The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Fieldfare on August 07, 2015, 06:08:42 pm
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Hi all- just treated Castlemilk ram lamb for flystrike- the only one who has had a touch of scour. I wormed him a few days ago but on reflection I should have clipped him also as I noticed he was being bothered by flies- including the dreaded greenbottle. Over the last day and a half he has tended to sit/turn to try and scratch his rear. The frequency of this was increasing.On catching this afternoon he had 2 patches of maggots so I have sheared these areas, in fact most of his hind quarters, then sprayed with antibiotic spray and a touch of iodine. Not a very obvious wound- so I hope that I have nipped it in the bud. Popped him back into the field and he definitely looks a lot more comfortable. Will catch him up tomorrow to check.
Just thought I'd post this in case anyone is also starting to see some strange behaviour... in which case probably good to act now :sheep:
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And good to use a proprietary anti-flystrike pour-on such as Crovect, to prevent from hatching and to treat any maggots. We are right in the middle of flystrike season (and potato blight)
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And good to use a proprietary anti-flystrike pour-on such as Crovect, to prevent from hatching and to treat any maggots. We are right in the middle of flystrike season (and potato blight)
I hate August for that very reason, they call it 'the Devil's month' round here. We Crovect every 5-6 weeks to be hopefully sure of doing our best to protect them.
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Had my first experience of this last weekend. Lamb was lying on it's own so I thought something was up. Went over, was a bit lethargic, lots of flies around and was twitching and starting as it walked. Caught it and it was riddled with maggots, but luckily only a coin size piece of actual broken skin. Must have been an A4 size area, in total, of wriggling maggots. Was disgusting and I'm surprised I didn't kill the lamb with crovect! Anyway, all we'll now, daily checks and seems to be ok. Certainly learned some lessons there!
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I have also found as an emergency measure that black fluid diluted in water will kill maggots but don't use on broken skin
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For anyone else unaware what to look for for flystrike, there's a good guide on the site here http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/livestock/sheep/fly-strike/ (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/livestock/sheep/fly-strike/)
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I'm on pins til we start spraying from end of may on wards.
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Its that time of year - I've moved most of my animals to an exposed hillside as they congregate by woodland otherwise where the flys are worse, - Had two cases exactally as described above in the last 2 weeks. What worries me is more and more they are getting animals only 2 weeks after been Click'd - the vet and my neighbours say this is getting more and more common, implying resistance.
I've found struck sheep tend to go sit near the water troughs, or in divots where they feel safe, 4 places on the field I always check and if theirs an ill sheep their sat their. Got one last week, only a small 20p area of new maggots, hours old, and she was only spotted as she was slow to come to say "hello" when I went to feed some ivy.
Must have been a broadsheet newspaper area covered in fresh unhatched eggs tho! Thank **** I got here at 8am not in the afternoon!
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Have read about a very nasty fly called the Spotted Flesh Fly that's as bad as it sounds. Lays live young and they go straight in, without chomping through the muck first. Mostly in E Europe but may occasionally be blown over to us. You'd have to be just plain lucky to catch soemething that worked that fast before it did horrendous damage.
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I haven't had any animals with flystrike at all this year. I keep my animals above sea level and they don't really get bothered by maggots/greenbottles, however am always on the lookout for odd behaiviour. Has it been very bad for flystrike this year?
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Highlights the importance of daily checks throughout the year.
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Marches that sounds like that striped fly that was on a thread last week, ........something Magnifica??
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My experience also taught me that the lamb wasn't struck in dirty wool - clean wool right on top of the back and down in two stripes either side, presumably from the oozings running down and attracting more flies. Yuck.
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I moved ours onto the headland, a bit scrubby but clean n windy :thumbsup:
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My lot are really twitchy but grazing and feeding happily. I keep catching odd ones but no sign of strike so can only presume they are just being pestered by the flies and horseflies. I'm bringing my lambs home for a couple of weeks if I can get help tomorrow.
Sooner I can get some to the abattoir the better. I hate this time of year since I started keeping sheep.
