Well, we are all clear on the fluke and worms, goats and sheep, great. But here's an odd one:
Our ewe that died we are told (post mortem) had died from copper poisoning (north ronaldsays have a very low thershold to copper). This was a great surprise as we have been completely careful from the outset and have only fed what was recommended and fed by the previous owner without problem for 7 years.
At first I was told by the lab she had a 'bolus' (given to cattle to slowly leach out copper) but it turned out to be an electronic tag placed there years ago as a lamb. So that was ruled out.
We then had the 3 foods we use for our different livestock analysed. Out of the 3 (maize, ewe nuts and the sheep crunch we feed to the goats), the food we give our ronaldsays had the highest copper levels, but the level still came in at under the maximum level recommended by the North Ronaldsay Society, so not high enough to poison them. So it doesn't look like its any of the food stuffs.
Before we got the sheep we tested the land for acidity in around 20 different locations and it was within the recommended levels of acidity, so no problems there.
So we are stuck - a copper poisoned sheep but no copper around anywhere at levels that would normally kill a north ronaldsay.
Are these sheep just flimsy and rare breed for a reason.
Having now spent almost £200 on finding out nothing apart from not having a worm or fluke problem, I could have replaced my ewe 4 times.
What am I doing
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