Small Ruminant Producers:

Do you want more parasite resistant animals?

Summer 2020: Free Fecal Egg Count (FEC) analysis to assist with selective breeding for resistance to gastrointestinal worms

AVAILABLE TO: 

New or current National Sheep Improvement Program (NSIP) members either in or marketing to the Northeast who want to generate Estimated Breeding Values (EBV) for parasite resistance.
o Producers must be able to obtain and ship fecal samples once or twice (at least 4 weeks later) following NSIP recommendations.
o Animals must NOT have been dewormed within 4 weeks of sampling.
o Fecal egg counts can be conducted for all young stock whose data is being submitted to NSIP.
o For more information on the benefits of membership in NSIP please visit http://nsip.org/ or contact the NSIP Program Director, Rusty Burgett, (info@nsip.org).

OR

Non-NSIP members living in New England, NY, NJ, PA, WV, MD, DE
o Have a history of problems with gastrointestinal nematode worms.
o Are FAMACHA certified (online training program is available).
o Are willing to share FAMACHA scores as well as general herd/flock information/history.
o Have the ability to obtain and ship fecal samples once or twice (at least 4 wks later).
o Animals must NOT have been dewormed within 4 weeks of sampling.
o To allow us to provide this service to the maximum number of producers we are focusing the FEC testing on young replacement animals.

Samples will be accepted for analysis through September 30, 2020.

FAMACHA© scores can be used to indicate that worm season is active and will provide fecal egg counts high enough for meaningful analysis (minimum herd average >500 eggs/g). Scores of 3 or higher in 10% or more of your flock/herd or an overall upward trend in FAMACHA© scores away from normal 1's and 2's indicate increasing parasite loads. Peak parasite season occurs typically from mid-July through mid-September in most of the U.S. NSIP producers should plan on submitting a first set up samples in July to allow for the 30 to 45 days needed before sending the second set of samples.

Please contact Holly Burdett or Dr. Katherine Petersson, University of Rhode Island at urisheepandgoat@etal.uri.edu to obtain appropriate fecal sampling and shipping instructions. Please include your name, farm name, mailing address, and whether an NSIP member.

For more information on small ruminant parasite control visit our website at http://web.uri.edu/sheepngoat.