Articles

MV has a long incubation period and it can spread unnoticed within, and between, flocks for many years before the non-specific signs are seen.

Fog fever is a condition usually seen in the autumn in adult cattle at grass. It is thought to be caused by the ingestion of a substance called L-tryptophan, which is converted in the rumen to substances which are toxic to lung tissue. The condition is most commonly seen within two weeks of a move from sparse to lush pasture.

Grazing red clover or eating red clover silage at tupping time can affect ewes fertility. Breeding ewes should avoid eating red clover for six weeks before and after tupping.

C.Ovis is the larval stage of a tapeworm that affects animals such as dogs, foxes, etc. This does not transfer to humans. The adult tapeworm called Taenia ovis lives in the intestine of the dog/fox and eggs are shed in the faeces.

Low risk grazing can be described as field where there are few or no infectious worm larvae on the grass. It is sometimes called clean grazing. The opposite would be high risk, or dirty, grazing which is a field with large numbers of infectious worm larvae on the grass.

Since September 2015 there have been 288 outbreaks of bluetongue disease in France. As things stand the north of France remains clear of infection.

The best time to tackle footrot is during a dry spell when as few sheep as possible are on the farm. 

Veterinarian and researcher Fiona Lovatt delivered a wake up call to the sheep industry at BSAS 2016. From a survey of over 800 UK farms who were finishing lambs and selling on average 670 lambs a year, 94% of farmers claimed to have never seen the five “iceberg” diseases, she concluded they were in denial.

For some of you it may still seem like a long time until the rams go out to the ewes but now would be a good time to look through your available rams to bring them up to working condition in time for the mating season.