Sheep - Case studies
Flock health planning shows its worth when lambing all year round on Exmoor
Andrew Mather of Hallsdown Farm has been practising flock health planning for five years, working with his vet Martin Hume of the Charter Veterinary Hospital Group, Bickenbridge Farm, Ilfracombe, North Devon. Andrew runs 325 Dorset ewes at Hallsdown Farm on the western fringes of Exmoor. This 110 acre farm is all LFA (Less Favoured Area) and half is SDA (Severely Disadvantaged Area). Most of the breeding ewes (280) are pure bred Dorset and the remainder cross-bred. Rams include Texels and Blue Faced Leicesters as well as Poll Dorsets. Andrew sells a few breeding rams but otherwise all the lambs are fattened and sold finished, some of which are sold under contract to Waitrose under their Dorset Breed Lamb Scheme.
Benefits of flock health planning
Since Dorset sheep are not seasonal breeders, Andrew can lamb different section of his flock at various times of the year. Lambs are born in January, May and September. Such a complex breeding system demands very high standards of husbandry that Andrew demonstrates so well and the use of a flock health plan has proved to be a helpful management tool. “I originally began using flock health planning because it was a farm quality assurance scheme requirement, but there are real benefits to it. The greatest benefit is that I now have a much closer working relationship with my vet and he has a good understanding of my flock and my farming system,” says Andrew.
The importance of ram management
The production system works well with the obvious benefits of a high lamb crop. A teaser ram is used and Andrew believes that this is an important way of achieving good lambing rates. Careful attention is given to ram management in the post-tupping phase. Andrew says “Ram management is important to minimise stress and ensure longevity. Rams’ feet are checked, faecal egg counts carried out and a wormer administered if necessary. These rams work hard; they are put with ewes three times a year. The supplementary feeding of a cake that contains a high level (19%) of crude protein boosts their recuperation”.
Reducing the burden of worms
With three lamb crops a year the pasture at Hallsdown has little opportunity of a long break from lambs. However, Andrew regularly re-seeds most of his ground, with kale and stubble turnips as a break crop, and there are only a couple of fields of permanent pasture. This policy provides as much clean grazing as possible and has a significant impact on the worm burden. Dung samples are taken from lambs at four weeks of age and again six weeks post turn out for faecal egg counts to be conducted. Anthelmintic treatment is administered as required. Andrew says, “I believe it is better not to worm unless it is really necessary because I don’t want any wormer resistance to develop and I certainly worm less than I used to. The biggest saving is on labour which equates to several days in a year. All the fields are well drained and there is no problem with liver fluke on this farm”.
Biosecurity is a high priority
Hallsdown Farm is ring fenced and Andrew runs a mainly closed flock, rearing all his own replacement ewe lambs and has a policy of buying rams only from Maedi / Visna and scrapie accredited flocks. Biosecurity is afforded a high priority and any bought in rams are dosed on arrival with Moxidectin and Levamisole; they are then held in a pen overnight. Their feet are carefully checked and they are run through a footbath of 5% copper sulphate. The rams are then kept isolated for at least three weeks before integration into the flock Andrew did have a policy of vaccinating against Enzootic abortion. However, when Martin Hume assessed the threat of re-introducing enzootic abortion he judged it to be low as all replacement ewes are home bred and the farm practices a high standard of biosecurity. At a cost of £3 per ewe it seemed unjustified. All the two-tooths (around 50 a year) would have been vaccinated, so this represented a saving of around £150 a year.
Successful vaccination programme against footrot
From the inception of the Flock Health Plan lameness was identified as one of the major problems in the flock. The Dorset breed has soft, white feet and footrot can develop quickly into a severe problem when the animals are kept inside. Martin says ‘At its worst about 50% of the flock would have been lame at any one time. This incurred a high labour input, which, with only Andrew on the farm full time and his father part time, caused serious problems. Nowadays all ewes and rams are vaccinated against foot rot using Footvax in late summer or early autumn. This has proved very successful and is supplemented with footbathing problem groups in a 5% solution of copper sulphate. The efficacy of this is self evident, with remarkably few lame sheep to be found on the farm’.
Keeping orf under control
Two years ago orf was noticed in the young lambs. Andrew became worried about reduced lamb growth rates, the risk of mastitis in the ewes and reduced ewe longevity. On discussion with Martin Hume it was decided to vaccinate all lambs with Scabivax soon after birth and this has kept the problem under control. Andrew says “Our Flock Health Plan and close association with our vet led to a quick diagnosis of the condition. The use of Scabivax has not only stemmed any loss of performance in the lambs but it has also saved us a substantial amount of labour that would have been required to catch and spray young lambs with antibiotic”. The cost of Scabivax is about £1 per lamb, which is very small in comparison with the potential financial loss that can be associated with an outbreak of orf.
Lamb performance is better than last year
The ewes that lambed in January 2007 performed well with each ewe producing an average of 1.65 live lambs. This is substantially up on last year when ultrasonic scanning predicted a lambing % of 151. Andrew says “My lambing results always fluctuate from year to year; any improvement will be due to a combination of factors but the Flock Health Plan ensures that nothing is left to chance”. A paper based recording system is in place. Andrew says “I like a paper based system as I find that I can record detailed health issues that a computer system would not allow me to do”. Vet, Martin Hume visits Hallsdown Farm once a year to review the flock health plan and to discuss any health issues that may have arisen. Following each visit he produces a written report that Andrew can refer to in planning his husbandry management. Martin describes his approach to flock health planning: “I make a general synopsis of what is going on in the flock. I gauge which issues have the biggest impact on health and production, address those issues and then in subsequent visits monitor the effects of the change. Andrew’s stockmanship and disease awareness are exemplary”
Page last modified:
17 August, 2007
Page published:
17 August, 2007