[vetsinag] Farm Tip Tuesday: Sheep and Goat Care

[Robyn Metzger]

For this week's Farm Tip Tuesday, we're sharing some resources on caring for small ruminants.

Spring is exciting and fun when baby goats and lambs start arriving! There are important—though not always pleasant—tasks that come with managing a herd of goats or flock of sheep. One of those tasks is castrating the males. NCAT Sustainable Agriculture Specialist Nina Prater and her husband, Jeremy, recently made a video demonstrating how to castrate young goats using an elastrator, or “bander,” and elastic bands. Watch it on the ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture YouTube channel here<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb0pWwcM0qU> if you missed it on our Armed to Farm Facebook page<https://www.facebook.com/NCATArmedtoFarm/>.

For a video demonstration of another small ruminant "routine maintenance" chore, see the ATTRA video Trimming Sheep & Goat Hooves<https://attra.ncat.org/trimming-sheep-goat-hooves/>, put together by NCAT Livestock Specialists Linda Coffey and Margo Hale.

The popular ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture publication An Illustrated Guide to Sheep and Goat Production<https://attra.ncat.org/product/an-illustrated-guide-to-sheep-and-goat-production/> also shows how to use an elastrator to castrate or dock a lamb's tail, where to place ear tags, how to trim hooves, and many other important tasks.

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Linda and Margo get together for a new "Small (Ruminant) Talk podcast episode each season. In their latest installment, they talk about springtime on their farms. Their discussion includes grazing, kidding, watching for parasites, dairy goats, and Linda’s new livestock guardian dog puppy. Listen to their conversation here<https://attra.ncat.org/small-ruminant-talk-springtime/> or find ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture on your favorite podcast app. You can find their previous episodes by visiting the ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture Podcasts page<https://attra.ncat.org/category/podcasts/> and searching for "small ruminant."

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The ATTRA website has a wealth of FREE resources on caring for sheep and goats, including Sheep and Goats: Frequently Asked Questions<https://attra.ncat.org/product/sheep-and-goats-frequently-asked-questions/> and Goats: Sustainable Production Overview<https://attra.ncat.org/product/goats-sustainable-production-overview/>. For an in-depth look at managing one of the most serious and persistent problems in small ruminants, see Linda's three-part webinar series Managing Internal Parasites in Sheep and Goats<https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDu0ElBiEy9xRV-JEKAGnYIfgLeQqD6IX>. For the complete list of publications, podcasts, webinars, and more, see the Sheep and Goats<https://attra.ncat.org/topics/sheep-goats/> section of the ATTRA website.

In addition, the American Consortium for Small Ruminant Parasite Control<https://www.wormx.info/> has great information. Margo and Linda have been members of the ACSRPC for many years and have contributed videos, blog posts, and other materials to their resource library.

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If you have questions about sheep or goat production, or any other sustainable farming questions, please contact NCAT's sustainable agriculture specialists! You can email askanag at ncat.org or call 800-346-9140.

Best regards,



Robyn Metzger

Program Specialist/Armed to Farm Coordinator

National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT)

www.ncat.org/armedtofarm<http://www.ncat.org/armedtofarm>

www.attra.ncat.org<http://www.attra.ncat.org>

479-442-9824

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