blackacre Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 We just sheared and discovered that some of the sheep have ticks. They must have been brought in by my last ill-advised purchase. Treatment? Can you treat pregnant/nursing ewes? A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Just a question. Do sheep normally get ticks and how do folks treat them if they do? We never had a problem with ticks when we were in western NY (on dogs, cattle, horses, or goats). We treat the dogs down here during tick season and this year, we did pick off a couple of dead ticks (which is more than we usually ever have). I can't remember if I have ever found a tick on the horses down here, even though I know we do have ticks in the area. Since we are at a fairly higher elevation, I don't think we tend to have too many ticks here. Andrea, do you normally have any ticks up where you are? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackacre Posted February 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Well Sue, Sheep Producers R Us and all that. Further research has revealed that these are sheep keds, a type of fly. I've never had them before. Merck canvasses various treatments and touches on spot treatment with pyrethin compounds, which would certainly be my first choice in the middle of winter. Hoping someone has some input. BTW they are totally gross!!!! My imagination has already enlarged them to the size of small ponies. sheep ked in living colour A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoloRiver Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 I remember reading about sheep keds online once and having nightmares about them for a few nights afterward (I'm serious). My sympathies that you have to deal with them in reality. They're definitely up there on my list of most horrifying arthropods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 My sheep book says keds are relatively easy to eradicate as they only lay like one egg a week over a lifetime of twelve weeks. It also says to be sure to treat lambs and adults at the same time, as the ticks that ran from the freshly sheared sheep can infest your lambs if you have any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Boy, am I ignorant. I always thought keds were a type of lice. Shows how much (little) I know. At least they don't sound too hard to treat, right? Good luck with it, A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kajarrel Posted February 8, 2005 Report Share Posted February 8, 2005 We found a couple keds on one ewe during sheering a bunch of years ago. I think we used Ivermectin to treat the flock (or maybe Delice pour on?). What ever the treatment was, we've never seen another ked, so I think they must be pretty easy to eradicate. Pipestone has a pretty good description at: http://www.pipevet.com/articles/External%20Parasites.htm Kim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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