[Steel]

I aimed to buy three wethers to keep for hogget that had already been wormed, vaccinated and de-loused. Fell short on all of that and now have to do it myself over the next two weeks.

After looking at all the options available I am no further forward with a decision on what to use and how to apply it while aiming to retain the maximum amount of cash in my bank account, so would appreciate some opinions.


Wethers are six months old welsh mountains ~25kg. A bit flighty but getting braver, especially where buckets are involved.
I think they had vaccs within a month of birth but nothing since (just checking with previous owner) Not vacc'd.
I keep no more than three sheep per year.
Same small paddock, 1/2 acre, used without rotation but 2-3 months since last animals.
Happy to give injections if DH can hang onto one but not sure that is the way to go for a first timer on possibly flighty sheep.


Any opinions?

[bj_cardiff]

I wouldn't bother vaccinating, some people do and swear by it and some don't see the need. I have vaccinated and can say that since I stopped I've not noticed any difference. Unless you have any reason to suspect they may have lice, again I wouldn't bother. They shouldn't need fly strike protection this time of year unless we have a really warm snap either.

Worming is a huge subject. Lots of people will recommend different things, I'd speak to your vets and see if they can dispense doses for 3 lambs, which would be much better than you buying a litre of wormer that will expire before you've used a quarter of it..

[SallyintNorth]

I think you’re in Cambridgeshire, [member=173078]Steel[/member]?  I’m not familiar with the climate there so would hesitate to say whether you may still get flystrike - we’re still at risk in Sept here in Cornwall (had a very minor case here twelve days ago), and three years ago there was quite a bit of strike locally in an Indian summer in October.  So check with the vet, and keep monitoring the NADIS flystrike map linky (which incidentally still has the whole of the UK at risk level Severe.)

[pharnorth]

I am also in Cambridgeshire and mine are sprayed for protection through to end October. The need is probably more down locks terrain, e.g. If there are streams/ ditches, hedges around. Although someone boasted to me they had never had fly strike on their flock so don't use preventative as on a hill and breezy only to get it the very same day.....

[Steel]

I think you’re in Cambridgeshire, [member=173078]Steel[/member]?  I’m not familiar with the climate there so would hesitate to say whether you may still get flystrike - we’re still at risk in Sept here in Cornwall (had a very minor case here twelve days ago), and three years ago there was quite a bit of strike locally in an Indian summer in October.  So check with the vet, and keep monitoring the NADIS flystrike map linky (which incidentally still has the whole of the UK at risk level Severe.)

I'm in South Lincs.

I would rather do a pre-emptive strike than wait and chance it. As I sad, they are a bit flighty and we are still getting used to each other so getting close enough to them to inspect daily from all angles at the moment is difficult.

Two of them are scratching themselves on the edges of various objects, so I'm assuming they have small critters annoying them and need to be deloused.

As for speaking to my vet, the only vet I could find to take me on is in Cambridgeshire and insists on a first visit before dispensing anything and then (supposedly) regular yearly inspections from them on whether you like it or not. As I have yet to have to call them out, that first visit will be over £100.

[twizzel]

That's not just the vet being picky, they have to see your flock first when they take you on as a client and annually thereafter. Same with any large animal vet. If you want to cover them for flystrike now, you could give them a spray of crovect, comes in a 0.8l bottle if you can't find a farmer neighbour with some lying about spare. Will last 6 weeks and cover them for ticks and lice too. Scratching on posts doesn't necessarily mean they have lice or mites though.


I vaccinate my ewes and lambs, more as an insurance policy than anything. Pasturella can be quite bad in our area.

[bj_cardiff]

That's totally normal with your vets, he will need to see you and the animals to see if they are healthy and how you manage them.

It would be totally irresponsible if you could just call a vet and ask for prescription items and they dispensed them. The vets would not even know if you were using the drugs for their target species. Also a lot of people who are just starting out with livestock aren't yet capable of spotting disease, or accurately self diagnosing illness. So you really need to build up a relationship with your vet so that they will be confident that you are able to administer anything they dispense properly.

Do you have transport? One of the vets I use is happy for me to take sheep to them and they will treat and examine them in the trailer

[pharnorth]

Yes it makes sense for the Vet's perspective. But it does leave a rather silly gap since you can buy wormers and fly prevention and certain other medication without prescription but not get advice without a visit first.  If you are moving into a new area, or changing Vets (twice in three years in our case since they keep changing their geographic customer base) you need to register with a Vet some time before you may need to see one, and in the gap you can't get advice. So you either pay for a visit you don't really need or get informal advice. Lucky we have this forum isn't it?

[bj_cardiff]

Totally understand your frustration, but vets have trained for years for their qualification and I can see why they don't just give out free advice to anyone who calls them. I'm quite surprised that vets don't charge for a 'phone consultation'  these days to be honest.. That would fill the 'gap'

The forums are an excellent resource but people are always guided by their own experience and how the problem is described by the poster. The problem is that you don't know how well described the ailment is or how experienced the person giving advice is! There really is no substitute for a vets visit and advice IMO 

[pharnorth]

I don't think it is about charging- it is about ethics. Once they have done the initial visit mine were happy to provide advice and that includes discussion on whether a visit is needed or simply agreement on a plan of action. But before they have visited, ethically they have no idea what the health status is of the flock from abysmal to first class, or indeed of the keepers ability to understand the advice and apply it.

It is conversely both a silly gap and an understandable one.