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Author Topic: Yikes! Fly strike on 5 day old lambs!  (Read 12004 times)

ladyK

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Conwy Valley
Re: Yikes! Fly strike on 5 day old lambs!
« Reply #15 on: May 31, 2014, 05:26:03 pm »
Thank you all for the support and advice - I really need it...

You are right of course, the more often you have to handle them the harder it gets to catch them... Haven't been able to catch them again to have a real close look, damn!! (caught the other 2 lambs though and doused them in the Barrier repellant (which has the same repelling ingredient, among others, as the Maggot Oil, btw)
I have a moveable pen made of hurdles, but I know that an adult Soay can jump them no problem if panicked, so not sure how safe it would be to pen them there for a longer period?  :thinking:
Both lambs are still lively, and no flies to be seen anywhere near so they do seem fine BUT the do turn and nibble their backs somtimes, just now and then, but it worries me. So I'm in for another lamb catching session - it's feeding time soon so maybe more luck this time around.
If I do find more eggs/maggots on them can I use Frontline on them? If it's OK for cats it might be OK for tiny lambs? I think I read somewhere it would kill maggots but can't find that reference anymore - somebody please correct me if I'm wrong.
"If one way is better than another, it is the way of nature." (Aristotle)

in the hills

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: Yikes! Fly strike on 5 day old lambs!
« Reply #16 on: May 31, 2014, 06:08:52 pm »
Sorry can't help with what to put on them. Maybe if you give your vet a ring he/ she can give you some advise on the phone.

They can't half move those Soay lambs.  :o If mum will go with lambs into the pen, you can probably get close enough to pick up and check. Have you got a crook? Our neighbour gave us a small one of his ..... he said we'd need it to catch the lambs. He was right. Don't know much about crooks ... might be one intended for hooking back legs of adult sheep.  It does work if they are in a smallish area and you can get pretty close.

Have you got a stock trailer? I know its not ideal but we popped a ewe and twins in one for a short while when one lamb needed treatment for a few days. She kept escaping from our field shelter .... you wouldn't have thought she could get out but managed it. It was only way of keeping her contained until treated.

Good luck  :fc:

ladyK

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Conwy Valley
Re: Yikes! Fly strike on 5 day old lambs!
« Reply #17 on: May 31, 2014, 07:27:01 pm »
Caught all three of them - mum and twins. I focussed on catching the ewe, put her in the pen, and then it was just a matter of waiting quietly until the lambs got close enough to catch too... took a while but I got them.
They are all definitely free from any maggots or eggs, I checked very very carefully. Relief!
I checked them all 3 times over, cleaned up the old crusty bits on her behind, treated the lambs sore patches with sudocrem (healing very nicely, all dried up), and doused them in more Barrier repellant.
Then I let them go. I really didn't think it would be a good idea to leave them in the pen overnight, if she tries to escape jumping (I know they can!) she might hurt her udder or something. I don't really have any better way to contain them at the moment. I also think being shut in, even in the pen, would stress them even more, and stressed animals are more suceptible to everything.
I feel much better just for knowing that my cleanup yesterday was indeed effective, and lambs look perfectly lively so I do think they are OK. Will keep a very close eye of course  :fc:
"If one way is better than another, it is the way of nature." (Aristotle)

Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: Yikes! Fly strike on 5 day old lambs!
« Reply #18 on: May 31, 2014, 08:04:19 pm »
Things to look out for are, first of all, flies around the sheep.  Nibbling, nabbing and sudden, sharp movements are all likely signs.  I see the weather's supposed to stay mild and the nights not be as cold as of late - fly season is definitely here!

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Yikes! Fly strike on 5 day old lambs!
« Reply #19 on: May 31, 2014, 11:23:02 pm »

A job well done LadyK  :thumbsup:  And you've clearly got the hang of this sheep psychology lark  8)

I agree, shutting them in a hurdle pen overnight would not be a good idea.  If the dam jumped out the lambs would be left behind, and if the lambs squeezed out through a gap then they would be alone and vulnerable.  It is a good idea to bring sick animals into a proper pen indoors, if you have one, just so they're available for treatment, but no point if you don't have one.
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in the hills

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: Yikes! Fly strike on 5 day old lambs!
« Reply #20 on: June 01, 2014, 09:16:22 am »
 :thumbsup: Good news.

Yes, far better out in the field unless they really need daily treatment. Only pen our Soay if it's essential for their well being.

