Premier Sheep-Goats

Premier Sheep-Goats Equipment and advice from the folks that use it…Every Day! Premier has partnered with renowned veterinarians to provide our customers professional advice.

Our on-staff sheep/goat nutritionist plus veterinarians have years of real-world experience. For this free service send us an email at [email protected]—they’re available during our regular office hours. (Note: We also strongly urge that all livestock owners establish a close working relationship with their local veterinarians.)

12/22/2025

Question:
Can you tell me what producers are using for antibiotic treatment in lambs since there's no penicillin? Specifically broad spectrum to use with banding tails. We always gave 1ml penicillin SQ with CDT when banding tails.

Veterinarian Response:
I am using ampicillin (polyflex) in every situation that I would normally use penicillin. It has a spectrum of activity that is similar but actually more broad (expansive). The only down side is that it is more expensive.
– J. L. Goelz, D.V.M.

12/05/2025

Question:
We have a 3 year old bred ewe due in January that has bloated. We tried tubing her, she seems to have a blockage, can't get into her stomach to relieve the pressure. We tried rolling her and she coughed up more phlegm. Any other suggestions that we could try.

Veterinarian Response:
If you cannot get the gas relieved with a stomach tube you should place 16 to 32 oz of mineral oil into the rumen through the stomach tube. Mineral oil will do two things. First it will break up foam if it is frothy bloat. Second it will l**e the GI tract because it is not digested and may relieve a blockage. It must be mineral oil. Vegetable oil will not work as it gets digested.
– J. L. Goelz, D.V.M.

12/04/2025

Question:
I have a six month old goat that I noticed is frothing around the mouth. She is eating well and seems fine otherwise. Any idea what could be wrong?

Veterinarian Response:
You are probably looking at a tooth problem. If you are up to it you could try to take a look in its mouth. THIS IS HARDER TO DO THAN IT SEEMS LIKE IT SHOULD BE!! It takes two people. One to hold the mouth open and insert a gag such as a rag or partially roll of vet wrap to block the mouth from closing. The other person looks in the mouth with a flashlight. DO NOT STICK YOUR FINGER IN THE BACK OF THE MOUTH!! Ruminant molars are razor sharp and will cut your fingers. You are looking for sores, abnormal teeth or very bad breath. If there are sores and bad breath examine the hay for foxtail awns or other grass seeds that are barbed. If there are no sores but very bad breath you may have a tooth infection.
– J. L. Goelz, D.V.M.

11/28/2025

Question:
I was curious what vaccination you recommended for my ewes before breeding season, I’m trying to find a all in one to give them, I had 3 abortions all late gestation out of almost 100 ewes last year, I didn’t know what your recommended? Other than that I’m just looking for a vaccination to cover/prevent the flock from any more problems.

Veterinarian Response:
There is not an All in one vaccine available.

There are two vaccines available for sheep to protect from abortion. Campylobacter and Chlamydia. If you did not confirm the actual cause of abortions I would to both to try and protect your flock. These are both given prior to breeding per the label instructions.
– J. L. Goelz, D.V.M.

11/26/2025

Question:
I will be using VIMCO vaccine on my dairy does. The VIMCO bottle states use all contents once opened. Do I need to order a second bottle for the booster dose 3 weeks after first dose?

Veterinarian Response:
The statement, “Use entire contents when first opened” appears on all bottles of vaccine. This is a disclaimer by the vaccine company as they can not longer guarantee the sterility of the vaccine once the rubber stopper has been punctured.

From a practical standpoint we all ignore the warning as it is impractical and wasteful for many operations, due to their size, to discard greater than ½ of the bottle.

However, please understand that once you puncture the stopper there is risk for contamination. To preserve quality of the vaccine be sure to only use a sterile needle when you enter the bottle. Immediately after use place the remaining portion of the bottle in a refrigerator. When you then reuse the bottle be sure that the vaccine looks normal and is not off color. I do recommend only using previously used bottles for 6 months so start each new lambing year with new C and D or CD/T and start every new breeding season with new abortion vaccine.
– J. L. Goelz, D.V.M.

10/22/2025

Question:
What is the best deworming treatment plan and what is the best type to use? Are there any other shots or products to be done annually and or to the goat kids? In west central Minnesota.

Veterinarian Response:
In Minnesota you will need to deworm 3-8 times a year depending on your individual herd management and grazing. The fact that you are in Minnesota is great as you have frozen ground about 5 months a year where no parasitic worms can survive (they do overwinter in the frozen soil but cannot infect animals when ground is cold. You will want to deworm in the fall after a severe killing frost (everything is brown). After that you will be worm free until kidding in the spring when parasite come out of hibernation in the stomach wall. This is called the perparturient rise in egg production that happens with the barberpole worm in sheep and goats. For this reason you will want to deworm about 2 weeks prior to kidding or at kidding. After those to deworms you will want to deworm about every 4-8 weeks while grazing in the summer. Kids are born parasite free but are susceptible to acquiring parasites as soon as they start nibbling on the bedding in the environment which is why deworming near kidding is CRITICAL. Kids can be heavily parasitized but 6 weeks of age if they are grazing and if there are larvae in the environment.

