10 July 2008
Getting Back in the Habit
Posted by Richard under: Sheep; Smallholding .
I hate to say that while the computer was boxed up for a few months I have got out of the blogging habit - and am finding it very difficult to get back into the habit. However, I am going to make a real effort in the next week or so.
Ok, so what has been happening.
We have increased the size of the Brownlow flock a few months back by purchasing in five new Southdown ewes. They all look like they are in really good nick - decent feet, decent teeth, not too fat or thin. So we are up to a breeding flock of 12 ewes. We also have five ewe lambs and eight ram lambs.
We had a bit of flystrike affecting the ewes back in early May, one poor ewe (Flora) got hit badly - it was a case of not using any prevention (Crovect) in early April, long grass (which greenbottles love to hide in), and not getting them sheared soon enough. Bizarrely, a pour-on of neat Jeyes Fluid over the maggoted invested area and temporary shear sorted her out in the short term. She ended up with a very scabby bald head for few months, but she is now well on the mend with her fleece coming back nicely. She is also on a diet - as we think the fact she was overconditioned caused her to overheat more than the others making her a perfect target for the flys. It’s all learning for next year.
The ewes are all sheared now - Andy and his brother came over and did the business. I may run to doing a shearing course at our local Agri college for £45 and invest in some secondhand shears for next year - with only a small flock it would be handy to be a bit less reliant on others.
Last years ewe purchases (the ones that have survived the winter and lambing) are all looking sound - no foot problems now…compared with last year when they were all limbing, and they have all got down to a decent weight (which also helps with the feet).
The ram lambs have been weaned - and we have moved them away from the ewes, and they are running with another acquisition - a new two-year old Southdown ram. For a number of reasons, we knew that getting hold of a decent tup in the autumn with the right bloodlines could have proved tricky, so we plumbed for purchasing one. He is a docile boy - but we are keeping a close eye on his condition as we don’t want him getting fat - so he is on a small area of pasture kept separate from the ram lambs by electric fence. The ram lambs get the fresh lush grass and the old boy gets the rough grazing.
The ewe lambs are still with their dams at present - but they do need to be weaned at some point…no rush yet, as we may look to lamb a bit later next spring (to allow the grass to come back a bit more for the lactating ewes)
So that is the sheep update…more to follow in the coming days on the business of vegetables, hay, hens, ducks and pigs (yes, pigs!)
7 Comments so far...
David Turner Says:
10 July 2008 at 11:05 pm.
Welocme back and it’s good to read your (ewes) news
colouritgreen Says:
10 July 2008 at 11:31 pm.
oo pigs. we went on apig course and are all fired up to get the pigs.. but all the veg harvesting is using up our time.. we’ll get there.. s will read your advevntures with interest.
susi Says:
11 July 2008 at 5:42 pm.
Your lambs are looking good.
What breed of pigs are you thinking of? We watched some Tamworths rooting out weeds at the Ryedale Folk Museum - they were making a terrific job of clearing the ground and seemed very friendly pigs.
Richard Says:
13 July 2008 at 7:20 pm.
David - thanks for the ‘welcome back’.
Colouritgreen & Susi - any talk of all subjects vaguely porcine is still strictly off limits at this stage while negotiations are ongoing…all very hush-hush you understand. As soon as I am at liberty to divulge anything, I will.
colouritgreen Says:
15 July 2008 at 12:37 pm.
btw - you can use crovect as a treatment as well as prevention.. pour it on, death to maggots.
Richard Says:
15 July 2008 at 9:07 pm.
We were out of Crovect, and couldn’t get some until the next day. The ewe had a bad case of maggots and speaking to Andy the sheep farmer - his advice was to pour on neat Jeyes Fluid. We ummmed and arred for a bit - he called back to see if we had done it - we hadn’t. He was clear - if you don’t she’ll be dead by morning. We did as we were told, and she isn’t dead (and five weeks later she is fully recovered). In a tight squeeze / last resort - Jeyes does the trick. It certainly isn’t best practice, but better than a dead ewe.
The ewe lambs have got flystrike now (even with checking them daily) - the Crovect only lasted 5 weeks. It’s a great thing this hindsight - we even said on Saturday that we needed to treat them again this week - by Monday they were infected. Their fleeces are so thick, its impossible to tell without close handling daily - it’s the only way now while the risk is so high.
The twelve ewes, the ram and the eight ram lambs are absolutely fine, but four of the five ewe lambs have strike, two fairly badly. This time they have been Crovected on the infected areas. All the sheep have had a preventative treatment as well. The invalids are all penned up in small area for close observation, it’s finger-crossing time again.
Bloody blowflys…damn soggy warm weather.
colouritgreen Says:
15 July 2008 at 11:00 pm.
urgh sorry to hear that - I hate flystrike. - we have woodlands next to our fields and that lends itself to flystrike. I agree, you do have to act quickly
I did hear of a new product called ‘dysect’ that is sposed to last a long time. might be worth a look? I’ve not tried it yet though.