Happy New Year to everyone, I hope this year offers you all prosperity, health and happiness.
We are running another Red Tractor approved medicine course on 11th January for Beef & Sheep farmers. Please call to book your place. This course is mandatory for all Red Tractor assured Beef and Sheep farms. Please come along prior to your audit!
We were pleased that our Practical Lambing Course run last week by Liv was well received. We are holding another on Wednesday 8th February. This course covers difficult lambing’s; repositioning and applying ropes, lamb care and husbandry of the sheep around lambing. Please call the office or email to book your place. Cost is £30 (incl. VAT).
Some of you may have read about a shortage of Strong Iodine solution (10%) for navel dipping/spraying new born lambs. This is due to production ceasing at a plant in Chile, causing prices to quadruple. The strength of Iodine is very important for effective disinfection and desiccation of the navel cord. Solutions less than 7% are deemed significantly less effective. As such it is more important than ever to maintain a clean environment by applying straw liberally and hydrated lime as well as ensuring adequate colostrum intakes. There is no true substitute for colostrum from the mother’s teat, please do not rely on powders and potions as I am afraid you will be disappointed. After pondering for a year or two I decided to buy an Udderly EZ Sheep milking kit this year for harvesting colostrum; so far, I am really impressed with the ease and cleanliness you can take colostrum from the ewe enabling some to be stored for another day and/or given to any needy lambs. Time constraints in the lambing shed are often a key factor in poor colostrum provision. This device has certainly helped.
Trace elements are minerals which are needed in small quantities to allow normal health and function. In the UK, copper, cobalt, selenium and iodine are the ones most likely to be of limited supply. A shortage of one or more of these may cause ill thrift, poor fertility and poor production. Testing Trace element availability in grass/soil varies widely in content due to soil type, pH, drainage, plant species and fertiliser use. Grass/ forage testing requires careful interpretation. Availability of certain elements is closely linked to levels of others so absolute levels can be misleading. Blood or tissue testing is the most accurate indicator of trace element status. Blood sampling a proportion of the group prior to supplementation gives a good idea of the levels in the blood. To establish Copper levels, the gold standard is tissue (liver) which gives a much better idea of longer term copper levels. Cobalt cannot be tested for in cattle blood samples (unlike sheep) so tissue levels is the only way to assess this.
Supplementation of trace elements will depend on what you feed and which trace elements you need to supplement. Compound feeds are well fortified with trace elements, although the level of feeding dictates the amount of trace elements the stock receives. If you are feeding mixed or straight feeds, it is usually sensible to add a mineral supplement. Drenches tend to have a very short-term effect so require repeating. Injections are not available for all trace elements, although Multimin contains Copper and Selenium, as well as Zinc and Manganese. There are many boluses on the market offering a range of trace elements. Boluses generally have a slow release of supplement lasting 6 months. Over supplementation can cause toxicity as well as being a waste of money. Copper toxicity can cause severe acute disease due to the liver failing so only supplement copper if it is shown to be necessary and monitor levels regularly.