Ask the Vet
Questions on Small Ruminants
Date: Sunday, September 28, 2025
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p. m.
Location: APlex Mezzanine
Cost: FREE–Must register & submit questions at the Michigan Sheep Producers Association Booth
Description: Panel of experts on ruminants will discuss/answer your questions on ruminants
Audience: Maximum allowed will be 75 participants
Alpena FFA officers will be assisting with moderating the event.
Meet the Panel
Dr Melissa Holahan: Melissa Holahan, DVM, DACVECC is a veterinary critical care specialist and educator with a strong focus on small ruminant health and management. She owns Caprine & Ewe Veterinary Consulting, PC, a mobile practice dedicated to sheep, goats, and camelids, and operates Chubb E. Acres Farm, LLC, where she breeds ADGA-registered Nigerian Dwarf and Alpine dairy goats. Actively competing on the regional and national show circuit, she brings a producer’s perspective to her veterinary work. Dr. Holahan earned her BS and DVM from Michigan State University, completed a rotating internship at the University of Pennsylvania, and a residency in critical care at Michigan State University. She mentors veterinary students through an established externship program and lectures widely on small ruminant medicine and production.
Dr Kay is a food animal veterinarian and owner of KMP Farm Vets in Mildford, Michigan. She graduated from The Ontario Veterinary College in 2015 with an emphasis on Dairy medicine. She started her practice in 2022 and enjoys all aspects of food animal medicine and surgery, servicing 7 counties in southeastern Michigan. In her free time, she enjoys knitting and spending time with her family.
Dr. McKane grew up in Mid-Michigan and worked on her family’s farm and farm stand with her brother and grandparents. She was active in 4-H with her horses and still has a horse (who thinks that she is a peppermint dispenser). She graduated from Michigan State with a bachelor’s in microbiology and a DVM and then practiced in New Hampshire, New York and Michigan on racetracks, sport horses, small and large animals and later focused on emergency and critical care. She received a master’s in public health from the University of Minnesota and began working for the State of Michigan as Maternal and Child Health Epidemiologist in 2009. In 2022, she joined MDARD as the Cervid and Small Ruminant Program Manager. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, camping, travel and spending time with family, friends and pets.
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Mike has worked for MSU Extension for 25 years as the Small Ruminant Educator serving all 83 counties in Michigan. He has a BS in Animal Science and an MS in Crop and Soil Sciences, both from MSU. Mike has been involved in the small ruminant industry for 35 years, starting with a herd of dairy goats and until recently, a commercial dairy and on-farm creamery. Mike currently has a herd of about 45 meat goats and a flock of 25 head of hair sheep..
Here are some of his authored articles:
Goat milk versus cow milk: A comparison,
July 22, 2022
Fight or flight: Stressed sheep will react differently, September 10, 2021
Johne's disease in sheep and goats,
January 3, 2019
January 3, 2019
White muscle disease in sheep and goats,
January 3, 2019
Foot rot and foot scald in goats and sheep,
December 21, 2018
