The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: DevonSmallholder on April 20, 2018, 04:41:10 pm
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So this year has been a dosaster sheep wise. If it could have gone wrong it has!
Stillbirths, abortion’s, org, org again, rain scould...it goes on!
And for some unknown reason I’ve heptavac’d the lambs...in the leg muscle not neck :-/ please tell me I’ve not done something too stupid!?
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Are you saying that you have injected deep into the leg muscle then, rather than just under the skin (sub-cutaneous)?
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Yes
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Hmmmm, I think we can take the deafening silence as an indication that nobody really knows!!
The deed is done now, so all you can do really is keep an eye on them and hope they're ok. I was just on the phone to a lapsed vet, so I asked her. She said they'd probably be alright, but you might get some abscesses in the muscle leading to some of the meat being condemned.
So, hopefully you'll be ok :fc: .
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Did the lapsed vet indicate if it would still be efficacious?
Our vet doesn't charge for phone consultations, so I think I'd have called them for advice.
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So this year has been a dosaster sheep wise. If it could have gone wrong it has!
Stillbirths, abortion’s, org, org again, rain scould...it goes on!
And for some unknown reason I’ve heptavac’d the lambs...in the leg muscle not neck :-/ please tell me I’ve not done something too stupid!?
Didn't work for me either,no lambs from my sheep and i lost 9 between september and october
They had 3 different tups in with them so couldn't have been the tup.
I gave them 2ml under the skin 5 weeks before they were due to lamb.
This year to be safe from pasturella i'll give them another dose of it in august before the tup goes in
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we don't vaccinate our lambs or ewes lots of farmers don't either because its too expensive and its not 100% effective. Especially in a small flock where stress is now. The only risk I have seen over the years is pet lambs - Pasteurella. Ovivac is usually used for lambs and Heptivac for ewes. But its the cost and the wasteage is a problem with both. You can buy the ingredients sperately too but again its costly.
We've never seen issues like back leg etc in our flocks. If you are having serious problems with abortions then its worth getting the flock blood tested to check overall health. Personally if I had issues as high as this - this would be a warming sign and in commercial flocks theyd go to slaughter.
The issues addressed are usually because of abscesses due to shared needles. As many jab in rib cage and issues with spinal cord. I am sure its fine in the leg.
Its not cost effective to be without a farm vet and have a full health plan completed. In this way the vey will easily speak to you on the phone. What vets don't want is to be used as a free service and get blamed when system not followed.
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Vaccination may not be 100% effective. Few things are 100% effective in medicine. But not vaccinating may be 100% ineffective.
Someone asked the sub cut Vs IM question last year and one of the Vets on the forum gave quite a detailed reply. The gist was it may weaken the effect because it is to do with how long the antibodies are available but is a lot better than not vaccinating if you are aiming for immunity.