[Jacob-list] 03’s Jacob La mbs, Creep, Jousting, & Keds

[ranchrat at telusplanet.net]

Heel low:

I would like to welcome into the world, my first Jacob lambs:

RATRANCH NIX 6SHOOTER 1N – twin ewe
RATRANCH NUBERCALCEUS 2N – twin ewe

RATRANCH NICTOAQUATRI 3N - triplet ram
RATRANCH NOTA SIGNUM3 4N – triplet ewe
RATRANCH NASCOR TRINI 5N – triplet ewe

I concur with the person who posted a while back on the list, saying the Jacob 
you figure that is going to lamb first does not.  I received a heck of surprise 
on Palm Sunday afternoon when I rounded the corner of the barn with a batch 
of “getting ready for lambing” lamb creep feed (soy meal/dried molasses/whole 
wheat/corn to be later topped with fresh alfalfa greens) and was greeted by 
Lego with two standing ewe lambs, Nix and Nuber!  Wow--that was an easy 
delivery!  

I went to a Sheep Symposium some years back and some of the phrases I quipped 
out of all my learnin’ was that “a pound of lamb is easier to put on than a 
pound of sheep”
in another words, the rate of gain is on the decline the moment 
a lamb is born
a pound of feed puts on more weight in a young sheep than on an 
older one.  The early introduction of forage and/or creep to a lamb gives it a 
head start on adjusting its intestinal system to accepting food besides just 
milk.  The sooner a lamb begins nibbling on hay/grass/grain, the quicker its 
ruminant adjusts to the new foods.  One reason sheep will die if they break 
into a grainery and consume large quantities of grain all at once is not 
because they could never handle an “all grain” diet, it is the sudden change in 
their diet to all that sheep candy that throws their whole arrangement off.  
They have a delicate digestive system that needs time to adjust to accept feed 
changes, something they would be accustomed to in the wild as spring grass 
would become more and more available if they were out on it all the time
we 
tend to “hold” them back off the pastures till the land dries out and the 
sudden flush of all that grass may cause scouring until their systems adjust.  
Introduction of a creep feed made available to lambs from day one is just a 
little added insurance I like to make available.  

I mix up my own creep as I too went to the feed store looking for a pre made 
creep and was turned off by the “automatically” medicated lamb pellets they 
had.  I was completely grossed out when the feed person exclaimed that the lamb 
feed HAD to have medication
tut tut tut to that concept--I prefer NOT to think 
of baby lambs as dirty little disease magnets :-(  Another tidbit from the 
Sheep Symposium came from a very decent sheep specialist who suggested that one 
only treat their sheep with preventatives that were area specific
in another 
words if you did not have Blue Tongue in your area, why would you medicate 
against it if it wasn’t there?  If your lambs were not sick or living in 
compromising conditions, why would they need antibiotics in their feed?  I do 
however not suggest that one forego the usual standard preventatives against 
the most common six sheep nasties which Glanvac 6-nfi and Tasvax 8-nfi cover

there are just some things one should NOT ignore as the Ovis Grim Reaper may 
come knocking!  :-0

The triplets (Nicto, Nota and Nascor) arrived just this last Saturday late 
afternoon.  Haley and her brood are all mothering up in a lambing pen now and 
will join Lego and her twins out in the sheep loafing area later this week 
pending the weather report is favourable.  We didn’t figure Haley was EVER 
going to have her babies
she just kept getting bigger and bigger!  All three 
are evenly sized at seven pounds a piece (that’s 21+ #’s out of an under 100# 
ewe—amazing!) and it is a delight to see them all clamor up on Haley’s back 
when she tucks in for the night.  Is this some sort of “king of the hill” antic 
or are they just seeking warmth and closeness?  We have heat lamps hung in the 
pens for insured heat, so the babies are not lacking warmth during our frosty 
nights.  I had to change out the feed tubs we were using in the jugs as the 
lambs kept competing for who would sleep the longest on Mommie’s food!  We are 
now using rubber buckets hung on the walls to keep the lambs out of the lunch 
pails.

I am immensely impressed with the vitality of Jacob babies, the twins are 
chubby do gooders and the triplets are well on their way to being butter balls 
too.  I am amazed that they are mouthing mommie’s food almost right off.  When 
I let the twins out into the sheep yard for the first time, they headed 
directly for the outdoor hay feeder and up inside they went.  Is there any 
truth to that rumour that Jacobs are half sheep/half GOAT?  I’d say “mountain” 
if any hybridizing was done from the way this pair acts!  I am sure the other 
Jacobs are not impressed with the baby toed fare, but I don’t see too much 
grumbling between mouthfuls


My pastures are sure going to be full of dotty dots this year and we already 
have the looky lou’s almost crashing into the ditches when the Jacobs are out 
and about.  And yes, I’ve tortured everyone at work with “home videos” of the 
lammies
maybe next year I will have gained a little more self control, but 
somehow I doubt it!  There is just too much EXCITEMENT happening
how many is 
she going to have, what markings, what gender, is everyone doing OK
what’s the 
fleece going to be like
the horns—how will they turn out, what kind of 
personalities will they develop?  Jacobs are just too cool a sheep breed and I 
doubt I am ever going to take lambing for granted, let alone become complacent 
with any aspect about them!

