Sheep question

ChickenLover200

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I have two Katahdin Hair sheep and in December they were "diagnosed" with having lice. After five dustings with powder, they're still losing hair rapidly down to the skin and my Barbados cross looks like she went througha shredder.
They also seem to have runny manure or something down their back legs. My first guess was possible worms because of that, but they were just dewormed not long ago.
 
Just because they were dewormed recently does not rule out the possibility of parasites. Most drench dewormers labelled for sheep are out of their system in just a few days, which means they can reinfest rapidly if the conditions are favorable for parasites. Hopefully you don't have drug-resistant parasites. Coccidiosis could be responsible for the diarrhea as well. I think your best bet would be to take a fecal sample from each one into your local livestock vet and have them do a fecal test. You may also talk to the vet about the possibility of using an injectable dewormer, like ivermectin or doramectin, which have longer withdrawal times and will also treat biting lice. Good luck and I hope you get things figured out.
 
An injection dewormer is what we used. I think I probably will get the vet back out here soon and get things checked out. Wouldn't want anything to happen to my girls :)
They're my bottle lambs :D
 
I agree that a vet is your best bet! They will be able to tell you exactly what type of lice are affecting your sheep and what will work best to treat them. A fecal test will tell you what parasites are present and the vet can recommend a wormer best for that species. Not all wormers are equal in what types of parasites they treat!
 

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