OSU Sheep Team

Roger A. High, OSIA Executive Director
The 2009 Buckeye Shepherd’s Symposium is once again going to hit the road!  After four years on the road and back into Columbus for the 2008 Buckeye Shepherd’s Symposium, the 2009 Buckeye Shepherd’s Symposium will once again hit the road for this annual shepherd’s event!  This year’s Buckeye Shepherd’s Symposium [...]

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Rory Lewandowski, Extension Educator, Athens County
Reproductive performance is an important factor in determining profitability in the sheep flock. Most breeds of sheep have seasonal breeding patterns and the majority of flocks in Ohio are spring lambing.  In this scenario, the peak fertility of the ewe is from late September through November.  The breeding season will [...]

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Curt Stivison, Fairfield SWCD Engineering Technician and Stan Smith, Program Assistant, OSU Extension Fairfield County
Most know that for the past seven years, we’ve spent much time in Fairfield County investigating the virtues of oats as an annual forage when they are planted during mid to late summer, or even into early fall. While we’ve [...]

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Jeff McCutcheon, Extension Educator, Knox County
In Ohio it is possible to graze year round. Of course grazing in winter does take planning. Summer is the best time to plan for fall and winter grazing. Why? Because many of our options have tasks associated with them in summer. By planning ahead [...]

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Jeff McCutcheon, Extension Educator, Knox County
Fall is one of the most crucial time periods for our cool season pastures. The most important activity a livestock producer should be doing to help the pastures survive winter and remain productive next year is to avoid over-grazing.
Why is fall a critical time for our cool season perennial forages? [...]

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Curt Cline, Director for Commercial Flock Owners, Co-Chairman of Membership Services Ohio Sheep Improvement Association and Daryl Clark, Director for Lamb Feeders, Co-Chairman of Membership Services Ohio Sheep Improvement Association
As I begin to embark on this subject, I can’t help but think I should have changed the title to, “Where are the resources available to [...]

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Bill and Susan Shultz, Logan County Sheep Producers
Bill and Susan Shultz will be scanning their 2009 lamb crop on Friday, June 20, 2009 at their farm in DeGraff, Ohio. They have contracted with Bonnie Bradford, a skilled technician, to do the scanning of loin eye and back fat as she has done the past three [...]

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Mark Landefeld, Extension Educator, Monroe County
The time of year is quickly approaching when keeping pasture plants in a vegetative state is probably the hardest for forage producers. Managing pasture growth early in the growing season is important to maintain high quality and high quantity forage production throughout the spring, summer and fall. A “spring flush” [...]

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Jeff McCutcheon, Knox County Extension Educator
It is amazing that graziers say their focus is on the forage but they don’t measure it.
Most graziers use measurements related to animal production, like the reading from the bulk tank or the weight of animals on the auction sale receipt. These are good items to keep track of [...]

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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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