Applied for and was approved for my Canadian recognized sheep tattoo letters
to 
say I am tickled over my acquisition is an understatement
all my Jacobs will be 
ear tattooed with the letters:  JACB
  hee hee hee!  ;-)

JOUSTING
Grass is coming up well and my girls have been out kicking up their heels 
nibbling at the finery including the woman of the house's prized 
roses...thought they'd know the difference between Alberta roses and the 
imports gosh darn it all!  Watching Mia leap, skip, wag her tail and crow hop 
completely sums up spring time in Alberta.  Does anyone else’s Jacob ewes joust 
with their horns.  Mia invites Looker to a four horned saber match and it is 
priceless watching them rattle swords together.  I note that they like to 
scratch their horns and heads on low lying bushes, but this jousting and horn 
clattering
now that is something I would expect out of rams
but these are the 
ewes for Pete’s sake!

KEDS
> From: Heather Hettick <hettick1 at yahoo.com>
> Subject: [Jacob-list] Re: ticks
> 
> My sheep have ticks this year too.  We switched from
> Ivomec this year and used Valbazen in the fall
> instead.  Last year I found 3 or three stray keds in
> the fleeces but I have 5 chickens who spend a lot of
> time around the sheep and was hoping they'd take care
> of that problem but I had noticed some itching this
> winter and found a few sheep, one family in particular
> and the ram, pretty infested at shearing time.  Our
> llama seemed itchy too but he hasn't been clipped yet
> and doesn't seem too bad any more.  We have some nasty
> pour on stuff we'd used after having lice on some
> Angora goats we had for a short time that I was  
> thinking of using on them but was afraid to apply it
> while they are still nursing.  The lice never bothered
> the sheep too much but the llama had them.  It sounds
> like ivomec works best and I'm comfortable with it
> being pretty safe.  Does anyone have another
> suggestion since we were trying to rest from ivomec
> this year? 
> 
> Heather Hettick
> Moonstruck Jacob Sheep
> Creston, OH

I am a bit confused about what I perceive to be the exchange of “lice” with the 
word “tick” as these two creepies are different from each other.  I will 
address only “ticks” as I am more educated about with them than sheep lice 
(Damalinia ovis) though I know lice are host specific, all farm species have 
their own kind and they do not live long off their biologically intended 
victims.

Three separate vets have advised me that Ivomectin-nfi (drench or injectible) 
will NOT kill Sheep Keds (ticks- commonly Melophagus ovinus) and if one reads 
the product packaging:  “INDICATIONS  For the treatment of infections and 
infestations due to internal and external parasites in cattle and swine, and 
parasitic infections due to internal parasites in sheep.”    Again
INTERNAL 
PARASITES IN SHEEP.  Keds & lice are EXTERNAL parasites!

You must use a specifically stated product to exterminate Keds and once your 
Jacobs are Ked free (adults & eggs), repeated medication for Keds is irrelevant 
since unlike internal worms (50% on average survive the deworming process), you 
are able to do a complete eradication.  One lady has said that Tramisol-nfi 
(sheep dewormer bolus) got rid of Keds on her sheep, but in my own experiences 
this proved untrue.  I have also tried the “dusting” powders like KilDri-nfi to 
no avail.  I found a living Ked and put them in a baggie with some of the dust 
and it proceeded to live on mucking around in the powder
blick!

Under the direction of my vet, I have used BOSS-nfi (permethrin is the active 
ingredient (5.0% w/w)—highly toxic to fish, but suppose to be safe for pregnant 
ewes, lambs, and lactation probably because it is not absorbed thru the skin) 
insecticide Pour On (off label use of a cattle product) because I was unable to 
find Ectiban-nfi which is an approved sheep product whose active ingredient is 
also permethrin.  A 900 ml jug of BOSS is about 40 Canuck bucks and this is for 
about 180 applications of 5 ml.  You pour it along the spine (preferably your 
sheep have shorter fleeces so the product may get down to where it may do its 
job) and re-administer the product again after two weeks to kill the Ked eggs 
who should by that time have hatched out at 17 – 20 days.  

