Caprine & Ewe Veterinary Consulting, PC

06/22/2025

Just a friendly reminder to keep your livestock cool and comfortable this week with our heat advisory

1. Plenty of shade areas

2. Fans and/or misting fans
https://amzn.to/4lhV6eQ

3. Bluelite for goats & sheep
https://amzn.to/4lm2Axx

4. Plenty of forage available

5. Clean fresh water 3-4 times a day with multiple buckets so even the animals lower in the herd can get to water

What are some of your helpful farm tips to keep your animals cool?

(Photo: Livvie having Bluelite brought to her by her dedicated caregiver ❤️)

05/25/2025

Plan Ahead for Fall Breeding Season – Limited Availability!

It may feel early, but now is the ideal time to start planning for fall breeding—especially if you're considering IVF, laparoscopic AI, or transcervical AI. We’re currently booking into November, and space is limited. Secure your spot early with a deposit to avoid missing out!

Now Offering Reproductive Services in Michigan – On-Farm Available (based on number of animals):

🐐 Transcervical Artificial Insemination (goats only)
🐐🐑 Laparoscopic Artificial Insemination
🐐🐑 Embryo Transfer – fresh or frozen
🐐🐑🦙 Transrectal Ultrasound for reproductive diagnostics (sheep, goats, camelids)
🐐🐑🦙 Breeding Soundness Exams (sheep, goats, camelids)
In collaboration with Team Wolff, we now offer advanced IVF services:

🐐🐑 Laparoscopic O**m Pick-Up (LOPU)
🐐🐑 Embryo Transport to designated transfer locations
For more information or to request an estimate, email us at [email protected]

Let’s make this breeding season your most successful yet!

05/25/2025

If you’re looking to jump into IVF work for your small ruminants please reach out to

There are still a few more open spots for June 10 and July 9 IVF harvest days with fresh transfer (7 days later) and we have superior quality recips available. Send in your deposit today to get experience with this advancing technology!

05/17/2025

🌟 Photo Dump from an Unforgettable Week!

Finally had a moment to pause and reflect—words can’t quite capture the excitement of blending my favorite passions with some of my favorite people. ❤️

📍 Day 1: Embryo transfer and IVF work in small ruminants—pushing the boundaries of reproductive medicine with leading-edge science and an incredible team. Wrapped up day 1 with a fun impromptu visit to Chaz’s farm for some off-the-cuff evaluations of her beautiful dairy goat herd—and the bonus of getting to swoon over one of my Mazel’s stunning bucks (and yes, it was very hard not to sneak him into my trailer).

📍 Day 2: Honored to teach an amazing group of veterinarians and future colleagues the art and technique of laparoscopic and transcervical AI in sheep and goats. Fingers crossed we’ll have some confirmed pregnancies in 30 days! 🐑🐐

📍 Day 3: Soaking up knowledge and reconnecting with colleagues at the OSU Camelid Conference—amazing speakers and inspiring conversations.

📍 Day 4 (tomorrow): Rolling up my sleeves for the OSU Camelid Wetlab—can’t wait to sharpen new clinical skills!

My heart and mind are full. Grateful for the opportunities to learn, teach, grow, and laugh alongside such an inspiring community. 🐐🦙🧠✨

04/24/2025

We finally made it official!! We know it’s short notice but if you can make it happen it will be well worth the time!

Excited to share this learning opportunity and experience to the public! I have been doing this informally the past several years. Thanks for the encouragement and collaboration from a colleague Caprine & Ewe Veterinary Consulting, PC to pull it into fruition. Veterinarians and producers are invited.

04/23/2025

Another great educational program through the MSU extension team:

Program agenda
Session 1: May 6. Forage quality. What is it and why does it matter for flock nutrition? Flock feeding systems.
Session 2: May 13. Understanding flock nutritional requirements and how they influence nutritional management.
Session 3: May 20. Strategic nutritional management of the ewe throughout the production cycle.
Session 4: May 27. Feeding for growth: markets lamb and flock replacement ewe feeding strategies.
Session 5: June 3. The importance of supplements: minerals, vitamins and cocciodiostats.
Session 6: June 10. Putting it all together with diet formulation for different feeding phases and production systems.

The cost is $30 per household. Each participant will be mailed a spiral bound compendium on sheep nutritional management as a reference to reinforce course concepts. International postage will be an extra charge. Please see attached flyer for more information.

Registration ends on May 4. Please register at: https://events.anr.msu.edu/sheepnutrition/

03/26/2025

Hot off the Press....New Podcast on the Topic of Goat Polio

🎧 New Episode!

