[crobertson]

So I'm relatively new to keeping sheep, only had them for a couple of years and lambing our first homebred lambs this year. I wanted a kind of schedule on what gets done and when as I feel like we've muddled through and things have been a bit last minute this year so I've conjured up my own kind of plan as it would cost hundreds at the vets (we are registered etc) but I couldn't justify spending that much on a proper health plan so I was wondering what people think of the one I've attached Its just a bit of an attempt at the research and experience I have so far !

I've based it on our experiences from the past couple of years such as experiencing strike in may and late september so now include options if at risk, the lamb worming was based on current vet advice this year etc etc
Hoping to get some pedigree stock this year so want to make sure we're on top of everything and have a clear plan first !

As i work in a lab as a job and have experience of cell counting etc I'm hoping to do my own FEC's allowing a more tailoring and individual assessment if needed.

Any improvements or feedback would be greatly received ! One of my uncertainties is footbathing as we've not done it yet so don't know how to include it as a management kind of thing ??

[Womble]

Something I found useful was to add a separate column with target condition score for each month. I used the QMS Scotland BCS timeline guide for this. Also, if you're sponging in October when the ewes will naturally be ovulating anyway, you may not need the PMSG injection?

For what it's worth, I've attached our flock plan. This was originally prepared by our vet. However, it was based on one for a commercial farm, so I've changed it quite a bit since, to suit our situation better.

One thing I'm still too vague on is fluke treatment. For instance, the plan says to inject with Trodax in January, but it's only available in 100 dose bottles. So if anybody has resources on this or could share their own fluke plan, I'd find that really helpful  .

[Rosemary]

For fluke, we dose with triclabendazole at prep for tupping in October; with closantel at scanning in January (after scanning so we don't dose any empty ewes that wil be culled, therefore avoiding a long meat withdrawal) and with closantel at lambing in April.

We do have fluke - from abattoir reports - but we seem to be managing it.

[crobertson]

Thanks for your input, I like the format in an excel sheet and like the idea of the ideal body condition of different times of the year and yes i'm hoping ours will be a working progress which will be tweeked each year.

Our vets insist on the PMSG injection when sponging, even when within the normal breeding season ...

I got my fluke plan from SCOPS info http://www.scops.org.uk/content/Liver-Fluke-Fact-Sheet.pdf. By the table in there we treat at the end Sept / Oct for acute fluke (using triclabendazole), then January for subacute (using fasciolicide or triclabendazole) and post lambing / end of march for chronic and mature fluke (using Albendazole or closantel or  triclabendazole) - only using triclabendazole for 2 out of the 3 doses max.

SCOPS released an alert about high risk of fluke this year so I might do ours at the end of September

[harmony]

A flock plan with the vet shouldn't cost hundreds. It is something you could discuss when they are at the farm.  They should of course know what your local issues are. If you have a plan put together they could go through it with you rather than them producing one from scratch.


Unless your vets are very experienced farm vets I have to say that their approach maybe text book rather than a practical understanding of farm practice and problems in your area.


Talking to local farmers can also be useful. Obviously, those whose flocks stand out.



NADIS is very useful for seasonal updates.

[twizzel]

Read on another forum that there's a shortage of pmsg- so best to check you can definitely get it !

[Backinwellies]

Lot of resistance to fasinex and equivalents round here

[Marches Farmer]

Thanks for your input, I like the format in an excel sheet and like the idea of the ideal body condition of different times of the year and yes i'm hoping ours will be a working progress which will be tweeked each year.

We have both Down and Mountain breeds and the Badger Face are never going to get above 3.5 whereas keeping the condition off the Southdowns can be a challenge over a Summer when grazing's been good.  If a Down sheep is below CS3 then it's either old or got something wrong and isn't suitable for breeding anyway.  Apart from six weeks before and four weeks after lambing, to support lactation, our sheep are never given feed.  I want to see how well the lambs, rams and ewes do off grass, not how well they do propped up by cake.

[shep53]

Both basic plans are sound and as womble says you will tweek them as you learn about your ground and sheep .  As Marches says CS varies between breeds and the same sheep breed can change on different grass , Fluke and Worms  change depending on the weather in a bad year some farms need to fluke every 6wks  and farms that have never had a problem before can suddenly  find themselves in big trouble .   Fec or bloods can identify parasite problems  and it pays to re test 2 wks after treatment to establish  product efficiency  since all 3 common worm groups and triclabendazole  all have resistance problems  nationally