So you've heard about artificial insemination? Let's take a closer look. 

Artificial insemination (AI) is an advanced reproductive technology tool where semen is artificially deposited into an animal’s reproductive tract (Spanner, et al. 2024). Ewes have a corkscrew-shaped cervix which makes AI a bit trickier. AI in sheep must be done laparoscopically which includes a trained technician or veterinarian inserting two probes into the uterus of the ewe to dispense semen. Ewes must be sedated for this procedure. In addition, ewes must have an induced, synchronized estrus cycle for successful AI which includes a 12-14 day protocol focusing on a CIDR and hormonal injections.

​Conception rates from AI depend on a number of factors, such as time of year, semen quality, and ewe condition. However, conception rates of 50-70% can be expected per attempt. Artificial insemination offers producers benefits such as ability to utilize semen from other areas of the world, breed many ewes to one sire, and can be more cost-effective than purchasing your own ram.  
 
Spanner, E., De Graaf, S., & Rickard, J. (2024). Factors affecting the success of laparoscopic artificial insemination in sheep. Animal Reproduction Science, 264, 107453. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anireprosci.2024.107453

​Disclaimer: I am NOT a licensed veterinarian. The information on this site is for informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional veterinarian advice. Please contact your veterinarian.

Wisconsin Valais is excited to welcome Iowa Lincoln to the farm! Lincoln has big, bold markings, wonderful fleece, and mellow disposition! He is big footed, structurally correct, and possesses a pedigree that is second to none!

Lincoln is out of Iowa Kobra Kai and Iowa Jackie-O. Kobra Kai graded -1 points and won his class at the 2023 National Show for Valais Iowa. Jackie-O is a full sister to Laurelhighland Bubbles, who is a Maximum Points ewe. Jackie-O is also a full sibling to Iowa Kevin who is one of two Maximum Points rams in the United States. 

We are excited to offer top-notch genetic options to our customers and can't wait to see Lincoln in action. Stay tuned for mature ram pictures and information on how you can reserve your spot to have your ewes bred live cover to Lincoln.
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The results are in... and Wisconsin Valais has confirmed pregnancies out of our -1 points donor ewe, Lavender Haze! During the 2nd USA National Valais Blacknose Sheep Show, we had the pleasure of meeting Hayden and Melissa Cowan from Parkdale Valais Blacknose in New Zealand. We discussed several different sires that exemplified the type of Valais Blacknose sheep we are trying to produce at Wisconsin Valais. Ultimately, we decided to utilize Parkdale Flynn and Highland Isa as sires for our IVF efforts this last fall.

Parkdale Flynn was the Champion Valais Blacknose Ram and Reserve Supreme Champion Valais Blacknose at the New Zealand Agricultural Show in 2023. Flynn's sire, Snowdonia Goliath, set the overall breed sale record in the UK in 2021. We are excited to see what this pairing will create!

Highland Isa was the Reserve Champion Valais Blacknose Ram at the New Zealand Agricultural Show in 2023. His pedigree contains multiple Maximum points Valais. 

Keep an eye out for more information on lambs in April and May! Please see Parkdale's website below for more information on the sires we used. 

https://www.parkdaleblacknose.co.nz/genetics

Happy New Year from all of us at Wisconsin Valais Blacknose Sheep! We are kicking off 2025 with a discussion regarding hay/grain feeders and how we had to adapt our old feeders to be "Valais friendly"!

​Our flock consists of Dorpers, Katahdins, Hampshires, commercial ewes, our goats, a few Scottish Blackface and our Valais ewe, Lavender. When we initially built our feeders in 2020, we did not have horned sheep. We used Premier 1’s “Build Your Own Feeders” instruction book to build our feeders. Specifically, we used the plans for Premier’s Single-Sided Fender for large sheep and rams to optimize material usage. I will provide a link to the instruction booklet below.

We opted to use cattle panel, which worked well for the most part, however, smaller sheep could get their heads through. When we purchased our Scottish Blackface ewes, we decided we had to make a change to how our feeders were set up so that our horned sheep were less likely to get caught up in the panel.

