Health Planning [SP.RA.HP]

Caithness New Entrants Group – Healthy Ewes

Local Highland Vets, Ken and David will be taking you through the management of your ewe flock from tupping, during pregnancy and through to lambing time

Toxoplasmosis

With current concerns over the availability of Toxovax for preventing a toxoplasmosis outbreak in a flock, we look at other preventative strategies. Toxovax is currently the only vaccine available on…

Quarantine for Bought in Stock – Q & A

Buying in stock is common practice on many beef and sheep farms especially at this time of year with many breeding sales taking place across the country. However whether you’re…

Scald In Lambs

What is scald? Scald is also known as interdigital dermatitis and is most common in lambs. It is a superficial infection of the skin between the claws caused by the…

Risks To Lambs In The Summer Months

While the highest risk period for lamb deaths is now past there are still threats to consider in the summer months, including: Red Gut Red gut, this is…

Nematodirus Hatching…….

The warm weather has been a welcome return for grass growth and conditions for outdoor lambing’s. However, this warmer weather has made conditions for Nematodirus battus hatching. Who favour a period of cold weather followed by a cumulative period of 7-10 days of temperatures over 11ºC. Nematodirus eggs on the pasture shed by lambs last year will have survived through winter and will hatch in the right conditions now.

Lead Poisoning Alert

Ahead of turn out livestock farmers should be aware of the risk of lead poisoning with the greatest risk of poisoning occurring in the period immediately following turn out. SAC…

Technical Note (TN 743): Johne’s Disease In Cattle

Johne’s disease (also known as paratuberculosis) is an infectious wasting condition of cattle and other ruminants. It results in progressive damage to the intestines of affected animals and in cattle results in profuse and persistent diarrhoea.

While cattle remain susceptible to infection throughout their life, they are at their most vulnerable in the first few months of life. The advanced clinical signs of the disease (diarrhoea and weight loss) are rarely seen in cattle under two years of age. Most commonly these clinical signs are seen in cattle aged three to five years.

Sheep rubbing on wire fence (image from Nadis website)

Sheep Scab Resistance – A Developing Problem

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.

Nematodirus battus in Lambs

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.

Sign up to the FAS newsletter