2011 Lambing & Kidding School

The 2011 Lambing & Kidding School will be held Saturday, November 19 at Chesapeake College in Wye Mills, MD. University of Maryland Extension holds a Lambing & Kidding School every other year in a different part of the state.

Dr. Kerr demonstrates how to give an intraperitoneal injection at the 2009 school.

Each Lambing & Kidding School has featured a small ruminant veterinarian as the main speaker. This year's main speaker is Dr. Susan Kerr from Washington State University. Her participation is being sponsored by Northeast SARE.

In addition to being an Extension Educator, Dr. Kerr holds a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Cornell University. She will give presentations on obstetrics and neonatal care. She will also demonstrate how to perform a basic necropsy on a neonatal lamb or kid.

While the school is appropriate for any sheep and goat producer, it is ideally suited to persons who have been raising sheep and/or goats for less than five years.

This year's Lambing & Kidding School will feature a separate educational tract for youth. Youth sessions will be mostly hands-on. They will include a parasitology lab, skills lab, wet lab, and a skillathon practical.

In the parasitology lab, youth will learn how to set up fecal samples and determine fecal egg counts. In the skills lab, they will learn how to dock, castraste, disbud, eartag, deworm, inject, and tube feed lambs and kids. In the wet lab, youth will dissect neonatal lambs and/or kids.

A limited number of adults may participate in the youth sessions.

Other speakers will include Susan Schoenian, Sheep & Goat Specialist at the University of Maryland's Western Maryland Research & Education Center; Jeff Semler, Agriculture Extension Educator in Washington County; Chris Johnston, 4-H & Youth Educator in Queen Anne's County Maryland; Dr. Nelson Escobar, Small Ruminant Specialist at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore; and Dr. Dahlia O'Brien, Small Ruminant Specialist at Delaware State University.

Jeff Semler demonstrates castration at the 2009 school.

The registration fee is $45 per person. Additional family (or farm) members are $35. Youth registration is $25. Full registration includes the program, morning refreshments, a hot lunch, and a resource notebook or jump drive. The resource notebook and/or jump drive may be purchased separately for $10 ($15 for people who cannot attend the school).

Download program brochure and registration form.

The registration form and payment (checks made payable to University of Maryland) should be mailed to 2011 Lambing & Kidding School, Western Maryland Research & Education Center, 18330 Keedysville Road, Keedysville, MD 21756.

Questions pertaining to registration should be directed to Pam Thomas at (301) 432-2767 x315 or pthomas@umd.edu. Questions pertaining to the program should be directed to Susan Schoenian at (301) 432-2767 x343 or sschoen@umd.edu.

The registration deadline for the school is November 9.

Updated 04-Oct-2011 by Susan Schoenian.