I remember once when I was quite young I got ringworm on my arm. When my mother gave the official diagnosis, I remember panicking thinking that a worm was living in my arm, and screamed for her to get it out. Worms are not welcome in bodies, human or animals. Today I had a discussion with a commercial sheep breeder about worms, particulary C. Ovis, a tapeworm that lives in dogs and sheep. There is a relationship between the two and both are necessary for the cycle. The worm is a tapeworm and in sheep, it burrows in the muscles and creates white pustules, which result in condemnation of the meat, so it is vital that it is not in the flock. Many shepherds keep livestock guardian dogs. The worms hatch in the dogs and the dogs shed them through stool. They look like rice, but I have never seen them in any stool here on the farm. I do not believe it is good practice to treat an entire flock for worms if only one or two appear to have symptoms. Here, I keep tabs with the Famacha system, which checks the colour of the lower eyelid. The pale and white colour is dangerous, showing a high wormload that the sheep is not managing and the result is severe anemia. Medium pink is a warning to watch that sheep closely and red and dark pink show that the sheep is somehow either resistant to the worms or is managing them. In my humble opinion, it is the sheep that are resistant and managing that a shepherd should breed to bring back the traits of natural worm resistance. In the wild, chemical wormers are never used of course. The weak sheep may succumb to a worm load, but that sheep is not the type that would do the flock in good stead anyhow. Survival of the fittest is indeed, the best way. Commercial flocks cannot afford to allow sheep to die or get worms, especially the tapeworm C. Ovis, which causes great loss of dollars. so most often the entire flock is wormed. This builds resistance to chemical wormers and soon they are no longer effective as the worms become super worms. Unless we return to allowing nature to select for worm resistance and practice rotational grazing, that is grazing short periods and moving the flock on, not to return to that grazing area for months, which allows the worm eggs to die off. Some natural substances are quite effective as well. I have been experimenting with garlic, feeding garlic mixed with baking soda and a little salt, free choice. The sheep seem to like it and willfully eat it in varying quantities, but not every sheep. There are four ewe lambs, all Jacobs, who do not like it and do not eat it. Based on the Famacha scoring, they have higher worm loads than the other ewe lambs. For these sheep, the garlic needs to be mixed with a sweet feed in order to get them to consume it. Molasses on kelp should also work. The goats quite like the garlic/salt/baking soda mix and also willingly eat it, but the rams are as the ewe lambs, with only some eating it and others not. I will purchase some dried molasses and mix the garlic with it, because I know they all eat it then. I am sure if it was mixed with grain they also would eat it, but the greedy sheep would overeat the grain and may get sick.
The subject of worming is very complicated with all the critters on the farm and the cross contamination from some species to others, such as the dogs and the sheep. This is a small farm with a total of nearly 50 sheep and on hands management is possible due to the small numbers. Daily, I go into the sheep pens and watch and check various animals. When there is no response to the garlic, then and only then, does the animal get a chemical wormer, but they likely will also get their walking papers if this occurs frequently. For now, the garlic and sometimes herbs and garlic method seems to be working for the most part. It is part and parcel of a whole farm organic management emphasis and to create a worm free flock will take years, breeding and selecting only the sheep that are naturally worm resistant. Then, those sheep will be amazing. I hope I am around to do it and see it.
The subject of worming is very complicated with all the critters on the farm and the cross contamination from some species to others, such as the dogs and the sheep. This is a small farm with a total of nearly 50 sheep and on hands management is possible due to the small numbers. Daily, I go into the sheep pens and watch and check various animals. When there is no response to the garlic, then and only then, does the animal get a chemical wormer, but they likely will also get their walking papers if this occurs frequently. For now, the garlic and sometimes herbs and garlic method seems to be working for the most part. It is part and parcel of a whole farm organic management emphasis and to create a worm free flock will take years, breeding and selecting only the sheep that are naturally worm resistant. Then, those sheep will be amazing. I hope I am around to do it and see it.
Famacha scoring checks the lower eyelid colour for sheep health and anemia from worms.
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