Hello. I purchased a small flock of sheep a few months back. It is unclear, even after speaking with the previous owner, if they are current on their cd/t shots. Based on the poor condition of the hooves(i.e. waay to long) when I got them, I'd not sure I'd beleive the previous owner anyway...anyway, I'd like to get all my animals on a spring schedule for the shots (goats and sheep), but not knowing if my sheep were ever done, should I go ahead and give them a shot now(in the fall) and then redo everyone in the spring too? or should I wait until spring and do everyone at once? Is there any harm in too many shots (i.e. a shot now, and then in the spring before lambing time?) Thanks!
I don't know if it could be harmful but 2 shots would not be harmful anyhow. If you're treating them as unvacinated (and I've done that on new ewes too) then they will need the first injection 6 weeks before lambing and the follow up injection 2 weeks before lambing. CD/T is not normally good enough for sheep, and besides the 8 way cattle vacines are not very much more expensive for a whole lot more protection. We're talking pennies per ewe more. If you are bringing in an outside flock and you're NOT trying to sell purebreds then you might want to consider Glanvac 6 which will offer some protection against CL (Caseous Lymphadenitits) and 6 of the clostridial diseases sheep can get including Tetnus.
Not sure I quite understand your whole anwer...at least as it applies to me. I have 2 rams and 6 ewes. 4 of the ewes are now bred and due to deliver around 4/1. If I don't know the vaccination status of them, what would be your recommendation? (I already bought the cd/t but haven't given it to anyone yet) Also, I don't understand "If you are bringing in an outside flock and you're NOT trying to sell purebreds then you might want to consider Glanvac 6..." why would the fact that I ma/may not sell purebreeds affect whether or not I use Glenvac 6? I don't understand (fyi, I probably WILL be trying to sell some of the offspring next summer) Thanks!
Without getting into "how to select a breeding flock" I hope it's enough to know that to sell breeding ewes at the highest value involves a lot of work to ensure the animal is disease free and be able to prove it with blood tests. If the replacement has been vacinated with Glanvac it will throw a false positive. There are lots of other things that contribute to a premium price for ewe lambs (and ram lambs) but proving a high health standard is a big part. If I were you with the animals you have I would either sell the CD/T or trade it to someone with goats or I'd give it to the sheep (rather than throw it out!) and start fresh with the next vacination 6 weeks before lambing and then again 2 weeks before lambing as if they had nothing. The problem is the CD/T only covers three diseases and the 8 way (or Glanvac) has 5 more that need the booster. (or 4 more in the Glanvac) You could use the Glanvac 6 if you aren't going to test and cull but as you're not sure what they had you might be risking the very problem PB breeders face with false positives. CL is a tough one to test for anyhow due to the nature of the disease. You can at least say your stock for sale is vacinated for CL; it should add some value. As you noted with the poor feet any managment practice you contribute will add some value, and any lack of management reflects what the ewe will sell for. If you had a larger flock the high health standard testing and culling (and other flock managment work like indexing and EPD's) would pay off for replacement sales. With so few you'd really have to want to do it for the works sake and not the added 30 or 40 dollars per ewe. There are easier ways to make 30 bucks from a sheep. On a large scale it's as easy to work with 40 as 4 with the right set up and managment program.
