New producers continue to enter the sheep community, but common beginner mistakes can become serious issues for the flock down the road, says small ruminant specialist Caroline Ihde.
Ihde, an outreach specialist with Iowa State University and the UW-Madison Division of Extension, says it’s been exciting to see new families or retirees find interest in sheep and goats.
“Most of my programming goes to people who are just getting into livestock. They’re retired, they want to have animals on their farm, or they’re younger, they want to explore getting into livestock,” she says.
When it comes to keeping your flock safe and productive, Ihde reminds producers to consider where they’re purchasing their animals and how they’re being biosecure when they get back to the farm.
“As far as bringing new animals onto the farm, biosecurity is really important for small ruminant producers because of the way we purchase and trade and move small ruminant animals around,” she says. “It’s important to be obtaining our animals from a reputable breeder… someone that you’ve vetted and asked questions of.”
Ihde also advises you to purchase your animal from an operation with a similar system as yours. When you get back from purchasing animals or when you return from the county fair, don’t forget to practice good biosecurity to prevent off-farm infections from contaminating your flock.
“It’s really important that we are following an isolation protocol when we’re coming home from fairs or exhibitions or when we’re bringing new animals onto the farm,” she says. “Isolating our animals away from the home farm for at least 30 days will give us time to examine those animals… and be able to treat them for any illnesses that they may have.”
