Today the vet, Scott, from Montrose Veterinary Clinic visited the farm. Our old wether sheep, Gary, has been scratching his neck furiously and he has caused himself some nasty cuts.
Last year, Gary had the same thing. It was caused by lice then … and it looks like he has lice again.
When Gary was sheared, he was given a spray on lice treatment and a drench for parasites. I don’t think that the spray is up to the job on our Gary. Scott gave Gary a shot of Ivermectin to make him less palatable to the lice. The wiltipols’ are pretty impervious to lice as they shed their hair at the time that lice affect the sheep. Because lice have to live further up the follicle than the length of the wiltis’ hair, it isn’t an attractive habitat for the nasty little creatures.
I had made some improvements to the sheep pen so that the wiltis’ wouldn’t escape. However, one of the sheep got itself stuck in the gate. After giving the sheep it’s OJD injection, the vet and I had to try to push the stuck sheep back into the pen. The next sheep was very spooked by it’s adventure and tried to leg it over the top of the pen. I was able to catch her in the air and bring her safely back to earth for her OJD injection.
They don’t like the vet’s waiting room.
No magazines, no piped music … just sunshine and dirt. Still, job done and I gave them an extra feed of sheep pellets so that their bad experience in the pen isn’t their only experience in the pen. We feed the sheep in the pen every morning, so they know that the pen means food … it is just unfortunate that it also occasionally means being manhandled and injected. Still, it’s a sheep’s life.
After their latest adventure in the pen, I have more repairs and improvements to make … joy.
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