Cornell Sheep & Goat Symposium Oct 3-4

The hands-on activities Friday will start with a tour of the Cornell Sheep Farm in Harford NY and an explanation of ongoing research and management.  Dr. Mary Smith, DVM, will conduct a necropsy demonstration covering goat and sheep anatomy and what to look for to determine an animal’s cause of death.  She’ll demonstrate proper tubing techniques on newborns and the results of improper tubing.
Afterward, there will be two hands-on sessions to give goat and sheep owners an opportunity to brush up on their herd management skills. We’ll primarily work with sheep but will have a few goats available to practice on as well. Experienced farmers can opt to spend the first session participating in a hands-on field necropsy workshop with Dr. Mary Smith. Participation in the field necropsy workshop is limited to one member per farm. Advance sign up is required and space is limited.
The Saturday sessions will be in Morrison Hall on the Cornell Campus, Ithaca, NY. Dr. Dave Thomas from the University of Wisconsin, Madison will give the opening talk on sheep dairying in North America. He will also give a later talk on dairy sheep research at the Univ. of Wisconsin.  Much of their research on the effects of day length, different types of supplementation, and increasing percentages of legumes versus grasses on milk production in pastured ewes also has implications for dairy goat and meat goat/sheep production.