# Worming questions..need answers before 7 a.m. tomorrow.



## bknthesdle (Mar 27, 2011)

We're driving to town tomorrow morning (an hour away) so I need info as quick as possible.

I bought my bred katahdin ewes in Jan. Now that they are lambing, I believe I should worm them. (the ones that have lambed) (As far as I know, they have never been wormed.) What is a good wormer for the ewes? And I only worm the ewes and not the lambs correct?


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

correct- don't worm the lambs. I use a variety of wormers. I use lavamisole, ivermectin, spectricide.... I don't use the same one twice in a row. If they are really bad off - bottle jaw or something, I work with levamisole. Otherwise, first choice is ivermectin. I really need to learn to do fecals so I can tell what worms they have and chose the medicine by the test results.


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## kit (Apr 15, 2004)

Well I'm not sure I can tell you a lot about wormes because I don't think we have as many options as you do. But we use either Ivomec or Valbazen for our sheep and alternate products each year. But DO NOT give Valbazen to bred ewes so it is probably easier to just give them Ivomec this time. It would be my doubts that you would have to worm new born lambs - at least we have never done it. But, what we do is worm both the ewes and lambs at weaning time. But because we have Katahdins they really don't require as much wormers as other breeds so we only worm our flock once per year. However, since you don't think yours have been done, it is a good idea to worm them at lambing time because it is my understanding that sheep in general have a rise in worm counts at lambing.

Hopefully that helps you a bit or maybe someone that worms more than I do will respond as well!


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## Plowpoint (May 2, 2012)

If I read the original post correctly, then you cannot deworm at all.

As far as I know, there is no safe dewormer yet made for sheep that are in the process of nursing their lambs. And I do not deworm lambs until 60 days old at least.

When you do decide that it is okay to deworm the sheep, Ivermectin is a good broad spectrum dewormer since they never have been dewormed before, I would start with that, but one thing to keep in mind is, you want accurate weights of your individual sheep so that you give specific amounts of dewormer. Do not over do it, but giving more dewormer is better then not giving enough. That advice came straight from my vet.


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

My previous Vet said, Safeguard was safe for ewes and lambs. And I used it with no issues.


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## LibertyWool (Oct 23, 2008)

It is common practice to deworm ewes right after lambing, so I would have to disagree with Plowpoint. He may be thinking about the use of dewormers when the milk is going for human consumption.

I currently use Cydectin, as I have had some issues with barber pole the last couple of years. Safeguard is good generally. Valbazen can not be given during early pregnancy due to the risk of causing birth defects. I also think Valbazen can't be given to pre-rumenating animals (as best as I can remember, as I no longer have any Valbazen on hand). The best advice would come from your local vet, as he/she would know what works best in your area (ie what dewormers are no longer effective due to over use/drug resistance).


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