General sheep thread

Prop Joe

Young95 wrote: »

How’s are the outdoor lambing men getting on with the weather . Started here on Thursday and everything is being brought in once Lambed. Rain and wind is cruel .

Have ewes out in the field and left the shed door open if they wanted to wander in out of the weather...only one ewe taking any advantage of it

Green farmer

wrangler wrote: »

Supposed to be improving from tomorrow, up to 16 degrees so there'll be grass growing as well

That and the clocks gone forward we wont know ourselves. Never ceases to amaze me how quickly things turn at this time of year.

Tileman

Have Hoggets coughing like ****. Presume it’s lingworm. Gave then Albex two weeks ago but they haven’t improved. What else is there for it.

kk.man

Tileman wrote: »

Have Hoggets coughing like ****. Presume it’s lingworm. Gave then Albex two weeks ago but they haven’t improved. What else is there for it.

I used fasinex (3 stage) this time found it good but I'll have to go again by the sounds of it. Sorry for the pun.

Green farmer

Tileman wrote: »

Have Hoggets coughing like ****. Presume it’s lingworm. Gave then Albex two weeks ago but they haven’t improved. What else is there for it.

I had similar here a few weeks ago. Used white drench and cleared up most of them. One persisted so used yellow afterwards. Didnt want long withdrawals as were factory bound. Was told that fluke would have been picked up a few months ago so would have been mature enough for the white drench to work.

sonnybill

Is two weeks lambed too long to attempt fostering a lamb onto her? I was sticking a triplet back n over between two hoggets That lost lambs and 1 took to lamb so was waiting ages for last set of triplets .for a spare lamb for other . I milked her and it’s v watery .. will it come back to her

J.O. Farmer

sonnybill wrote: »

Is two weeks lambed too long to attempt fostering a lamb onto her? I was sticking a triplet back n over between two hoggets That lost lambs and 1 took to lamb so was waiting ages for last set of triplets .for a spare lamb for other . I milked her and it’s v watery .. will it come back to her

How long was she left without being sucked/ milked. 2 days is nearly too long never mind 2 weeks.

I'd have tried to get a lamb if I didn't have one. There was no guarantees your last set of triplets would have 3 strong live lambs. There's always potential to lose one especially if you were counting on it.

Young95

Some weather outside today . Outdoor lambing is the job on a day like it ðŸ‘

sonnybill

J.O. Farmer wrote: »

How long was she left without being sucked/ milked. 2 days is nearly too long never mind 2 weeks.

I'd have tried to get a lamb if I didn't have one. There was no guarantees your last set of triplets would have 3 strong live lambs. There's always potential to lose one especially if you were counting on it.

I took a shot a milk off of her every 2/3 days and then nearly 4/5before this Triplet lambed. New to sheep , they a pure dose.

Kevhog1988

Ewes seem to have gotten very dirty behind over the past few days. Anyone finding the same?

Mad about baa baas

Kevhog1988 wrote: »

Ewes seem to have gotten very dirty behind over the past few days. Anyone finding the same?

Not my ewes but I have a bunch of hoggets that came home from winter grazing a couple of weeks ago.. all were clean as a whistle coming home but over half are dirty behind now.. was wondering should I give a dose.and if so what kind? Current field is good grass that had slurry end of January

Siamsa Sessions

Mad about baa baas wrote: »

Not my ewes but I have a bunch of hoggets that came home from winter grazing a couple of weeks ago.. all were clean as a whistle coming home but over half are dirty behind now.. was wondering should I give a dose.and if so what kind? Current field is good grass that had slurry end of January

Keep an eye on them but I'd say they're just adjusting to the change in diet and weather

Siamsa Sessions

Siamsa Sessions wrote: »

Keep an eye on them but I'd say they're just adjusting to the change in diet and weather

It'll be the young fresh grass, be better if there were some rough/dead stuff in there (was that a collective intake of breaths I heard?) to avoid ****ty arses. Hay would probably sort it but I doubt they'd eat it with fresh grass around.

Sami23

Noticed two 3 week old lambs lame on 1 of their front legs this evening.
Just wondering could this be due to the very bad weather we had last weekend or could it be joint ill.
There not very lame and are well able to run around. Just I've heard with joint ill fast treatment is key to success.

How would I know for sure if its joint ill

390kid

Anyone have a way to get a single lamb to suck both sides of a ewe? Have a ewe here that lost one and she bags up ferociously on one side and be afraid of her losing it

charolais0153

Sami23 wrote: »

Noticed two 3 week old lambs lame on 1 of their front legs this evening.
Just wondering could this be due to the very bad weather we had last weekend or could it be joint ill.
There not very lame and are well able to run around. Just I've heard with joint ill fast treatment is key to success.

How would I know for sure if its joint ill

I'd suspect it's scald, catch and check

Sami23

charolais0153 wrote: »

I'd suspect it's scald, catch and check

There was a 3rd lamb lame on their front leg this evening so rang vet for his opinion. All 3 sort of buckling a small bit at the bottom joint when walking. Anyway He said unless there is something obvious in the foot causing the problem it's best to treat it for joint ill as it can destroy a lamb so quick.
I'll be catching them in the morning to check as they on an outfarm and have to setup a bloody pen as they only went there last week ☹

Tileman

Sami23 wrote: »

There was a 3rd lamb lame on their front leg this evening so rang vet for his opinion. All 3 sort of buckling a small bit at the bottom joint when walking. Anyway He said unless there is something obvious in the foot causing the problem it's best to treat it for joint ill as it can destroy a lamb so quick.
I'll be catching them in the morning to check as they on an outfarm and have to setup a bloody pen as they only went there last week ☹

Are u new to sheep Sami? Lameness an unfortunate constant battle with sheep. Allot of scald about with my own at moment. Think the long lush grass doesn’t help.

