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Caring For Your New Jager Farm Icelandic Sheep
~ Basic husbandry to keep them healthy ~
1. First and foremost, you must quarantine your new sheep for at least two weeks. This allows your new sheep to get used to the germs on your farm in a slow and gradual way. Every farm has its own set of bacteria and viruses, not unlike the cold germs in a school classroom. If your new sheep immediately go in with your existing flock, you will be suddenly exposing them to a whole new set of germs, making their adjustment period more stressful than necessary. The two week quarantine will allow for a gradual exposure to your farm germs as you handle hoses, water buckets and feeders while you care for them. This is particularly important if you are bringing in sheep from more than one farm at a time.
2. During quarantine, you need to drench your new purchases for worms, in particular the dangerous Haemonchus Contortus, aka Barber Pole worm. Your sheep have been wormed as they left our farm, which is our obligation as a seller, but to protect your own flock, you should worm them again while they are safely in quarantine. Use at least one wormer effective against Barber Pole, and using two wormers would be even better. Barber Pole resistance is becoming a huge economic threat to our National Sheep flock, and we are all part of the effort to prevent resistant Barber Pole from spreading. By worming your sheep while they are in quarantine, you can help prevent the management disaster of buying in resistant Barber Pole to your farm. As far as we know, we do not have Ivomec-resistant Barber Pole here at Jager Farm, but an ounce of prevention in this case is well worth the pounds of cure that could be made necessary by inaction or inattention. Barber Pole is dangerous and should never be underestimated. Consult with your vet and sheep neighbors as to what wormers should be used.
3. Always give your sheep daily access to minerals, free choice; even during their quarantine or any other period of confinement. These are loose minerals mixed for sheep and goats only. A mineral block is to be avoided as it will wear down their teeth. Plus the block makes the sheep work too hard to get enough minerals and they will end up mineral deficient. Plain white salt will not give them the other critical trace minerals found in a mineral mix. Even if you offer plain salt alongside the mineral mix, the sheep will go to the salt instead, and not take in those critical minerals. A mineral mix for any other species may have added copper which is lethal to sheep and must be avoided. Be warned that some livestock supply folks are unaware of this danger and may accidentally sell you a mix for cattle. Avoid top-dressing their daily grain with a hand full of minerals, as it may be too much or not enough. The sheep know how much they need and will go to the mineral feeder when necessary. Sheep that do not have daily, free choice access to minerals cannot be healthy over the long term.
4. You must have a consulting relationship with a Veterinarian, preferably one experienced with small ruminants. Establish a relationship during routine times, before an emergency occurs. A vet that knows your flock during healthy times can diagnose a situation more quickly during an emergency. It is also more difficult to get a new vet to come to the farm during an emergency as they do not know you, or frankly, your willingness to pay farm bills, and they do not have the loyalty to you as a client for their limited available emergency time.
5. Keep your sheep free of internal parasites. Worms are the Achilles Heel of any small ruminant. Learn to check eyelids for anemia, as well as body condition and check weekly or even more often, during the parasite season. Take fecal samples to your vet for a worm count or learn to do fecal counts yourself. Learn from your sheep neighbors what the worm situation is like in your climate and in your locale. Take the FAMACHA clinic if you can and certainly design a parasite control protocol with your vet. Remember that during the worm season, certain factors can cause sudden, unexpected spikes in worm load, and remember also that smaller or less healthy sheep are often first affected. Bottle lambs, twins born to yearlings, or lambs from elderly ewes are most at risk. Also remember that the most important worming of the year is for the ewes just coming out of the lambing jug. I will always worm the sheep as they leave my farm, as is my obligation as a seller. But note that the stress of moving to your farm may cause any worm eggs or arrested larvae in their gut to suddenly mature, so worm the sheep again during their quarantine period.
6. Provide shade and clean water during the hot months and shelter from the wind and freezing rain during the cold. Sheep that are stressed by their environment are more susceptible to parasites and disease. A three sided shed is often enough shelter for the winter as long as it is faced out of the wind. Trees or a barn will provide shade for the summer. Daily access to clean, cool, and in the winter, unfrozen water, is critical for sheep health.
7. Icelandics must be provided with a supplemental level of Selenium and Vitamin E as compared to other breeds. This cannot be emphasized strongly enough. Strong, anecdotal evidence suggests that Icelandics can develop symptoms of selenium or E deficiency even when they have daily access to a standard sheep mineral mix. Remember that the levels of selenium added to a sheep mix may have been formulated as if your soil were rich in selenium, even while vast regions of the country are actually selenium deficient. These levels were also not set with our unique breed in mind. ~ There is a long list of symptoms of deficiency that can develop in your flock if they have inadequate levels of selenium and vitamin E. These can include summer pneumonia, low fertility, diarrhea, heat intolerance, low resistance to worms or disease, poor, ineffectual deliveries, weak lambs, retained placentas and sudden death. Any animal that is always the first to lay down in the shade, who grazes laying down, or otherwise acts as if their legs or feet are sore, must be suspected of being deficient in E or selenium, or both. Likewise, summer or fall pneumonia is very often a result of inadequate levels of these critical nutrients. These symptoms can all be prevented by supplementing the animals on a regular basis, either by adding selenium and E powder into their mineral mix, or with boosters administered by the Selenium and E livestock gel, or with BoSe or MuSe shots. Please note that selenium supplementation must always be conducted under the direction of your farm vet. Be forewarned that just as small ruminant vets are often unfamiliar with our breed, they may also not have had experience with the unique symptoms of selenium and E deficiency in the Icelandic breed.
8. Set up your barnyard so that you have a "catch-pen", a small area that you can easily move the sheep into, and can then catch them for handling. It is imperative that you have a dependable way of catching for shearing, worming and vaccinations. Don't depend on "just grabbing" them in the paddock, as you will find yourself losing the shyest or spookiest to summer worms when they won't let themselves get caught.
9. Please call or email with any concerns or questions about your new sheep. Buyer support comes with your purchase! Even weeks or months down the road, we are happy to answer your questions. But we are early risers, so please call before 9:00 p.m. evenings. We are up at 6:00 during the week, and by 7:00 on weekends, so mornings are good as well. We want you to have a good experience with our Jager Farm sheep, and with our wonderful Icelandic breed!
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