We pulled off the sheep and cattle panel from all of our feeders and replaced that with pieces of one-by-one boards spaced four inches apart. Because of the smaller size of the one-by-one boards, we used a countersink bit to pre-drill holes to prevent splitting. In addition, our boards were cut on an angle to be secured flush to the feeder. We used a circular saw, however, a miter saw could also be used. After pre-drilling the holes, we secured the pieces to the feeder using 1 5/8 inch screws.

We are very pleased with the results of our feeder remodel! Our sheep do not have issues pulling hay through, and also cannot fit their heads through. Take a peek below to see before and after pictures, as well as the cutest project foreman on the farm!

Premier 1 Build Your Own Feeder Booklet: https://www.premier1supplies.com/img/product/pdf/byo-feeders.pdf

Our must haves for feeder building/remodel
Solid, budget friendly circular saw: https://amzn.to/3PqMTHo
Countersink drill bit set: https://amzn.to/429aPX7
Screws: https://amzn.to/3WeLvLD
Our must-have, favorite drill set: https://amzn.to/3WcFUpi
Toolbox set for our favorite barn foreman: ​https://amzn.to/3C1Lq7f

Disclaimer: I am NOT a licensed veterinarian. The information on this site is for informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional veterinarian advice. Please contact your veterinarian. Any purchases through the Amazon links generate commission for this website.

As lambing (and kidding!) season comes to an open for some producers, we wanted to share a recipe for a luxurious homemade sugar scrub using goat milk!

Ingredient list:

• 3/4 cup of regular sugar
• 3 tablespoons goat milk
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 1 tablespoon of coconut oil, melted
• Optional: add a few drops of your favorite essential oil

Mix all ingredients together! Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 weeks. The beauty of this scrub is that it contains no harsh preservatives so storing in the fridge is a necessity. This combination of ingredients is a perfect exfoliant that is gentle on the skin, especially as we get into these dry winter months! 
We love these cute glasses! This makes a great homemade Christmas gift!
​https://amzn.to/3ZoSGBQ

Enjoy some pictures of the homemade sugar scrub and our cute kids, Lewis and Marbles!
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As lambing season draws near for sheep producers, we wanted to share some of our "essentials" for lambing!

https://amzn.to/3Zj26Qp​
We use this DEWALT Tool Box to carry our most commonly used lambing supplies. There is a place on the top for needles/syringes and ample storage in the box itself for items. 

https://amzn.to/3V5Yij3
Artificial insemination gloves are handy to keep yourself and the sheep protected during internal examinations.

https://amzn.to/3V6TCtl
Basic latex free gloves- a necessity for lambing!

https://amzn.to/3B6iZ7x
Premier 1 "Prima" Heat Lamp is our preferred heat lamp because it has a plastic grill that helps prevent sheep from damaging the bulb. In addition, if a hot bulb breaks, the plastic grill should stave off bedding catching on fire.

https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/heat-lamp-bulbs?cat_id=254
Bulbs for heat lamps

https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/superlube?cat_id=254
We love this SuperLube from Premier1! The lubricant has antiseptic properties to kill micro-organisms. 

https://amzn.to/4eLblxe
Triodine-7: Antiseptic/disinfectant that we use to sanitize navels after delivery 

https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/ob-lamb-leg-snare?cat_id=254
Leg snare for pulling lambs

https://amzn.to/4eH39OJ
Digital hanging scale utilized for obtaining accurate birth weights

https://amzn.to/3OtoMqM
Sling for lambs for hanging scale

There are many other things that can be added to your lambing essentials box! These are some of our favorites and we feel that these items aid in our lambing success. 
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​Disclaimer: I am NOT a licensed veterinarian. The information on this site is for informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional veterinarian advice. Please contact your veterinarian. Any purchases through the Amazon links generate commission for this website. 

