Sheep Feed and Digestion

To understand how to properly feed your flock, you need to know a bit about ruminant digestion. Ruminants have a four chambered stomach as opposed to a single stomach like humans, dogs, horses, pigs and many other animals. When sheep eat grass or hay, the food slips down the esophagus into the largest chamber , a fermentation and storage organ called the Rumen. Sheep don't do much chewing as they forage, that activity comes later. When the sheep finds a quiet spot to rest and regurgitate the under-masticated vegetable matter, it will then do some real chewing or ruminating, before again swallowing its "cud" for final digestion. Even with all this rumination, the cellulose in fibrous plant feed is difficult to digest. Fortunately, ruminants have billions of helpful protozoa and bacteria residing in their Rumen that flourish on high fiber diets. These microbes produce protein as a by-product of the fermentation process, another perk for the sheep. Further digestions occurs in the Abomasun or true stomach, which secrets acids and enzymes similar to the human stomach. The basic components of a healthy sheep diet include water, forage, grain, vitamins and minerals.


Have a blessed Holiday ~ Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family

The Karras Family
Karras Farm
http://karrasfarm.com
http://eastfriesiansheep.com
http://awassisheep.com
andy@karrasfarm.com

 

East Friesian Sheep - Nasal Bots

Nasal Bots are the adult stage of the female fly. They lay tiny eggs on the nose of sheep, then the larvae crawl up the nose and into the sinuses where they mature into large larvae. Eight to ten months later the bots come out of the nose, drop to the ground and develop into flies. While in the sinus, the larvae may cause severe irritation. Ivermectin products are most effective against the larvae stage but sheep may be repeatedly affected as new larvae migrate to the sinuses.

Andy Karras - Karras Farm

http://eastfriesiansheep.com
http://awassisheep.com
http://karrasfarm.com
andy@karrasfarm.com



East Friesian Dairy Sheep Grazing



Ovine Progressive Pneumonia

Ovine Progressive Pneumonia (OPP) is caused by a slow growing virus that infects lambs and manifests itself as a disease after the lamb has reached two years of age. It primarily affects the lungs and udder, but may also involve other tissues.

OPP causes chronic weight loss despite a good appetite; labored breathing; and a well formed udder that produces little to no milk. Opp can spread from older animals to lambs through the ewes’ milk.

Some producers have established OPP-free flocks, but this can be very difficult and expensive to accomplish. Don’t confine young sheep in close quarters with infected adult animals. Cull affected animals early in the course of the disease. A blood test can be used to determine if a sheep is infected, but may not be 100% reliable. A Necropsy is the only way to determine with certainty if an animal is infected with OPP. There is no known effective treatment for OPP and the disease slowly leads to death.

At Karras Farm, all our East Friesian Dairy Sheep are OPP- free flocks. We strive to produce the healthiest dairy sheep in the world.

Thank you,

Andy Karras

Karras Farm

andy@karrasfarm.com

http://eastfriesiansheep.com/

http://awassisheep.com/

How To Detect A Sick Sheep

How to detect a sick sheep:

Detecting a sick animal quickly can prevent loss of life and the potential spread of disease to the flock.

You must become familiar with normal behavior of your sheep. You must also have quick and easy ways of catching sheep to access them if needed. Areas such as a feed corral work well. 

Signs of abnormality are loss of appetite or not coming to eat as usual, not ruminating and standing apart from the group when at rest. Be very concerned if a sheep is laying down most of the time when other sheep are not. Any weakness or staggering, unusual labored or fast breathing, change in bowel movement, wool discoloration or slipping, hanging their head over the water source or a temperature over 104 degrees can all be possible indications of illness.

The normal temperature of sheep ranges from 100.9 to 103 degrees (average 102.3 degrees). A veterinary rectal thermometer has a ring or hole at the outer end to tie a string for easy removal.

If it is necessary to catch a urine sample for use with the pregnancy toxemia (ketosis) strips or glucose strips for Enterotoxaemia, try holding the sheep nostrils closed for a moment. This "stress" sometimes triggers urination.

