Orf in lambs
- Thread starter copse
- Start date
primmiemoo
Member
- Location
- Devon
NOAH says scabivax can be used in lambs from 1 day old. I'd post the link to the pdf with the advice and instructions, but the interweb is having a wobbly, sorry.
- Location
- Scottish Borders
My brother scratches all his lambs for orf. He lambs indoors, and keeps the ewes in until he has 50 lambs to do ( must be the amount for a bottle ), then scratches them and puts them out . So the youngest will be at most 2 days old !
I always say- feck that and put some Brinicome orf tubs out, but he never does !
I always say- feck that and put some Brinicome orf tubs out, but he never does !
We do them at two days old, costs about 60c/lamb
we priced the tubs last year and for 12 weeks cover it cost €3/lamb,
Does scabivaxing the ewes actually protect the lambs, even the makers don't claim that
It takes five or six days after the scratch before the scabivax attacks the immune system, by which time the lambs immune system is able to deal with it. If you check them after ten days you'll see very specific scabs along the line of the scratch even though you wouldn't have drawn blood
- Location
- Yorkshire
Or rock salt. Instant cure.Dennis brinicombe orf bucket, simples!!
do you leave the tubs so ewes can get at them?, I put them behind a pallet with a hole in it and would estimate a bucket will do 100 lambs so £30p each and no handling
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
I wouldn’t put the tubs out for 12 weeks, and it doesn’t need many in a mob ime.
I put the Cocci/Orf ones out at about 6 weeks old, probably for a month. If I happened to see a few with mild orf earlier (once, that I can remember), I would put them out earlier.
I’m usually guided more by weather conditions re cocci risk, rather than orf, such is the amount it’s declined.
Incidentally cocci is less of a challenge after using buckets for a year or two as well, as the lambs don’t get to the stage where they are shedding millions of oocysts for the next year.
We are sheep only and generally graze in mobs of 200-250 ewes, so ‘should’ be having big problems with cocci & orf.
I haven’t scratched for years and don’t intend restarting the hateful, labour intensive task.
- Location
- Scottish Highlands
No, just going by the promotional literature where it states ''1 X 14kg tub for 24 lambs/4-6 weeks '' and I'm sure they don't underestimate the requirements
I used to let orf just rattle through the flock, never did them any harm, we've no briars or thistles to aggravate them but then I got a proper outbreak
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
I will put out the buckets at a rate of 1 per 50-80 ewes or so, for the high risk period. I will be lambing around 750 ewes here and will usually get through around 20-25 buckets, covering cocci and orf, depending on the season (I didn't even use 20 last year, due to the weather).
I get a few little orf scabs on the odd lamb, but it never gets worse than that, and I can't remember the last time I saw it on a ewe's teat. I've always considered that having a low level of infection was beneficial in that it maintains a healthy natural immunity, stopping those 'proper' outbreaks that can wreak havoc.
Yea, I found it hard to believe they got it so bad, like you I passed no remarks on it because I thought it'd keep a bit of immunity in the flock. I'm farming sheep for fifty years and only scabivaxing for ten
I've never had them consume that amount, 1 bucket into a batch, the ones that want it will soon find it, works a treat .
Big hoggs maybe but young lambs use very little
Pistonbroke
Member
Seen it somewhere where the bloke puts rock salt on disinfectant mats so the rain makes salty water and stops scald in their feet aswell