I would rotate between the three classes of dewormers. Choose one in each of the classes and rotate between the three:

Avermectins - ivermectin, cydectin, dectomax
White dewormers – Valbazen, safe guard, synathic
Levamisole (sold under the brand name Prohibit or Levamed)

Deworm when you rotate pasture to prevent sheep from dragging parasites to the new “clean” pasture.

Kids should get a C and D vaccination (or CD/T) twice, three weeks apart with the 2nd dose occurring at weaning. Adult does should get a CD/T booster prior to kidding or in 3rd trimester. You should use a pour-on for lice and external parasites once annually in the winter.

There are a number of other vaccines that are aimed at herd problems. I will add those if the farm history dictates their value but I have given you a starting point for your and your Vet to work with.
– J. L. Goelz, D.V.M.

10/21/2025

Question:
Is there a lepto vaccine for goats?

Veterinarian Response:
Great question unfortunately the answer is no there is not a US approved lepto abortion vaccine for goats. Lepto abortion is recognized as one of the top three most common causes of abortion in goats. Many producers have successfully used the cattle vaccine, Leptoferm, to protect their goats from lepto abortion. It is safe in pregnant goats. I recommend only the Leptoferm brand of vaccine made by Zoetis. Other cattle vaccines for lepto have harsher adjuvants or contain Vibrio or other antigens that are not important in goats and cause more adverse effects following vaccination.
– J. L. Goelz, D.V.M.

10/02/2025

Question:
When treating ear mites in sheep a lot of recommendations on internet says to use injectable dewormers. I was curious if oral dewormers would work too?

Veterinarian Response:
No, The oral avermectin dewormers will not get high enough blood concentrations to be effective. Use an injectable.
– J. L. Goelz, D.V.M.

09/30/2025

Question:
Must PG600 be refrigerated before mixing as well as after? I have heard conflicting reports and wanted to confirm for maximum effectiveness.

Veterinarian Response:
PG600 can be stored at controlled room temperature (70 degrees +/- 10 degrees) until mixed and then should be refrigerated.
– J. L. Goelz, D.V.M.

09/12/2025

Question:
How do I elevate the hemoglobin in my lamb who was dewormed/bar pole?

Veterinarian Response:
Good nutrition and time. Ruminants do not become iron deficient like monogastric animals do with red blood cell loss. They get all of the iron they will ever need in the green forages that they eat. In cases of blood loss to barberpole worm the rate limiting step – – J. L. Goelz, D.V.M.

08/26/2025

Question:
What is an effective treatment for foot rot in sheep?

Veterinarian Response:
Footrot in sheep is very different than foot rot in cattle. In sheep it is caused by a coinfection of 2 anaerobic bacteria. Together these bacteria are synergistic and you will have liquefaction of the hoof wall, severe lamness and in severe cases sloughing of the entire hoof. Treatment includes aggressive hoof trimming to open the tissue to air. If you are not hitting blood you are not trimming aggressive enough. DO NOT WRAP OR BANDAGE THE HOOF. This will cause persistence of the anaerobic environment and make the footrot worse. In addition to trimming you will need to quarantine affected sheep from the rest of the flock as it is highly contagious and will spread to others. They should remained quarantined until they are clear of infection. Furtermore you will want to treat with Zactran at 2 mL/100 # of body weight S.Q. weakly until they are clear.

In controlling footrot you will want to use pasture rotation and flock treatment with formadehyde or zinc sulfate to minimize transmission and new cases.
– J. L. Goelz, D.V.M.

08/18/2025

Question:
What effect does red clover have on ewes during breeding season in the pasture and in the hay?

Nutritionist Response:
In general our legumes are much lower in phytoestrogens that the subterrean clover in NZ that causes their issues.

That being said, if your red clover is a pure stand than the risk is much worse. Pipestone group has experienced reduced reproduction when breeding on straight red clover. The other aspect is stress increases phytoestrogens. So drought, disease or insects can all elevate phytoestrogens.

The best approach is to dilute the impact. This could be feeding more grain or using a grass hay to dilute the red clover. I would try to get the amount of red clover in the ewes diet under 50%.

You can do a quick biological test. Place few ewe lambs out on the red clover. Measure their teat length ahead of turn out. Remeasure a week later. If teat length has changed less than 10% than estrogenic activity is pretty low.

I know this is long response. If you have other options for feeding the ewes I would save clover for lactation or dry period.
– Dr. Dan Morrical, Production Expert - Premier 1 Supplies

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Our Story

Have a question about sheep or goats? Premier 1 Supplies has partnered with Pipestone Veterinary Services to provide our customers with professional advice. We now have an on-staff sheep/goat nutritionist plus Pipestone veterinarians with years of real-world experience. Post your question to our page, call or send us an email, they’re available during regular office hours. (Note: We also strongly urge that all livestock owners establish a close working relationship with their local veterinarians.)

Pipestone Veterinary Services has provided sheep production and health knowledge, feeds, supplements and supplies to sheep and goat producers throughout the United States for 75 years.

Both Premier and Pipestone have shared a similar mission for the sheep and goat industry. Premier will continue to focus on providing innovative products, including those previously offered by Pipestone. And we will expand our role as a world-class resource for up-to-date information and advice, with the same core values you’ve come to expect from both Pipestone and Premier. The future for our industry is bright!