[holz306]

I'm just about to order worker for my flock but can someone advice what to use for this time of year/cycle - I've 10 breeding ewes, 1tup and 12 lambs that will go for slaughter at the end of November. We're in n/w highlands and I don't know what these sheep last had. They're all in great condition

[Porterlauren]

Go and collect some dung, take it to your vet and get an FEC count done.

This will tell you if they need worming and if so, what to use.

It will ultimately save you money and time in the long run.

[Rosemary]

If you can collect a sample from your breeding sheep and a sample from the lambs, that will be helpful.

We don't routinely worm our breeding stock except at lambing time now.

Don't forget about fluke too. A FEC won't show if you have fluke or not, and given your location, you will almost certainly have it on your land. We fluke breeding stock routinely about now, at scanning in January and at lambing.

Remember to tell your vet when the lambs are going off - some wormers and flukicides have long with drawal periods. Triclabendazole, probably the most widely used flukicide is about eight weeks, I think.

[Marches Farmer]

Pen them tight in a corner of the field for half-an-hour then use a clean plastic bag as a glove and pick up a sample - the more the better!  Contact your vet first, to find out when best to bring it in - better done fresh rather than left because they're all out bTB testing.