December 2024 Newsletter

We should be coming to the end of the high-risk fluke period. Lower temperatures mean that development of the external stages of liver fluke will be reduced as its’ intermediate snail host requires temperatures above 10oC. We should try to avoid using Triclabendazole (e.g. Fasinex) as there shouldn’t be any early immature fluke and we can use a more suitable product that kill the later stages, e.g. Closantel or Oxyclozanide.

Spring born calves that have grazed for the season should be wormed at housing to avoid over-wintering encysted worms in the gut. This also applies to store lambs / ewe lamb replacements and will prevent contamination of the pasture in the spring. Autumn born calves may not need worm treatment due to limited exposure. Please ask if you are unsure about whether or not you should be treating and with what product as we are happy to give impartial advice that doesn’t depend on making a sale!

We are running another MilkSure training on Friday 13th December at 12pm at Wrington. This is ideal for those that have recently changed milk buyer and need to complete this training for new buyers, or anyone who hasn’t completed their training in the last 3 years. We have now enrolled a large proportion of the Dairy farms on this. As you are probably aware, it is a requirement of Red Tractor assurance to have completed Training on the correct use and storage of veterinary medicines. MilkSure provides this plus extra awareness around antibiotic residues in milk and off-label use of drugs.

It is also a Red Tractor requirement that Beef and Sheep producers have attended a medicine training course. We are currently compiling a waiting list for anyone that is interested.

We are now in the run-up to lambing with many flocks starting to scan their ewes. Scanning is not only a useful tool to know which ewes are pregnant but also to know how many lambs each ewe is carrying. Feed should then be tailored accordingly. Singles can receive little or no supplements whilst twins and triplets may require some extra feed. It can be a huge cost saving to a flock to get this feeding right as well as preventing issues with over-sized or undersized lambs. The ability to ‘wet foster’ lambs is easier when you know you have a triplet and a single ewe on lambing. If you scan it is also worth keeping an eye on your lamb loss rate from scanning to lambing. Do ewes scan pregnant and end up barren? Do double scans end up singles at lambing? It is not just the skill of the scanner; this can also give us a clue about potential disease that is causing your pregnancy loss. It is well worth getting your ewes that are barren at scanning, checked for disease with some blood samples as there may well be time to do something about it.

We are now stocking a new navel dressing product, NoBacz Navel that has recently come to the market. This is a disinfectant that dries the navel rapidly helping to significantly reduce cases of joint ill and early lamb death due to septicaemia. It comes in a 500ml spray bottle but can also be used as a dip. I have started using it on my lambs that are being born at the moment and I am really impressed with how quickly it can dry navels.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I also take this opportunity to thank you for your continued business over the past year.

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