Areas where sheep are more likely to transmit germs:

1.      Water or feed contaminated by feces from sheep or other animals can transmit intestinal diseases and parasites.

2.      Respiratory disease may be spread by nasal discharge or feeding containers.

3.      Dirty uncrotched wool on a ewe can infect the lamb.

4.      Manure accumulated in a lambing shed or around a feeding trough can intensify exposure to disease germs and Coccidiosis, serve as breeding grounds for flies and other vermin. Another side affect can be the production of ammonia fumes which can inhibit respiratory function.

5.      Wet, muddy places can cause hoof disease in sheep

6.      Feeding on bare ground should be avoided and can contribute to parasite exposure and disease.

7.      Venereal transmission of disease at breeding time.

8.      Dirty syringes and needles can cause injection site infections.

9.      Insects, birds, snails, dogs, cats and other hosts can be carriers of parasites and disease.

10.  Newly acquired sheep can be carriers of many serious diseases such as Brucellosis, Chlamydia, OPP, Foot Rot etc.

At Karris Farm we maintain a healthy and sanitary surrounding. Our East Friesian sheep are adequately fed a well balanced diet on a normal schedule which aids in the prevention of disease. We also deworm our east Friesian Dairy Sheep regularly preventing parasite build up which can weaken the sheep and leave the more susceptible to disease. Sound management dictates that sheep should be vaccinated against all ailments and diseases prevalent in your area.

We wish all our friends, customer and sheep lovers a wonderful summer!

Sincerely,

Andy Karras
Karras Farm
karrasfarm@gmail.com
http://eastfriesiansheep.com/
http://awassisheep.com/

Dairy Sheep - Early Lambing or Late Lambing?

There are some advantages / disadvantages for both early and late lambing so we thought we would share some of our experiences on both.

Early Lambing:

1. There are fewer parasites on the grass pasture due to the colder temperatures.
2. Ewe lambs born early are more apt to breed as lambs.
3. The earlier they are born the sooner you're able to place lambs at their new homes.
4. Lambs will be ready to graze the fresh spring grass.
5. Very few fly problems in the winter. 

Late Lambing:

1. Ewe will require sheering prior to lambing which can be stressful.
2. Lambs tolerate the cool weather better. Typically lambs born in a hot environment will not develop as quickly.
3. Less grain is required  for late lambing.
4. Ewe and Ram lambs will not reach breeding maturity until the following spring.

At Karras Farm, we have found that lambing in February has the best all around benefits. By May the lambs are at their new homes and we prevent some of the negative side effects that late lambing can promote. We believe that early maturity is key to prolific lambs.

Please stay in touch and feel free to leave comments with your experiences.

Sincerely,

Andy Karras

Karras Farm
karrasfarm@gmail.com
http://eastfriesiansheep.com/
http://awassisheep.com/

East Friesian Dairy Sheep Photos - Spring 2012

Here are a few photos of our prised East Friesian Dairy Sheep. Karras farm has had a successful lambing season and we wanted to share some photos of these beautiful sheep.






Thanks for taking the time to view our blog. Feel free to contact us with any dairy sheep needs or questions.

Sincerely,

Andy Karras
Karras Farm
karrasfarm@gmail.com
http://eastfriesiansheep.com/
http://awassisheep.com/

East Friesian Sheep Vision

Sheep have poor depth perception (three dimensional vision) especially if they are moving with their head up. This is why they often stop to examine things more closely. Sheep have difficulty picking out small details, like an open space created by a partially opened gate. Sheep tend to avoid shadows and sharp contrasts between light and dark. They are generally reluctant to go where they can't see well.

For many years it was believed that sheep and other livestock couldn't perceive color. It has since been proven that livestock process colors necessary for color vision. Research has shown that livestock can differentiate colors though their color perception is less than 50% of a humans color perception.

Have a super weekend!

Andy Karras
Karras Farm
karrasfarm@gmail.com
http://eastfriesiansheep.com/
http://awassisheep.com/