I certainly don't rely on Vecoxan and have been using the buckets instead for decades. The only Vecoxan I've bought in that time is to treat intensively reared early indoor lambs, everything else has DB buckets.
I usually put them out at around 4-6 weeks old, or when I see the first ones that look like they are getting a touch of either orf or cocci. Unlike some of the medicated 'feed' buckets others sell, those buckets give a big dose of Deccox, clearing the cocci out quickly. Most others have a much lower Deccox concentration which has a trickle effect as they eat (or not) the feed buckets, as you would get feeding Deccox in lamb creep.
However, you'll only need one bucket for that number, so it would be a dear way of doing it by the time you'd got the vet's prescription for one bucket. Unless you have a friendly neighbour that has some sat in the shed of course?
I had a neighbour back home with half a dozen sheep, and I would graze his paddocks most of the year to tidy them. His lambs started getting cocci one year, and I happened to forget to collect one of my buckets there that year. He put the lid back on it after a month of access and put it in his shed. I think it lasted him about 5 years.
I certainly don't rely on Vecoxan and have been using the buckets instead for decades. The only Vecoxan I've bought in that time is to treat intensively reared early indoor lambs, everything else has DB buckets.
I usually put them out at around 4-6 weeks old, or when I see the first ones that look like they are getting a touch of either orf or cocci. Unlike some of the medicated 'feed' buckets others sell, those buckets give a big dose of Deccox, clearing the cocci out quickly. Most others have a much lower Deccox concentration which has a trickle effect as they eat (or not) the feed buckets, as you would get feeding Deccox in lamb creep.
However, you'll only need one bucket for that number, so it would be a dear way of doing it by the time you'd got the vet's prescription for one bucket. Unless you have a friendly neighbour that has some sat in the shed of course?
I had a neighbour back home with half a dozen sheep, and I would graze his paddocks most of the year to tidy them. His lambs started getting cocci one year, and I happened to forget to collect one of my buckets there that year. He put the lid back on it after a month of access and put it in his shed. I think it lasted him about 5 years.
Adult sheep are immune to cocci ... but if they take the buckets do they still kill/lower the burden on the ground and in turn help reducing the challenge on the lambs?
I do struggle to see lambs at 4-6wks old going to buckets.
I was ready to take the plunge and get buckets last year but my rep. has put me off
I leave the buckets out until the challenge is passed, which is all a bit weather dependant. If we get a dry Spring (like 202) we might not see an early challenge, but could see a hatch after a warm, wet week in June.
As with treating with the drenches, if there was no challenge about then they won’t have developed an immunity and a late cocci explosion could be a disaster without treatment (by whichever method).
I’d probably expect to get through (on average) 8-10 buckets on that number, but very weather dependant. I’d expect to have a lot of the buckets spare if we had a year with little challenge.
I have every confidence in them, or I sure as hell wouldn’t use them. Having once picked up twenty dead 30kg+ lambs a day years ago, I have no intention of ever going through that again. We lost around 200 lambs from batch, having got them close to weaning weights.
That was from moving one group from some rented horse fields to a handling system on a 60ac block that had intensive sheep on for decades for dipping in June. Those naive lambs were literally dropping like flies after a week. Back then the only treatment was daily sulphonamide injections for the whole mob, but many were already buggered.
Never again, quite apart from the financial implications.
Not as expensive as a dead lamb or two on this years value , and reduced performance on the rest . tried all sorts , brim buckets last few years (and a big script bill amounted to £50+ a bucket all in ) ,then had another nasty outbreak later in october in same group , so i dont know what happened there , so back to vecoxin , i now keep them somewhere where they get exposure in first few months , so i know they get challenged , then vecoxin (even twice if necessary ) , i will also keep a brim imuheb (non script) bucket with them through autumn as an insurance , as did clear that last outbreak (i did vecox the worst affected ) If fat lamb was £70 might be different .Ideal thanks, so they may be beneficial then. Vecoxan is still very dear especially when they need 2 doses. Sadly no one I know uses them... but we did have to drench our suckler calves last spring so could maybe kill 2 birds with 1 prescription stone if the DB buckets are suitable for calves too
so we’ve dosed the 2 showing symptoms with Dycoxan and are going to do everything else in 10-14 days once they’ve picked up a challenge from the pasture. Vets advised buckets wouldn’t be appropriate in this situation with heavy contamination of pasture.
only about £5-10 a litre ,
