How I Got Rid of Barberpole Worm . . . .

I think I have finally done it . . . . Eliminated this pest on our farm.

We finally sheared the last 16 ewes over this past weekend and every single ewe had membranes that were very, very red. The only ewes that were even slightly off this color are my milky girls who send everthing to the lambs (boy the lambs are sure getting big this year too).


The secret is this . . . . This past winter I wormed with Ivermectin - three different times. I sent some fecals during spring lambing season in to my vet - no barberpole eggs found. First membrane check with shearing - well you know what I have found:)

I think I have done it. The only problem is - you need pastures that are exposed to temps close to 0 degrees farenheight in the winter. Any state south of Pennsylvania probably cannot replicate this study "Towards the Eradication of Haemonchus Contortus From Sheep Flocks in Sweden, P.J. Waller et a., Veterinary Parasitology, 2006".

I will be doing this once again this winter as we are adding another ram to our farm and I just want to "be sure" .

We will be offering our first "Shepherding Workshop" this fall where I will go over my study and results regarding Barberpole in great detail. I will also give my own perspective on minerals and Icelandics - they need so much more than the average sheep:)

I have one Great ram lamb left for sale as breeding stock - he is the grandson of Pumpkin and Noison. Very, very healthy like mom (who is 1/2 leader sheep) and very, very fine fleece like Noison. So far he has an easy going temperament too. His color is solid Moorit. All the rest I am going to keep (the ewe lambs) and the rams will be sold as meat.