretty!

I always fed my sheep BOSS for training, instead of corn...they could always use the extra selenium and the increased fat content helped them as well.

we have merinos up to 3000 of the sexy little critters
we also live in the worm capital of the world but our new england also consistantly grows THE highest quality superfine wool
i have been faecal egg counting individual sheep and mobs for 20 years
we also run a group breeding program as opposed to a stud based program
last year we won the 3year northern tablelands wether trial i think the only independent trialof its kind in NSW
loving your ideas keep em coming
weve had a little success with artemesia as a treatment for haemonchus

If you can, you can try to create inhospitable conditions in the gut for the worms. Some big sheep guys are using mother vinegar for this and have found that it is also improving the wool quality. One article I read stated they have an increase in the female to male ratio of lambs after using it consistently.

http://www.lavenderfleece.com/cidervinegar.html

We have a small mob of 12 Icelandics and 2 FinnSheep. The Icelandics are as hardy as an animal anywhere and we have yet to have any issue with them not thriving. The FinnSheep are another matter. They came from a herd with own parasites and though they put on a lot of size since they got here, they are nowhere the size of the adult ewe and ram they came from.

After reading the Lavendarfleece link (THANKS), I am going to give that a try. The other part of the FinnSheep I have a problem with is how dry the wool is and this might help that.

The Icelandics on the other hand are weighted down by lanolin in the wool. Their wool also felts too easy and I will be looking to see if the cider vinegar makes a difference on that too.

The only things we have really done with our sheep pasture is to add rock dust to the pasture and we add it to the grain as a health booster. I also add kelp occasionally but I think the rock dust has some anti-parasite qualities like diatanacious earth, though I can't be sure.
And, because our soil is magnesium deficit, as with most soils, I spread Epson Salts over large areas as an added preventative.

Thanks for sharing this cider vinegar article! Hoping for a great year lambing!

About 3 years we (our whole state) had a terrible year with haemonchus contortus and we lost an adult ewe. Everyone local I knew with sheep or goats was having losses that summer. That was when I stopped my regular worming routine with Ivermectin every 6-8 weeks. It clearly wasn't the solution. I have since learned about the Famacha system and have begun integrating DE. Once I started actually checking the eye membranes I could see that most of the sheep weren't having any problem at all. Just a few, which we could treat and note for future culling. Off to read about the vinegar in that link!

Spring is upon us, so figured this thread would soon have more relevancy. Found a good article that may help those with this problem, though I have no experience with any of these remedies besides using sea kelp meal for my mineral supplement for all livestock.

I know this article is about goats, primarily, but other than the implications with safe copper levels in sheep, it may help in other aspects.

http://www.acresusa.com/toolbox/press/goattop10.htm


My first line of defense for parasites is breed selection and source of sheep...for this I chose hair breeds of Katahdin and Kat/St. Croix crosses. For my second line of defense, I use culling for parasite resistance. Kelp meal and salt was a great mineral supplement and watching the inner eyelids for any changes. Mother vinegar and garlic drenches every so often for kicks and giggles and once, they proved very effective when we had a severe drought and the sheep got nasal bots. The drench orally and then Vick's applied topically to the nasal passages was effective by the very next day...no more evidence of the symptoms and that summer I kept up with the ACV/garlic drench each month just because.

Another good defense is to not overload the pasture/soils and to NOT use chemical dewormers for my livestock. No need to breed superworms on land you really want to inhabit for awhile. Get animals that fit the environment, but keep the environment(soils health, pasture health, etc.) fit for animals. In other words, don't buy animals that are not suited for your climate, needs or desired husbandry methods and then try to change them INTO an animal that will fit your current paradigm. It all gets much easier if you start with something that is suited and then work to make it even more suitable.

Hair sheep...naturally parasite resistant, so the use of chemical dewormers changes their natural ability to fight parasite overload. Sticking with natural solutions when you already have a naturally resistant breed only makes sense. Also, sticking with their natural diet instead of introducing corn and grain feeds will help tremendously.

Andrew, are you familiar with Pat Coleby's work?
I don't have stock, but if I did I'd buy all her books.

Ive read some of her work ,tried some of her potions there is probably somthing in it she seems to a passionate believer
I suspect if we as permaculturalists get our system happenind evrything will fall into place


I did somthing cool the other day my ewe weaners were getting a little wormey ie 1000 eggs/gram probably haemonchas
so i thought id keep an eye on them, put em in a paddok containing chenapodium ,farmers friend, honey locust seedlings etc
there are now very few parisites in them (never had so much sucess with herbal remedy
Currently mixing up a large brew of artemesia to treat maiden ewes

andrew curr wrote: we have merinos up to 3000 of the sexy little critters
we also live in the worm capital of the world but our new england also consistantly grows THE highest quality superfine wool
i have been faecal egg counting individual sheep and mobs for 20 years
we also run a group breeding program as opposed to a stud based program
last year we won the 3year northern tablelands wether trial i think the only independent trialof its kind in NSW
loving your ideas keep em coming
weve had a little success with artemesia as a treatment for haemonchus

The most effective worming success I've had was with the artemesia absinthe, along with fresh cloves of garlic, 3 at the time, 2 times a day for 3 days. I chop the garlic into their feed and it has worked with sheep, goats, and dogs. Poisonous to dogs, but 3 days doesn't seem to be enough to hurt them. Had a dog once that passed tapeworm after giving him this for 3 days (just stuck the garlic cloves down his throat and left off the wormwood). The vet had wormed him a week before and he had not responded. I think he must have had heartworm too, and was a rescue animal I had just gotten. I fasted him the first day of the three days.

I give tiny bits of wormwood to my one or two week old baby goats to get them used to the taste. Just stick into their mouth and hold it shut so they can "taste" it. Once they get used to it, they love it. It's about the bitterest herb I've ever tasted. Must be a goat thing and probably would do the same for sheep.