Sami23

Tileman wrote: »

Are u new to sheep Sami? Lameness an unfortunate constant battle with sheep. Allot of scald about with my own at moment. Think the long lush grass doesn’t help.

I'd be newish alright but not brand new haven't had much issues with lameness in young lambs in recent years so just being cautious I suppose.
Would the buckling/knuckling at the bottom joint be caused by scald and would the scald be obvious if they had it ?

Another thing I should mention is the hedges were cut in this filed last backend so probably a lot of bits of briars/bits of bushes around the field too that may have hurt them

It's just the neighbour had to have a lamb put down last week due to severe case of joint ill so I've been extra vigilant with my own since and spotting every little bit of lameness.

Any advice or experience shared would be very much appreciated.

Tileman

Sami23 wrote: »

I'd be newish alright but not brand new haven't had much issues with lameness in young lambs in recent years so just being cautious I suppose.
Would the buckling/knuckling at the bottom joint be caused by scald and would the scald be obvious if they had it ?

Another thing I should mention is the hedges were cut in this filed last backend so probably a lot of bits of briars/bits of bushes around the field too that may have hurt them

It's just the neighbour had to have a lamb put down last week due to severe case of joint ill so I've been extra vigilant with my own since and spotting every little bit of lameness.

Any advice or experience shared would be very much appreciated.

Could well be thorns if they are around. The knuckling is just that it is sore for the lamb to walk on it. Scald is very easy to diagnose. Just open the hoof. If it’s scald Ull see a white / red foot which between the hoofs. It will be very tender to touch. Very easily cleared up once u treat it.

farawaygrass

Will ye soon go with a nematodirus dose in lambs? Weather is very forearm today and for the weekend but due to get cold again next week

nosferatu1978

Has anyone had problems with ram lambs at foot eating ewe and lamb pellets 18%, I know they shouldn't be fed same on concentrated feeding, but any issues taking the odd gobble where the ewe gets her big head out of the way.

One lamb goes mad for it and other doesnt bother. Maybe small quantities are ok?

wrangler

nosferatu1978 wrote: »

Has anyone had problems with ram lambs at foot eating ewe and lamb pellets 18%, I know they shouldn't be fed same on concentrated feeding, but any issues taking the odd gobble where the ewe gets her big head out of the way.

One lamb goes mad for it and other doesnt bother. Maybe small quantities are ok?

It doesn't appear to do them any harm, ewes would have the trough cleared very quick any so lambs wouldn't have time to eat much.
They love the Hi mag buckets as well and they seem alright,
It's a different story in a creep feeder, you'll sicken them then for sure

Sami23

Tileman wrote: »

Could well be thorns if they are around. The knuckling is just that it is sore for the lamb to walk on it. Scald is very easy to diagnose. Just open the hoof. If it’s scald Ull see a white / red foot which between the hoofs. It will be very tender to touch. Very easily cleared up once u treat it.

Quick update - 2 out of the 3 were much better today and I caught the 3rd lad but couldn't see anything in his hoof so just gave him a spray of terramycin and will continue to monitor.

When I had them penned I noticed 1 lamb had bloody orf in and around his mouth so if its not 1 thing its another with them isn't it

Sami23

farawaygrass wrote: »

Will ye soon go with a nematodirus dose in lambs? Weather is very forearm today and for the weekend but due to get cold again next week

Wondering the same here myself - noticed a few month old lambs starting to get 'black' backsides this week in a particular field where as older lambs in a different field are clean as a whistle

wrangler

Sami23 wrote: »

Wondering the same here myself - noticed a few month old lambs starting to get 'black' backsides this week in a particular field where as older lambs in a different field are clean as a whistle

Department of ag said therewas a hatch in the west a fortnight ago so the west needs to be dosing now and here in the midlands is hatching now so we'll be dosing in a fortnight

Sami23

wrangler wrote: »

Department of ag said therewas a hatch in the west a fortnight ago so the west needs to be dosing now and here in the midlands is hatching now so we'll be dosing in a fortnight

Would you dose at 4 weeks old wrangler - seems very young ?

Suppose a white drench like Arrest would be the go to dose for the 1st round

wrangler

Sami23 wrote: »

Would you dose at 4 weeks old wrangler - seems very young ?

Suppose a white drench like Arrest would be the go to dose for the 1st round

No, from six weeks on, They wouldn't be eating enough grass at four weeks to get worms unless the ewe was short of milk.
Some farms need to dose for coccidiosis at four weeks

Sami23

wrangler wrote: »

No, from six weeks on, They wouldn't be eating enough grass at four weeks to get worms unless the ewe was short of milk.
Some farms need to dose for coccidiosis at four weeks

Would the 'black' backsides point to coccidiosis ?

I just thought it very early for them to be dirty

wrangler

Sami23 wrote: »

Would the 'black' backsides point to coccidiosis ?

I just thought it very early for them to be dirty

I wouldn't be an expert on it as we never have it here, not all coccidia are harmful, If the lambs are straining and passing blood they have the harmful type and you'd need to dose them all.
Have you a lot of them dirty, the odd one will be dirty if the ewe is short of milk and the lamb has to eat more grass than he should for his age.

just edited to say any dose will do nematodirus, but it's good practise to use a white dose