Developing large, disease free herds

how to help producers start or grow operation with success

Abstract

Sheep and goats differ from cattle with respect to the diseases which infect them. In general, small ruminant diseases are chronic and incurable. There are a multitude of diseases that will decrease production and efficiency of feed conversion, while increasing cull rates and death loss. On a large-scale operation, these diseases must be prevented in order for a farm to be economically viable. In this article, we discuss how to successfully develop large herds and prevent future spread of disease or introduction of disease into the herd.