Dr. Melissa Holahan of Caprine & Ewe Veterinary Consulting, PC shares why waiting even a few hours could be the difference between life and death. Today's episode will help you recognize the signs—and act fast.

Full episode in the comments!

02/26/2025

FREE SMALL RUMINANT EDUCATION: Preregistration is required for this free event.
Those who register will be sent an email prior to the event with the Zoom link as well as given access to recordings of all sessions soon after the event.
If you have questions, please feel free to contact event manager Mike Metzger at [email protected]
Registration closes on Friday, MARCH 7.
Register at: https://events.anr.msu.edu/2025sheepandgoatsforsmallfarms/
If the link doesn't work, try deleting the "s" in "https".
The information is also in the attached pdf document. Feel free to pass along this email to anyone interested.

Hope to "see" you on March 8th,
MSU Small Ruminant Team

02/15/2025

🐶💉 Puppy Alert! 💉🐶

It’s not every day we get to see a whole litter of healthy puppies for their vaccine appointments, but when we do, we love it! These eight adorable Tibetan Mastiffs (yes, all eight are in that fluffy snooze pile!) just had their health checks with Dr. Melissa and received their first two vaccines in their puppy series.

📢 Important Puppy Health Tip: In Michigan, the Leptospirosis vaccine is a crucial part of a puppy's early care. We often see cases of this disease in young puppies (as early as 10-12 weeks old), so early vaccination is key! Learn more here: Infohttps://www.zoetisus.com/content/_assets/docs/PDFs/ZPN/Leptospirosis-Client-Brochure-SAB-00632.pdf

These little guardians are now 11 weeks old, microchipped, dewormed, and ready for their new homes! Only a few are still available—if you're looking for a loyal farm companion, contact Rachel to bring one (or two!) home. 🏡🐾

02/11/2025

Wow! What an incredible, fun-filled weekend! After running on little to no sleep (thanks to Mazel deciding to have QUAD goat kids at 1 AM!), I was still completely energized by the amazing group of passionate learners I had the privilege of teaching on Saturday morning. We dove into small ruminant and camelid parasite management and FAMACHA certification, and I couldn’t have asked for a better audience!

A huge thank you to my wonderful client, Cynthia, who went above and beyond as our gracious host—seriously, "hostess with the mostest" is an understatement! At one point, we had 40+ attendees soaking up knowledge and sharing in the experience. The weather even cooperated (for once!), making the day that much better.

A special shoutout to Carol for leading the alpaca teaching group—your expertise and guidance were invaluable! And a huge thank you to my MSU A-Team of students & my amazing veterinary technician:
🐾 Hannah (rockstar veterinary student)
🐾 Kiersten (vet-student-to-be!)
🐾 Rachel (aspiring pre-vet student)
👩‍⚕️ Lauren (C&E Vet surgical technician)
I couldn’t have done it without you all!

We wrapped things up with a Lunch & Learn session—an open Q&A where attendees could "Ask the Vet Anything" over lunch. The feedback has been fantastic, and I’d love to do another event! That said, with goat kidding season in full swing until April and show season keeping me busy through July, we might have to wait a bit before the next one.

In the meantime, drop your topic ideas! What would you love to learn about at a future event? Let me know in the comments!

02/11/2025

Sunday Surgery Squad – Before the Big Game! 🏈🐐

While most people were gearing up for the Super Bowl yesterday, we spent our Sunday morning getting some important farm/vet work done! 💪🐾

I had the pleasure of working with an amazing team yeterday:
✨ Elizabeth, who just got accepted into multiple vet schools (still deciding where she’ll attend in the fall!)—and absolutely nailed her surgery skills today!
✨ Jules, a Penn Foster vet tech student, who did a fantastic job assisting with anesthesia monitoring.

Together, we successfully castrated four boys, and they’re now officially wethers! Everything went smoothly, and we wrapped up just in time to catch the big game.

I’m beyond proud of these future veterinary professionals and grateful for their hard work today! 💉🐐👏

Drop some love for Elizabeth and Jules in the comments! 💙✨

02/01/2025

LAST DAY TO REGISTER BEFORE FEES GO UP & WE ONLY HAVE 1 SPOT LEFT. I'm so excited to be getting everyone together and so many familiar faces registering that it's going to be a great gather for farmers (Some even coming from Northern MI and Ohio : )

I also finally had the chance to get the T-shirts out that people won so you might be getting a surprise in the mail. We will have a limited quantity available for sale at the parasite management course.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/19l8naMfsWKL0ukMALal7N2-QOpvjtMSL7eg5O4YjVhk/edit