Mineral Test Blood Results
- Thread starter sheepwise
- Start date
But you are happy to spend money on boluses, drenches that turn into expensive urine, mineral buckets to feed the wildlife costing many times more?!
Sometimes I really don't follow a farmer's thought process.
Paddington
Member
- Location
- Soggy Shropshire
We had blood tests done for the first time this year on half a dozen lambs this year as they weren't thriving, followed by several mineral drenches for Selenium deficiency as advised by the vet. I suppose we should then have post treatment blood tests done, though this would have meant £40 total in tests for each lamb. Does this mean blood tests every year ? Neighbour has had similar problems. We are in a Selenium deficient area and have just relied on ad lib mineral licks in the past as lambs have usually been finished by October without any hard feed. Are lambs more susceptible to mineral deficiencies ?
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
I really can't see that it can be cost effective, in a small flock, to do much blood testing. Once in a while, to identify problems associated with your ground/farm yes, but after that it's just too expensive. If you've only got 50 sheep, the cost of a set of blood tests would probably keep them in bagged mins or buckets for the year. Blood test them several times and you won't be making enough to pay for any targeted remedies anyway.
Generally, major issues will be soil dependant, so will be the same year on year. Of course, any of those issues can be exaggerated by a wet year, or putting heavy doses of lime on, etc.
Generally, major issues will be soil dependant, so will be the same year on year. Of course, any of those issues can be exaggerated by a wet year, or putting heavy doses of lime on, etc.
Generally test to find what you are short of, in a group of animals not performing, whether that's low lamb growth, poor fertility, whatever. If a deficiency is identified then bleed afterwards just for what was short to ensure its been adequately corrected.
Then it depends on how animals perform.
You can have different problems on different land on the same farm. Different deficiencies in different groups of animals. Changes brought on by weather etc. A check every few years would be wise, but generally quite cost effective. Far more cost effective than throwing unnecessary minerals at everything.
The biggest factors determining cost are number of sheep and number of tests. The more sheep you test for the more things the better confidence you can have in the results. I like 6 animals initially to test, but will often check only 2 or 3 if all 6 were low beforehand. I generally test copper/cobalt/selenium and only do iodine if they come back normal and we are worried about performance, because its expensive.
Lambs are faster growing so have a greater demand for all minerals.
Then it depends on how animals perform.
You can have different problems on different land on the same farm. Different deficiencies in different groups of animals. Changes brought on by weather etc. A check every few years would be wise, but generally quite cost effective. Far more cost effective than throwing unnecessary minerals at everything.
The biggest factors determining cost are number of sheep and number of tests. The more sheep you test for the more things the better confidence you can have in the results. I like 6 animals initially to test, but will often check only 2 or 3 if all 6 were low beforehand. I generally test copper/cobalt/selenium and only do iodine if they come back normal and we are worried about performance, because its expensive.
Lambs are faster growing so have a greater demand for all minerals.
Most bring the sheep to me, I only ever really go out for full flock bleeds for things like MV. Charge a couple of quid for the sampling. I'm not even sure of the legality of a farmer taking blood, I know people do IV injections but I suspect a blind eye is turned rather than it being ok. Bleeding sheep is quite tricky, I know some vets that struggle. Without supervision of someone that knows it could be a welfare issue. There are lay cow blood testers who are trained by DEFRA, but I don't think so for sheep. Even during the scrapie scheme and foot and mouth I'm sure sheep were all done by vets.
There is very little in the costs of tests, speed and service far more significant.
There is very little in the costs of tests, speed and service far more significant.
When a young vet came to blood test ewes for abortion, a big Dorset X mule ewe struggled a bit and somehow the needle cut through her aorta and she bled out into her neck in front of us. It was horrendous. The ewe thrashed and thrashed. The vet was in shock.
They never apologised and tried to charge me for it!
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
I always thought that was more to do with certifying that the actual animals were tested, and rightly so, otherwise the unscrupulous, untrustworthy farmers (that's all of us according to most govt bodies) could bleed an animal they knew to be right, several times.
I can accept that with the scrapie scheme, but during FMD lay people (DEFRA trained) were bleeding cows, but vets only doing sheep. Lay blood testers were good enough for brucellosis bloods in cows, why not scrapie in sheep? I honestly don't know. I can teach any moron to bleed cows from the tail vein, but there is more skill in sheep. There is more risk, as @jemski says.
We looked at the legality of farmers blood sampling . Read the rules and they didn't seem to be absolutely clear but in the end the analysis was------doing your own animals is fine but doing someone else's is not (I can bleed sheep faster and cleaner than most vets )
I find that SAC are usually the best for pricing and service for most tests (disease as well as mineral)
I find that SAC are usually the best for pricing and service for most tests (disease as well as mineral)
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
I won't argue that sheep are trickier, and a knack needs to be learnt. I remember having a young vet out blood testing sheep for mv. She managed about 100 (of 260 to do) in a day. The senior partner came out on a Sunday to do the rest, without me asking and without charging. She didn't stay there much longer, probably doing small animals somewhere now.
Biobest are promoting their sheep testing more and seem to do more tests now but i haven't done a comparison.
Our usual vet spent months and months scrapie testing sheep and can take blood in his sleep i reckon!