Author Topic: MV Accreditation (Read 2353 times)

mart2671 · « **on:** November 27, 2012, 11:05:21 pm »

Hi . I have decided to MV accredit my Flock as i hope to show my Pedigree Zwartbles in a few years when ive bred something i like . I have brought 3 older ewes , 4 Shearlings , and 6 ewe lambs in the last 3 months all from mv flocks and they have not been near my commercial ewes . I have not brought in any ewes for around 25 years having bred our own , but we have brought in the odd commercial ram. my questions are will i have to blood test the entire flock as having looked online it sort of says ill only have to test a percentage of my ewes ? and also how much do people pay for the blood testing and getting the results , i assume its much like testing for CAE in goats . I would appreciate any comments i have phoned the lady at the scottish agri college that deal with it but havent heard back so thought id ask here in the meantime . Thanks
ps join the Huish Zwartbles flock (00934) on face book.

Blacksheep · « **Reply #1 on:** November 28, 2012, 09:42:57 am »

Hi Mart

Are you just intending to accredit your pedigree flock or your commercial flock too. I think initial testing will probably be the entire flock, but once you are onto routine 2 or 3 year tests then it is the entire flock up to 50 sheep, and above 50 it does not need to be quite the entire flock, but the number tested depends on the number in the flock, I think all the males have to be done. If you keep a non-accredited flock on the farm as well as accredited then you once you have your pedigree flock accredited you go onto 2 year routine tests, if all the sheep on the flock are accredited then you go on 3 year testing regime, after the initial tests are gone through. It is likely that you will have to go through the full testing regime now even though you have only purchased from a MV acc flocks, but worth double checking, I think they allow a week or 2 after purchase and you vet would need to confirm that the new sheep had been kept seperate from all other sheep. Your youngest sheep need to be a year old before they can be tested so you may need to wait before your lambs get to a year old first. You then need to have 2 lots of testing at least 6 months apart before your flock becomes accredited (lambs born on your holding during this time wouldn't need to be tested).
You would need to have your vet out to confirm that your holding is suitable, ie your intended MV flock are seperated by at least 2 metres from non accredited sheep on your holding or adjoining farms. We have around 50 ewes and pay approx £100/yr to be in the scheme, the SAC testing charge is £3 per sheep + the vets call out charges and sampling charges. You should be able to find the SAC charges if you google it, if you download the application form it has the charges detailed, sorry for some reason I can't attach the link correctly.