Why Do Sheep Suddenly Stop Eating?

One of the biggest mistakes I see on farms is treating every off-feed sheep with antibiotics.

Loss of appetite is a symptom, not a diagnosis.

Possible causes include:

• Heat stress
• Rumen acidosis
• Pregnancy toxemia
• Heavy parasite burden
• Foot pain or lameness
• Pneumonia
• Mineral deficiencies

Treating the wrong cause wastes time, increases costs, and may reduce the animal's chances of recovery.

My approach as a livestock veterinarian:

1. Check temperature.
2. Examine rumen motility.
3. Assess hydration.
4. Evaluate pregnancy status (if applicable).
5. Look for signs of pain or lameness.
6. Perform fecal or blood tests when needed.

Question for farmers and veterinarians:

What is the most common reason you've found behind a sheep suddenly going off feed?

I'd love to hear your experience and discuss different diagnostic approaches.

#Sheep #VeterinaryMedicine #Livestock #SheepFarming #FarmAnimals #AnimalHealth #Ruminants

Was planning on breeding lambs(not too many but enough to keep meet in the freezer and maybe even sell some) but my cousin said you have to have more than 3 acres. He said you have to have a mobile pen on more than 3 acres bc they’ll get worms.

What animals would yall recommend breeding on 3 acres that aren’t super high maintenance?

Meat producing and non meet producing I’m open to all recommendations.

Kindly how to read this report and which semen is good for milk production

Does anybody have experience using CIDR's for breeding first time ewe-lambs out of season, and if what was your success rate?

Also, can folks on here recommend a prefferred brand and source for CIDR's?

Thanks as always!

I work with Rudrapur Solvents Pvt. Ltd., a DORB manufacturer in India, so I have a commercial connection with this subject.

When a DORB consignment is accepted or rejected using a laboratory report, the discussion usually focuses on the test result. But before testing comes a more basic question: was the sample representative of the entire truck?

A handful collected from the top or from one bag may not reflect variations elsewhere in the load. A more reliable process is to:

Collect material from multiple locations and depths

Combine and mix the incremental samples properly

Reduce the composite sample without selectively removing material

Seal and label separate samples for the buyer, supplier and possible retesting

Record where, when and in whose presence sampling occurred

Comparing a dispatch sample with a properly collected delivery sample can also help distinguish an actual quality difference from a sampling problem.

In your experience, how are DORB trucks sampled at feed mills? Is there a written procedure, or does the method depend on whoever is available at unloading?

Have you seen commercial disputes where two laboratories reported different values because the underlying samples were not genuinely comparable?

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Hello everyone. Im 15 days away from county fair and kind of panicking, im not really sure how to study for when they ask questions. I want to do Premier showmanship/round robin. I just don’t know what to expect or how to even study for the questions they will ask me.

I have no problems with showing the animal I’m just nervous cause I know a big part of it is the questions, And I don’t think I know enough to be able to answer them. Our county shows Six Species for Premier Showmanship, Pigs, Beef Cattle, Dairy Cattle, Horses, Goats.

If you have done 4-H and know what they would ask and like common questions would you mind commenting and helping? I know I shouldn’t have waited in til 15 days before but I’ve been busy. And should I be this nervous? I also would like to try and go to state this year.

Thank you all.

Hello I am doing an internship with ******** City Labs. We are doing a project where we are making an automated system that detects predators using computer vision and alerts the chickens to the predators presence as well as the owner. This system will decrease the risk of predation and I was wondering if people would be willing to fill out a form to help us out!

Hello everyone! I've recently taken in a goat kid (1 week old) who has a pretty bad eye infection, he's been taken to the vet and it seems to be a bad case of pink eye. I've been given chlorsig 1% to treat it, but after 3 days it's not looking much better. Doing some research it seems that is the better option in humans and terramycin is the way to go for animals. Can anyone confirm this? Thanks!

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Hello everyone,

My name is Zouhire Hakimi, and I am an 18-year-old from Morocco looking for a legal opportunity to work in agriculture in the United States.

I have experience working in agricultural fields, including preparing land, plowing, working with farming equipment, and using fertilizers to support crop growth. I understand that farm work requires physical strength, patience, responsibility, and the ability to work long hours in difficult weather conditions. I am ready for this type of work and I am not afraid of challenges.

I also have experience in other fields:

• ✅ 7 months of experience in commercial cleaning
• ✅ Restaurant kitchen experience
• ✅ Clothing retail and customer service experience
• ✅ Good computer skills
• ✅ Fast learner and adaptable
• ✅ Comfortable working in a team environment

I am looking for a serious and legal opportunity, especially through programs such as H-2A, with an employer who is experienced in hiring international workers.

