The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Muntjac on November 14, 2017, 08:56:15 pm
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Hello all,
I have to heptavac p my romney ewes and lambs as the shepherd I bought them from hadn't done them.
Can anyone advise when would be the best time to do them? Lambs I can do right away however my thinking is that if I do the ewes now with their second injection in 4-6 weeks, they will be getting their booster (12 months later) this time next year and not a few weeks before lambing which I have read is when you want to be giving the booster.
Haven't done vaccinations before so any tips on technique / recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
Chris
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Well it kinda depends when you are lambing. Mine are lambing early Feb so I will be doing the booster early January anyway. But I gipuess from your question you are not lambing until April or thereabouts? Do your ewes simply need a booster or is it so long since they were done that you need to give them 2 injections?
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As I understand it current advice is that you should treat all sheep coming onto your holding as naïve and put them on your flock vaccination and drench protocol straight away, including a Group 4 or 5 wormer + quarantine and following your vet's advice regarding flukicide treatment. Even if they were vaccinated you have no certainty that the amount and administration of the vaccine was correct. I recommend the Sheep Book for Smallholders by Tim Tyne. If you are completely inexperienced at vaccinating it may be worth asking your vet to demonstrate. If you get it wrong it's a pointless and expensive exercise and potentially very stressful for the sheep.
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You could do the initial 2 jabs 4-6 wks apart now, and then a pre lambing jab- they would then be on the pre lambing booster schedule for future years. I didn't need to heptavac the new shearlings I bought this summer as they had had exactly the vaccination plan I said above, but they did have quarantine drench, scab treatment and quarantine for 3 weeks.
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Okay, i'll do just that. So there is no problem vaccinating the 3 jabs all within 5 months and then going forward will do the booster annually. Thank you!
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Not that I know of. I did exactly that with the first lot of breeding ewes I bought, and the 2nd lot had that from the breeder. Better that than letting them lapse as then you have to start all over again. Just be aware with any ewes put to the ram that they shouldn't be stressed whilst the ram is in and for a month after.
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I would wait. Defo don't touch them now if they are running with the ram (in fact dont touch them for 40 days after mating). Time it so that the first injection is 8 weeks pre lambing, and the second is 4 weeks pre lambing.
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I would wait. Defo don't touch them now if they are running with the ram (in fact dont touch them for 40 days after mating). Time it so that the first injection is 8 weeks pre lambing, and the second is 4 weeks pre lambing.
Exactly this!
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Okay thanks, shall I just leave the lambs and do them with the ewes all at the same time?
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Depends how many you have - if you have enough lambs to use up an entire bottle (ie 25) then do them now. Otherwise wait - it's all about getting your moneys worth from each bottle, as you can't keep an opened bottle for next time (use within 10 hours of opening).