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.)

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

08/05/2025

Question:
We are considering keeping a ram or ram lamb as a teaser ram to help boost our lambing average. Is there a particular castration method you would recommend for this? Any other advice or things to be aware of in terms of keeping a teaser ram?

Veterinarian Response:
First of all a teaser ram is made by vasectomizing the ram. The ram is not castrated as the testicles are still in the ram. The tube leading from the testicles is ligated which renders the ram infertile “shooting blanks”. This is a rather technical surgery that is quick but is not something that most vets will feel comfortable doing so you will want to try and locate a Vet that can perform the vasectomy.
– J. L. Goelz, D.V.M.

08/01/2025

Question:
Is there a recommended vaccine for campylobacter fetus in goats?

Veterinarian Response:
There is not one specifically for goats. Campylobacter fetus bacterin made by Colorado Serum and labeled for sheep has been used safely in goats and is the only Campylobacter vaccine available in the US
– J. L. Goelz, D.V.M.

07/31/2025

Question:
I recently purchased cocciaid for a small flock of sheep and 4 goats. I also have horses and mini horses. I have two questions. Can cocciaid 9.6% solution be given to pregnant ewes? Also can coccidia be transferred to horses?

Veterinarian Response:
Yes, it can be given to pregnant ewes, although usually coccidia will only affect young growing lambs, rarely mature animals.

Horses can get coccidia but it is a species specific. Coccidia that affects sheep will not affect horses or poultry or dogs and cats. There are species of coccidia that affect horses but those do not affect sheep.

The sheep coccidia can infect goats and vice versa.
– J. L. Goelz, D.V.M.

07/30/2025

Question:
I recently bought Prohibit for my flock of 6 Valais sheep. They are all between 15 and 18 months old. I plan to administer Prohibit today. -What are next steps? -I believe I need to administer it again in two weeks and then f***l test, but when?

Veterinarian Response:
Yes you can deworm twice, 14 days apart. If you want to confirm effectiveness you can pull a f***l sample 3-5 days post deworming. Any vet clinic can run the f***l sample. The equipment is the same for any species of animals. The parasite eggs are slightly different in ruminants vs. companion animals or horses but they are similar in sheep, goats and cattle.
– J. L. Goelz, D.V.M.

07/29/2025

Question:
I have a ewe that had a vaginal prolapse. I put it back in and put in a spoon and a harness. Not pushing anymore. Not dilated. She was exposed to ram in February that was an oops. She has a small soft bag. She has been on pasture only since March. Could she possibly have toxemia?

Veterinarian Response:
The vaginal prolapse will not predispose the ewe to toxemia and toxemia does not predispose to vaginal prolapse. If she has toxemia it is not associated in any way with prolapse. What you should be looking for is muscle weakness, depression and decreased feed intake.

The ewe will be able to lamb with the ewe spoon in. The straining associated with prolapse is from the swelling of the vaginal from the prolapse. Once it is correct we do not expect the ewe to strain until she lambs. Vaginal prolapse does not indicate that a ewe is close to lambing. While it is more common in ewes in the third trimester it can happen in any stage of gestation and even in open ewes.
– J. L. Goelz, D.V.M.

07/28/2025

Question:
Last year we had a group of ewes that didn't get the campylobacter vaccine and we had about 12 abort out of 50. We had the fetus tested but didnt show anything. If they receive the vaccine do you think they will have the same problem this year?

Veterinarian Response:
With that high of abortion rate you are pretty much guaranteed that there is an infectious cause of abortion present in the flock. The top 3 causes of infectious abortion are Campylobacter, Chlamydia and Toxoplasmosis. Unfortunately without laboratory confirmation we are left guessing but there are a number of things I would recommend. I would definitely vaccinate for Campylobacter, even if it isn’t the cause the disease is common and is transmitted readily among sheep so it is always a risk in any flock. I would consider vaccinating for Chlamydia. I would look hard at control of rodent and young cat population to minimize exposure to Toxoplasmosis. If we can control these three we will control greater than 95% of the infectious abortion outbreaks in the U.S.
– J. L. Goelz, D.V.M.

07/25/2025

Question:
I have a small flock of majority Dorper sheep. Before lambing this spring. I noticed some of the ewes coughing. Lambs came in April. From the end of June to the present I have lost 8 lambs. Lambs become weak and uninterested in eating, then die. Yesterday I opened one up and couldn’t identify any other problem than small intestines so full of tapeworms that nourishments can’t pass through. Some of them 3’ long or longer. Yesterday evening I gave only the lambs and a few ewes a drench of privermectin. 10cc per lamb 60 lbs and lighter. 15 cc to 2 ewes. I have not done any other treatments. They are on pasture most of the time. From what I have read privemectin doesn’t do tapeworms. What do you suggest?

Veterinarian Response:
You are correct any of the avermectin class of dewormers is not effective against tapeworms. You need to use one of the white oral dewormers: Valbazen, SafeGuard, Synathic. Any of these will be effective. The intermediate host is a pasture mite so you should deworm them again in the fall for tapeworms.
– J. L. Goelz, D.V.M.

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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!