Sheep Snapshot Sunday: Staying Stylish

One of my 4-H lambs after being washed and trimmed sporting a blanket to keep her clean for the show.

Set-Up

Last night the Rockyford Arena was transformed. Members from the Cheadle, Crowfoot, Rockyford and Standard 4-H clubs all came out to set-up the arena for our show and sale on Saturday. We set-up the show rings and stall areas for the steers and sheep attending the show and decorated our stall areas in preparation for the event.
The West Wheatland 4-H Show and Sale is where sheep and beef members, from the clubs listed above, come together to show off their 4-H steers and sheep. We have two show rings (one for the steer show/sale ring and one for the sheep show) as the steer and sheep shows run at the same time. After the shows are done all members sell their market animals in what was the steer show ring earlier that morning. In the beef show ring they haul in shavings to put down but in the sheep show ring we use carpet that has been donated to our club, this makes for a speedy clean-up in the sheep area. Both show rings are fenced to make sure that any animal that escapes its showman is contained, this is also to keep spectators from getting too close to the members when showing. For anyone who comes to watch the show there are bleachers hauled in to the arena.

In the sheep stall area we set-up panels that the lambs are tied to when they are not in the show ring. We also put carpet down in this area and shavings for the lambs to sit in. Each member makes sheep cut outs to write the name of their lambs on and put where that lamb is going to be standing in the stall area. Upon joining the club, we also make each member a wooden sheep/cow/steer sign with their name on it to put in their stall area.

I am really looking forward to Saturday as it will be the last time that I have to do clean-up after the show, but also a little sad as this is my last year in 4-H.

A Show Sheep's Enemy: Orf

Murphy's Law: If something can go wrong, it will go wrong. This is what happened in my last year of 4-H just before my favorite event: 4-H on Parade. Weeks before the show one of the lambs in our herd(that was in a separate pen from the 4-H lambs) exhibited what looked like a crusty cold sore on his lips. Now if you are a sheep breeder you know what this means, your whole herd will inevitably be infected with orf which is more commonly known as sore mouth and there is nothing you can do about it. We are still not sure where our sheep picked up the virus, but it was here.

We thought our 4-H lambs would be safe because they had been separated from the herd, but we were wrong. It was not long before we found the first 4-H animal with sores on its mouth. Gradually more and more lambs in the 4-H pen definitely were infected. As we noticed a lamb develop sores we removed it from the pen trying to prevent direct contact with the lambs that hadn't gotten any sores in the hope that there would be some that were still able to go to 4-H on Parade. By May 26 (the day before the sheep were supposed to travel to Calgary for 4-H on Parade) there was only four lambs and one ewe in the 4-H pen that did not have any sores, meaning that they would still be able to attend the show. However there was still the risk that sometime during the weekend they would break out and have to be trailered back home. Sheep shows have strict rules regarding sore mouth because it is highly contagious. Any animal with active sore mouth(sores present) are not allowed to attend the show. So we ended up not going because we are responsible producers and wouldn't want to infect anyone else's sheep while we were at the show, even though we did have some animals who could have attended because they did not have any sores. 
Two weeks later and those same five animals still have not gotten any sores. My explanation is they are the lucky ones who have an immunity to this strain of sore mouth. As for the rest of the lambs we have tried a few things to speed up the healing of the sores but to no avail. We tried spraying iodine and putting diaper cream that contains zinc on the sores but the sores only spread and got worse. The sheep in the herd got over the infection faster than the 4-H lambs that were being treated. We have came to the conclusion that the best remedy when treating sore mouth in sheep is time. 

Here is some more information about orf :

A badly infected sheep,
luckily none of our animals
got it this bad.

A less severe case of orf.

The virus is transmitted via direct contact with an infected individual. It enters the body through any small crack in the skin, which is the body's strongest defense against pathogens. For sheep who eat grasses and other vegetation that can easily poke their lips when eating it is easy for them to have the potential to contract the virus. 
The body's immune system does build immunity to the virus but different strains of sore mouth exists. This means that just because a sheep has had sore mouth once doesn't mean it won't contract it again. 
Sores have a brown colored crusty scab and are most commonly observed on the mouth and nose area, but can appear anywhere on the hair covered parts of a sheep. The scabs are a great way for bacteria to spread because after they fall off they are still in the presence of animals that may not have been infected. 
This virus is most commonly seen in sheep and goats. Humans are also susceptible to the virus, so when working with infected animals you have to be very careful. 


