[Fleecewife]

After the late cold spell, it has suddenly turned warm, sultry, thundery - call it what you will, but it means fly strike danger for sheep.  If you can't get them shorn now, then it's worth dagging them and giving them a good checkover.  The lambs can be treated with Crovect or whatever your preventative of choice is.  Today we got in the ewes and lambs, sprayed the lambs with Crovect, wormed four ewes with Panacur as they had slightly mucky backsides and we sprayed Crovect across all their perineums.  This will not contaminate the fleece but will protect them from hidden strike in an area which is difficult to check visually on Hebrideans, which have very long woolly black coats.  We also did all the ewes feet. 
Our 17 year old Heb ewe Jezebel, who wasn't bred this year but had twins last year, still has superb feet, a backside you could eat your dinner off    and a condition score my OH called 'magnificent' when he lifted her ie one of the heaviest.  She doesn't have a single tooth left at the front and we know she will go downhill once her molars start coming out     The good feet and ease of handling always picks out her offspring, now old ladies themselves.
Even in the morning it was too hot to work comfortably - what an old grouch I am 

[Brucklay]

Seemed a wee bit premature getting my sheared last week when the opportunity arose - but quite glad now as everyone is clean and I can see what's going on!!

[Remy]

I really wish I'd got mine done last week, now I can't get hold of the shearer I normally use as I expect everyone is calling him! 

[plumseverywhere]

I'm feeling a little tense too!  The singing shearer is coming on 1st (next Friday so only a week now) I have a bottle of Clik to do the lambs but no clik gun! C/wide have me one 'on order'.
Just been stood studying my 2 adult ewes, 1 of whom looks quite fed up - I assume just because she's sooo hot rather than anything because anything is happening,
Thank you, Fleecewife for this post - its been really informative and I feel slightly more confident from reading your pointers (eg. worming for mucky bums etc)

[Rosemary]

What's a perineum?

[Mammyshaz]

The perineum is a part of the pelvic area usually used to describe the area from the anus to the privates and surrounding area.

[in the hills]

Great post - thank you. 
 
We ordered our Crovect (small container) last week and will treat ASAP.
 
Our Soay ewes are at different fleece shedding stages. Some have slightly mucky bums, no scouring, guessing due to the very lush grass and hedge growth. Do I need to wash them before I spray? 
 
Know where the perineum is in female human but not sure how this translates to sheepie bits (will have a look tomorrow) would it sting/be safe?
 
Is Crovect safe on lambs from 5 weeks? Hate strong chemicals and worry about using them.
 
 

[Fleecewife]

The bit I mean is found when you sit the sheep on its bottom.  Move the back legs apart and you can spray from the inside of one leg, down to the bit between the vulva and udder in a female (whilst avoiding the vulva itself because yes, I imagine that would sting) and the udder and scrotum in a male, then up the inside of the other leg. There is wool here but it is not part of the useable fleece in many breeds, so it doesn't matter if it has Crovect or whatever on prior to shearing.    Sheep anatomy is slightly different between the sexes, so in the female I suppose it's not technically the perineum (and comparing it with humans - we don't have or mammary glands way down there  ), whereas in the male, the penile sheath emerges much further along.   The very first Shetland ewe we bought had had fly strike in just this area, and although she appeared to have recovered when we bought her, she died a few weeks later and I always wondered if it was related - so I'm a bit obsessed with missing this bit at a fly check. 
Inthehills - our lambs are between 5 and 7 weeks old and all seem fine after their treatment.  We don't use a large dose, just enough over their backsides, underneath and a dot on their heads.  If our lambs are mucky we would dag them before spraying, but only wash them if they had a lot of wet poop around.  We were lucky today in that all our lambs are nice and clean - a result of downsizing the flock I think.

[SallyintNorth]

Great thread FW 

The other thing worth mentioning in this weather is that unshorn sheep will get hot, sticky and itchy, so as well as flystrike they need checking at least twice daily for collapse and for being cast.  (They may roll trying to scratch, then can't get upright again.)  Any fat sheep can die quite quickly in hot weather if they get stuck on their backs.

[plumseverywhere]

Is there anything we can do for the unshorn sheep while we wait for our shearer (only 1 week now and counting!!) ?
I am checking 2 or 3 times a day, looking out for nasty flies (none so far, thank goodness) and making sure they have loads of fresh, clean water.  They've found several very sheltered, shady areas in the orchard but is there anything else that can keep them cool/deter flies ? I saw some fly sprays in the sheep section in countrywide next to the battles maggot oil.

[in the hills]

Thanks FW. Only one or two ewes that seem a touch mucky, lambs are all clean.
 
Checking the girls 3 times a day as well Plums - cant stand the thought of Fly Strike. Did see some fly repellant in spray cans at our agri store .... cant remember what it was called. It did say for sheep .... not sure how effective it would be. 
 
How soon after treatment with Crovect is it safe to handle sheep? We are trying to halter train/handle a couple of our ewes most evenings to get them ready for possibly showing them.

[SteveHants]

My woolsheep are coming in on sunday for clickzin as they dont get shorn till the end of June. They seem to cope OK with the hot weather though, but there is lots of shade where I graze them.

[plumseverywhere]

Thanks FW. Only one or two ewes that seem a touch mucky, lambs are all clean.
 
Checking the girls 3 times a day as well Plums - cant stand the thought of Fly Strike. Did see some fly repellant in spray cans at our agri store .... cant remember what it was called. It did say for sheep .... not sure how effective it would be.   

I picked some up in the end - its Nettex fly spray and says on the tin that  it can be used to 'deter flies' - not sure how much use it is either and would surely be no replacement for shearing/clik/crovect but until our 2 adults are sheared at least I feel I've been able to do something to try and keep the flies off. Its psychological for me 

[Fleecewife]

Thanks FW. Only one or two ewes that seem a touch mucky, lambs are all clean.
 
Checking the girls 3 times a day as well Plums - cant stand the thought of Fly Strike. Did see some fly repellant in spray cans at our agri store .... cant remember what it was called. It did say for sheep .... not sure how effective it would be. 
 
How soon after treatment with Crovect is it safe to handle sheep? We are trying to halter train/handle a couple of our ewes most evenings to get them ready for possibly showing them.

I think that once it's dry it would be ok but remember to wash your hands thoroughly after handling the treated sheep, and don't put your fingers in your mouth, eat etc until you have washed.  Some people seem to be more sensitive to these products than others.  Good luck with getting them halter trained 
 
For fly sprays and repellants, we have not found one which is effective.  We tried some a few years back but they tended to stain the fleece.  It's worth checking the ingredients to make sure they are not as bad as the Crovect etc     Keeping the sheep clean ie dagged and dry, and making sure that where they hang out (such as under a tree, in a shelter) is clean not covered in droppings, will help keep the flies away until you can get them shorn. 

[feldar]

We had Flystrike back in April   gets earlier and earlier down here but we got all the shearlings in off the marsh last night and crutched out and yep found two more with maggots.
Got shearer coming next week so can't fly spray them yet but as soon as they're done watch out flies your days are numbered!