Articles

Sheep scab is thought to be the most contagious parasitic disease in sheep and has significant detrimental effects on welfare and production.  It causes severe itchiness, crusting skin lesions and intense irritation in affected sheep and is often associated with marked wool loss.

The life cycle of Nematodirus battus differs from other gastrointestinal worms.  Development to infective larvae takes place within the egg, which allows the larvae to survive for long periods on the pasture, surviving cold or dry weather.  Hatching of the larvae usually requires particular environments conditions: a period of cold weather followed by 7-10 days of temperatures over 10ºC.  Nematodirus eggs on the pasture therefore survive through winter and hatch en masse in the spring.

Blood testing ewes 3 – 4 weeks before lambing is a great way to assess how the ration being offered is feeding.  It gives you the knowledge if what is being fed is sufficient and if not what adjustments can be made.

Reports of more snow to come are concerning particularly for those that may have already been feeding supplementary forage since December.  For those lambing in March/April the nutritional requirements of the ewe are still fairly low compared to close up lambing, however it is vital to the development of the placenta during this period that ewes do not face prolonged nutritional stress.