[Michelle.L.]

Hi there,

we live in a very heavily tick infested area (Isle of Skye). Our two pet lambs got Spotinor from the vet which I repeat regularly. But especially one of the lambs still gets lots of ticks - I pick them off him almost daily! As he's the one that potentially doesn't have the best immune system I am of course worried about tick borne diseases. Is there anything else I could try? Another pour on that might work better? According to our vet they basically all do the same... Thankful for any advice :-)

[shep53]

3 products which yes basiclally do the same thing  Spotinor / spot-on a 5ml standard dose for sheep  which applied in one place ,middle of the front shoulders is absorbed into the skin layer and spreads over all the body and lasts for up to 6 weeks , the tick has to bite to take in the chemical to kill it .  Crovect which is applied as a pin stream from the crown to the rump along the spine in amounts that vary according to the sheeps weight and then spreads in the sheep grease all over  ,lasts for up to 10wks  . Dysect works similar to crovect just different amounts and slightly different application .  Barrier produces a natural tick repellent and tea tree /citronella are said to repel ticks but have to be constantly reapplied

[Womble]

So what harm do ticks to to sheep then?

I know they can be bad news for humans, but I don't know about other species?

[Michelle.L.]

the tick has to bite to take in the chemical to kill it .

Ah, I didn't know that. I thought a tick would transmit a disease as soon as it bites. Do you know how long it should take for a tick to fall off with Spotinor?

[silkwoodzwartbles]

@Womble, I lost a super Zwartbles ewe lamb a few years back to what was suspected to be a spinal abscess caused by a tick bite. She went off her legs and despite heavy doses of antibiotics, couldn't regain her legs and had to be humanely PTS.

[shep53]

Sorry i can't find an answer as to how long it takes to kill ,but if you are pulling off engorged ticks then   it takes anything from a few days to a couple of weeks to go from a spider like nymph to engorged . Ticks can and do cause fever /loss of milk / swollen joints / abortion /Death . This is why farms with a tick problem try to buy stock that have been bitten by ticks to have some amount of immunity .

[Fleecewife]

Sorry i can't find an answer as to how long it takes to kill ,but if you are pulling off engorged ticks then  then it take anything from a few days to a couple of weeks to go from a spider like nymph to engorged . Ticks can and do cause fever /loss of milk / swollen joints / abortion /Death . This is why farms with a tick problem try to buy stock that have been bitten by ticks to have some amount of immunity .

........and is why if you are selling sheep from a non-tick area such as we are in, to an area where there are lots of ticks, you need to warn the new owners to pay particular attention to tick prevention because your sheep are 'naive' to ticks and so have no natural resistance.