We had a big afternoon of deworming and feet trimming on Saturday. We do not have great tools for this so it takes quite a bit of effort. We do have a stall and small holding area that Bryson just built. I will show that process in a future blog post. It ended up being perfect for working our sheep. We keep an eye on feet daily and will grab one or two to trim if they get bad, but we went through the entire herd this time.

Parasite resistance to dewormers is a big problem in the southeast, and while there are three classes of dewormers, there are very few that are both safe and effective in small ruminants. The way our vet presented parasites to us was, “If you are managing sheep you are also managing parasites.” In other words, the parasites are in the ground, or pasture, and the sheep are ingesting them. 

To try to combat parasites’ resistance to the dewormers, we first make sure our pasture does not get over-grazed. If the sheep are grazing close to the ground or on limited resources they will inevitably end up grazing close to their manure, which means they are ingesting parasites. 

Additionally, we do not deworm the sheep that do not need to be dewormed. We use the FAMACHA system of evaluating eyelids (actually the mucus membranes just under the eyelids). The lighter the membranes, the more anemic the sheep is. FAMACHA uses a scale of 1-5; 1 is a healthy, red mucus membrane, 5 is white and very anemic and needs treatment as soon as possible. At this point you may be seeing other signs of the sheep being “wormy”. 

When scoring with FAMACHA, it is highly recommended to get your FAMACHA card from a veterinarian (we got ours during our herd health check that you can read about here). There are pictures online, but depending on your printer the ink colors could change. Laminating your card could also change the color. Check eyes in natural light, and check both eyes. Determine your score based on the lighter mucus membrane. 

So we herded our girls (and two boys) into the smaller area and caught each sheep. Bryson held them while I checked eyes. We only dewormed those who were a light three or two on the FAMACHA scorecard. We did not have any one’s, thank goodness. We also trimmed feet on all of them. Bryson set them on their rear end to do this. I do not know why, but this calms them down and is much easier on the holder’s back. He was even able to sit on a bucket for most of them. My hoof trimmers are very dull, which made it take a little longer. We ordered new ones as soon as we finished. 

We would love to have a stand for trimming, but for now this is working well. This time of year when it is hot and wet we will check eyes about every three to four weeks. And, if you have been on social media with us…our big surprise!

Four new girls came to the farm on Sunday and we are so excited to add them to our herd. They settled right in, and I was a little concerned about the dogs accepting them but they did so well. Both dogs sniffed each of the new ewe lambs and that was it. I was very impressed. Even though we are to the point that I cannot remember names, they already have names and I think they will be great additions! 

Thanks for joining us for more adventures of homesteading on the side! 

“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” Acts 20:28