Sheep Rock, LLC: Veterinary Consulting

21/07/2025

My job will forever be in the crosshairs of money versus ethics. It’s the age-old dilemma of veterinary medicine anywhere you look – small animal, mixed animal, equine, or food animal – but the answers are different for each sector. That’s how I see it, because like it or not, farms are agricultural businesses and livestock are valued assets. On a budget pie chart, there’s a slice for animal health care, and only a sliver of that slice is for vet work. My practice is intentionally built to operate within the client’s budgetary pressure while still valuing my time and my operating expenses. Raising animals comes with a duty to ensure their health and happiness. How useful would I be in carrying out that mission if my clients can’t afford services?

I work with a tech who is also a farmer, like myself. Recently we were wrapping up two piglet hernia repairs and talking about our individual motivations for these surgeries. We wondered how other farmers or vet teams would have proceeded. The second piglet’s hernia was just cranial to the prepuce, and as the hole began shrinking on its own, it entrapped and strangulated two loops of small intestine. The repair was not simple, and three inches of small intestine were almost dead. The piglet wouldn’t have survived the weekend without emergency surgery. The first piglet had a scrotal hernia. There was no life-threatening bowel strangulation, but the farmer would not have been able to castrate the piglet without likely evisceration.

As piglet #2 grunted his way out of anesthesia and re-entered the waking world, I wondered how often farmers wouldn’t do it, due to sunk costs. Maybe they calculate what they’ve already put into the piglet and chalk it up as a loss. To both of us, it was clearly worth the cost to provide these piglets with comfort and stability, especially when you consider market price at market weight should return the investment. Sure, surgical risks weigh heavily on that prospective return. Some would say it is “worth it” to breakeven, some would criticize the choice to operate at all, and some would say there’s an ethical duty to operate even if there was a guaranteed loss. What would you say?

17/06/2025

Last night I met with local fair supervisors in preparation for the 2025 fair and show season. We spitballed potential stumbling points for the upcoming season and brainstormed preparation plans for the fairgrounds. This time of year you are probably seeing a lot of “how to prepare for CVIs” posts regarding ear tags, IDs, and milk tests, so I’ll spare you from more of that. But, here are some things that are often overlooked and best not forgotten before a hectic season of hauling live animals to shows:
1. Knock the dust off your trailer, check your wheel bearings, look under the floorboards, check hitch and couple welds, Do a short practice run before your first travel date. Double check the tow ratings for your truck and compare it to the sum of your trailer, your live animals, your cargo, and make sure you are not overloading your truck. Don’t forget that summer tourists have no idea how to share the road with a trailer and put some extra reflective strips on your trailer.
2. Have a quarantine area pre-set in case you end up coming home from the show with a sick animal. It’s never a bad idea to quarantine an apparently healthy animal coming home from a show.
3. Remember that the two worst forms of stress for livestock, especially young stock, are heat and travel. Even a five minute drive down the road triggers a stress response. Make an effort to reduce time spent on the trailer, loading and unloading to as minimal as possible. Bring big fans rated for outdoor use and extension cords rated for outdoor use to the show.
4. If you are traveling far, ask your fair supervisor or barn superintendent if they have a vet overseeing the fair, or get the contact information for a practice local to that fair who is willing to attend to exhibitors during those dates. Talk to your vet at home about if you should carry an emergency kit for your animals and what should be in it. Take care not to temperature abuse medications.
5. Pack an emergency kit for the humans too!

08/06/2025

Here in Litchfield we've got heat, we've got humidity, we've got record rainfall, and now we have Route 202 closed to traffic from June 16th until August 31st. What kind of traffic, you say? All of it. What hours of the day, you say? All of them. Where do we operate this practice from? Right smack dab in the middle of the closure.

If you follow the link below there are more details, along with a recommended detour route, which adds at least 20 minutes to any drive. As a practice whose caseload majority is emergency care, this is a major wrench. It's more like a wrench set with the 10mm missing.

Here is the important stuff:

- From June 16 to August 31, my response time will likely be impacted to the tune of +15 minutes. Both regular clients and ER clients know that I prioritize being prompt and punctual. I will trial alternative routes in preparation for this, and factor that into emergency planning.
- Normal business hours for this practice are 9am-4pm. This detour will significantly extend the amount of time that I will spend picking up my children at camp/daycare. I do not anticipate a change to normal business hours, however incoming non-emergency communications received at the end of the day may have a delayed response. Remember, if you are experiencing an emergency, CALL and leave a voicemail saying it's an emergency, do NOT TEXT. Emergency voicemails from clients always receive the fastest response, and they rank over any other incoming communications.
- If you regularly pick up medications and/or drop off lab specimens at my location, factor an additional 20 minutes minimum into your route. If it presents a major obstacle, shoot me an email and we an plan alternate pick ups/drop offs.
- The practice's veterinary technician, though not responding from the closed section of 202, lives in close proximity to Route 202 in Litchfield. Therefore, if she is scheduled to join me for a regular farm call OR if she is responding to an emergency, she may arrive in a separate vehicle from me for the sake of time. She will likely experience significant traffic pattern delays coming from her home base as well.

Above all, safety first. There will be people on foot directing traffic and their safety matters. There will be summer traffic complicating all of this and nobody needs a fender bender in an area with no cell service. Use your noggin, drive safe, and when in doubt during a livestock emergency, just call.