Understanding how to read medication labels is an essential part of livestock production and maintaining ethical disease treatment practices. Let’s dive deeper into reading medication labels.
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​A large section of the label will tell you the name of the medication and how much volume is in the bottle. For example, this medication’s name is Clostridium Perfringens Types C & D- Tetanus Toxoid, more commonly known as CD & T. The maker of the medication is also on this portion of label; the maker is BAR-VAC. The volume of this bottle is 50 mL. According to the label, 50 mL is enough to treat 10 head of cattle or 25 head of sheep.

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​This section of label talks about indications for administration, directions and dosage, and what method to use for injection. For CD & T, the label states to administer 2 mL of the vaccination sub-Q and to repeat in 21-28 days. Ensure that you are reading the dosage for sheep and not for cattle.

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​This section of label includes special indications for the medication. For CD & T, the label reads to store out of direct sunlight at 35-46*F, meaning it would have to be refrigerated. This medication should avoid being frozen, shaken before use, and use entire contents when first opened. This means you cannot reuse the bottle once it is opened and medication is given. In addition, this part of the label will tell you the withdrawal period. A withdrawal period occurs for a certain number of days after a medication is given. During a withdrawal period, the animal cannot be sent to slaughter. The withdrawal period for CD & T is 21 days. 

Welcome to part one of our series on needles and injections! In this post, we will discuss the difference between subcutaneous (sub-Q or SQ), and intramuscular (IM) injections and the needle sizes best suited for each. 

A subcutaneous injection delivers medication under the animal’s skin but not deep enough to go into the muscle. A common medication that most producers will utilize in their sheep operation is CD and T. Most commonly, SQ injections are given in the sheep’s neck or over the ribs by pinching the skin to create a “tent”. Creating this “tent” helps ensure that the medication does not go into the muscle. 

Intramuscular, or IM, injections are medications administered directly into the sheep’s muscle. Commonly, IM medications are administered into the muscle of the neck.  

                      Let's talk needles!
Needles are categorized by gauge, or size, that the hole of the needle is. Needle lengths can also be different despite being the same-sized gauge. Contrary to what one might think, the larger the number of gauge, the smaller the needle hole is. On the flip side, the smaller the gauge’s number is, the larger the needle hole will be. For example, a 20 gauge needle is smaller in size than an 18 gauge needle. A 16 gauge needle is larger in size than a 22 gauge needle. 

How do I know which needle to use?
Typically, 18 or 20 gauge needles are utilized for sheep older than one week. 22  gauge can be used for lambs less than one week old as the needle may be too flimsy for older lambs.  Generally, an SQ needle is 0.5 to 1 inch long. IM needles should be 1 to 1.5 inches long because the needle needs to be long enough to penetrate the muscle. 
SQ: A 20 gauge, 0.5 inch long needle would be reasonable to use for SQ injections.
​IM: An 18 or 20 gauge, 1.5 inch long needle would be reasonable to use for IM injections. 

• One item to consider is the thickness of the medication that you are administering. A thin liquid will easily be able to be injected in a 20 gauge needle. However, a thicker liquid might be more easily injected using an 18 gauge needle. 

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                                         Considerations

• If you will be administering more than one injection at a time, choose another site at least one hand's width away from the previous injection side. 
• You should not administer more than 5 mL of medication on one site. For example, if you give 5 mL of a medication sub-q on the right neck, you should switch to the left neck to administer other medications at that time.
• A needle should only be used for approximately 8-10 sheep at a time before needing to be changed. Needles should also be changed if they are bent, broken, or dull.
• Syringes and needles both need to be luer lock in order to be compatible. 

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                       Some of our favorites!
These are links to some of our favorite products to use for injections!
5 mL Luer Lock syringes: https://amzn.to/4fPgsO2
18 gauge needles (1 inch): https://amzn.to/4fvrsQT
20 gauge needles (1 inch)18 : https://amzn.to/3YQCid8

​Disclaimer: I am NOT a licensed veterinarian. The information on this site is for informational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for professional veterinarian advice. Please contact your veterinarian. Any purchases through the Amazon links generate commission for this website. ​