OSU Sheep Team

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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Tim Fine, Miami County Program Assistant
The 2009 Appalachian Grazing Conference will be held at the Lakeview Resort in Morgantown, West Virginia on March 6&7. For more information and registration details, log onto http://www.wvca.us/grazing_conference.
Log on and get registered soon as the reduced lodging rate of only $76.00/single occupancy coupled with the conference registration of $75.00 [...]

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Tim Fine, Miami County Program Assistant
Want to be a better manager of your pastures and your livestock at the same time? If you live in Northwest or Eastern Ohio, here is your opportunity.
The Hancock County Extension Office will offer a grazing school on March 12, 19, and 26 in Findlay, and the counties of [...]

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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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Rory Lewandowski, Extension Educator, Athens County
A small ruminant production school for sheep and goat producers will be held this winter in Athens County. The school will be held on 5 consecutive Tuesday evenings beginning on January 27 and continuing February 3, 10, 17 and 24. The school will be held at the Athens [...]

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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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Tim Fine, Miami County Program Assistant, and Dr. Bill Shulaw, OSU Extension Veterinarian
If you are producing sheep in the United States, there are a few resources provided by ASI that you will want to become familiar with.
“The Sheep Care Guide” published in 2006, can be downloaded for free at this web address. http://www.sheepusa.org/?page=site/text&nav_id=0f5f3dfebed3b57b05688c5eae9c8df7 . The [...]

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Tim Fine, Miami County Program Assistant and Mark Sulc, OSU Forage Specialist
The 2008 Forage Performance Trials Report is now available. It has been published in a special supplement to Ohio’s Country Journal, but is also available online at http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~perf/ and can be requested at any Ohio State University Extension office.

Included in the report are performance [...]

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Rory Lewandowski, Extension Educator, Athens County
Frost seeding is one method that producers can use to renovate pastures and improve pasture quality and/or the species mix within the pasture. Frost seeding involves broadcasting seed over a pasture area and letting the natural freeze/thaw cycles of late winter and early spring help to move the seed into [...]

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