29— Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 21,1979 - By JOAN LIESAU LEESPORT-“I contend that is you aren’t getting 150 per cent lamb crop, there are some weak links in your program” said Dr. Clair Engle, sheep Extension specialist at the Pennsylvania State University. Engle-was one of three speakers at the Berks County Sheep and Wool Growers Sheep Producers Evening, held AprifS, at the Berks County Agriculture Center. Dr. Larry Hutchinson, Penn State Extension Veterinarian and Jack Price, a purebred Hampshire sheep breeder from Westminster, Md. also highlighted the evening. Engle stated that when your looking for a ram to “look at performance. You can talk alot about pedigree and breads, but performance is where it counts. Don’t short change yourself when looking for a ram”he emphasized. Engle showed the producers a video tape, recently released by the American Sheep Producers Council, Denver, Colo., titled “Is There Profit in Commercial Flocks.” Production records and expense sheets were suggested by the producers of the tape. Engle said you should figure it costs $5O per year to take care of one ewe and her lamb. Therefore with a 100 per cent lamb crop, if the producer sold his lambs at $5O, he would just be breaking even. An annual expense detail and annual budget summary (see below) was given to the producers. Engle said costs such as shearing (which is listed as 75 cents per head) will vary according to your area. A space is left blank on the right side of the sheets so each producer can fill in his own expenses. - Sore mouth is a highly contagious virus which causes a mild infection in weaned lambs and older sheep stated Dr. Larry Hutchinson. One of the problems with sore mouth, he said, was that when a ewe gets the virus, her teats get sore and she doesn’t want her lamb to nurse. Because it is so highly contagious, if a sheep is exposed to any other sheep with sore mouth, you can get a sore mouth problem. Hutchinson said there was a vacine available, with the use depending on “what your doing with your sheep.” If you are showing your sheep and there is a “fair amount of traffic moving in and out of your flock” the vacine was advisable. Hutchinson said if you have a “basically closed flock” you could “probably get away without it.” Hut chinson stressed that you have to give die vacination when r* —-: 1 I P.L HESS, BUTLER MFG. CO. I Box 337, Oxford, PA 19363 Dealer Inquiries Available in. Pennsylvania Counties - < Clearfield, Venango Mercer, Lawrence, Beaver, Butler . Clarion, Armstrong, Indiana, Jefferson, New Jersey Coun- ! ties - Sussex, Hunterdon Somerset, Warren, Morris, Passaic • Name Address { County, j City FARMSTED® I I AGRI-BUILDER State there are not any lambs around The bes* time, he suggested, was when the lambs were weaned Hutchinson said that it nal.nalh exposed, sheep will become immunized to sore mouth. Tins immunity will last for about one year. “But if you count on this you will get a cromc situation” he said, explaining that a few of the sheep won’t get the virus, and then it spreads. Stringent regulations should be place on show flocks” he said. Not only the ones being shown but the sheep still on the farm, because show sheep can be carriers of the virus. Foot rot is contagious organism that’s “not too hard to buy on to your farm” Hutchinson said. The foot rot organism in sheepis not the same as in cattle. The cattle ANNUAL EXPENSE DETAIL FEED FOR EWE TOTAL FEED FOR EWE HEALTH TOTAL HEALTH SHEARING Once a year UTILITIES AND INSURANCE TOTAL UTILITIES AND INSURANCE EQUIPMENT AND REPAIRS Local estimate per ewe for maintenance and expendable materials BUILDINGS 16 sq ftVewe @ *2 50 *4O-20years = $2 00 *4O-7 5% interest = *3 00 RAMS 1 per 60 ewes per Syr *270 - 60 = *4 50 - 3 = *1 SO *3O maintenance - 60 = 150 LAMB FEED Creep plus post weaning 3601bs feed@s* ★ WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET! C & M SALES KNOXVILLE BEATTY & NELSON LEROY E. MYERS, INC. W. R. MOODY, RD#i CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTOR Route #l. Box 163 CONTRACTOR Honesdale, Pa 18431 Knoxville, Pa 16928 Biglerville, Pa. 17303 Clear Spring, Md 21722 113 Wa | nut Lane Phone 717-253-1612 Phone 814-326-4188 Phone 717-677-9310 Phone 301-582-1552 West Newton. Pa. 15089 Phone 412-872-6804 A. E. ENGEL. INC. KAFFERLIN SALES ORVILLE MACK AL MAURER GREENSIDE £ A .NFKT P.0.80x 216 & SERVICE P.0.80x 47 P.0.80x 78 CONTRACTING *'isOfcOC Marlton, NJ. 08053 R.D.K2 Nazareth. Pa. 18064 Cambra, Pa. 18611 p ,. fnn Mn oi i?o B r idee v. lie. Delawai Phone 609-983-4404 Union City, Pa 16438 Phone2ls-759-1331 Phone 717-864-3135 Plrow3M-337- Phone 814-438-3180 Management can make pf One lamb Two lambs Your Figures One lamb Two lambs Your Figures FARMSTED® II BEFORE YOU BUY ... Sec you I? LOCAL tit'autrt co\ m • MBM-OTMW W W fr AO«MHBUIiJDMB« | For Complete Details On The 40' x 50' x 14' FARMSTED I Galvanized Roof and Waits organism can live a long time in the soil. Whereas, the two organisms causing foot rot in sheep are not able to live away from the host animals, even under the most favorable conditions, for more than two weeks. This fact makes it possible to eradicate foot rot of sheep from a flock and from a farm. The first sign of foot rot infection is lameness. Sheep show soreness in one or more feet when they walk, and they take their weight off the affected foot at rest. When both forefeet are affected, sheep may-feed on their knees. As the disease progresses it will rapidly spread un derneath the thin horn at the top of the foot, and after a few weeks it will penetrate to the sole and wall of the foot, where it can live for months. Because it is beneath the Sole and wall of the foot, surface medication without removing the protective diseased horn is worthless. Hutchinson gave several suggestions to avoid foot rot. They were to buy clean sheep and to know the flock that you are buying from. See how the sheep move, he said, look at all four feet, trim them out, look again and smell. New sheep coming into the flock should be hand treated with one of the foot rot treatments. If there is a sign of foot rot, keep the new sheep strictly isolated and retreat until they are safe for your own flock, or can be returned to the seller. “It is a whole lot easier to be precautions and ke'ep it off the farm then trying to get rid of it once you have it” Hutchinson said. If you do have problems with foot rot, Hutchinson 1 suggested you immediatly separate the infected sheep from the rek of the flock. “Check it out” he said, “it could be a lot of other things, but suspect foot rot first.” Use a sharp hoof knife, pen knife, and a good sharp pair of foot shear to do the foot trimming. DisMect your knives before moving on to the next sheep. Trim all feet of all sheep. Those that show any lameness or have overgrown feet and evidence of dead tissue should have their feet trim med. Trim to the point where all the dead tissue is removed. This may necessarily require severe trimming down to the living tissue when heavily infected. A medication should then be applied with a paint brush or spray bottle, throughly covering all areas of the foot. Several suggested specific foot rot medications include: Ag-Mastei ★ BUILDINGS V\
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