Hope all goes smoothly now.  ;D Enjoy  ;D

waterbuffalofarmer

  • Joined Apr 2014
  • Mid Wales
  • Owner of 61 Mediterranean water buffaloes
Re: Yikes! Fly strike on 5 day old lambs!
« Reply #21 on: June 01, 2014, 09:42:58 am »
Quick thinking, well done. I would keep an eye on all the ewes and lambs, anyway it'll be shearing time soon.
You could spray the ewes and lambs with maybe tea tree and water, after you've clipped them, that should keep the flys away. I have never, ever encountered this problem before. :dunce:
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john and helen

  • Joined Mar 2013
  • Devon
  • WARNING,,,MAY SAY WHAT HE BELIEVES
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Re: Yikes! Fly strike on 5 day old lambs!
« Reply #22 on: June 01, 2014, 10:19:03 am »
Threads like this are priceless…. well done lady K and its so nice to read the back up from everyone...

in the hills

  • Joined Feb 2012
Re: Yikes! Fly strike on 5 day old lambs!
« Reply #23 on: June 01, 2014, 12:22:12 pm »
Yes, thanks for posting this LadyK.

We were planning on lambing about this time next year .... quite a bit later than we have done previously. We hadn't considered possibly increasing the risk of fly strike by ewes with wet post-lambing bums and sticky bummed lambs (which we always get). So, are now re-thinking.

Thanks .... posts like this help everyone.

Hellybee

  • Joined Feb 2010
    • www.blaengwawrponies.co.uk
Re: Yikes! Fly strike on 5 day old lambs!
« Reply #24 on: June 01, 2014, 01:03:50 pm »
We start lambing in feb, we did consider pushing them out further and lambing later, but glad now we stuck with earlier lambing, so glad they're feeling better xx

Foobar

  • Joined Mar 2012
  • South Wales
Re: Yikes! Fly strike on 5 day old lambs!
« Reply #25 on: June 02, 2014, 12:45:34 pm »

 ??? ???  Soay get fly strike just as much as any other breed, especially the 50% which have a tendency to sticky bums.

It's the ewe's job to keep baby lamb's bums clean, so if ewe's aren't doing that job then cull them.  Sorry :) .  I've noticed that some ewes are just negligent in that respect, and will fail to clean their young year after year.  Having to clean sticky bums has got to be one of the worst jobs ever, so that's why I've added this to my "reasons to cull" list. :)


btw, well done LadyK :)
« Last Edit: June 02, 2014, 12:47:16 pm by foobar »

wonderwooly

  • Joined May 2013
Re: Yikes! Fly strike on 5 day old lambs!
« Reply #26 on: June 02, 2014, 07:51:22 pm »
we have downs and lamb in about jan/feb so no flys.
and there getting used to the grass by spring proper.

ladyK

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Conwy Valley
Re: Yikes! Fly strike on 5 day old lambs!
« Reply #27 on: June 03, 2014, 10:31:37 pm »
It wasn't my plan to lamb so late - it was the sheeps' own plan: my ram stays in with the ewes all year. So the ewes decided when their time for cycling was. If the ram had not been in before and I had put him in with them 'earlier' I doubt the timing would have been different? I realise this doesn't apply to many other breeds, and I know that cycling can be manipulated but this is not something I would want to do.
So I will have to live with having to be extra vigilant - in hindsight, when I saw flies on the mum after birth  (she wasn't struck as such and I put repellant on her at once and the flies backed off) I should have recognized the danger of flies switching to her lambs.
"If one way is better than another, it is the way of nature." (Aristotle)

Bionic

  • Joined Dec 2010
  • Talley, Carmarthenshire
Re: Yikes! Fly strike on 5 day old lambs!
« Reply #28 on: June 04, 2014, 07:14:39 am »
How are they doing now LadyK?
Life is like a bowl of cherries, mostly yummy but some dodgy bits

ladyK

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Conwy Valley
Re: Yikes! Fly strike on 5 day old lambs!
« Reply #29 on: June 04, 2014, 02:40:02 pm »
They are fine!  :)
Caught them again yesterday (it does get harder and harder...), trying to keep the scabbed skin moisturized, it's now cracking a bit but looks like there is healthy skin underneath, nothing oozing. So hopefully they will continue to heal well.   :fc: They are certainly bouncy!
"If one way is better than another, it is the way of nature." (Aristotle)

 

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