[jaykay]

I'm pretty sure any fly treatment doesn't stop midges biting. It might cause them to die once they have bitten but it's too late by then 

[kanisha]

I would not disagree with you I have only read the abstract to this study but thought t interesting.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19015877

two things the conclusion re passing on any virus was only probable and not tested. Secondly in the fight against a disease such as blue tongue a dead midge even after having bitten is one less to bite another sheep. It seems to me we can't hope that midges will go away and indeed in the innoculation of sheep re SBV they may be benefcial in the summer months but that won't stop me taking any possible precaution once they are likely to be getting pregnant.

Until my ewes lamb I really don't know where I stand. I know I will be vaccinating against blue tongue this year again despite the figures for the lack of BTV in circulation last year the circulation of midges this past 12 months has been virtually all year round we only had a two week period of any subzero temperatures this winter so using a pour on seems obligatory at this point 

[Hazelwood Flock]

Now that the UK is BTV free, I think vaccinating is illegal until the virus shows up again and protection zones are created. Fingers crossed for a Schmallenberg vaccine soon.....

[kanisha]

It is legal to vaccinate for BTV 8 in the UK .  Both BTV 1 & 8 has been recorded in the north western part of Brittany. I am very fortunate my sheep are a hobby only I cannot imagine how commercial famrers work through all of this:-(

[Bramblecot]

Hello Ellisr,
Sorry to hear your sad news but thank you for letting us know.  We are near neighbours, and my ewes started lambing this week.  So it is good to know what to watch for.  Was it obvious when they were born or did it become apparent later?

[ellisr]

If they have the same symptoms as mine it is very obvious after ten minutes as they don't get up and flop around like a fish out of water. If you do get them to lie like a lamb you will notice they shake especially the head which makes feeding hard

[feldar]

Had two more cases today, a single ram lamb which appears to have excess fluid on brain very floppy and doesn't want to suck we are tubing him at the moment. The ewe just doesn't want to know him seems disinterested in him, this is the second ewe we have had that walked away from lambs like these.
The other case this morning was a ram lamb born healthy, very nice lamb but a short walk away was his aborted twin, born like a fetus, complete, but definitely an aborted lamb. looked like it had stopped growing 3/4 of the way through pregnancy looked very like a toxoplasmosis lamb. But we know it's not that cause we vaccinate.
What a weid year it's been!!!

[Muttley94]

  this thread is really sad and I hope all those affected have better luck with any still to lamb. Just a quick query: how far up England do people reckon it has came? For my first time lambing I am hoping we aren't affected though the ram was brought up from England so I guess its just a waiting game 

[ellisr]

Had two more cases today, a single ram lamb which appears to have excess fluid on brain very floppy and doesn't want to suck we are tubing him at the moment. The ewe just doesn't want to know him seems disinterested in him, this is the second ewe we have had that walked away from lambs like these.
The other case this morning was a ram lamb born healthy, very nice lamb but a short walk away was his aborted twin, born like a fetus, complete, but definitely an aborted lamb. looked like it had stopped growing 3/4 of the way through pregnancy looked very like a toxoplasmosis lamb. But we know it's not that cause we vaccinate.
What a weid year it's been!!!

That is the same as my 2 which died one about 4 hours in and the other 4 days in, they just gave up and stopped breathing. It is heart wrenching and the 1st vet I rang hasn't seen schmallenberg but said if they weren't physically deformed then it wasn't schmallenberg and another vet said it maybe so have to wait to see what the VLA say

[feldar]

Had our tests back from the VLA centre at Winchester and they confirmed we are positive for Schmallenberg virus in the samples we sent up.I think we already knew this but it is good to have it confirmed, i just wish we knew who had been bitten out of all the flock so they would be naturally vaccinated, not that we can do a lot until a vaccine comes out anyway!

[Tilly]

Hi Feldar sorry to hear this --  

[Elissian]

Hi I'm on the edge of the new forest on the wilts/hants border. My first ewe to lamb, a shearling, had a dead lamb first then a limp live lamb, neither had deformities. The second lamb survived about 3 hours but wouldn't lift its head, mum totally ignored them but i wondered if that was because she was a first timer.
yesterday we has healthy twins then this morning i had to pull out a dead lamb with a deformed head and slightly thin legs but they weren't twisted, its twin looks healthy.
I can't understand how one twin can b affected and the other fine

[feldar]

Hi Elissian
I'm afraid that's how this disease presents. Some are fine and some not we have had healthy twins from one ewe and on the same day a healthy single with it's deformed twin born dead along side it.
It is easy to blame everything on the virus when there could be other reasons, every year we get the odd dead lamb or empty ewe and for two years running we had a pair of spliced lambs.
 I think we all just have to go with the flow this year, there is nothing as farmers we can do to prevent it so if your getting lots of problems i would keep your vet informed and if anything really odd starts happening like loads of dead lambs or abortions it always worth investigating.
I think it's good to report our experiences on the forum here so others can watch out for symptoms, i just hope people aren't getting too fed up with us banging on about it all the time.
Everyone has been so supportive and i would just like to say thanks to you all.

[ellisr]

I think the updates are great as lambs that can't stand or are wobbly could have been put down to swayback or borders disease which would have been costly for tests and then treatment, when actually it is the milder symptoms of scmallenberg. We are dropping samples into the VLA today just to make sure it is schmallenberg so we can rule other problems out and concentrate on the right one.

It is awful what is happening but on here we share the experience and I know myself it is a comfort knowing I am not going through this alone and have support in such awful times.

[SallyintNorth]

I am so sorry that so many of you are going through this - but if you can and want to share then please do. 

It is horrible to hear your stories, but I feel so much better informed than other farmers I know who have only the national and farming press to inform them. 

Thank you very much everyone who has shared their experiences of this horrible disease