Phaedra
Garden Addicted
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2021
- Messages
- 2,882
- Reaction score
- 14,357
- Points
- 215
- Location
- Schleiden, Germany USDA 8a
Bay, you're my inspiration, as usual!
Baymule’s Farm
- Thread starter baymule
- Start date
flowerbug
Garden Master
at first when i saw it i didn't think it was that strong but then i saw the diagonal wire tensioners and that was fine. using just the one chunk of wood in the middle for a spacer means a few feet less of wood needed instead of running wood diagonals.
so good job there! - Thread starter
- #1,123
baymule
Garden Master
That goes both ways. You with your beautiful flowers and vegetables are are inspiring. I can’t wait to see what you do with your shop!
- Thread starter
- #1,124
baymule
Garden Master
I worked my sheep, running them through the chute, taking fecal samples. A combination of the extreme heat, 100F to 112F degrees for two months, no rain, no grass and on dry lot has taken its toll. Plus some of the ewes had lambs on them, drawing them down. I weaned ram lambs 2 weeks ago, there are 4 ewe lambs still on their moms.
With only one field fenced, I can’t rotate the sheep to different pastures, so the Barber Pole worms have had a party. Barber Pole worms attach to the intestinal wall and suck blood. A large load can cause anemia and death. I have culled and bred for parasite resistance. Normally my sheep have very low count numbers, but everything combined has been hard on them.
I have ewes that normally have a count under 300, but now their count is several thousand. I ran them through the chute again yesterday and wormed those that needed it and took fecal samples from 8 more, that finished that bunch. I processed those, counting worm eggs under the microscope. I’ll run them through the chute again this morning and worm them. Most are not bad, but a far cry from where they were in April, when I last checked.
Worms will go dormant in winter and I’ll get the flock cleaned up. I’ll be working on fence and cleaning fence row this winter, so that will give me more pasture for them.
Moving them twice in 6 months was stressful. Even though I’ve been here for a year, this summer has been really stressful and hard on them. I’m kinda bummed about the worm count, but all factors considered, it could be a whole lot worse. I can’t fault any of them for being wormy, I’ll worm them and take it from there.
I’m using Panacur on most of them. There is 3 or 4 that I’m using Valbazen on. They all will get treated twice, wait a few weeks and test again. Normally I only worm 2 or 3, but this hasn’t been a normal year. Being able to check fecal samples under the microscope gives me a clear picture of where they are parasites wise and is a valuable tool for the health of my flock.
With only one field fenced, I can’t rotate the sheep to different pastures, so the Barber Pole worms have had a party. Barber Pole worms attach to the intestinal wall and suck blood. A large load can cause anemia and death. I have culled and bred for parasite resistance. Normally my sheep have very low count numbers, but everything combined has been hard on them.
I have ewes that normally have a count under 300, but now their count is several thousand. I ran them through the chute again yesterday and wormed those that needed it and took fecal samples from 8 more, that finished that bunch. I processed those, counting worm eggs under the microscope. I’ll run them through the chute again this morning and worm them. Most are not bad, but a far cry from where they were in April, when I last checked.
Worms will go dormant in winter and I’ll get the flock cleaned up. I’ll be working on fence and cleaning fence row this winter, so that will give me more pasture for them.
Moving them twice in 6 months was stressful. Even though I’ve been here for a year, this summer has been really stressful and hard on them. I’m kinda bummed about the worm count, but all factors considered, it could be a whole lot worse. I can’t fault any of them for being wormy, I’ll worm them and take it from there.
I’m using Panacur on most of them. There is 3 or 4 that I’m using Valbazen on. They all will get treated twice, wait a few weeks and test again. Normally I only worm 2 or 3, but this hasn’t been a normal year. Being able to check fecal samples under the microscope gives me a clear picture of where they are parasites wise and is a valuable tool for the health of my flock.
AMKuska
Garden Master
I remember you saying your goal was to get worm resistant sheep. Will you be culling anyone over worm count? Or is this just the nature of the weather, etc.?
- Thread starter
- #1,126
baymule
Garden Master
I think it is super heat, having lambs, no grass, dry lot and being on the same field for a year. Just a perfect storm. A lot is stress on them. Only a few actually look bad, the rest look good.
I won’t be culling any out. I can’t fault them for these extreme conditions. I’ll worm them and monitor closely. There are a few that I will be watching.
AMKuska
Garden Master
That's true. This is highly unusual.
- Thread starter
- #1,128
baymule
Garden Master
It RAINED TODAY!!!!!!!! Drops of that exotic elixir fell from the sky!!
Look closely and see the RAIN running off the porch roof!
Feast your eyes upon the teeniest itty bitty RAIN in the gauge! WHOOP !
Within the hour, the ground was dry.
Then late this afternoon………
It RAINED again! I got PUDDLES!
If you thought the first rain gauge picture was exciting, LOOK AT THIS!
A half inch of rain! This drought isn’t busted, but the process has begun. It’s a cool 87F outside. Nice.
Look closely and see the RAIN running off the porch roof!
Feast your eyes upon the teeniest itty bitty RAIN in the gauge! WHOOP !
Within the hour, the ground was dry.
Then late this afternoon………
It RAINED again! I got PUDDLES!
If you thought the first rain gauge picture was exciting, LOOK AT THIS!
A half inch of rain! This drought isn’t busted, but the process has begun. It’s a cool 87F outside. Nice.
AMKuska
Garden Master
That's definitely going to help!! Gosh, remember when you were talking about how much rain there was earlier this year and how everything was mud?
- Thread starter
- #1,130
baymule
Garden Master
Mud or drought. Weather just can’t make up her mind!