Press Release Homepage Replacement of Bridge Carrying Route 202 over Still Brook in Litchfield 1/29/2025 The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) is announcing the replacement of Bridge No. 02231 carrying Route 202 over Still Brook in Litchfield. This project is scheduled to start constr...

21/05/2025

Where do your dollars go when you pay an invoice with me? One of my practice goals is to have clients who feel confident sending a chunk of change my way knowing it’s money well spent. Obviously, you pay for the services and materials, but you do pay for more than that. You’re investing into a practice who thinks long-term and focuses on community building. You’re investing into a practitioner who will use it to continue to develop professionally and seek educational opportunities that put value back into local agriculture. Thanks to you all, I was able to attend the first ever American Association of Bovine Practitioners Milk Quality Seminar in Ohio last week/weekend. To quote an article about the conference, “The conference’s goals are to give farm vets milk quality consultation skills you will bring directly to the barn and parlor, and can impart to the farm staff for their independent usage.” It was a heck of an education and only kept me away for a few days. In a small focus group with several leaders in the dairy industry, I was able to make big advancements in my knowledge of milk pathogens, milk quality, and parlor assessment. There’s no such thing as too much support when it comes to the small scale Connecticut dairy farmer. Thank you for making this happen, and thanks to my clients for supporting this trip!

14/04/2025

Screenshot these pics in case of emergency if you own livestock in CT! You do not need a VCPR (established relationship with me) to get emergency services after hours or on the weekends. However, you DO need to wait if my regular clients, or clients referred by my neighboring practices, need me first. Please read carefully because I can do a lot of things, but I won’t do all of the things! Read now, save time, and be organized with your farm’s emergency plans. This represents a very slight change from the January ‘25 pinned post so I’m posting anew just in case.

14/03/2025

Coming off the heels of a super intense week, I’m tired and I’ve got no educational stories for you, no inspirational poster quotes, no PSAs, no sales pitches, and no hills to die on. All I’ve got, happens to be all I want, which is this view and a big old jug of iced tea. Happy Friday

12/03/2025

Located in Roxbury, we are a mixed animal veterinary practice serving greater Litchfield County, Connecticut.

28/02/2025

Does avian flu have your farming Facebook groups in emotional tatters? Do you find yourself confused by rabies vaccination in goats year after year? Does lambing and kidding season always leave you with infectious disease questions and 47 different answers? Bring your homestead planning questions, your 4-H kids, your commodity production concerns, and your favorite chicken to this town hall style zoom meeting. I’m a private practice owner with poultry and livestock experience, state and federal experience, my own farm, and my own opinions, and id like to clear some things up.

28/01/2025

Check out this special drop we rushed out just for you on bird flu, HPAI, H5N1, some basic virology ins and out, what you need to know about bird flu if you are a cat owner, a chicken owner, a cattle owner. We answered listener questions and tried to cover as much as possible. Remember I’m also putting out a minimum of one video a week with information. This is available on any podcast app. I was fresh off the norovirus when we recorded and said two incorrect things- can you find them?

Surprise! Season 3 Preseason Episode dropping….now! It’s an important one, and for us to say an episode is important, that must mean it’s super important.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vet-med-for-idiots-by-idiots/id1734510582?i=1000685892380

https://linktr.ee/vetmedforidiotsbyidiots

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vet-med-for-idiots-by-idiots/id1734510582

https://open.spotify.com/show/2Igg9VRX7JCspWObpc7Jxm

https://linktr.ee/vetmedforidiotsbyidiots



https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/animal-health-and-welfare/animal-health/avian-influenza/avian-influenza-virus-type-h5n1-us-dairy-cattle

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-detections/commercial-backyard-flocks

There was one specific to h5n1 that the cdc was running but due to an executive order updates were halted to that webpage

I implore you to look into your state’s Department of Ag and Dept of Public Health for more information and state specific actions.

21/01/2025

In the last few days since CT reported their first H5N1 case I have been calling and taking calls, answering questions and helping folks polish up their plans. I even recorded a podcast ep fielding listener questions (more on that later) but the one consistent thing I get asked in every conversation is “so how are you going to manage going from place to place?” The early 2024 epidemiology study of H5N1 in Michigan identified that visitors to a premises pose the largest risk to bringing the virus onto the farm. Whether that’s the milk truck, the neighbor, the feed delivery, an employee who works here and also works there, or yes, the vet - truck tires and footwear from farm to farm are the culprits. Here are my plans and it’s nothing new or crazy, just common sense and discipline. My biggest worry is that I stop at a lot of farm stores on my routes to grab chocolate milk and for now, sadly, I need to cut that out.

09/01/2025

Tonight, let's chat. I have a bunch of information and I'm ready to help you figure out what it all means for you.

What does it mean if the vaccine isn’t approved for a certain species? What is a rabies license or a certificate? What happens if an unvaccinated farm animal bites a member of the general public? Is rabies prevalent in Connecticut? How often does an animal like a cow get rabies? What the heck does any of this mean to you? Let’s figure it out.

07/01/2025

If you own livestock in CT, or even NY or MA, screenshot these pics in case of emergency. You do NOT need a VCPR (established relationship with me) to get emergency services after hours or on the weekends, but you WILL need to wait if my regular clients or clients referred by my neighboring practices need me first. Please read carefully because I can do a lot of things but I can’t do all things! Read now, save time and be organized for later!