The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Booleyx on August 15, 2022, 11:37:43 pm
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:wave:Had 4 girls delivered today still fleeced. This is all new to me but I understand they don't need shearing until next month but if I clic or Crovect or Ectofly or Dysect or vetrazin I can't do it too near shearing or not too soon after so I'm not sure to do?
Should I Wait, inspect and treat outbrake or Covect them now and shear in 8 weeks - sorry - I'm sure there's a simple answer :sheep: :sheep: :sheep: :sheep:Thanks for your time and advice x
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Why wait to shear? Dont know where you are ... or age of sheep...... but shear here in June.
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They're maybe longwools and on twice-yearly shearing? In which case they were probably shorn a few
months ago and will be due to be shorn again before winter.
Did the seller give them any anti flystrike treatment?
We need to know a bit more, [member=201505]Booleyx[/member] - and pictures are always most welcome, as well as helpful :)
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Thank you for responses - The smaller Females Mum's are Dartmoor grey faces and the larger babies are crossed with Black Valais, also one of the girls is limping on front leg so I need to be able to get close to take a look - could take a while!
They are due fly strike as had 6 weeks ago? I am trying to upload photos of them but its not my strong point!!!
That has taken me 30 minutes!
Best wishes
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Your proximity to shearing for the application of Crovect is a bit irrelevant as the 'no use' time is 3 months pre-shearing. This means because Crovect was applied recently you've lost the fleece for this year anyway if you want to do anything with it. If you want to spin it yourself then the decision is yours, if perhaps you are not sensitive to the chemicals.
If you want to use the fleece next year then plan for shearing in June, watch carefully for signs of strike before that, then apply your chosen product a couple of weeks after shearing, once there is enough fleece grown back for the liquid to hang onto.
Again, if you want to use the fleece for something (spin it yourself or sell it) then pasture management to get rid of thistles and so on is an integral part of good fleece production - no one will buy a fleece with thistles stuck in it, or any number of other sticky bits of vegetation, feed, dung etc.
Get yourself organised with a catching pen so you can bring your girls in for a proper inspection and any treatment. This doesn't need to be expensive, just some hurdles in a square you can train them to walk into to feed (while you craftily close the gate behind them). If you don't know that method then one of us can tell you the tricks.
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Once they are shorn they are very low risk for flystrike anyway, and as Fleecewife says, there needs to be a bit of regrowth for the product to stick to.
GFDs do get a lot more woolly than that, and Valais are very woolly too, so I suspect these were shorn early in the season and need another clip before winter. I'm not fully au fait with twice yearly shearing, and whether you wait until the summer growth is a certain length before clipping for winter, or only really use one of the two clips for spinning etc, or what.
Mind, both breeds have harsh wool, so you maybe aren't worried about using the fleece, just about getting it off, and them getting struck before then? And if you aren't worried about using or processing the fleece, then you may not be so worried about treating the sheep before shearing.
Some shearers say they don't mind about recent treatments (despite the product particulars for Clik saying to not shear for 3 months, and Vetrazin and Clikzin for 2 months), but knowing how noxious these chemicals can be, I could never bring myself to subject a shearer to them.
As to using a Crovected fleece for handspinning; I am sensitised to cypermethrin and have to suit up to apply it, but I am happy to use a fleece which has been washed using washing up liquid as my experience is that I don't react to it once it's washed out using detergent. I have to wash it in smallish sections, wearing rubber or latex gloves, and in an airy room though, as the unwashed fleece can make me a little breathless and my eyes sting. (So I don't in general plan to buy or use a treated fleece, and most handspinners I know would also avoid them. However some handspinners don't mind as long as they know, and can handle and wash accordingly. Natural Fibre Company won't accept wool for processing which has been treated with any chemicals in the previous 4 months.)
We have Devon and Cornwall longwools around here, which are a fairly close relative of the GFD. DCLs seem to be horribly prone to flystrike when the wool gets long, so the twice yearly shearing could be a very good tactic with yours.
If they were treated 6 weeks ago, they should still have some protection, especially as there hasn't been a lot of rain in that time. (Clikzin and Crovect are both up to 8 weeks, Vetrazin 11 weeks, Clik 16 weeks. Ectofly is cypermethrin, like Crovect, so presumeably is also 6-8 weeks, although NOAH doesn't stipulate.)
If possible I would go back to the seller and find out exactly what they had and when, and therefore when it would be safe for the shearer to shear them.