The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Backinwellies on August 07, 2013, 05:36:21 pm
-
Hi
Just spoken to my farmer neighbour .. he stopped on his way past to warn me that several local farmers are getting flystrike in sheep that have been clik'd. Vets say they think it has been evaporating in heat before absorbing.
Just thought I'd let you all know to keep an eye out for strike even if you have clik'd.
-
It's funny you posting that. I was just up in the fields checking my girls and noticed one wagging her tail well. On closer inspection a nice patch of flies having a field day. It's a job to see a problem with a coloured ryeland.
We clicked all ours earlier on, so obviously not working to well on her.
-
Thanks for the warning Linda. Mine all had clik a few weeks back but there were such a lot of little buzzing flies round today that I put some dynamite on them too.
I hope they are well covered but i will definitely keep a close eye on them.
-
You can always spot a case of strike early because the sheep's behaviour is a dead giveaway. They are twitchy and often turn and try to nip at themselves to relieve the itch. Sometimes they even leap about trying to get away from it.
I find also that regular changes of pasture helps to prevent scouring as they aren't going from dearth to glut, if you know what I mean, so their bums stay cleaner, which of course isn't then attracting flies.
If you do find a case, spray them with iodine or Dettol solution once you have treated them as the smell is quite good at confusing the blow flies. The maggots emit a chemical to attract more laying flies to the stricken sheep so if you can interfere with that it helps.
-
Goodness never heard of that before. Been looking for a good dry spell to do ours (rain keeps hitting us on and off) and had never thought of it evaporating too quickly. I do keep a very close eye though which I guess is always the best bet.
-
One of our two lambs got struck, no scouring, we just noticed the flies buzzing round him. We sheared him (not pretty!), washed the wounds with salt water and sprayed with iodine. The vet came out to see our goat and has given us some yellow cream too. He's also been crovect'd. So we now have a much happier purple and yellow wether!
-
:wave:
That may have been what went wrong with our's then.
Friday, caught the lot of mine and sheared (not very well) our little ewe lamb. Found two, one inch patches of strike. All now hit with crovect (prob slightly too much, but I think at least a third ended up on me!) I was the wrestler and Hubby was the applicator!
Really need to work on halter training the sheep... so I don't have to resort to head locks!
-
Thanks for the warning. Mine have been treated with Crovect but not the lambs as we think they aren't heavy enough, so keeping a close eye on them all.
-
Crovect (and I think Clik) starts to break down above 25c. This usually occurs when it's stored in a hot place like your car but has also been happening when applied in very hot weather
It's fine to apply either of these products during sporadic rain---it takes a real storm to wash it out of the fleece
-
A friend of mine with 300 sheep had this same issue with Ectofly that he used on his ewes and lambs. Many of them came down with strike. The problem was so bad that he actually asked a chap from the manufacturing company to come to his farm to assess the situation. It seems the very hot spell of weather just broke down the product and had no affect whatsoever on keeping flies at bay.
-
lady shepherd other side of me used ectofly ... said she might as well have sprayed with water!
-
Crovect (and I think Clik) starts to break down above 25c. This usually occurs when it's stored in a hot place like your car but has also been happening when applied in very hot weather
It's fine to apply either of these products during sporadic rain---it takes a real storm to wash it out of the fleece
Nice to see you have made your way here, Tim.... :wave:
-
The product spreads into the fleece with the lanolin. It will harden and "contract" at night and soften and spread in the day. Problem is if it's not already gone through the fleece and the nights are very hot too. Always try and put Clik on in the late afternoon of a run cool days. I do the lambs as soon as I see the first greenbottle (May this year but usually earlier) as it's unlikely to get very hot before they have full cover.
-
I checked all mine at weekend but couldn't find anything. However they all seem very itchy and rubbing against fences, trailers etc. no sign of anything but wonder if something on the ground irritating them.
-
We checked ours on Sunday then yesterday, there the buggers were. A slightly darker patch and a few flies buzzing round were the only clues. The vet said we got it very early, probably the same day, bit I was shocked at the amount of patches there were (maybe 6 x small 5p or smaller sized) and a few patches of just maggots where they had hatched but not got down t the skin yet.
-
Bumblebear, how long is the fleece on those that have got it?
-
we had one go down with it 2 today and just happened to be the hairier ewe lamb they was spot on'd about amonth ago had to shear the hair of back end so could get to wound have scrubbed it clean with bit of hibi scrub and also sprayed with iodine, will have to watch all others now to did clip all lambs bums when ewes was sheared to try and reduce the chance of it happening.
-
They were this years lambs so not overly wooly I don't think. I could cut it with scissors anyway,well I had to!
-
ours was one of this years lambs to but the woolier one of the ten sheared most of wool of but she was wringling alot so clipped what needed and treated it.
-
Crovevct has worked for me ok, but using the recommended dose with their gun doesn't cover much of the sheep - only the most vulnerable areas. The label says it only protects the parts where it lands, so I apply it using an empty and washed out household spray bottle such as those used for window cleaning liquid, kitchen surface or bathroom cleaner etc. The volume of one trigger squeeze can be measured by spraying water into a syringe at the start, so you can still apply the right dose, but over a much larger area of the fleece. When using the spray bottle you have move it sharpish over the sheep to maximise the area treated.
Incidentally, why is the weight related dose so critical as per the label, when it's only an external treatment?
-
Crovevct has worked for me ok, but using the recommended dose with their gun doesn't cover much of the sheep - only the most vulnerable areas. The label says it only protects the parts where it lands, so I apply it using an empty and washed out household spray bottle such as those used for window cleaning liquid, kitchen surface or bathroom cleaner etc. The volume of one trigger squeeze can be measured by spraying water into a syringe at the start, so you can still apply the right dose, but over a much larger area of the fleece. When using the spray bottle you have move it sharpish over the sheep to maximise the area treated.
Incidentally, why is the weight related dose so critical as per the label, when it's only an external treatment?
Thats kind of what I do - I use the 'spray' nozzle on a vetrazin gun and hold it well back from the sheep, delivering 5ml squirts, I find it a lot easier to make sure more of the surface of the sheep has a covering of product that way.
The weight dose is important because it is a nerve toxin and pretty nasty stuff.
-
No treatment is certain - othorwise everyone would be doing it and making money :)