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College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences

CFAES
June 17, 2025 - 9:00am -- klenovich.4@osu.edu

If you asked what the top three challenges sheep and goat producers are facing, their response would be “parasites, parasites, and parasites”.  It isn’t news to anyone that management of internal parasites in small ruminants has been a significant hurdle.  When you have a resilient pest, with a limited number of treatment options, you can understand why producers have encountered resistance issues when trying to manage worm burdens in their animals.  While there are few effective treatment options, there are several management practices that can be implemented to reduce the pest’s impact.

It begins with managing for healthy animals, and a healthy animal starts with a sound nutrition program.  Producers need to understand how their animal’s nutritional requirements change as they move through the yearly production calendar.  For example, a ewe/doe that isn’t lactating may require 1.5 pounds of total digestible nutrients each day, where her requirement for TDN can increase to 3.6 pounds during the first 6 weeks of lactation.  Well-managed pasture can meet most of these needs, but there can be times where additional supplementation is needed, especially for large animals.  Nutritional programs should be frequently monitored by body condition scoring each animal.  This should be done several times a year and animals can be grouped by condition so that extra nutrition can be provided to those that need it the most.  In addition, every producer should be working with their veterinarian to develop a flock health program that aligns with their location and management.

Manage parasite exposure through grazing management plan

Speaking of pastures, you can manage exposure to parasites by implementation of a grazing management plan.  Parasite eggs are deposited on pasture through an animal’s manure.  These eggs hatch and the larva will attach to grass blades to be consumed by another animal.  An effective pasture management plan will involve rapid rotation through grazing paddocks, as to not graze down too close to the ground, with 30 to 60 day rest periods.  Not only does this limit pest exposure but it also promotes pasture regrowth and resiliency.  Another effective tool is multispecies grazing.  This is where you graze cattle, swine, or horses after your sheep and goats.  The worms that affect small ruminants don’t affect the other species the same way and they can help break the cycle.  There is also work that has studied the effects of high tannin forages such as birdsfoot trefoil and chicory.  The tannins have shown efficacy in reducing worm populations, but there have not been definitive results to this point.

Dewormers are still an option, but they should be used selectively.  The FAMACHA scoring system was developed to evaluate parasite burden.  Haemonchus contortus, or barber pole worm, is the pest of major concern and is a blood feeder that can produce anemia in affected animals.  The FAMACHA scoring system evaluates the pigmentation of the lower eyelid on animals to determine worm load.  The paler the eyelid, the higher the expected worm count.  Those animals with low scores can be targeted for treatment and those that are persistently infected can be culled from the flock.  As some animals appear to have varying degrees of genetic resistance, culling those animal’s that are most affected will help you select more resistant animals.  There are also breeds, such as the hair breeds of sheep, that have shown to have a greater natural resistance than our traditional wool breeds.

Wayne County Extension program schedule

I want to remind you of our upcoming program schedule.  This Wednesday (June 18th) the 2025 Small Grains Field Day will be held on the OSU Wooster Campus Schaffter Farm.  There will be presentations on: wheat profitability, fertility, and pest management, as well as a summer weather outlook, and tours of the OSU wheat and barley breeding plots and the USDA ARS Soft Wheat Quality Lab.  The program is sponsored by the Ohio Corn and Wheat Board and is free to all attendees. 

The Wayne-Ashland Dairy Service Unit will host their annual Dairy Summit and Twilight Tour on July 15th.  This year’s host is the Sarah Douglas family at Zido Valley Dairy and the main event sponsors are Lowe & Young Equipment, Slicker Farms, and Avodah Contractors.  The Dairy Summit will begin at 3:00 PM.  Glen Arnold will be discussing his research on application of dairy manure and Dr. Doug Jackson-Smith will discuss the impact of perennial forages and manure application on soil health.  There will also be updates from ODA Director Brian Baldridge, new OSU Extension ANR Program Leader Chris Zoller, and ODPA President Scott Higgins.  The Twilight Tour will run from 6 to 9 PM.  There will be a variety of food trucks available for dinner options.  Meals are $10 per person.  Attendees can view the tradeshow and tour the dairy facility free of charge. 

Finally, we are planning a cow feeding clinic for August 8th at the OSU Wooster Campus shop.  The all-day program will discuss factors affecting feed quality, feed mixer management for delivery of quality feed, evaluating your feeding program, and developing feed mixing protocols.  The event is free and lunch will be provided.  If you are interested in any of these programs, you can check out the events calendar on our website at wayne.osu.edu.  As always, I wish you a safe and prosperous planting season.  If you have any questions or would like more information about one of our programs, you can contact me at the OSU Extension office – Wayne County at 330-264-8722.

John Yost is an extension educator IV, Agriculture and Natural Resources, at OSU Extension-Wayne County.
This article was previously published in The Daily Record.