[feldar]

Well as many of you know we had a touch of Smallenberg in our crossbred commercial flock back in Feb/March.
Today our first batch of lambs went to market from these sheep. They have not been intensively fed in fact just the opposite once we knew the lambs with slightly dodgy mouths could feed ok they were finished off grass.
The result was 5 lambs at 46 kgs made 85.00 a lamb
3 at 38 kgs made 73.00 a lamb
and one rough lamb who we suspect has been rough from day one made 65.00 he weighed 40 kg
I though this was a good trade and we have both sighed with releif that these lambs are still very marketable.

[Haylo-peapod]

Good to hear you were able to get these lambs to market in good time especially after the trauma you experienced earlier in the year.

[Mallows Flock]

Absolutely gutted for you having to deal with that disease. Glad things working out for you now.
Lisa

[Bionic]

Feldar, thats really good news after the bad news earlier in the year 

[Small Farmer]

Does anyone know how Schmallenberg played out with calves? 

[suziequeue]

So pleased to hear that Feldar. It was so distressing reading your posts back then.....


 

[omnipeasant]

Too early to tell about calves according to the farming press.

[Mammyshaz]

A good ending to a very sad start. Glad they made it. 

[SteveHants]

Glad to her you got through it okay.


From what I gleaned from the lecture at southsheep, if it behaves like its closest relative (Schmallenberg was completely new this year - likely the combination of two similar viruses), then it will keep occuring, but mostly on the edges of its distribution (so for us, it'll be that line from the wash across), so heres hoping you don't see it again. 

[Tilly]

 
... well if you remember we had it in a few of our lambs - February time about 5 single lambs which were twisted up with fused legs.
 
-All the rest of our the flock O.K,   ,thank goodness.
 
Netheir have I seen any lambs suffering  from deformities as they grow - jawlines normal .
 
Many neighbouring farms had big losses. 
 
I have not heard of any advice on how to try to avoid future problems from Smallenberg - not sure if to put Rams in with the ewes in September as we normally do , or wait till later in the year
 
How are you other shepherds thinking?
 
Tilly 

[SteveHants]

... well if you remember we had it in a few of our lambs - February time about 5 single lambs which were twisted up with fused legs.
 
-All the rest of our the flock O.K,   ,thank goodness.
 
Netheir have I seen any lambs suffering  from deformities as they grow - jawlines normal .
 
Many neighbouring farms had big losses. 
 
I have not heard of any advice on how to try to avoid future problems from Smallenberg - not sure if to put Rams in with the ewes in September as we normally do , or wait till later in the year
 
How are you other shepherds thinking?
 
Tilly 

I didn't see any Schmallenberg and I'm not far from Feldar - there were lots of other cases round here, too.


The problem is, nobody really knows why only a few ewes in a flock will transmit it to their foetuses, when its more than likely they all got bitten. I lamb in April, so if my ewes were bitten, its likely that they were bitten before they were tupped.


So, I could have been lucky, it could have been down to my system, nobody can say.


I will continue to lamb outside in April.

[Remy]

Thats great news Feldar, after your traumatic lambing time  , good prices indeed.  Hope that in some way offset your losses..