[jack]

   Hello all can anyone tell me if it is too early to shear my 2 pet lambs I live in Essex . . .

[daddymatty82]

what breed?  i would not say its to early really but are we done with the cold weather? i would wait till June are they uncomfortable?

[shearling]

Also how old are they? and what sort of cover do they have in your field if it gets too hot or cold?

[Anke]

If they are this years lambs they will not need shearing until next summer. If they are hoggs I would atm only dag their backends (also do feet at the same time), and clip properly end May/beg June, or later depending where you are.

[jack]

what breed?  i would not say its to early really but are we done with the cold weather? i would wait till June are they uncomfortable?

Yes are we done with the cold makes you think as we have had a few cold nights this week, well breed all I know is one is white and the other is a brown faced type maybe a Suffolk something, I will wait till June as you say I was just  worried about flystrike and thought to get them sheared would make them safe from that.

[jack]

Also how old are they? and what sort of cover do they have in your field if it gets too hot or cold?

They are both 14 months old and they have a warm shed that they go in and it has hay for their beds in there.

[jack]

If they are this years lambs they will not need shearing until next summer. If they are hoggs I would atm only dag their backends (also do feet at the same time), and clip properly end May/beg June, or later depending where you are.

I am worried about the flystrike as one had this last year and I got him to an animal rescue centre who treated him and got him over it, I just thought maybe get them sheared to hopefully guard against flystrike.

[bazzais]

Hi Jack

They are not 'lambs' anymore

You could sheer them anytime now really, flystrike is about this early (here locally and its been mentioned on the forum) but I'd leave it as late as possible and keep an eye on them for symptoms.  With only two you have the luxury of being able to check them everyday on a personal basis.

Our sheerer wont touch anything thats been treated 'recently' with chems or the 'oils haven't risen' so I am going to leave mine for the time being while I cant see any signs of anything suffering.

With two, I'd just keep a close eye for symtoms in all honesty, infact I'd just check them for maggots whenever you can and treat as necessary.

Are they 'coming to a bucket or call' it should be pretty easy to check them if they know you?

Baz

[jack]

Hi Bazzias       I check them every day but can be hard to see underneath them as they are quite wooly, one is a Ram the other a Ewe what would be the first signs for me to look for and what should I do if I see any of the signs. They are very tame and they follow me about no problems there and I can brush them, I clear up their poo currants twice a day so hopefully this will help not to attract flies so much, what are the advantages of leaving them longer before having them sheared. Last year Pepe got flystike and I got him cured which was very lucky and now I am soooo scared of it happening again. Where are the flies likely to lay eggs I mean would thyey lay them underneath where I can not see too well . . . 

[SallyintNorth]

I'm sure Baz will come on with more but some of the signs are twitching, stamping, scratching, looking irritated and/or introspective, uncomfortable and unhappy.  Maybe getting up and lying down repeatedly.  The tail may wiggle like it does when they poo but repeatedly and they are not pooing.  Most likely sites are around horns (if they have any horns or horn buds), around backend, in the feet, any where they are dirty and/or have any kind of wound.  Underneath would be an unusual site in my experience.  Once the maggots are established you get grey wettish streaking of the wool, but if you are up close and personal with your two every day it will not get this far advanced.  In fact, you would be pretty likely to see the flies taking an interest in a particular spot on one of them and can clip it out and clean it up before anything even happens.

[jack]

I'm sure Baz will come on with more but some of the signs are twitching, stamping, scratching, looking irritated and/or introspective, uncomfortable and unhappy.  Maybe getting up and lying down repeatedly.  The tail may wiggle like it does when they poo but repeatedly and they are not pooing.  Most likely sites are around horns (if they have any horns or horn buds), around backend, in the feet, any where they are dirty and/or have any kind of wound.  Underneath would be an unusual site in my experience.  Once the maggots are established you get grey wettish streaking of the wool, but if you are up close and personal with your two every day it will not get this far advanced.  In fact, you would be pretty likely to see the flies taking an interest in a particular spot on one of them and can clip it out and clean it up before anything even happens.

Hello sallyinthenorth and thank you for these tips and I will watch them closely and look out for what you suggest they are very tame pets and I do worry about them and the darned flies they are lovely pets and I want them to have a happy long life they have a nice place to live and have all year round shelter . ..

[SallyintNorth]

Jack, they are very lucky sheep to have such a nice home.  I bet you know them so well you would soon spot any out-of-the-ordinary behaviour without even trying 

[jack]

Jack, they are very lucky sheep to have such a nice home.  I bet you know them so well you would soon spot any out-of-the-ordinary behaviour without even trying 

Oh yes I know them well,  Pepe I was there when he was born at a farm I saw him very day but farmer was not going to keep him and then he got flystrike so I bought him from the farmer and got him treated, then I bought Tammy from another farmer for a friend for Pepe, and  now they live together and are great  pets and they are great friends. I do hope I am able to spot and fly problems with them as it is very worrying especialy after seeing Pepe go through flystrike once before. I have a chap who does their feet and gives them the vaccinations for illnesses and he did the dagging and he will shear them for me,  so I am lucky to know someone who can do everything they need doing for them.

[daddymatty82]

keep a bottle of detol and a pair of rubber gloves with a pair of hand shears.look for damp patches of wool that's a tell tell  sign of maggots  if you suspect fly-strike  just look out for anything un normal  you know how they act and if there skittish irritated or anything just check them over if you find a maggot clip the area away and you will find pockets of maggots so search the whole area not just the infected part. clip away the area pour on detol and scrub and pick out all the maggots then  what i do is set fire to the wool/maggots so they get gone for good. next step is go to local agri merchants and get a small bottle of crovect and put on the sheep that will kill and deter any maggots/flys. If the wound is bad use some nappy cream to stop the skin from cracking

[jack]

keep a bottle of detol and a pair of rubber gloves with a pair of hand shears.look for damp patches of wool that's a tell tell  sign of maggots  if you suspect fly-strike  just look out for anything un normal  you know how they act and if there skittish irritated or anything just check them over if you find a maggot clip the area away and you will find pockets of maggots so search the whole area not just the infected part. clip away the area pour on detol and scrub and pick out all the maggots then  what i do is set fire to the wool/maggots so they get gone for good. next step is go to local agri merchants and get a small bottle of crovect and put on the sheep that will kill and deter any maggots/flys. If the wound is bad use some nappy cream to stop the skin from cracking

Hi I have wrote all this down and will get the detol and  the crovect and this is very helpful thank you, what would you think best to put on the wool to deter theflies, is there something I could rub on the wool as they do not like sprays it seems to scare them. . . .