Sheep - Case studies
Farm Health Planning in Shropshire Proves to be Vital to Business Success
Mr Nick Davies is head shepherd at Downton Estates, Downton-on–the Rock, Ludlow, Shropshire. He is responsible for 3,200 breeding ewes that graze about 400 ha of permanent pasture on banks and valleys across the estate. The ewes are mainly North Country and Hexham Mules but 150 home bred Texel cross Mule lambs have joined the flock this year. High index Texel and Suffolk sires are used on the main flock and Lleyn rams are used on the ewe lambs. Part of the flock (1,000 ewes) starts to lamb on 1st March and the remainder lambs from 1st April. Productivity is good with 1.6 lambs sold for every ewe put to the ram. About 2,000 lambs per annum are sold direct to the abattoir (Randall Parker at Llanidloes in Powys) and a considerable number of female lambs (1,500 / yr.) are sold as breeding stock.
The shepherding is done by Nick and second shepherd Anthony Watts who both work full time with additional labour being brought in at lambing time. Nick says that ‘I came to the estate about four years ago and at the time it was clear to me that on economic grounds the amount of manpower that could be afforded to the sheep was limited. I thought it vital that our flock should have a very good health status so that any ‘fire brigade’ veterinary treatments and associated high labour demand could be kept to a minimum. Our reputation as vendors of ewe lambs for breeding was another reason for keeping our finger on the pulse of the health status of the flock. I therefore decided to sit down with my vet John Horlock to draw up a Flock Health Plan. Since, then due to the merging of two veterinary practices I have been working closely with vet Andrew Praill from the Marches Veterinary Group in Leominster and we have put a more comprehensive Flock Health Plan in place’.
Keeping it simple
Vet Andrew Praill says ‘The current Flock Health Plan is based on a template produced by the Sheep Veterinary Society and it covers all possible ailments; it is reviewed once a year’. However Nick prefers a simpler approach for everyday activities and he says ‘ I extract sections of the plan which I laminate and pin up on walls at strategic points on the farm and I also give copies to lambing assistants. I am always thinking about and monitoring the health of the flock; Andrew and I have regular discussions either once a month or over the telephone’.
Help when it’s needed
The soils on the farm are low in selenium and cobalt but high in molybdenum. Nick says ‘I take great care to ensure that representative samples of grazing and conserved forage are analysed at various times of year for trace element levels. Andrew Praill takes blood samples from the ewes at 6 weeks before lambing to check that there are no deficiencies. Oral drenches that contain trace elements are now a routine part of flock health management’. Independent sheep consultant Lesley Stubbings visits the farm once a year to review performance and to discuss sheep husbandry and health. Nick is always happy to ask for help when he needs it and makes sure that he takes independent advice whenever he can. Nick is a great ambassador for the sheep industry and is heavily involved with the Marches region of the National Sheep Association. He has held three open days over the last year.
Reviewing the issues
There is a comprehensive computer based recording system in place. Productivity factors such as lambs born and lambs reared are recorded. The incidence of disease is constantly reviewed. Nick says ‘I use the Flock Health Plan in conjunction with my costings to assess the value of veterinary treatments. For example, I have found that giving two abortion vaccines costing £5 / head to the 600 replacement ewe lambs that we acquire every year is likely to reduce the abortion level in the flock from 5% to 2%. The vaccine costs £3,000 but we get an extra 145 lambs for sale that are worth at least £5,750’.
Cutting down on lameness
Four years ago lameness was a big issue in the flock with up to 10% of ewes being lame at any one time. Foot problems were mainly due to not enough care being taken to source foot rot free replacement breeding stock and the over – paring of sheep’s feet. A strict control policy has brought incidence of lameness down to 2 –3% of ewes being lame at any one time. Nick no longer routinely trims feet or footbaths he says ‘I now have an individual approach; I isolate lame ewes, trim hooves if necessary, apply antiseptic spray and if they are needed I administer antibiotics. I am, however, quite ruthless, any ewes that are found to be lame on more than two occasions are culled. All ewes are footbathed before being housed for lambing in a liquid containing copper sulphate, zinc sulphate and T-tree oil.
New policy on worming saves time and money
Nick has embraced the principles of SCOPS (Sustainable Control of Parasites in Sheep). Nick says ‘We now use the Faecal Egg Count technique to assess the need for anthelmintic and a dosing programme is then discussed with our vet Andrew Praill. ‘ We used to worm the lambs four times during the summer and the ewes were wormed pre-tupping and at lambing. Last year, we dosed the lambs on only two occasions and the ewes were only dosed at lambing. The new policy saves us about £1,550 in the cost of anthelmintic. We also save about 130 hours of time which is worth about £1,560 to us’.
Replacing stock from known sources makes sense
Replacement breeding stock is now purchased from known sources whereas in the past stock was bought randomly from markets. Nick says ‘In order to maintain good flock biosecurity I make sure that I have knowledge of the disease and vaccination history of any new breeding stock before they arrive on the farm. All new sheep are quarantined indoors for at least one month from the day of arrival. They are vaccinated, wormed, dipped and foot bathed’.
Andrew Praill says ‘ Good communication between shepherd and vet is the key to the success of health planning. Ongoing reviews at regular intervals allow prompt and appropriate preventative medicine. In my view the close relationship between Nick and my veterinary practice has paid dividends for Flock productivity on Downton Estate. Nick is so enthusiastic and forward thinking and I thoroughly enjoy working with him’.
Nick Davies speaks very highly of Flock Health Planning. He says ‘Flock Health Planning has significantly reduced the labour input and veterinary costs associated with the sheep flock on Downton Estate. ‘I could not successfully manage our sheep without Flock Health Planning. We simply do not have enough labour to cope with any major unexpected animal health problems’.
Page last modified:
August 17, 2007
Page published: 17 May 2007