permaculture

[Mark <mpludwig@facstaff.wisc.edu>]

Interesting post from grazeres edge....
Mark L

> Date: Tue, 13 Aug 2002 08:42:07 -0500
> From: Lucky Pittman <Lucky.Pittman@murraystate.edu>
> Subject: [grazersedge] Sheep & goats, worms, & pasture management
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> At 01:04 AM 08/11/2002 -0500, Clay wrote:
> >     I have a neighbor who raises sheep and he contends that the worms 
> become
> >infective after 4 days but will mostly die if after 30 days.   Is that the
> >reason you choose to move the sheep every 4 days?
>
> Folks,
> Back in the Dark Ages, in my animal science courses & again, in veterinary
> school, they impressed upon us the 3 Ps of sheep production in the
> Southeastern US - Parasites, Predators, & People; Parasites kill the
> majority of them, roaming dogs(this was before we had any coyotes) get the
> next big chunk, and People are responsible for the remainder of deaths,
> mainly due to their ignorance or obstinance.  I find that even now, 25+
> years later,  it still rings true.
>
> Here in western KY, we don't have all that many sheep, but we've
> experienced an exponential expansion in the number of folks raising(or
> attempting to) goats.
> By far and away, intestinal parasites - especially the nematode, Haemonchus
> contortus(barberpole worm), and various species of coccidia, claim the
> majority of the animals.  Our long, warm(hot) humid spring, summer, and
> fall are ideal, in most years, for build-up of large numbers of infective
> parasite larvae on pastures, and our winters are not cold enough to have
> much effect on diminishing parasites, either.
> I have rarely seen intestinal parasite actually kill a cow - yes, they'll
> impact weight gain & other production parameters, but almost never will
> they actually kill a cow,  but sheep, goats, and bison are another story -
> they just did not evolve to be enclosed on a small acreage where parasite
> numbers often reach epic proportions.
> In my area, many of the neophyte goat producers have had some experience
> running beef cattle, but goats and sheep are NOT just small cattle - they
> do pretty well when they're turned into rough brushy country(goats are
> primarily browsers, not grazers) or out in the arid west where they're
> ranging on large acreages where it's a long distance between blades of
> grass, but here in the humid Southeast, if they put 'em on a predominantly
> grass pasture - and they tend to overstock - and never rotate the pasture,
> it's not long before the parasites start taking their toll.
> Rotation of anthelmintics(dewormers) is very important, but unfortunately,
> most producers and veterinarians alike, don't really understand how to do
> it - proper, effective rotation of dewormers does NOT mean using a
> different product every time you deworm.  But, it's been done that way too
> much, and as a result, we have a major problem with resistance to many of
> the products available to us - particularly the benzimidazoles(Tramisol,
> Safeguard/Panacur, Valbazen, etc.), and when we get resistance to one of
> those products, for the most part, the parasites are resistant to all of
> the other members of that class of products.
>
> Linked below is a webpage I came across recently, that discusses, about as
> well as I've seen it done, the life cycle and biology of H.contortus, and a
> reasonable approach and the 'whys' and 'hows' of pasture rotation,
> selection for innate resistance to parasites, etc.  Not too terribly
> technical, and I expect anyone on this list will have no trouble
> deciphering it.  Hope it's of some benefit to you small ruminant folks.
>
> http://209.150.129.110/nematodes.htm
>
>
>
> Louis L. "Lucky" Pittman, Jr., DVM
> Veterinary Pathologist/Asst. Prof.
> Murray St. Univ.-Breathitt Veterinary Ctr.
> Hopkinsville, KY
>
>
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Mark P. Ludwig
Poultry Research Lab
University of Wisconsin -Madison
608-262-1730 WK
608-846-7125 HM