Sheep - Case studies
First time flock health plan reveals three targets for improvement:
- Reduce lamb losses
- Reduce lameness
- Reduce incidence of prolapse
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| John Parry at a recent FHP farm walk. Neighbouring sheep farmers were invited to hear his experiences of health planning in the ADAS hosted event. |
Staffordshire farmer John Parry was keen to join the West Midlands pilot sheep farm health planning project. Running 600 mainly Mules on his 450 acre mixed arable/ sheep farm at Albrighton, near Wolverhampton, he has hosted two on-farm meetings this year to share his experiences in first time farm health planning.
Prioritising the various health issues that could be addressed in a health plan exercised both John and his Vet Charlie Lambert. After carrying out a gross margin analysis on the 2006 season’s lamb crop he was able to spot where the gains from improvement would have the greatest effect.
Priority one – reduce lamb losses
On 600 ewes upping the lambs raised by just 5% would bring in a potential extra £1200 more than enough to cover the costs of setting up and running the health plan. John recognised that on most farms, the number of lambs raised often falls short of the number of lambs scanned by a costly difference.
“I run a one man unit with only limited assistance over lambing from students. By attention to detail in the lambing shed, supervised lambing whenever possible, and supplementing colostrum when needed I have saved viable lambs,” explains John. “Unfortunately, for the first time ever in 35 years we hit a bout of Toxoplasmosis this year which has hit the figures a bit. Not that I would normally have vaccinated against it with such a low incidence in the past. The ewes were scanned at 194% in 2007 and so far in May we have 154% on the hoof. Without toxi we would have much closer to that magical two lambs per ewe.”
In next year’s plan John can take that into account bearing in mind the likely source of infection from a young, susceptible farm cat population.
Priority two – cut down on lameness
John already used foot bathing and topical treatment for lameness but found there were periods in the year when scald, in particular, posed a problem. Now lameness has become a target. Pasture management, use of lime around water troughs and planned preventative foot bathing are all playing their part in the strategy.
“Recurring foot problems need sorting out. This will give me more time for more profitable husbandry and management, less chance of cross infection and none of the losses associated with a lame ewe like poor condition leading to susceptibility to parasites like worms, inability to support two lambs due to poorer nutrition and inevitably diminished fertility.”
Culling ewes merely for foot trouble is not currently on the agenda. Each cull would have to be replaced and while good ewes are sourced from Skipton Market John knows that there’s no assurance he could replace one lame sheep with another guaranteed to be sound. That would entail double the work.
On a one man unit the easy–care philosophy is one John aspires to. His health plan aims to reduce the need for intervention by dealing with lameness and keeping the flock clean there after.
Priority three – tackle uterine prolapse
An unexplained rise in the number of ewes suffering full uterine prolapses in 2006 was a serious problem for John which led to the loss of thirteen ewes with others facing early culling. Although making this a priority, no solution or apparent reason for last year’s incidences has been found yet.
“I had to put this down as an action point in the health plan,” explains John. “It had the potential to decimate the flock as it was ewes in their prime that were succumbing. All we can point to at the moment is the superb forage we had to feed 2006. Maybe they were too fit, or bloated from excess rumen fermentation. Charlie Lambert has a theory that ewes suffering from cystitis from a urinary tract infection could be the culprit.
“It’s important that ewes have sufficient water and rock salt made freely available at pasture will encourage greater uptake and reduced risk of kidney and tract infections,” he comments.
Encouraged by only one ‘blow out’ prolapse this year John is hoping that the later cut silage fed in 2007, made after a wet May the previous year, was sufficient to keep the problem at bay. Warned by the experience of 2006 he will continue with a lower energy forage and ensure salt provision in future.”
An excellent investment for the future
By the end of the pilot project, the ten farmers including John, and the Farm Health Planning Initiative will have a great deal of quality farm data and experience of introducing proactive planning to sheep farming. They will have been able to see what works and what is less profitable and will have laid a foundation for future health planning.
“ I used to do quite a bit of planning on the back of envelopes or just mentally as I walked the flock,” says John. “ Now, we have targets that I can review during the year. If I achieve all I have set out to do this year I will see a 10% improvement in numbers of lambs raised. With a fair wind on lamb prices that’s equivalent to raising gross margin per ewe by £4.00. It’s a bold target but there’s no way the vet costs of planning will come anywhere near that. It looks like being an excellent investment.”
Page last modified:
July 31, 2007
Page published: 17 May 2007