December 2023
To drench or not to drench? Adult Sheep
Tupping is a time when farmers would traditionally worm drench ewes, however it las been shown that routine drenching of adult sheep increases the speed of drench resistance developing on your farm. This is because adult sheep (over 12 months of age) have a natural immunity to worm infections, and so worm treatments are often unnecessary, and just increase the number of treatments the worms on your farm are exposed to. Haemonchus (the barber pole worm) has been diagnosed on farms in this area and can affect ewes if it is brought onto the farm through poor quarantine protocols.
Thin ewes may carry a high worm burden, not because the worms have made them thin, but because the worms have taken advantage of the reduced immunity caused by whatever is making the ewe thin. If you have more than 10% of ewes below the target body condition score of 3.3/5 (lowland), then please speak to one of our vets as this will likely be production limiting and the underlying cause must be determined.
We advise you check the worm burden of your adult sheep by collecting faecal samples for a worm egg count, helping you decide if treatment is appropriate or not.
Collect samples from 10 individual sheep, we need about a tablespoon from each sheep and they must be kept in individual bags
Samples must still be warm on collection, so should be collected after holding the sheep on a hardstanding or the corner of a field.
Push the air out of the bag and seal. Store the bag somewhere dark and cool until you can drop into the surgery, within 24-48 hours.
We need to know the type of stock sampled, when and what they were last drenched with and the name of the field they are grazing.
EU Change of Legislation - selling livestock
We’d like to remind you all about the new Veterinary Attestation Requirement.
From 13 December 2023 UK producers sending animals to market or to slaughter must be able to demonstrate that a veterinary visit has taken place in the past 12 months.
Please take a look at our website for more information.
Christmas Opening Hours
Our office opening hours over the festive period are:
Leominster
Wednesday 27th - 8.30am - 3.30pm
Thursday 28th - 8.30am - 3.30pm
Friday 29th - 8.30am - 3.30pm
Ludlow
Wednesday 27th - 9.30am - 2.30pm
Thursday 28th - 9.30am - 2.30pm
Friday 29th - 9.30am - 2.30pm
The offices will be open as usual from Tuesday 2nd January.
As always our vets will be on hand for any emergencies over the weekends or bank holidays too. Please phone either office numbers if you’re in need of a vet.
We wish all our clients a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Thank you all for your ongoing support.