Just got this book for dairy sheep
Mar 7, 2024 22:09:07 GMT -5
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elnini and ktfarms like this
Post by josiegirl on Mar 7, 2024 22:09:07 GMT -5
“No I did not get to test them, but I would hope the man who imported awassi and pioneered a lot of the sheep dairy industry in the US wouldn't have a diseased herd.”
I have been thinking whether I should comment on this and have decided to do so. It may seem pointed, but perhaps I wasn’t being direct enough in past posts. Your assumption is wrong. I can give you names of two “pioneers” in that industry who are bad actors and absolutely sell knowingly diseased sheep to people without disclosure. One is a guy from Wisconsin and the other is from North Carolina. If you want their names I’ll gladly post them. Either way, both flocks are littered with CL, Johnes, and OPP. I would be shocked if you don’t have Orf come lambing time and yes, it is zoonotic. On multiple other threads and in our private discussions, I have given you contact information a couple times of who you need to get in contact with to obtain vet-checked healthy dairy sheep from a closed flock. As I’ve told you, said flock doesn’t carry a single disease and have had their lineage articulately traced back to the founding animals. These sheep are IMO the highest quality animals you can find. The contact I gave you, twice, is a wonderful lady who would crawl over broken glass for her sheep and I’ve not heard a single bad review about her. The quality of sheep I bought from her speaks for itself as they easily outperform average production in any measure. Your choice to buy other sheep is puzzling to me, but that’s your decision.
Lamb sharing is 12/12. You can’t start the 12/12 schedule until the lambs are at least a week old. They need to be with her 24/7 until then. 12 hours the lambs are with the ewe, and 12 hours the lambs are separated from the ewe. Right before the ewe is turned out with the lambs for 12 hours, she is milked. When the lambs are separated, they need to be crept fed with an unlimited amounts of soybean meal and alfalfa(leafy 4th cut is best). I also bottle feed them when they are off the 12 hours of the ewe on a normal schedule. There is absolutely no getting around not creep feeding those lambs soy meal if separating.
I read this a couple days ago and oof. Immediate rock in my gut. I unfortunately didn't really remember about dairies having the diseases but I should have cuz it's the same for cows Ive read. For the record I've spoken with Deb Bender and she was so wonderful I would have definitely bought lambs from her. But back when I spoke to her the timing wasn't right. This time I wasn't looking for sheep(tho I still wanted them at some point) and I didn't buy these sheep. A couple I know bought them and realized they couldn't handle them so we figured I'd take care of and milk them and share the milk. That way I didn't make any commitments really and also didn't have to buy anything up front, and they get milk so it was a win win. Everything worked out so swimmingly and out of the blue I just went for it.
Since I read this I've been thinking intensely about what to do. Since they're already here I will go forward with they original plan for now. If I see orf I will take them off the property back to the owners immediately because I read that can last a long time in the soil. Even tho I read it is pretty common id rather not start off with it. I'll test for Johnes and see if they can test for cl and OPP and whatever else. I've been working 6 days a week but am done next week so can finally call the lab and get that ball rolling. If they do test positive(I know for Johnes that would be yearly), then I'll take them back to their owners and not get sheep for a couple years to be safe. I've read a bit about Johnes management, so in that worst case scenario I have an idea what to do to keep future calves safe for the 12-18 months it would survive in this climate. CL bacteria also doesn't last a winter in this climate, but I couldn't find anything about OPP. Anyway that's my plan, I'm hoping for the best but if it turns out for the worse it will be a lesson learned. I guess that's one positive of living with intensely cold winters tho, from what I've read most of these diseases don't last long in the soil here. So if I screwed up and brought a disease here, with some precautions we should be in the clear in a year or two.