The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Cjnewton82 on January 24, 2014, 10:14:56 am
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I'm new to sheep so don't be to hard on me.
I brought some sheep to turn in to mutton this was only 8weeks ago he promised me they where up to date with all dreaches etc. but they went off this week and all there livers got rejected my the vet at the Abattoir because of Parasitic condition. Should I treat all my sheep with a wormer and a fluke if so which ones would you use?
Thank you in advance
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Fluke damage doesn't heal, so if at any time in a sheep's life, the fluke damage the liver, then that sheep's liver will be condemned when it gets to the abattoir.
Yes, if you are in a flukey area you should fluke - keep your eye on the NADIS parasite forecast for guidance on conditons in your area throughout the year; sometimes you need to fluke all year round, and some years even traditionally non-flukey areas need to fluke.
But don't be too upset about condemned livers - if you rear sheep in a fluke area, you will get condemned livers. Obviously if you get them in sheep you've reared from lambs yourself then you need to look at your fluking regime, because a flukey sheep is an unproductive sheep and they'll be away faster if you keep them healthy.
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Fluke damage doesn't heal, so if at any time in a sheep's life, the fluke damage the liver, then that sheep's liver will be condemned when it gets to the abattoir..
QUOTE from a medical site " The liver is one of the only organs that is able to replace damaged tissue with new cells rather than scar tissue " since fluke cause physical damage as opposed to an illness the liver can recover depending on the amount of damage, cjnewton82 did the vet say if they had active fluke or damage that had not recovered yet ?? I assume that you don't have fluke on your land at the moment ??
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I have been given to understand that cattle can heal fluke liver damage but sheep can't - any vets or other fluke experts want to give us an accurate picture?
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Mild damage to the liver can be healed.
As with any damage, some can go beyond what the body can fix.
Commonly, liver damage due to fluke is locally severe, the body reacts by walling off the problem, laying down minerals in the liver, leaving thick, calcified tracts, scars that cannot be healed.
Sounds like the sheep you got had had a long term, low dose of fluke, the drenches may well have killed off enough fluke to leave them healthy, but not to protect the livers from damage.
If keeping them only 2 months yourself, it is likely the damage was done at the previous farm, but I would suggest talking to your local vet who'll have an idea of your local fluke risk and the seasonal variation, and can suggest whether it's worth you fluke treating them or not.
Hope that helps.
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Ah, that's jogged my memory - thanks fsmnutter :)
I was told by our vet that once a sheep has the 'bottle jaw' look it's probably too late for her. We have managed to save one or two such, but generally with sheep around here they need routine flukeing, not waiting for symptoms.
Cattle however seem to be able to get to the 'bottle jaw' stage and still be okay, so long as they are treated promptly once the symptoms are seen. However, we don't sell our cattle deadweight, so for all we know their livers are shot to pieces, we'd never get to hear about it. :thinking:
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That's sheep in general! They hide most illness so you don't see them sick, or you see them dead or dying!
Once got told during lectures on sheep abortion that goats are far more sensible, if they have a disease or problem, they'll abort, where a sheep will die rather than abort lambs, which will die without a mother anyway!
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Its really only been this year that we have begun to realise the significant difference between treating flukes and worms. Previously we had tried to avoid regular drenching
preferring instead to manage our fields and rotate grazing. While we continue to do this and usually only drench for worms oncd a year -post lambing we now treat for fluke more regularly. We know from nadis that we are at risk so would be daft not to.we lost a ram suddenly and without warning a couple of years back although we won't ever know for sure we couldn't be certain that it wasn't fluke related. We prefer not to risk it anymore. The best way we have found to use the right stuff is ask the vet for advice. Ours is great and will supply only the doses we need saving money and time. This year we fluked with fasinex and wormed with cydectin but I'll leave it to vet to advise us for next time