The main challenge I face is the cost of the visa process and travel expenses. If an employer is willing to provide legal sponsorship or assistance with these costs as part of the employment opportunity, I am ready to prove my value through hard work, loyalty, and dedication.

I am not asking for charity. I see this as an investment from both sides: an employer looking for a reliable worker, and a young person looking for the chance to build a better future through honest work.

If you know a farm, employer, or legal program that may be interested in hiring motivated workers, I would sincerely appreciate your advice or referral.

Thank you for taking the time to read my message.

Zouhire Hakimi

📧 Email: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

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Good day! I'm an undergraduate student studying Industrial Design who is currently working on my thesis for the creation of an affordable swine liquid feed fermenter design for increasing growth performance while reducing feed cost. Particularly for, but not limited to, small-scale swine farms. 

I thought reaching out to this community of others in the field would help my study. With that, I am hoping members here might be willing to participate in this short survey to share your experience in swine farming, feed management, and liquid feed fermentation if its a method you practice or are especially familiar with. It would only take about 15-20 mins to answer. Your insights would be highly appreciated and very valuable to my research. So here is the link to the survey:

[https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfvOkiUoNtLmcm9VS5jfN5NsewxVizLledQDKcHzoMX-kQjlQ/viewform?usp=header\](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfvOkiUoNtLmcm9VS5jfN5NsewxVizLledQDKcHzoMX-kQjlQ/viewform?usp=header)

If you are interested in my study, you can reach out to me on this platform for any discussion or questions. Thank you very much for your time!

Pasture holds two Jersey dairy cattle, one Angus steer, two senior horses, one mini donkey, one mini pony for more context.

TIA in advance!

Hi everyone, I have a question for local farmers who sell directly to customers (beef, eggs, honey, dairy products, etc).

Do most small farms actually want more customers, or is finding local consumers not usually the biggest challenge?

I’m genuinely curious because I love local farmers and always get my food from local farms. I wanted to start a business to help local farmers as I do marketing. But I really wanted know if getting more customers will actually help yall or is that not a problem for most farmers and I should start a different business. I want more people to be healthy and go back to getting food from their local farmers like we did back in the day. We didn't have all these modern health problems back then either. 

Would really appreciate hearing your experiences. Thanks! 😄

1 what breed of pigs are these?

A close friend of mine got them a while ago and is sick of them. My uncle raised pigs for a while. But I don't know breeds other than it looks Potbelly or it doesn't and spots are kune kune (definitely not accurate).

2 How long before butcher do you need to castrate?

Definitely looking to freezer them if we cant sell for a decent price.

3 castration tips and how's with grown male pigs?

We do have a vet but right now I really don't want to have to trailer these things. And how much would a vet charge. I don't care if they get sedation son of a b****** have caused enough trouble for the neighborhood 🤣 they can deal with a little bit of pain right. yes they still get antibiotics and stuff and I'm sure the sedation is more for us and our safety at this point.

4 Butchers for large pigs and how to find them?

Most of the butchering places I know won't do large pigs because they would almost have to be set up for cattle and the places that are set up for cattle seem to always be busy and they don't seem to like dealing with large pigs either. Granted I haven't called around this year but like 3 years ago when I was helping my uncle I remember the problems he was running into and these aren't new problems.

5 What is a good price range per?

If we decide the butchering isn't worth it for us or is too much

ANY OTHER ADVISE, IDEAS OR INPUT IS WELCOME TOO

Biggest brown one is male and uncut

One facing us head one in one Pic is another uncut male

The rest of the are females and most likely pregnant. The males will charge mainly if you turn your back on them. The smaller male is worse.

My 12 year old has to choose between these two dairy feeder steers for fair in two weeks. We cant decide. Please help. First 4 pics is the first option, then the 2nd option. Let me know what you thinkm thanks!

Why do you do it? Whats your favourite part about sheep farming

Hello!

We currently have two steer calves (Brisket and Chuck, part angus part jersey) who are bottle fed and soon to be food

I've noticed a seeming attachment issue in both of the calves, one worse than the other. They will both follow me across the pasture of course but when I walk out Brisket usually just walks away. Chuck however is a problem.

Upon me walking away he will pace the fence and just start mooing for 30 minutes straight at minimum. In two weeks I will be gone for five days straight and I need to eliminate this problem ASAP.