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I haven't had any animals with flystrike at all this year. I keep my animals above sea level and they don't really get bothered by maggots/greenbottles, however am always on the lookout for odd behaiviour. Has it been very bad for flystrike this year?
Just wondered what sea level has to do wjth chances of fly strike? Could you enlighten me? I'm on the Cotswolds so good news if this is significant. :)
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When I say sea level I mean hilly areas. I live on the hills above the sea, facing the sea, so I get a good breeze which keeps the maggots away, even in summer it can be quite chilly ( doesn't bother the sheep though). I have fields in the lowland areas, which I cut for hay, I used to put the sheep on them but fly strike was too much, so now I just keep em on the hills in the summer and I have hardly any cases at all (this year none so far). Also the sea breeze whips up salt and you get really cool air even in summer, so that helps keep the flies and maggots at bay. :)
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I haven't had any animals with flystrike at all this year. I keep my animals above sea level and they don't really get bothered by maggots/greenbottles, however am always on the lookout for odd behaiviour. Has it been very bad for flystrike this year?
Just wondered what sea level has to do wjth chances of fly strike? Could you enlighten me? I'm on the Cotswolds so good news if this is significant. :)
I think it may be to do with altitude, the higher you are the less of the chance of flystrike, after all the flies can only live at certain altitudes. An example of pests is the coffee, or is it tea plants, in Africa. They grow the bushes at high altitudes and the pests which usually damage the plants can't live at high altitudes which means they have no pests at all. I think they're also a lot higher in caffeine too.
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I haven't had any animals with flystrike at all this year. I keep my animals above sea level and they don't really get bothered by maggots/greenbottles, however am always on the lookout for odd behaiviour. Has it been very bad for flystrike this year?
Just wondered what sea level has to do wjth chances of fly strike? Could you enlighten me? I'm on the Cotswolds so good news if this is significant. :)
I think it may be to do with altitude, the higher you are the less of the chance of flystrike, after all the flies can only live at certain altitudes. An example of pests is the coffee, or is it tea plants, in Africa. They grow the bushes at high altitudes and the pests which usually damage the plants can't live at high altitudes which means they have no pests at all. I think they're also a lot higher in caffeine too.
Thanks for that. Interesting. I've been told that long grass also helps. (I've just moved my flock into a sloping field with 2 ~3ft grass so we'll see, If I can find them again)!!
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When we're waiting for the shearer I move my sheep to our westernmost field, as it catches the breezes coming off the mountains.
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Don't say that Im about to become thankful for living in an exposed site that is always windy! I didn't see myself ever saying that ::)
Is it possible to overdose on Crovect? As Im terrified of flystrike Im Crovecting the sheep every 5 weeks (just done them for the 2nd time). But if one was to be struck I would then be pouring Crovect on the maggots to kill them. Is that much Crovect going to harm the sheep? I should have asked the vet when he came last week to do the flock management plan but I didn't think to.
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Oh I'd avoid long grass here
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Don't say that Im about to become thankful for living in an exposed site that is always windy! I didn't see myself ever saying that ::)
Is it possible to overdose on Crovect? As Im terrified of flystrike Im Crovecting the sheep every 5 weeks (just done them for the 2nd time). But if one was to be struck I would then be pouring Crovect on the maggots to kill them. Is that much Crovect going to harm the sheep? I should have asked the vet when he came last week to do the flock management plan but I didn't think to.
I always dose 20ml more than it says just to reassure myself that I've done the job thoroughly and I have big sheep so I find I can't get the coverage on them with the 40ml dose. So far I haven't seen any problems. May seem a waste of money but no flystrike YET on longwools in three years. Getting the timing right is crucial with crovect and the likes, wet weather after dosing is not good. I keep mine tight penned for an hour after dosing I find this helps in distributing the crovect better where they rub against each other!!
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Same i'd avoid long grass. the worst cases of fly strike I had was with long grass.
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We use clik n clikzen here now as a rule. I do a sweep down spine from nape to end of tail, a small sweep across shoulders, and a little one across haunches.
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The coastal winds on high fields are just too much for the flies, they can't compete, perfect. n that's just what were doing keeping them up high.