Heptavac. Anyone not bother??

[Tim W]

The only alternative to vaccination for something like pasturella is management --- keeping lambs where there is less chance of temperature fluctuations seems to help (but it wont stop all deaths ---just like the vaccine doesn't seem to stop all deaths)

I think (maybe incorrectly) that we avoided too many clostridial problems in our flock for many years by lambing on clan grazing every year ---and I mean clean = no sheep for between 1 and 3 years previously as well as being a clean (not muddy) environment underfoot

On balance I am happy vaccinating but am always keen to try other approaches if they seem sensible

 

[Nithsdale]

Can't really see where your coming from with this, you don't get much chance to cull animals which have contracted clostridial diseases.

Cull the mothers, after the lambs death? Removing her line from the flock

 

[Tim W]

Clostridia are soil living and they don't like oxygen (it's toxic to them) so in theory cultivation will kill some of them (exposure to air) ? Although I don't know what %age of bacteria would be killed and assume that they would multiply pretty fast to re-populate the soil?
Another important thing to avoid clostridial infection would be a lamb that gets up onto it's feet soon after birth, this will mean less contact between a wet navel and infected soil

 

[neilo]

Struth that is a fair saving!

I've been toying with the idea of changing to bravoxin, think that might be push to do it!

The push has been enough for me anyway. Bravoxin ordered for the ewes now, so they can have a primary dose with their boluses in the next week or so. Ordered 1000 doses locally at 21p/dose, Heptavac for the younger sheep is still 60p/dose.

 

[ThatsSomeSheep]

The push has been enough for me anyway. Bravoxin ordered for the ewes now, so they can have a primary dose with their boluses in the next week or so. Ordered 1000 doses locally at 21p/dose, Heptavac for the younger sheep is still 60p/dose.

Glad I started this thread now, looks like potential for big £ savings if planned correctly.

TSS

 

[exmoor dave]

The push has been enough for me anyway. Bravoxin ordered for the ewes now, so they can have a primary dose with their boluses in the next week or so. Ordered 1000 doses locally at 21p/dose, Heptavac for the younger sheep is still 60p/dose.

Me thinks I might get my ewes on to bravoxin this coming year at that saving.

 

[scholland]

Clostridia are soil living and they don't like oxygen (it's toxic to them) so in theory cultivation will kill some of them (exposure to air) ? Although I don't know what %age of bacteria would be killed and assume that they would multiply pretty fast to re-populate the soil?
Another important thing to avoid clostridial infection would be a lamb that gets up onto it's feet soon after birth, this will mean less contact between a wet navel and infected soil

Not sure about sheep but blackleg in cattle can be triggered by distributing soil ie ditching which releases the spores. Read that somewhere!

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Not sure about sheep but blackleg in cattle can be triggered by distributing soil ie ditching which releases the spores. Read that somewhere!

It can happen in sheep beacause it happened to me!

 

[neilo]

Glad I started this thread now, looks like potential for big £ savings if planned correctly.

TSS

Ah, but who's going to be starting the thread later in the Spring, about all their lambs dieing of pasteurella.......

 

[devonshire farmer]

I haven't read the whole thread but for someone going from heptavac p to brovoxin at 1/3 of the price what do you loose?

 

[neilo]

I haven't read the whole thread but for someone going from heptavac p to brovoxin at 1/3 of the price what do you loose?

Cover for pasteurella.

 

[devonshire farmer]

Cover for pasteurella.

Thanks, can that be done in a separate jab and still save or take the chance!

 

[neilo]

Thanks, can that be done in a separate jab and still save or take the chance!

You could do it separately with Ovipast, which is about 45p/dose, and nearly as much as Ovivac P.

It is said that older sheep shouldn't get pasteurella, so jab the younger ewes/ewe lambs with Heptavac P, then put them onto Bravoxin as 2 shears (that's my plan anyway, but I may change it to shearlings on Bravoxin too yet). There would be no passive immunity for pasteurella passed to the lambs from ewes on Bravoxin, so probably more important to jab the lambs on time? Or maybe not?

 

[Jackson4]

Good question.... personally I'd look at the breeds.... ime (by no means scientific ) hill sheep drafted down from common hills tend to be exposed to more disease and have a crapped diet and aways appear healthier on my land than normal breeding sheep brought in... so I make the asumption that as black loss on hill farms is often in the double percent figures n's is taking place and when taken to a more benign environment they thrive. I may well be totally wrong!

Hmmm.. when i got a PM done on a couple of ewes that died last year (was ben strignall that did it actually) lead to some interesting information, he'd been tracking which breed and cause of deaths etc and i'm nearly sure per % of the national flock Hill sheep were at the top.. nearly sure it was Swaledales first, considering most hill sheep deaths wont be recorded (judging by the few skeletons you can see on a short walk up here) or PM'd the figures would likely be much higher. Not sure if it was the gov which collected the breed figures, online somewhere.
I think the open uplands with the cooler air and tight matted grasses are a much more benign environment than warmer, harder stocked down land lush grazing, have seen hill sheep flock badly scalded after brought down onto lowland grazing and another local mule breeder said same to me. I think he's right my lowland breeds always do well and have little spread of scald or footrot if there is any about, up under the moor.
Think a big influence when it comes to vaccines is whether the sheep you are vaccinating were brought up on the land or bought in.. home bred sheep you would think would have more chance of developing anti-bodies to local strains of disease.

 

[Ant Rim]

You could do it separately with Ovipast, which is about 45p/dose, and nearly as much as Ovivac P.

It is said that older sheep shouldn't get pasteurella, so jab the younger ewes/ewe lambs with Heptavac P, then put them onto Bravoxin as 2 shears (that's my plan anyway, but I may change it to shearlings on Bravoxin too yet). There would be no passive immunity for pasteurella passed to the lambs from ewes on Bravoxin, so probably more important to jab the lambs on time? Or maybe not?

@neilo are you still operating the same system? I.e HepP lambs and Bravoxin10 shearlings+ .