The Correct Way to Trim Sheep Hooves and Deworm in Early Spring

    In winter, sheep often cannot go out to graze because of the cold weather, and they spend more time in the barn. As a result, their hooves often become too long or grow crooked to one side, seriously affecting their feeding and walking. In early spring, sheep should be checked, and overgrown or misshapen hooves should be trimmed.

 

    The hoof-trimming method is: soak the hooves in water until soft, or take advantage of the soft hooves after rain, lay the sheep down on the ground, and use fruit-tree shears to cut off the overgrown parts. Do not cut too much at one time, so as not to injure the inside. Sheep with misshapen hooves should be trimmed several times.

 

    Internal parasites in sheep generally include stomach worms, hookworms, nodular worms, tapeworms, liver flukes and so on, and they are very harmful to sheep. Sheep should be dewormed once a year in early spring. When deworming a large flock, first select a few sheep for a drug efficacy test. The purpose of the test is, first, to see whether the chosen drug targets the right parasite, and second, to prevent mass poisoning of the sheep, because most deworming drugs are highly toxic. So a test must be carried out, and only after it is verified as truly safe and effective should the drug be used on the whole flock.
  
Deworming method: Roundworms mainly include Ascaris, nodular worms, hookworms, whipworms and so on, and these parasites often live in the digestive tract of sheep. For these parasites, a 1% refined trichlorfon solution can be used, calculated at 0.06 g per kg of body weight, given as a single dose on an empty stomach, once a day for 3 consecutive days. To expel liver flukes, nitroxynil can be used, at a dose of 3 mg per kg of body weight, given as a single dose, once a day for 3 consecutive days.

 

    So farmers are reminded to be sure to trim the hooves of and deworm their sheep in early spring!