Eat them before the age of 2!Heel low:
Fires, 14 K outside of the nearest town from us. Red Sun, heavy smoke...water bombers and fire fighters. We knew it was going to come haunt us close to home...just a matter of when again. No fire bans or other preventatives and super dry again. Oh well...
Maybe I will be putting that new crate back together this weekend and high tailing it to safety...oh man, I would not be looking forward to a work bee like that.
Have a moment here...I chose a farm where I trusted the word of the persons selling me the animal. Not saying everyone is trustworthy but what the hay, eh.
Here's a bit more details on the QUARANTINE aspect with sheep...
How long does one quaratine the ram lamb for contagious disorders?
- PARASITES (external, for internal do fecal float) you would see, lice, keds, so you can examine an animal prior to introducing them to any flock members for creepy crawlies.
- DISORDERS OPP and Johnnes, unless you know the source and their integrity...good luck with prevention of that. Chronic, slow to appear (likely 2 years old when they stay thin, females only have singles...chronic and slow...). So how for both OPP and Johnnes...the quarantine period would be...at minimum for OPP...TWO year quarantine...good luck with that.
Add in "However most infected sheep never show clinical signs of disease." and what is a person to do?
http://www.oppsociety.org/About_OPP.html
OPP Concerned Sheep Breeders Society
— GENERAL FACT SHEET —
Ovine Progressive Pneumonia
By Cindy Wolf, DVM
"A recent study found that 26% of the sheep in the United States are infected with the OPP virus."
How long does one quaratine the ram lamb for contagious disorders?
"The infection happens in the first few months of a lamb’s life but the sheep may stay healthy for a very long time. Symptoms of disease may not show up for many months to years later."
https://johnes.org/sheep/faqs.html
JOHNE'S INFORMATION CENTER
- University of Wisconsin - School of Veterinary Medicine
FAQS
Another aspect about ovine disorders...some of the tests are not that good. False positives...and way back, one OPP test which should cost you about $15 tops in the States...costs us $250 if you deliver the sheep to the clinic. Not alot of persons out there that want to have a test done for $250 for ONE potential disorder!
I vaccinate for abscesses...our best vet advised us to do so in 2003 using Glanvac (which was disallowed and now is allowed again in Canada)...so my sheep will test positive for that because they have anti-bodies in their systems because we humans exposed them to a form of the disorder so they would not succumb to the more malicious expression of the said disorder. And around and around we go.
So to answer Benny's question about quarantine...to even attempt to do it properly, I am looking at minimum of a TWO YEAR QUARANTINE if I am hoping for expression of the disorders like OPP and Johnnes. By the time two years is up, I am thinking perhaps Èder will have joined his father Boss Man and I would have a ram flock in existence and then have no need for a weaning buddy for Èder!
My advice on getting a new sheep...trust...you need to know the health status of the flock you are interested in and trust the persons you are getting your new sheep from--trust them to be truthful with you, trust they know what they are doing, and blind luck trust things will go along for the best.
Sure you can be let down & and "I" chose to risk the farm (the ruminants)...but there is always, always a risk bringing in new animals to join an existing flock--what is not killing or harming yours, could kill the new one and vice versa.
I named Eldad hoping he would be "beloved to God" and the grace of the Powers that be...there go I!
Doggone & Chicken UP!
Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada
