The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: Shire1980 on August 07, 2018, 10:14:30 am

Title: Anti Abortion
Post by: Shire1980 on August 07, 2018, 10:14:30 am
I've been told i should go to the vets and get a vaccine for my sheep before the tup goes in? Does anyone go to the the vet for anti abortion vaccine?
I give them heptavac P already
Title: Re: Anti Abortion
Post by: twizzel on August 07, 2018, 10:17:26 am
I presume you're talking about toxo and enzo vaccines... depends if you have a problem as to whether you vaccinate for it. They are quite expensive hence most farmers will only use them if their farm has a problem with either.
Title: Re: Anti Abortion
Post by: Shire1980 on August 07, 2018, 10:37:11 am
Yeah I couldn't remember the names.
Probably won't be worth my while buying it then if it's expensive as i've only got a handful of sheep.
Title: Re: Anti Abortion
Post by: Rosemary on August 07, 2018, 11:44:25 am
Sometimes you have a problem and don't know it - toxo and EA (Chlamydia) are the two most common causes of abortion is sheep, but they also cause embryo loss and week lambs.
It's lifetime protection not an annual vaccination. We do ours every second year - so gimmers and ewe lambs one year, nothing the next. Helps use up the bottle; we also coordinate with another local sheepkeeper to spread the cost.
Toxovax and Enzovax. Live vaccines so need to be given aboutfour weeks before you put in the tup as they will cause abortion in pregnant sheep (obviously).
Title: Re: Anti Abortion
Post by: Shire1980 on August 07, 2018, 03:56:17 pm
Looks like i can only buy Toxovax in a minimum of 50 doses for £231.50 ex vat

Enzovax isn't so bad at £48 ex vat for 20 doses.
For the sake of 10 sheep and the cost compared to price of lambs i'll run the risk in just vaccinating with Enzovax
Title: Re: Anti Abortion
Post by: Backinwellies on August 07, 2018, 04:00:31 pm
Think you will find most people with small numbers only vaccinate if an out break occurs (yes might be shutting gate after horse has bolted ) ……  great expense.   Who told you to vaccinate and why?   (might be different if person you bought sheep from vaccinates)
Title: Re: Anti Abortion
Post by: Shire1980 on August 07, 2018, 04:13:16 pm
Think you will find most people with small numbers only vaccinate if an out break occurs (yes might be shutting gate after horse has bolted ) ……  great expense.   Who told you to vaccinate and why?   (might be different if person you
bought sheep from vaccinates)

Last year i had 14 suffolks and only one of them lambed, so i got rid of the one's which didn't  lamb to save wasting money on them incase the same happens this year. but now I'm going to tup the suffolk gimmers that were born feb 2017 and was just thinking it might have been safer to vaccinate them as this will be their first time going with the tup.
To be honest i think a number of things contributed to it being a disaster.
Wet weather,no grass and an outbreak of pneumonia
Title: Re: Anti Abortion
Post by: Rosemary on August 07, 2018, 07:02:52 pm
Looks like i can only buy Toxovax in a minimum of 50 doses for £231.50 ex vat

Enzovax isn't so bad at £48 ex vat for 20 doses.
For the sake of 10 sheep and the cost compared to price of lambs i'll run the risk in just vaccinating with Enzovax
You can get a 20 dose botle of Toxovax
Title: Re: Anti Abortion
Post by: Backinwellies on August 09, 2018, 07:52:28 am
Think you will find most people with small numbers only vaccinate if an out break occurs (yes might be shutting gate after horse has bolted ) ……  great expense.   Who told you to vaccinate and why?   (might be different if person you
bought sheep from vaccinates)

Last year i had 14 suffolks and only one of them lambed, so i got rid of the one's which didn't  lamb to save wasting money on them incase the same happens this year. but now I'm going to tup the suffolk gimmers that were born feb 2017 and was just thinking it might have been safer to vaccinate them as this will be their first time going with the tup.
To be honest i think a number of things contributed to it being a disaster.
Wet weather,no grass and an outbreak of pneumonia

Unlikely to be due to either disease as they would usually  cause late not early abortion.   Are you sure they got in lamb?   Did you scan or leave tip in with different colour raffle ?
Title: Re: Anti Abortion
Post by: Shire1980 on August 09, 2018, 03:36:02 pm
From august until start of october i ran them with my own tup and when my neighbour was finished with his tups i let them in until the middle of november.
The tups were all marked
The first tup had most of them marked within the first 2 weeks.
Title: Re: Anti Abortion
Post by: twizzel on August 09, 2018, 04:48:42 pm
Were they remarked or did they hold to first service? Had they been treated for fluke? Stressed? Toxo can cause absorption in early pregnancy, enzo causes late abortion in the last 2-3 weeks of pregnancy. This is quite a good article on abortion
http://www.msd-animal-health.co.uk/binaries/Sheep_Abortion_Booklet_048564_tcm80-70932.pdf (http://www.msd-animal-health.co.uk/binaries/Sheep_Abortion_Booklet_048564_tcm80-70932.pdf)

Title: Re: Anti Abortion
Post by: Shire1980 on August 09, 2018, 05:56:27 pm
Only one was remarked,the rest held.They were treated for fluke as well
I'll have a read,thanks
Title: Re: Anti Abortion
Post by: DartmoorLiz on August 10, 2018, 01:04:44 pm
Only started considering whether to vaccinate for toxo and enzo at the end of this lambing.  Don't know much about it.  Can the ram be a carrier?  In other words, should I vaccinate him too?