Once your sheep are tick free, they should remain this way unless a Ked hitches 
a ride in with a shearer, visitors who have sheep, or you unwittingly acquire 
other sheep infested with Keds.  Keds, who may live for a week or so off sheep 
and then die, are like human head lice and may infest a completely clean animal 
and are not specifically due to filthy or unsanitary conditions.  They are 
simply an external parasite that has adapted very well to co-exists on sheep 
(fleas & dogs?).  I challenge anyone to find a cleaner barn or living 
conditions than what I provide for my flock.  My land has never had sheep on it 
prior to the introduction of my Jacobs and the Keds just happened to come along 
for the ride to the new digs.  I would hope that producers eliminated Sheep 
Keds from their flocks and keep them this way thru the quarantine, inspection, 
and treatment of new additions.  Anyone suggesting a Ked outbreak is somehow 
due to “dirtiness” does nothing positive towards handling the situation
any 
producer is at risk if they do not know the facts involved and take the 
appropriate action.

Ticks tend to be “breed” specific and require a specific “host” to survive and 
multiply
my vet advised me that my sheep cannot get ticks from llamas, dogs, 
pigs, poultry, cattle, or most other species, though he was unsure about 
pigeons, which I find strange?  Shearing Ked infested sheep is a quick fix at 
dropping the numbers as these ticks do not like being exposed to the open 
environment though some will certainly survive and your entire flock should be 
treated at the same time.  Good animal husbandry would dictate that you 
eliminate these nasty creatures so your Jacobs may get down to enjoying life 
just being a sheep instead of a walking sustenance provider.  

Ked infested sheep will exhibit similar symptoms to “Scrapie” and will rub 
themselves past the point of distraction, sometimes raw trying for relief.  In 
some instances, one chalks up all the “itchy” sheep to it being springtime and 
the animals are just hot and bothered with their winter clothing not being 
off.  Other symptoms in Jacobs are taking a step and bobbing their heads 
downwards and holding it there, some will seek out cooler environments to 
encourage the insect activity to “slow” down, and of course, if you examine the 
fleece you will find reddish brown Ked eggs, brownish Keds and darkish damaged 
fiber.  Heavy areas of infestation are the back legs just above the hocks, on 
the chest and up the neck and sometimes the belly area
they really can multiply 
and it is unnerving the number that a single animal may have living on them.  
Anyone who feeds their sheep with economics in mind will realize that tick 
infested animals are not going to be good doers and will expel energy taking 
care of their itchiness and sometimes will go right off feed, plainly being 
miserable!  Excessive Keds also cause anemia and tick infestations tend to be 
worse during the winter and decrease in the hot months.  

Unfortunately, I personally do not know of a “natural” method other than 
shearing or picking off the Ked eggs, to rid a sheep of them.  The adult Keds 
bury their biting parts into the sheep’s skin, so removing them physically 
risks leaving portions of them behind to cause skin infection for your Jacobs—
keds cause “cockles” in a sheep’s hide (hard nodules that do not take dyes and 
appear as a raised blemish in a tanned hide) and therefore devalue your Jacob 
end products.  

There is no need to spray pastures for Keds if they have been sheep free for 
over a week and your wool will be OK off the sheep but probably contain dead 
Keds and the eggs after a week passes.  Ticks DO damage the wool fibers and I 
have noted “grayish” areas where they have been obviously residing
your Jacobs 
may rub areas raw right to their flesh and damage their own wool because of the 
Keds.  I am unsure if the BOSS insecticide would have negative repercussions on 
wool taken off after its application.  Since it is a “cow” product and most 
people do not use cow hair for crafting, I am unsure if I would retain any 
fleece that was exposed to this product.  Shearing your sheep prior to its 
application would ensure a better action on the part of the pour on, for sure!

My vet more or less advised me that you have to hit the Keds with a directly 
targeting product and hit them hard, all at once, and follow up to get the eggs 
that hatch out in two+ weeks.  I’d rather not risk using noxious products that 
may harm fish, etc. but I cannot stand to see my animals suffer over something 
I am capable of relieving them from. Good luck with your crawly clean up!  :-p

Here are a few good internet links regarding Sheep Keds:

http://www.agric.gov.ab.ca/agdex/400/30065201.html
http://www.uky.edu/Agriculture/Entomology/entfacts/livestc/ef503.htm
http://www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/Insects/g1142.htm
http://www.cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/_b/100B15.html

Doggone feeling “itchy” myself over this last topic
yick!

Tara
-- 
     ____(\                Tara Lee Higgins                  /)____ 
    (_____~>        Rat Ranch - An ACD is for LIFE          <~_____) 
   ( ``  ``          ranchrat at telusplanet.net                ``  `` ) 
    \                       Alberta Canada                         / 
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