True North Notes

New World screwworm fly, side view (USDA photo)

New World Screwworm: What Show Families Need to Know

Update, November 9, 2026 Cases are climbing fast. USDA counted 3 new U.S. cases in...
Close-up of a house fly with a drop of water at its mouth

Fly Control for Show Livestock: Where Flies Breed and What Is Safe on Your Animals

Most fly control for show cattle, sheep, goats and pigs happens off the animal. Find...
Blue rod-shaped Lactobacillus paracasei bacteria under a scanning electron microscope

Probiotics for Show Livestock: What They Can Do, What They Can’t, and Why They Aren’t Enough

You have a tube of probiotic paste in the show box. He got a dose...
Older chocolate Labrador Retriever with a gray muzzle looking toward the camera

Is My Dog Just Getting Old? What Actually Helps a Stiff Older Dog

He used to beat you to the door. Now you hear him first: a push...
Weaned black calves eating hay at a bunk in a dry lot

A Bawling Calf Is Walking, Not Eating: Weaning Calves Through the First Three Weeks

The cows are on one side of the fence and the calves are on the...
A white show pig photographed from above, with small separate red spots scattered across his topline, shoulders and both sides and normal skin in between. Both ears are in frame and look clean.

Skin Problems in Show Pigs: Why It Is Usually Not Mange, and Why It Usually Starts at the Wash Rack

It is nine o'clock at night. You were putting him up and you saw it:...
The lower leg of a show goat in the shavings. The pastern and the skin around the dew claws are where heel mites do their damage and where the crusting starts.

Heel Mites in Show Lambs and Goats: Why He Is Stamping, and Why the Shot Alone Does Not Finish It

He will not stand still. He gets up, stamps a back foot, lies down, gets...
Show goat head, close up

Urinary Calculi in Show Wethers: Why It Happens, How to Prevent It, and What to Do the Night He Cannot Urinate

It is late, and your wether will not settle. He gets up, he stretches out,...
Ringworm in cattle: two grey crusty circles above and below a calf's eye

Ringworm in Show Cattle: Why It Hits in Winter and What Actually Works

Ringworm in show cattle is a fungal skin infection, not a worm, and it is...
show goat

Your Club Lamb or Show Goat Does Not Need Deworming on a Schedule. Here Is What He Does Need.

Your lamb came home a few weeks ago, or your goat did. Somebody at the...