OSU Sheep Team

Dr. Bill Shulaw, OSU Extension Veterinarian
A FAMACHA training session will be held at the Great Lakes Fiber Show at
the Wayne County fairgrounds in Wooster, OH, on May 23. The schedule and
more information about the event can be found at
http://www.greatlakesfibershow.com/shows-sales.htm
For information about registering for the FAMACHA training contact Marlene & Carl Gruetter: 740-256-1866 or e-mail at [...]

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Dr. Bill Shulaw, OSU Extension Veterinarian
Green grass is beginning to peek through the brown plant residues on many Ohio pastures. If our weather pattern is typical this spring, we will soon be enjoying warmer, but wetter, weather. Although we will welcome the flush of new forage that this weather will bring, this is [...]

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Dr. Bill Shulaw, OSU Extension Veterinarian
In the previous article we described the basic signs and causes of mastitis in ewes. Mastitis caused by bacteria can be acute or chronic. Acute mastitis often results in obvious signs in the ewe such as being off feed, feverish, and depressed along with changes in the milk. [...]

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Dr. Bill Shulaw, OSU Extension Veterinarian
Every year some flocks will have ewes that deliver a live healthy lamb(s) that subsequently 1) suffers starvation, 2) must be bottle raised, or 3) grows poorly. There are several possible causes for this observation. Poor mothering ability; poor nutrition of the ewe; and systemic diseases in the [...]

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Roger High, Ohio Sheep Extension Program Specialist
This O.S.U. Extension Coordinated Program is an effort to provide outreach programs in several areas of sheep production. We invite sheep and goat producers from around Ohio to come to one or more of the educational sessions to learn more about different areas of sheep and goat production.
Programs [...]

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Dr. Bill Shulaw, OSU Extension Veterinarian
The starvation/hypothermia complex usually comes about when multiple contributing factors are present and not just the simple occurrence of cold weather. Some of these include failure of the ewe to care for the lamb, difficult birth resulting in a weak lamb, bacterial mastitis in the ewe, “hard bag” in [...]

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Dr. Bill Shulaw, OSU Extension Veterinarian

There are many factors that affect lamb survival. Serious shepherds should consult the Sheep Production Handbook, produced by the American Sheep Industry Association (www.sheepusa.org), for a more complete discussion of the various conditions and infectious diseases which impact lamb survival. However, if a pregnancy is carried to term, most losses [...]

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1. From highest to lowest concentrations: sorghum, Sudax (sorghum-sudan hybrids), and sudangrass (as does wild cherry tree leaves) contain prussic acid that can be converted into cyanide. Pearl millet does not contain this compound

2. The highest concentrations of prussic acid occurs in the leaves of immature plants and the lowest concentrations are in the [...]

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Becky Talley, Sheep Industry News Associate Editor
In February of last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) officially announced the discovery of a Nor98-like scrapie case in a ewe from a flock in Wyoming. This was the first case of scrapie consistent with Nor98 discovered in the United [...]

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Bob Hendershot, USDA NRCS, Grassland Conservationist
(Originally Published in Sheep Team Newsletter October 2003)
Toxic levels of prussic acid or otherwise known hydrocyanic acid (HCN) form naturally in the leaves of many annual warm season grasses as well as a few other plants.  Johnson grass, sorghum, sudangrasses, sorghum-sudan hybrids and even the leaves of wild cherry trees [...]

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