This weekend is our club 4-H Achievement Day and most of our lambs have been healthy for awhile now, but as for the ones who had more severe sores they are still healing and won't be able to attend. The only good news about having orf now is that by the time Summer Synergy comes along in August all of our lambs will be completely over the virus and will all be able to attend the show. 

Greener Pastures

It is only June and already our pastures at home have been overgrazed by the sheep. Our pastures are not able to feed 40 ewes and the lambs we have not taken to market, but we have a solution. My grandma has sold most of her cows and has pastures full of grass just waiting to be eaten. We take around 15 ewes and the rams for a trailer ride to greener pastures. 
The ewes and rams are kept in separate pens until the middle of August when we want our ewes to get bred. Breeding in the middle of August means that we should start lambing in the middle of December as the gestation period for sheep is five months. Having ewes in two different places is a good system because we are able to use two different rams: one with the ewes at home and one with the ewes at my grandmas. We know exactly which ewes are bred to which ram because their is no chance of the two groups mixing. 

My little herd of cows that also spends the summer on
vacation in my grandma's pastures with the sheep.

Sheep Snapshot Sunday

A ewe and her lamb enjoying the sun and green grass.

Where does it come from?

Every piece of clothing in my closet has a tag saying where it was made, but when I go to the grocery store the origin of where food comes from is more difficult to find. I find this strange because we actually consume food and only wear clothes, so isn't it more important to know where your food comes from? If food was labelled more clearly we would also be able to distinguish local from imported goods. This would increase support for local farmers, ranchers and in turn the Canadian economy as I'm sure when given the option consumers would choose to buy local. 

Maybe we are purposely kept in the dark about where our food comes from. For many grocers buying products that come from outside Canada is cheaper than being supplied by local businesses. Cheaper labor, manufacturing costs and lower quality ingredients mean retailers pay less for next to the same product as they would get if they bought local. In business there is one ultimate goal: to make as much money as possible and this may mean choosing to buy cheaper imported products. 

But why not buy local? Everyone knows that the quality of Alberta beef and lamb is next to none and the same is true for all food products produced right here in Canada. So next time you are at the grocery store buy local because this means money is staying in Canada to support our economy.

Guardian Dog Profile: The Kangal

There are many benefits to having a mom who works at a vet clinic and who likes to socialize with her customers. This was how we discovered the Kangal breed. One December Sunday, the customers female dog came in to the vet clinic for a C-section and my mom went in on her day off to go help. Somehow a deal was made: we would take the runt of the litter and she how she worked with our sheep and in exchange we would give some ewe lambs to the breeder so he would have sheep of his own to raise future litters with. To say this was a good deal would be an understatement. The Kangal population in Canada is very small and the breeder had sold puppies from the same littler to Turkey and the US- in short puppies are not cheap. 

Here is some information on the breed.

Koca our Kangal dog.

Origin: Turkey (national breed of Turkey)
Purpose: Livestock Guardian
Weight: 100-165 lbs.
Temperament: Protective, loyal and gentle especially with children (lambs too!), aloof around people because they prefer their animals for company but this can changed if they are socialized lots, can be independent and difficult to train if you are an unexperienced dog owner.
Physical Characteristics: Slender body, tail that curls, black/brown mask and ears.
Coat: Short, light gold or fawn colored sometimes with black guard hairs, does not appear to gain much of a coat in the winter because they have a dense undercoat for insulation under outer coarser hair
Protective Nature: Likes to have a good view of the whole pasture, loud, sharp bark, will stay up all night to protect their sheep.



Our dog, Koca, has done a very good job of guarding our farm. There have been a few times when her protectiveness has had a funny result. One time we had visitors come on horseback and from a distance Koca could see them and started to bark and growl, but once they came down our driveway she seemed a little intimidated by the horses as she was just a puppy. Another time some people came and picked up an old lawn mower from our house and as they loaded it onto the trailer and drove down the road Koca chased the trailer barking and wondering why they were taking something off of her farm. We know that the sheep and lambs are always safe with her around.

The guardian dog has long been present in the fields of sheep breeders and today we still rely on their specialized behavior to guard our animals. These dogs truly enjoy their jobs, being around the sheep and having a good supply of food (a very large supply because a working dog eats alot) is reward enough for them. Our Kangal dog, Koca, is the perfect balance of a family pet and a livestock guardian.