Cost of blood profiles for ewe minerals

andybk

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Mendips Somerset
whats the cost of blood profiles for ewe minerals, prob looking to bolus the flock shortly if req before we put the tups in , Think the vet said we had to do 6 ? during a short conversation in passing , Can they be done yourself ? used to do the scrapie ones years ago with the vacutainers . just wondered on procedure .
 

yellowbelly

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
N.Lincs
whats the cost of blood profiles for ewe minerals,
Last one we did was 2016. Bled them ourselves and vets sent them off.
Did 10. Heparin tubes 60p each. Plain tubes 40p each.
Lab fees and report £230.
So about £24/ewe +vat
Remember to swirl the heparin tubes when you fill them so the anti-clotting agent mixes in.(y)
 

andybk

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Mendips Somerset
not a lot of change out of 450 IIRC...all in:eek:....think bimeda (cosecure) have some sort of promotion/subs blood test thingy:scratchhead:....are with wespoint group vets?

yea we are with westpoint will look into it , are the cosecure boluses ok ? obvs you pay a premium if they help out with test but are boluses easy to use ?
 

andybk

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Mendips Somerset
Last one we did was 2016. Bled them ourselves and vets sent them off.
Did 10. Heparin tubes 60p each. Plain tubes 40p each.
Lab fees and report £230.
So about £24/ewe +vat
Remember to swirl the heparin tubes when you fill them so the anti-clotting agent mixes in.(y)
like the idea of testing myself if poss makes it easier to select out a cross section between lots of small flocks / ages
 

spin cycle

Member
Location
north norfolk
yea we are with westpoint will look into it , are the cosecure boluses ok ? obvs you pay a premium if they help out with test but are boluses easy to use ?

don't use them TBH.....we had a vets group meeting last month which bimeda came to.....i had some bloods 2 yrs ago...no major issues plus i'm a big fan of tubbys
 

bovine

Member
Location
North
Generally I say £5/animal/test for lab fees. I wouldn't encourage doing them yourselves - sheep are not especially easy. Not sure of the legality either (ministry scrapie bloods were vet only whereas they have lay cattle blood testers). We get most brought in a trailer to the practice so it's a quick, easy job.

Iodine is the expensive one, but I'd pool the 6. A 'typical' profile for 6 sheep for copper/selenium/cobalt would be about £90. £130 if we add iodine. Little bit for bloods, little bit for interpretation and reporting. I don't know where people get figures like £450 from. That must have been a lot of sheep and a lot of tests!

I would generally then follow up just repeating what was low after 'correcting' to ensure what we'd put in place was sufficient. Surprising how often these things aren't as good as we'd think.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
yea we are with westpoint will look into it , are the cosecure boluses ok ? obvs you pay a premium if they help out with test but are boluses easy to use ?

The ewe boluses worked OK when I used them, but they need to be warmed when you administer them, or a number will be regurgitated (there is a label on/in the box to say so now too). However, they have priced themselves out of the market IMO, and I couldn't get them for less than £1.20 a piece, even buying a quantity. Animax 3in1, Agrimin Smartrace Plus and the new Mayo 5in1 are all around a pound or less and seem to be as effective here (not tried Mayo ones yet).

I changed to the Animax 3in1 this Spring, as they are smaller than the others and MUCH easier to give because of it. You do have to put a separate copper capsule in the gun each time, which is a PITA though. I'll probably change to the Mayo 5in1 this time, as they are one piece, small boluses, as well as being a good company to deal with.
 

andybk

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Mendips Somerset
The ewe boluses worked OK when I used them, but they need to be warmed when you administer them, or a number will be regurgitated (there is a label on/in the box to say so now too). However, they have priced themselves out of the market IMO, and I couldn't get them for less than £1.20 a piece, even buying a quantity. Animax 3in1, Agrimin Smartrace Plus and the new Mayo 5in1 are all around a pound or less and seem to be as effective here (not tried Mayo ones yet).

I changed to the Animax 3in1 this Spring, as they are smaller than the others and MUCH easier to give because of it. You do have to put a separate copper capsule in the gun each time, which is a PITA though. I'll probably change to the Mayo 5in1 this time, as they are one piece, small boluses, as well as being a good company to deal with.

thanks neil useful info there .
 

Joe

Member
Location
Carlow Ireland
The ewe boluses worked OK when I used them, but they need to be warmed when you administer them, or a number will be regurgitated (there is a label on/in the box to say so now too). However, they have priced themselves out of the market IMO, and I couldn't get them for less than £1.20 a piece, even buying a quantity. Animax 3in1, Agrimin Smartrace Plus and the new Mayo 5in1 are all around a pound or less and seem to be as effective here (not tried Mayo ones yet).

I changed to the Animax 3in1 this Spring, as they are smaller than the others and MUCH easier to give because of it. You do have to put a separate copper capsule in the gun each time, which is a PITA though. I'll probably change to the Mayo 5in1 this time, as they are one piece, small boluses, as well as being a good company to deal with.

Recommendation for Mayo here too, changed over to their 6 week for lambs couple of years ago with great results and ewes last year. We have cobalt and copper issue here, think last test was about €200 with our vet
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 77 43.5%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 62 35.0%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 28 15.8%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.7%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.7%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 4 2.3%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,286
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
Top