Small ruminants for the bovine practitioner

Abstract

The increase in small ruminants raised on hobby farms as well as the increase in large scale sheep and goat operations in the United States represents a potential opportunity for bovine practitioners to expand their practice into these fields. Provi­sion of herd health services by veterinarians to sheep and goat clients has traditionally been less frequent than with cattle pro­ducers, but can provide value to the producer, particularly with increased practitioner awareness of species-specific differences in production and management practices. In addition, while sheep and goats share many of the same common medical and surgical conditions as cattle, these conditions often differ in their clinical presentation, diagnosis and treatment. Knowledge of these differences can assist the bovine practitioner in confi­dently serving this emerging market of livestock producers.