September 2013

Having spent the best part of the summer and early autumn complaining about the lack of rain and consequent khaki-coloured fields, a little rain and the early-morning autumn dews have produced an embarrassment of grass – acres of the stuff, bright green and lush. You’d think I’d be jumping up and down with joy, but this ‘flush’ of grass has caused a minor digestive upset in some of our ewe flock who, normally as clean as a whistle, had varying degrees of mucky bottoms (ranging from ‘slightly soiled’ to ‘filth-bags’). Bearing in mind their appointment with Yarcombe Maximus on Fireworks night (how appropriate!), and – just as importantly – a visit from an eminent Judge for the Hampshire Down Flock Competition in early October, I really had to get to ‘the bottom’ of the problem!

Scouring in sheep can have a number of causes, the obvious one being intestinal parasites (worms). However, it’s unusual for mature ewes to be affected, as with maturity they normally develop a degree of immunity to the most common parasites. The results of a faecal egg count (FEC), emailed to me within 4 hours of delivering the samples, confirmed that neither ewes nor lambs were excreting worm eggs – in fact, the result was “no eggs seen in sample”. So, the drench gun continues to gather cobwebs in the shed, not having been needed since the lambs had their first and only treatment of the year way back in early June. I haven’t fully calculated the savings I’ve made from using an ‘evidence-based’ worming programme, but at around £25 per litre for a clear drench, I reckon it’s quite considerable, even for our small flock.

This year, for the first time, we needed to vaccinate all the breeding ewes for Toxoplasmosis. This is one of the main causes of abortion in sheep and is caused by a parasite that has a complex life cycle involving rodents and cats. Last year we lost four lambs to the disease, possibly more as it can cause re-absorption of the foetus in early pregnancy. The vaccine is ‘live’ so needs to refrigerated and used within a few hours of delivery. As a live vaccine, it induces a mild form of the disease to stimulate an antibody reaction in the sheep that will protect the sheep for up to two years. It also needs to be treated with great care, as if accidentally self-injected can cause illness, and abortion in pregnant women.

The next day, one of the ewes was on 3 legs, lame as a pear, suffering from scald, which left untreated can develop into full-blown footrot. Given a simple antibiotic injection this would normally clear up in a day or so – but an antibiotic could counteract the effect of the Toxo vaccine. So, however carefully the shepherd tries to schedule what seems to be an ever-increasing list of necessary treatments, nothing can ever take into account simple ‘sod’s law’! (We used a topical oxytetracycline spray to help with the foot problem, and thankfully she was back on her feet in no time).

So, back to the all-important flock competition. This is an annual event that takes place on-farm. Many breed societies organise this type of informal competition, designed to give novices or these unsure about showing their sheep the opportunity to dip a toe into the showing waters! The judge, who travels from flock to flock around the country, views the sheep in their home environment, in their ‘working clothes’. But there are a few ways the canny shepherd can give his or her flock more of a fighting chance of a placing!

1. Clean up any mucky bottoms (jet-washing in the case of our ewes!)
2. Neatly trim tails to emphasise a nice ‘gigot’
3. If your sheep have woolly heads (as ours do), make sure the wool is trimmed from around their eyes
4. Try to separate sheep into groups: breeding ewes, ewe lambs, stock rams, and ram lambs – it’s well worth doing this as the lambs look bigger when not standing next to a mature sheep!
5. If you have undulating land, send the sheep uphill of the judge – again, they look bigger and better viewed from below
6. Pray that none go lame on the morning of judging!

After the judge has had a good look at your flock, offer him or her a nice cup of tea and slice of cake, and take advantage of the opportunity to ask any questions about management and how you might improve your flock.

All summer long we’ve been visiting Livestock and Countryside shows, filming every aspect of showing sheep, from the ‘Child’s Pet Lamb’ class to pedigree ‘Championships’, as well as recording all the stages of preparation beforehand. The experience has given me the urge to have a go, and I hope that when our new DVD “Showing Sheep” is completed (in time for Christmas!), it will inspire a lot more people to think about showing their sheep – from my experience this summer, it’s a tremendously social and fun activity!

And finally, Carole Youngs of The Smallholder Series has written a comprehensive guide to ram selection and management for the autumn edition of Practical Sheep, Goats & Alpacas magazine, which is currently on sale in all good newsagents.

www.smallholderseries.co.uk