Sheep can ingest the eggs of stomach worms from the grass in which they graze. The larvae, which "are commonly found on wet vegetation, like dewy grass," can travel up the grass to be eaten by the sheep (Aurora). These always-hungry worms will destroy the sheep's stomach lining to access the bloodstream. This can cause the sheep colic, diarrhea, anemia, and weight loss. This can inhibit the sheep's ability to produce milk and is "estimated to cost about $300 million per year in lost production and drench use" with about 40% of the specie affected (Clark). Because worm tests are expensive, group testing is common, but less effective. It is impossible to figure out which of the sheep are infested, so all of them have to be treated. De-wormers can be given to sheep either orally or injected in order to kill the parasites within them. Once treated, they should be separated from the others into an area that can be easily cleaned and retested after 3-4 weeks.
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| Evidence of parasite infestation, which includes loss of stomach lining and diarrhea (pictured above) |
Works Cited
Gary Clark, Neville Grace and Ken Drew, 'Diseases of sheep, cattle and deer - Sheep contagious diseases', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/diagram/17431/internal-parasites-of-sheep (accessed 25 February 2019)
Villarroel, Aurora. "Internal parasites in sheep and goats." Oregon State Extension Servicehttps://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/catalog/files/project/pdf/em9055.pdf (2013).
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